A scarred and reclusive Earl acquires a gardener that he is much too attracted too. The two embark on a passionate affair but are separated again by their fear of love. Can they find their way back to each other?

Pros:
- The meet cute is realistic and interesting.
- The Earl's background and past substance abuse give him depth you don't normally see in historical romance.
- The background of the FMC is heartbreaking and entirely believable. I like that we are actually given a reason for why she speaks and acts with the manners of the high society.
- The setting is beautiful - the garden descriptions and knowledge were impressive.
- Insta-lust to deep and true affection! This feels so much more real than insta-love. The love that grows between the FMC and MMC feels important and lasting because they actually get to know each other and have conversations and interactions that aren't just about sex.
- Male relationships - The male relationships (siblings and friends) that are written in here are really amazing. The way they effortlessly (and in an overly masculine but purely human way) show affection pulled at my heart strings.
- The spicy scenes were very well written and showed the affect that love and trust can have in physical acts.

Cons:
- The title of the book is confusing. There isn't a wedding in the book at all - not even in the epilogue.
- The acceptance of a gardener into a high position by everyone close to the Earl seems less than realistic.
- The two brothers are separated in the beginning but it's never explained how the Earl "made it up" to his brother or even how the two are reunited.

Overall - It's a well written book with likable and realistic characters, a love story that feels true and deep, a love that feels lasting, friends that feel genuine, and a beautiful setting.

Something about this book was just off. I felt like I was thrown into the middle of the story and didn't know what was going on. I never felt the chemistry between the characters.

Tracy Sumner’s latest addition One Wedding and an Earl to the Duchess Society is just as thrilling as the other books in the series but reads a bit differently. This fourth book brings together Oliver, the Earl of Stanford and Necessity Byrne. As with the other books we had met the two characters in passing but now get to watch their story unfold beautifully. Necessity is hired to bring the garden at Oliver’s estate back to its glory and the sparks fly. I said that this one is written differently because we get both of the main characters internal struggles and inner workings as the story proceed which was not only delightful but made understanding them both as characters more thorough for me. Though this book can be read as a standalone story, I feel like it flowed better for me because I had read the other books in the series

These two people have enormous depth and you come to love and root for them as they come to terms with their past, their families, friends as they work towards a possible future. Necessity is a strong and talented landscape artist making her mark in a market cornered by males and she has no plans for romance but she had not forgotten the officer she helped nurse from his severe injuries with her knowledge of plants and herbs. Oliver is grateful that their path has crossed again, but he is disillusioned and certainly not looking for love either, but their mutual friends know better and want the best for them. I stayed up to read this through the end in one sitting because I simply could not bear to wait out their ending and I have a feeling you all may do so as well. I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review. of another amazing title to the series, happy reading!

Oh the chemistry between Ollie and Necessity! Sizzling. This was a delightful and great escape read.
Many thanks to Wolf Publishing and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

One Wedding and an Earl it’s a too hot and steamy romance. If that’s your cup of tea, grab a copy and enjoy. Deep down this story is about new beginnings and second chances.

I'm a fan of this series and enjoyed this installment, and I appreciate that the previous characters from earlier books show up!

I enjoyed this historical romance story with all of the characters. The main characters were Necessity Byrne and Ollie Aspinwall the Earl of Stanford.

Necessity Byrne grew up in the slums when she was young. Now that she older is works as a gardener in her own business. There is an Earl that need his garden fix up. His brother hires her to do the job. While there she meets the Earl again.

Ollie Aspinwall the Earl of Stanford has had a hard life. His half brother has hired a gardner to fix up his estate. He not happy about it.

This was a fun story to read. It had action and drama throughout. It had a few giggles within. It does have some steamy to it.

I received an complimentary copy via BookSiren and Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinions.

This book just wasn't for me, while the writing is good and the characters well developed, I just wasn't a fan. I felt there was too much emphasis on past lovers that was just annoying to me. I just wasn't interested in the characters and their story. There is plenty of heat and sex scenes but it felt like that was all their was between the two at times.

I'm sure this will appeal to many historical romance fans but it fell flat for me.

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love this series with the Duchess Society giving advice to young girls about marriage, and how to deal with a husband and married life including contraception as they knew it. Marriage broking and match making were also in their purview, and they were adept around getting what they decided was correct, or necessary, for anyone.
Tracy has an excellent writing style, with enough historical detail and plentiful characters of interest to read about.

I would definitely recommend anyone picking up this book to read the one before it first (if not the whole series) to introduce you to the characters.
Oliver and Necessity meet in the previous book and though it’s a short meeting, it’s important to the plot of this one. I’ve said it before but Tracy Sumner really excels at writing steam and this book definitely delivers in that front. Her writing style sometimes loses me a little -we tend to break off into narrative tangents in the middle of conversations- but overall I enjoy this author and how character driven her books are.
This book features a scarred, reclusive hero and a hard working heroine who’s made her own way in the world.

It’s honestly taken me this long to write this review because One Wedding and an Earl is the best book I have read this year. And I don’t feel like I can express that enough so it’s been very difficult for me to sit down and write this.

So most importantly, you definitely have to read the previous books in the series to understand what’s going on, but that’s not a hardship. Oliver’s relationships, particularly with his brother Xander and their horrible excuse for a father, are critical to this one. Plus, you definitely need the background on his military past, prior hedonistic lifestyle, and involvement in protecting his half brother (and guilt for what happened between them in the past) that resulted in the terrible scar he has now. We actually meet both our main characters in Xander’s book, when Ollie is recovering from being slashed. Because of his previous opium addiction, Oliver is trying to heal from this injury with no laudanum or anything addictive. He doesn’t even drink anymore. So here this poor man is trying to fight pain and fevers and . . . A random servant visits and provides him with a healing potion. That servant is Necessity Byrne. Well actually there’s a twist because the servant is dressed in men’s clothing which is odd and interesting, plus she’s got moxie and will tell it how it is. Oliver is absolutely transfixed.

Necessity actually goes on to later become the ton’s most sought after gardener. She’s made friends with the Duchess Society (like I said, if you read the previous books, you know) and they are helping her fit in because she is proudly of the Shoreditch Byrnes and is clueless about society and social graces, but there’s also a little matchmaking machinations going on. Xander and his wife Pippa have sent her to Oliver’s residence, where he has been hiding/recuperating, and now it’s her job to breathe some life into the gardens of the Earl of Stanford, which basically have been neglected for decades. And Pippa and Xander also hope that she’s going to breathe life into Oliver.

And holy moly, they breathe life into each other, but here’s the issue: she is an uneducated, lower class, previously a domestic servant, woman is now in trade, which makes her absolutely unsuitable for the Earl of Stanford. The tension between them is so thick that it’s almost painful but they are smart enough to decide that the best thing they can do is undertake a brief affair while she is working on the grounds. No strings, just sex, right? Oh no. There lies the problem because, see, these two are meant to be together and society be damned.

So this book is about whether or not Nessie and Ollie are going to be able to make it work somehow. Just friends? Just lovers? His mistress? Or, the most impossible solution, as his Countess? Simple, right? No, not at all, but Tracy Sumner gives you such an amazing story that you literally do not want to put the book down. As with all of her books, you will not skip ahead. You will not scan the text. You will read and re-read passages because her writing is magical. This journey becomes personal to you. You are pulling for these two characters despite the odds. You are invested and what happens to them; it means something to you.

That’s as far as I’m going to go without spoiling, but Ollie and Nessie‘s story is definitely a five star read. If you are a fan of this series, there’s a lot of interaction with previous main characters, and you get to see how their relationships and children are faring, which I love. Tracy Sumner works that in effortlessly. In addition, you are tantalized by two other characters whose books haven’t happened yet. We know that Dash is going to be the main character of the next book, because he and Theo have had a tumultuous relationship from the beginning. But we are introduced to an extremely interesting character, Jasper Noble. I am praying that we get at least a novella about him. He has secrets and his heart has been shattered by a mysterious woman, which is why he no longer believes in love. He just showed up out of the blue 10 years before, purporting to be from the slums, but he knows too many upper class things for that to really fly. Something is going on with Jasper and we want to know !

As I said: five star read. You will not be disappointed.

One wedding and an Earl by Tracy Sumner

Necessity Bryne is a rookery chit from Shoreditch but a very talented gardener very much in demand by ‘The Ton’. When she was younger her paths crossed with Oliver Earl of Stanford the night he was badly scarred on his face in outside a gambling den and she treated his scar with healing herbs reducing his scarring.
They never forgot each other from that night. Their paths cross now she is a renowned gardener who comes to redesign his out of control wasteland of a garden in his Derbyshire estate sparks fly between them and passion ignites.

A well written steamy novel involving the illustrious Leighton Cluster.

Much enjoyed when following them overcome their hurdles.

I have read some of her other books and i was expecting this one, did i love it? no, but it was a good read, however this might be the first two character (by Tracy) that I didn't like, they didn't make me root for them, and for them together, i was like, if they end together fine, but meh.

One Wedding and an Earl is book four in the Duchess Society series by Tracy Sumner and I enjoyed it just as much as the other books in this series. While you can pick this one up as a standalone I would recommend the whole series as there are references to other characters (who do show up) in this book so you might miss something. Plus they're all good so you should read them anyway!

Ollie and Necessity are the main characters and both have their own reasons to not marry but when Ollie's brother hires Necessity to fix up Ollie's gardens, they can't fight the attraction they have for one another which seems to work out fine until Ollie decides he wants to keep Necessity in his life.

The writing by Sumner is always well done and I always love a scarred hero, independent heroine book so this one caught my attention right away. The banter between these characters and the relationships they have with family and friends was great. I definitely recommend picking this book / series up when you get a chance.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have to say that I have seen Tracy Sumner's books being raved about all over social media, and I have never read her before. I was immediately tempted to pick this one up because of all the great reviews I had been seeing, and maybe that was a mistake. Maybe it was a mistake to pick up a book that I don't think can be considered a stand-alone. There were some many characters and back stories that I didn't have any information on at all, and I will admit to being confused during the majority of this book.

Now, do I think this book was Tracy Sumner at her best? I can't say, but it left something to be desired for me. It's obvious that she has a very unique voice and tone in her writing, but it felt very heavy. It was as if the story didn't flow together well in my opinion. I was reading, and the dialogue would sort of jump all over the place and then I would get confused very quickly. I do think there was potential here for me, and I would absolutely be willing to read her books again in the future.

I liked the characters, and I love a good second chance romance which this sort of felt like even though they didn't have a large back story. I wish they had met more than the one time. I thought there were some sweet moments between them and enjoyed their relationship. If not for the heaviness of the writing, I would have probably rated this higher.

I have read all of the other books in the Duchess Society series, so I had good expectations for this one. I feel very disappointed after struggling my way through it. I was surprised by the amount of effort required to get through it. I took me twice as long to read this as any other book of this size. It nearly ended as a DNF on several occasions, but I persevered since this was an ARC and I promised a review. So here’s a recap of the issues I had with it.
1) Although others disagree with me, I don’t see this as being a standalone book. There are too many characters from previous books with no information about them. I found the first part of the book was difficult because there are too many side characters with no introduction or explanation. It confuses the new reader at the very outset of the story.
2) The title promises a “One Wedding”. I never found that wedding.
3) The blurb promises a second chance romance, but I never saw their first chance. Yes, they met several years ago, but they didn’t create a relationship.
4) What did Oliver have against Necessity to begin with? Their first meeting was positive. She’s improving part of his rundown property at no expense to him (Xander is picking up the tab). Her work is not interfering with his life. So why the animosity from the get-go?
5) This is advertised as a slow burn. I would call it a no burn. They had sex, then more sex, and then even more. This is lust, not a relationship builder.
6) What exactly was the epilogue about? It left me wondering what it was and why it was there.
7) There’s no explanation of what the Duchess Society is. Are they marriage contract solicitors? Perhaps they are a personal finishing school for very select candidates. Are they an investigating firm weeding out unsavory potential suiters? Are they all of these? If so, there’s a lot of work here for a few women that don’t even work fulltime. And would a first-time reader have any idea?
8) Then there’s the Leighton Cluster, a bunch of men that like to have fist fights for fun. I’m sorry, but I find this silly and unneeded.
9) The peerage is unlikely to hire an orphan from the slums turned working girl to redesign their properties. It just doesn’t fit the standards of the time.
Okay, so much for my pet peeves. These are my major issues with the story.
1) It feels like there is more inner dialogue than actual conversation. It adds nothing to the building/maintaining of the relationship. Some can be good. But this was too much for my tastes.
2) They talk but don’t discuss feelings. I hate lack of communications troupes.
3) There were a fair number of sex scenes. Some were explicit. While I have no problem with some good sex in a HR, I did have a couple of issues here. There is an anger sex scene (not my cup of tea). There is one scene that just boggles my mind. She’s caught breaking in to his townhouse. Does he call in the police? No, they have sex and then take a nap, IN THE HALLWAY? Sure , I can believe that, NOT.
4) But my biggest complaint is the prose or sentence structure. I found myself repeatedly having to reread a sentence to make sense of it. I don’t want to work that hard for what is a leisure activity for me. Without this problem, I would have finished this book in half of the time.
My high hopes for this book were dashed early on. I’m surprised since I enjoyed the other books in the series. I hope the next book is an improvement over this. If not, I’ll be done with the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and BookSirens for this advanced reader copy. My opinions are my own.

When I first read the premise of "One Wedding and an Earl" in the synopsis, I was more than excited to get my hands on this book. It did somewhat lived up to my expectations albeit some dull moments for me. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Necessity and Ollie's love story. Their attraction to each other was undeniable from the start and we were able to feel it every single time. I definitely need to read more of this author's historical romance in the near future.

This book is a standalone in a larger series. It can be read without the other books but it is, IMO, enhanced by reading the prior books. Keep that in mind when reading my review and others. If you have the other books with other characters, you understand the dynamics a bit more.

But, my focus in on One Wedding and an Earl. We met poor, sad earl Oliver Aspinwall, Earl of Stanford in prior books. He may be an earl but his dad was nothing short of terrible. So bad that Ollie chose to go to war to escape him. Ollie returns home, alone, addicted to alcohol and opium. We hear about his struggles in another book but get a little more information about it in this book. We don't dig into the war too deeply and bring up all the war wounds like other authors might do for which I am thankful. I don't think it would have worked in this book. It would have felt forced. Ollie is also physically scarred from an incident in the book right before this one. (again why it's a good idea to read the previous books, wink) Ollie dabbles in astronomy and loves observing the heavens.

Also alone is Necessity Byrne of the Shoreditch Byrnes. Orphaned when her entire family died of cholera at the age of twelve, Necessity describes herself as a "feisty rookery girl who'd had the choice to become a thief, a light-skirt, or a gardener. And [she chose] the dirt." She makes no apologies for who she is. We also met her in an earlier book (are you seeing now why you should just read them all?! you won't regret it) when she (poorly) disguised herself as a male gardener.

Because Necessity is a gardener, and a very good one at that, a meddling friend hires Necessity to repair Ollie's dead and overgrown gardens. But the meddler also intends for Necessity to repair Ollie, seeing that Necessity left quite an impression on them when they first met. I don't think the intention is for love or marriage but to just bring Ollie back to life and flowering again. So it is not by accident that Necessity, who can grow plants in hard conditions and bring beauty back to things feared dead and lost, can see beyond the drab, dormant surface of Ollie and has the patience to wait for a bloom. At the same time, once she and Ollie begin their "friends with benefits" deal, she often reminds herself that there can be nothing more between the two of them bc she is a nobody, no one, not of the ton. She can see the beauty and potential in all but herself. 

Often as I read this, Nessie's character felt like what we see more often in MMC who are constantly denying their feelings and being slightly terrible to push the FMC away. Nessie and Ollie bicker quite a bit and to the reader, we understand the other's words/intentions, but often Nessie doesn't. She hears what she wants from Ollie and denies what she wants to listen to the voice that tells her she cannot (which is funny considering her entire life and success is due to her ignoring that voice). They are not the best at communicating with each other but it feels SO REAL like a new couple who are learning each other and each so afraid to be the first to let down their wall. They are broken, lonely people, carrying different emotional scars. They are learning to trust again and in some ways, making friends with others for the first time. So it is no wonder that these two so often talk past each other, around each other, or just not at all. Often they end up fighting and then banging. Very incendiary. I give them more grace than I would other characters who have been surrounded by friends and family all their lives. These two learned together how to love and grow. 

Nessie: "I like plants because they change. I transform them."
Ollie: "I like stars because they're constant. I transform nothing."

ARC review, unbiased opinion

A wonderful, passion-filled addition to the Duchess Society series!! There is nothing about this book that one will dislike. It has it all: brooding hero, independent heroine, a cast of surrounding characters that are full of humor and love for the couple at the heart of the story. It was an absolute pleasure to read Ollie and Nessie's story. To watch them break through each other's walls and ultimately embrace their love for each other was beautiful. I am looking forward to at least 2 more Duchess Society books: Dash and Theo, and Jasper Noble. I know both will be as fantastic as all the others in this series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Wolf Publishing for this ARC, which I voluntarily read and honestly reviewed.

Tracy Sumner has such a delightful and whimsical of "titling" each of her chapters that I am instantly charmed and drawn into the novel and looking forward to what will unfold in that section. One Wedding and an Earl is the forth book in The Duchess Society series and it is a sexy and fun edition full of delicious tropes! This novel features a class difference between an Earl and a Landscaper, it is insta love in all its sensuality, has a scarred hero, has a hero who seems to fall first and features both holding onto a trinket of the others (swoon)! Sumner's writing is easily accessible and has a lightness to it, the pacing of this novel works well and makes this a quick and pleasant read.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between the hero and heroine, they did cross path a few years back and now that she has been hired to re-landscape his property (by his brother), these two fall a little into a bantering battle of wits. They both are extremely attracted to each other, and they orbit the other, until one night they collide and a passionate kiss rocks both their worlds. These two swiftly come to an understanding and enter into a sensual relationship, this novel has a level of steam that is ramped up from the past novels. It is sexy and creates this building up of emotion between these two that they might not be ready to face. Their interactions are charged and passionate, their emotions and tempers sometimes run hot, so when the third act conflict comes into play, these two must separate and reflect in order to understand what they really want and what they are willing to fight for.

This novel is fun and sexy and definitely worth the read. I really enjoy Tracy Sumner and this series and can't wait to see what happens next!