You're the Earl That I Want

Starred review from July 13, 2015
Bowen strikes gold with her third Lords of Worth Regency (after A Good Rogue Is Hard to Find). This story has it all: romance, suspense, wit, and Bowen’s trademark smart and slightly quirky characters. Josephine “Joss” Somerhall is a fiercely independent, plain-speaking maiden who’s just returned to London after decades abroad. Although she hasn’t laid eyes on Heath Hextall, the newly minted Earl of Boden, since she was six years old, she’s as enamored of him today as she was then. Joss is now a beautiful woman, but Hextall has a difficult time thinking of her as anything other than the pigtailed imp he used to tease. A twist of fate throws them together when they find Gavin Smythe, a friend of Hextall, after he’s been badly beaten by a gang of ruffians. His dying wish is for Hextall to safely deliver a mysterious packet of papers to Gavin’s brother. Now the lively fun begins as Joss and Heath set out to decipher the encoded papers, find Gavin’s brother, and fall in love. Bowen’s thrilling plot, spot-on pacing, and savvy characterization will delight her current fans and seduce new ones. Agent: Stefanie Lieberman, Janklow & Nesbit Associates.

Starred review from August 1, 2015
Heath Hextall, the Earl of Boden, needs a wife. Managing a successful soapmaking business as well as dealing with the problems involved in setting to rights the earldom he unexpectedly inherits leave Heath with no time to handle the daily details involved in running a household. Heath's solution to this problem is to find a suitable, respectable, preferably docile woman who will happily take on these domestic duties in exchange for a husband. Given the list of qualities Heath requires in a wife, Josephine Joss Somerhall knows she is definitely not that woman. Ever since they were both children growing up together, Joss has been an outspoken, free-spirited thorn in Heath's side, and now that Joss is all grown up, nothing has really changed. However, when Heath and Joss stumble across a dying man late one night, all bets about their future together, or to be more precise, lack of one, are suddenly off. Bowen's (I've Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm, 2014) latest impeccably written historical romance succeeds on every level as the author gifts readers with beautifully nuanced characters, a fast-paced plot liberally laced with dangerous intrigue and sizzling sensuality, and writing leavened with just the right dash of dry wit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)