Any one that follows my reviews know that I love a strong and fearless female character. Darcy Burke delivered that with Catriona. Never afraid to speak her mind and go after what she wanted, definitely not a damsel in distress. Elijah is one of those stoic characters who doesn't trust very easily yet is drawn to this enigma of a woman. He knows more is going on and wants answers. Romancing the Earl is a historical adventure that will leave you spellbound. I know I was. Received an ARC of this story for an honest review. ( )

3.5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Cate's parents raised her to follow in their adventurous antique hunting footsteps. With her sidekick lady's maid Grey, she is currently on the hunt for Dyrnwyn, a legendary flaming sword that is one of the 13 Arthurian treasures. Finding this sword will not only be a significant archeological find but legitimize her in the heavily dominant male artifact hunting world. Elijah is a former Captain who has come back to England from Australia because his older brother died and he is now the Earl. He has a tapestry that Cate thinks is really a map that will lead her to Dyrnwyn. Others in search of the sword think the same thing and Elijah starts to sense that maybe his brother's death wasn't so accidental after all. Cate and Elijah pair up as he searches out his brother's killer and Cate looks for the sword. They dodge and fight miscreants as they stumble upon another hidden treasure, love.

Romancing the Earl is second in the series in which Cate's parents starred in the first (The de Valery Code). There are a couple little nuggets of information you would miss out on if you didn't read the previous book involving the Arthurian treasures storyline but this is a solid book on its own. This is a road romance where our couple is constantly traveling the road but it does take a while for things to start rolling. The beginning is a little slower with the focus on explaining the Arthurian treasures and their legend. Through Cate and Elijah separately we learn about the different players in the game and the adventure side of the story unfolds first. It was about 30% in that I felt like things started to get rolling and I felt more engaged.

Cate is definitely a woman ahead of her time, she doesn't want to get married and feels she should be accepted the same as any man in the archeological field. Her parent's attitude and how they raised her give legitimacy to her feelings but the way she gallivants around the countryside with only her maid in tow and then alone with Elijah seem a bit farfetched for the times. Her sexual freedom attitude was, while fun to read in regards to how it teased Elijah, again, a bit modern. I did like her character as Cate was very analytical but also softly emotional that made her enjoyable to follow along and read. Elijah was more of a man of his time, with his back getting up a couple times with how Cate acted. He accepted and obviously fancied Cate's more liberal attitude but would try to temper her more radical leadings if they would put her in danger, whether physically or reputation wise. The little side anecdotes of him missing his horse in Australia and how he never felt loved by his mother gave him a more rounded out feeling. He's not a character that will jump off the pages but he felt real.

These two characters fit very well together, I believed in their relationship. I adored how Cate would occasionally shock Elijah off balance and leave him teetering. In the beginning, when they were first starting to let their eyes linger on one another, they also had a wonderful sharp tension that sent tingles up the spine. Their bedroom scenes were appealing sensual, they were filled with real emotion and sexual warmth. Their relationship was just at times smothered a bit by the treasure hunt. There is also a secondary romance between Cate's companion Grey and Elijah's companion Wade but it's enough of a side story that I never felt too invested in it.

Overall, I felt like the adventure and romance arcs didn't quite mesh in the beginning and it bogged the pace down some. Everything doesn't quite jump off the pages but it's still a pleasing story with pleasing characters. Future hero characters were introduced and I plan on continuing to read because I'm interested enough to see what other cupid havoc the rest of the Arthurian treasures can cause.
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This is the second story in the series and even though it can be read as a stand alone, I would urge you to read the first book in this series. The reason for it is because there are some backstory plot points that would help you understand this story much better.

That said, I thought this tale to be filled with intrigue and adventure. And yes, romance too.

Both Elijah and Cate, are trying hard to not fall in love, but cupid has other plans for the two. As they begrudgingly start to work together to solve the mystery, as well as the death of his brother, they slowly start falling in love.

If you love your romance to feature plots of mystery and adventure, this one will definitely fit that bill.

Melanie for b2b

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher
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I received a copy of this novel from the publisher through Netgalley.

Cate is an antiquary and approaches the new Lord Norris, seeking to buy a tapestry collected by a previous earl. The tapestry shows a battle scene, but supposedly is also a treasure map, which will lead to the discovery of a medieval sword, one of the thirteen treasures of Britain. Cate wants to consolidate her professional reputation and donate the sword to a museum. Lord Norris (Elijah) has only inherited the title because his brother died unexpectedly, forcing him to return from Australia, where he has been serving with the army. He begins to wonder if his brother was in fact murdered by some one seeking the sword and joins forces with Cate (at first reluctantly) to solve the mystery.

There were things I liked about the story: Cate and Elijah's growing attraction is well-done and the scene where they pretend they are on their way to Gretna Green and make up backstories for one another was amusing. But... much of the spoken language seemed very modern, and Cate's ability and willingness to roam around England and Wales with a man was not realistic. There were inconsistencies and loose ends not tied up: One minute Elijah is so busy he is unable even to spare the time to look for the tapestry in his own house, the next he is roaming the country with Cate for days on end. Why was Kersey so against Lord Septon? Elijah sets out at the end to murder the man he believes killed his brother without any real evidence he is guilty - irrational murderous anger is not a quality I find particularly attractive in a hero. Just before urgently setting out on the last pursuit, Elijah and Cate stop to have sex one last time, which read as gratuitous and nonsensical.

Then there was the whole knights of King Arthur/the sword only flaming for a worthy descendant of a knight element.The whole plot involved a lot of suspension of disbelief for me. ( )