Cal is an earl with a right hand man named Adam Hardwick, a land surveyor whose job runs more to keeping an ear to the ground and gathering informatioCal is an earl with a right hand man named Adam Hardwick, a land surveyor whose job runs more to keeping an ear to the ground and gathering information. Only Adam has a secret - he's actually Ophelia "Phee", and has been living as a boy/man since her twin brother died over a decade earlier.
I adored Any Rogue Will Do, Bethany's debut and the first in the Misfits of Mayfair series, and I was excited to see what West End Earl would be. I knew it was a "girl in pants" trope but that Bethany had said it would be a much more modernized story than how it played out in 1980s romances where either the hero knows the heroine is a woman right away, or has gay panic. And I did find this to be a much more modern take on the trope, though it also didn't feel like Cat Sebastian's Unmasked by the Marquess (where the heroine lives as a man and would today probably identify as genderqueer, and the hero is bisexual/queer) - as both Cal and Phee are cis and heterosexual.
The love story between them is sweet and driven by friendship and trust. I loved the line Phee says to Cal when she's falling asleep - "I'm still Puppy." (His nickname for her.) Phee was a compelling heroine, a type I haven't seen before. Even when I've read girl in pants books before they went one of two ways: a woman temporarily and quickly pretending to be a man (Gentle Rogue), or a woman who lives as a man because she wants to and identifies with at least some masculine traits (Unmasked by the Marquess). Phee was neither - someone who dreamed of living as a woman but who couldn't for safety. She feels she doesn't know how to be a "woman" (feminine) - how to kiss, flirt, wear a dress, be demure.
This book is full of drama. Like, chock full of plot. I enjoyed it but do usually prefer a more character driven story just because when the plot twists and turns so constantly I either have a hard time buying it or keeping up. In this case I did have a hard time buying into (view spoiler)[Phee marrying Cal's pregnant sister to give it a legitimate name and then faking "Adam"'s death to then bring Thee "back from the dead" as a long lost cousin. (hide spoiler)]
Bethany Bennett is a super talented author and I'm going to read whatever she puts out. I'm REALLY curious how book 3 will play out given that we know the hero/heroine (though the hero wasn't in this book)... ...more
He liked her, funny clothes and odd hair and the entire in-betweenness of her. She wasn’t an ordinary woman, but he wasn’t an ordinary man either.
He liked her, funny clothes and odd hair and the entire in-betweenness of her. She wasn’t an ordinary woman, but he wasn’t an ordinary man either. They fit together, and it felt right.
Look past the cover (I poked fun on my IG but - her hair and expression, his photoshopped shirt, his shoulder veins?) and this book is… amazing.
When I finish a book I just get a FEELING for what the star rating is. Generally, my ratings go like: 1 - disliked 2 - it was okay 3 - good not great 4 - great, could have loved it 5 - loved it, perfect book OR imperfect but love the way it made me feel
And to me, this book is a 5.
I picked up this book because I wanted to explore more books following the “girl in pants” trope. Charity has been living as Robert Selby for six years for a variety of reasons that are revealed slowly throughout the novel - but a main part of the ruse is because she wants to find an advantageous match for Louisa Selby.
Charity isn’t just dressing in “men’s clothes” to portray Robert - its become part of her identity and who she is.
Today was the first time she had dressed like this—she was going to stop thinking of these clothes as men’s clothes, because in fact they were hers—because she wanted to wear them, not as part of a necessary disguise.
I thought the way Cat Sebastian wrote this romance was so endearing and sweet. Something I liked was that Alistair doesn’t get panicked over his closeness or attraction to Robert (who he decides to call Robin). I’m new to the girl in pants trope/concept and listened to the ShelfLove podcast on it and they reviewed what happened in some old school romances with the trope - a reinforcement of gender stereotypes and/or gay panic when a man becomes attracted to a person presenting as a man.
I liked that Alistair seemed so aloof and cold to everyone, even his brother, and separated himself from his half-sisters… but Robin is the one to bring out the caring side of him and show him that it’s okay to love and reach out to others.
When Alistair finds out (view spoiler)[that Robert is Charity… it’s sort of a cumulation of events. He finds out Robert lied to him about his father being Louisa’s godfather, and he is furious at being used. When Charity comes clean that she’s been lying - he isn’t disgusted. He’s stuck on the fact that she lied and used him for a favor, which we know is something he feels everyone wants from him. So I totally understood that. (hide spoiler)]
I saw another reviewer say that some side characters (like Keating and Alistair’s half sister Amelia) were underutilized, which I agree with. But this didn’t detract from the book for me.
The same reviewer said that she wished Charity had more internal conflicts rather than everything being very situational… it could’ve explored more on her gender fluidity/identity. And I agree, but again - I don’t think this detracted from the story. I don’t know how much gender was being explored in the 1800s, but perhaps the concepts of gender fluidity/being non-binary was not something she would have realized was a possibility? I truly don’t know, I’m just speculating. And so to Charity, the best thing was a melding of what she knew and what she wanted - she wanted the freedom to live and dress how she wanted to, but she wanted to love Alistair openly, which meant she had to live as a woman. To me, this story was the best option for her. (And I’m using she/her pronouns as that’s what Cat Sebastian used in the book, as she said in her author’s note that’s more true to the time period - and will be familiar to readers.) ...more
She was a mystery, all right, and one he meant to solve. But first he was going to amuse himself with her charade by installing her in his cabin an
She was a mystery, all right, and one he meant to solve. But first he was going to amuse himself with her charade by installing her in his cabin and letting her think his cabin boy always slept there. He would have to pretend he didn’t recognize her, or let her assume he simply didn’t remember their encounter. Of course, there was the possibility that she might not remember it, but no matter. Before the voyage was over, she’d share more than his cabin. She’d share his bed.
Besides my love/hate of Fabio covers and my love/hate of "old school romances" (though I guess this straddles the line between 'old school' and 'modern' as it was published in 1990) - I wound up loving this book. The only other older romance I've read is Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught and the problematic parts put me in such a bad mood for days. I was so surprised and happy this book felt fun and... dare I say... lighthearted?
SUMMARY
Georgiana "Georgie" Anderson is in England against her will and trying to hitch a ride on a ship back to America. The youngest of six siblings and the only girl, she's been raised around sailing and shipping businesses her whole life and after jaunting to England with only Mac (an uncle figure) she's hellbent on getting back to America, ASAP.
The only availability is on a ship where they'll have to work, which means Georgie will masquerade as a 12 year old cabin boy for the captain, who just happens to be James Malory - a pirate, rake, debaucher.
But James sees through her disguise immediately and finds himself intrigued by her, something that doesn't happen often. And as they set sail for Jamaica (where she plans to find another ship to route her back to America), he'll do anything to keep her close.
THOUGHTS
Like I said, I was surprised by how fun this book was. I feel like I expect old school romances to be much more serious and I liked that we got a ton of POV from James and that he wasn't an emotionally stunted iceman. Sure, he has emotional problems and frequently talks about not wanting a wife or commitment... but he's not a truly evil person.
I found the scenes between him and Georgie to be really funny. As the audience, we know that he knows she's a woman, while she believes she's getting away with the gig. So he's trying to push her into crying "chicken" by asking her to wash his back, by walking around naked, by one night complaining that he has a headache and needing her to read erotica to him to put him to sleep. I fully recognize these things aren't okay for a captain to do to a cabin boy or a woman dressed as a cabin boy, but just within the story and how James was written I leaned into the comedy of errors aspect of the story.
I didn't love either of them as a character, because Georgie was so brash and hotheaded she came across as bratty or spoiled, but I thought them paired up was funny. As was the inclusion of both of their family's, even though at times the scenes with what felt like a dozen people felt like they were running on. I especially enjoyed interactions between Georgie and Jeremy her "stepson" who's only 3 years younger than her....more
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