Maureen's Reviews > Never Say Never to an Earl

Kobo+ HR. Mad About Series Challenge 2024. HRBC. Tropes: Regency Romance, Romance/Mystery
MC’s h Polly Kent, wallflower and some psychic abilities ( her secret). H Sinjin Pelham, the Earl of Revelstoke, heir to a Dukedom, known as a rakehell.

Miss Polly Kent has no illusions about finding love. Not only is she a wallflower, but her freakish ability to read others’ emotions has led to devastating rejection time and again. When it comes to her future, she knows that a marriage of convenience, one in which she can keep her secret affliction hidden, is the only safe choice. Yet when fate throws her into the path of the ton’s wildest rake, she discovers that desire can jeopardize the most carefully laid plans…

A Rake Who Makes No Apologies for His Past

Sinjin Pelham, the Earl of Revelstoke and heir to a duke, has a reputation darker than London’s fog. His exploits have made him the envy of men and the desire of women, but behind his wild and jaded façade lies a painful secret. He knows that no woman can love the devil inside him, yet when he is accused of a ghastly crime, the only one who stands by him is a beautiful virgin, one whose wanton innocence makes him long for the one thing he cannot have…When Good and Wicked Make Perfect

A marriage that begins with smoldering passion soon deepens into something more. All the while, a dangerous enemy lurks, waiting to strike. As Sinjin and Polly untangle the threads of mystery to clear his name, they must confront their greatest fears, risking all for their love—and their very lives

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Review I Liked: This is the sixth book I've read by Grace Callaway and I've enjoyed all of them, including this one, to varying degrees. As I've mentioned in reviews of the other books in this series, the wording is too modern for my taste, there's so much sex that it nearly kills the story, which is true for this one, as well, and I find myself being put off by it all. I'm not a prude and I really don't have any triggers, but it got so monotonous that I finally ended up skimming through the scenes after awhile.

But all is not lost. The story was quite good. Sinjin is the Earl of Revelstoke, his father is the Duke of Acton. Sinjin is a known rake and makes no effort to hide it until he is accused of the unthinkable; of beating a woman. His father sends him into hiding in a private insane asylum until the mess blows over. While Sinjin is there gathering his wits about him and relaxing, he knows he would never hurt a woman and as he relives and rehashes the night of the incident, he's convinced there was another man in the room. Now he has to prove it and to do that, he has to leave the asylum and that's when he finds out he not merely a guest in hiding. He's a prisoner.

Polly Kent and her sisters are there to perform a musicale for the patients. Polly isn't so interested in it nor is Sinjin who is enjoying the baths of the place when Polly catches him in a compromising position. I won't go any further than that. However, I will go on to say that Polly sees auras of people. I'm not sure how much was known about such things back when this story was set. There's information readily available now with just a few clicks, not that it matters, but few people know this about her and she thinks it makes her a freak and she wants to keep that secret from Sinjin.

But Sinjin has an affliction of his own that he wants to keep from Polly and goes to great lengths to do so. By today's standards, he may be considered bipolar. The Black Devil makes him act on impulse and drives him to take dares while the Blue Devil makes him sad and fills him with doubt and gloom. He doesn't want Polly to see that any more than she wants him to know she sees auras.

Okay, we have a couple of great characters here that keeping secrets from each other, who don't want emotional ties in their relationship, and seem to just want to have lots of sex and that's about it. Of course, it gets past all of that, but not before I got bored and rolled my eyes a few times.

There is some mystery with the whole thing and some secondary characters that kept me turning the pages to a triumphant ending.

*This book is part of a series, but can be read as a stand-alone novel.