I read an Advance Reader Copy of this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This is a well-written story that held my interest throughout. This book features a grumpy hero with a shy, strong heroine. I liked this read and will read for from this author.

#DefyingtheEarl #LordsinLove #EricaRidley #historicalromance #romance #Netgalley

This was a very cute read by Erica Ridley. Titus might be my favorite hero from all her books. It was adorable how he discarded all his rules for Matilda. I enjoyed watching them become friends and getting into a nice routine every day

Matilda Dodd is the epitome of sunshine. Matilda dreams of travel and adventure. She is also an orphan who will be free of her guardian in 3 weeks. However, she is handed to her guardian's godson for the remaining three weeks to introduce Matilda to eligible men of the Ton. This will never work. He is the opposite of Matilda in every way.

Titus Noble, the Earl of Gilbourne is not happy to be burdened with a ward. Not only will he have to house her and ferry her around London, he has to travel to Marrywell in the middle of the matchmaking festival. When he accidentally kisses a lovely young lady, he learns this lady is Matilda, his new ward!

How will Titus recover? Will he be able to keep his hands off Matilda? Will Matilda be able to make Titus see how wonderful and kind he really is in only 3 weeks?

This is a lovely story but it could have done with a little more angst and a little slowing down. However, the characters are wonderful and flawed in their own way. Seeing them open up to each other was truly wonderful. I can't wait to keep reading this series. I love Marrywell!

Ohmygosh, this book was so cute and sweet with just the right amount of sexy hotness in it--I literally felt my heart smiling like a lunatic when I got to the declaration and epilogue. I mean, seriously. I read the blurb and thought, "Oh, that sounds cute!" but then I started reading and it just. Blew. Me. Away. There is so much more to this book and its characters than the blurb even hints at!

Like Titus. Titus just might be the book boyfriend who ruins me for all other book boyfriends. He's so grumpy and so stern, but everyone who actually knows him (and he makes sure that number of people is very, very small) knows that's all a front. He's hiding an unbelievable amount of pain and guilt, but even with all of that he's indescribably loyal and thoughtful towards the people he cares about. And after about 3.5 seconds in her presence, Mildred is one of those people.

And Mildred! She is absolutely sunshine in a adorable, (rightly) spider-fearing package. I loved that she didn't take what Titus said or how he appeared at face value but looked deeper, figuring out what was really going on inside. Other than misjudging how he really thought about her, she never accepted what other people thought about him--what he wanted them to believe--as truth. At the same time, though, she 100% understood his real limits and never tried to push him beyond them if it wasn't going to turn out to be good for him in the end.

Even though we were only at the matchmaking festival for about a hot minute this time, I'm not at all sorry for the change of location. I mean, Titus has his own library... ;)

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

From matchmaking in Romancing the Heiress, we now go to the complete opposite: Miss Matilda can't wait to be own her own. Only one more month until she reaches her majority age. meaning She will inherit her parents' money and she will be able to live her life as she sees fit. The last month, however, she will remain under the tutelage of Titus Noble, the Earl of Gilbourne. He is notorious for his demands on property and a stickler for rules. Everything Matilda is not. So before she is expected to meet her new guardian, she sneaks out and kisses a stranger. Unfortunately this turns out to be Titus! Determined to find out why the rigid and strict Titus would kiss a total stranger, but not let matilda out of his sight, Matilda tries to let Titus show his real colors. But there is more to Titus than meets the eye! As always Erica shows us a wonderful story with real life characters and with unexpected twists and turns. Four out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

Two people cope with tragedy in different ways. As a child, Titus lost his family in a carriage accident. He remains scarred inside and out. Keeping himself away from forming any relationships, not wanting to lose anyone else. Matilda lost both parents a year ago, but she is determined to look at the bright side of her situation. She wants to experience everything life has to offer and make friends. They meet when their shared godmother asks Titus to be Matilda's guardian for the three weeks until her 21st birthday. Titus wants to find her a husband, Matilda wants the freedom to do as she pleases. There's a Beauty and the Beast vibe with some Mean Girls thrown in. His grumpy personality changes as he wants her to be happy. The guardian/ward romance trope is a little iffy for me but this was overall a sweet story.

This was both good and not good:). I very much liked the leads on their own. I always feel uncomfortable with the ward guardian trope however.

✔️ Guardian/Ward
✔️ Closed Off from Love
✔️ Grumpy/Sunshine

It's been a while since I've read a book with the Guardian/Ward trope. This book was on the tamer end (the age gap between the characters was not that big).

While I like Erica Ridley's writing, Defying the Earl leaned a little too cheesy for my personal taste. The plot, dialogue, and character development were fine but didn't offer anything particularly new or surprising. I'd give this one a 3⭐️.

Steam 🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕

This book was enjoyable for me because of what it DIDN'T contain. There were no kidnappings or supervillains that threatened the main characters. Instead, there was a beautiful Cinderella-like country miss who becomes the ward of the reclusive Earl of Gladbourne, who would rather poke out his eyes than attend ton events. His goal is to see his ward wed to someone as soon as possible so he can retreat back to his mansion and government duties that have sheltered him from society for years. At times, the narrative was touching and made it one of the stories that I wish was longer. The only annoying part (for lack of a better word) is that the hero had determined that he would never marry, was unworthy of love, etc. This theme seems to be overdone in many historical romances.

**I also sent this review to Amazon but received this message: Thank you for submitting a customer review on Amazon. After carefully reviewing your submission, your review could not be posted to the website. It appears your content did not comply with our guidelines.
This is not the first time this has happened without explanation of which 'guideline' was violated.

From their first delightful meeting behind a potted plant (honestly, potted plants are doing a lot of hard work in histroms, and I for one applaud them), Titus and Matilda's story was a delight to read. Ridley gives us just enough background and character development in this short novel to make it all work, and the push and pull between closed-off-to-love Titus and wonderfully-stubbon Matilda is at turns sweet, tender, and very sexy.

Erica Ridley has once again shown herself to be a sure thing for me--I know when I pick up one of her books that I'll be happily whisked away as I turn the pages.

I would like to thank netgalley and Webmotion for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this and the authors writing.

Honestly, I couldn’t follow the writing. I couldn’t get into and did not enjoy the book. The character development didn’t capture me in the beginning and the writing just didn’t flow. It seemed overly done and exaggerated at some points, I would even say juvenile and this is atypical because I typically enjoy books from Erica Ridley.

This is one of those great historical romances that is a perfect reprieve from everyday life. While both main characters have their own past trauma's, there is very little "big drama" within the plot. The story is sweet, sultry, fun. I really enjoyed it and wish it was just a bit longer. I liked that both characters were secretly very into each other. Written as a true romance. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book finally got out of a months long book slump. This book was the first in a while that I did not want to put down.
Titus is haunted by the deaths of his entire family when he was a child and has vowed to remain alone so he can't experience another loss like that again.
Matilda also lost her parents tragically and is alone in the world with Titus taking over as her guardian.
Titus is going to marry Matilda off as fast as possible no matter his attraction to her.
I likes Titus and Matilda's relationship together. I usually dislike books where the only thing keeping apart out leads are themselves but I really liked the journey Titus took.

Emotionally thrilling, action packed and engaging adventure filled with exciting charters, witty dialog, heart racing twists and undeniable passion. Was a great read from beginning to end. Highly entertaining!!!

Defying the Earl is a perfect case of opposites attract. Titus Noble, the Earl of Gilbourne, is rigid and uptight. He has no interest in society and he leaves his home only to attend the House of Lords, where he's famous for his speeches. When his godmother Lady Stapleton asks him to take her niece as his ward until she turns 21 in three weeks, he reluctantly travels to a ball. He ends up kissing a lovely young woman, and then learns that she is his new ward.

Matilda Dodd is a free spirit and the exact opposite of Titus. She enjoyed their kiss, but he's determined to have her out of his life in three weeks. She has big plans for her life once she comes into her inheritance, but she's also seriously attracted to Titus.

This is such a lovely romance. Titus and Matilda both have trauma in their past, but they handle it in very different ways. Titus's trauma has left him with physical and emotional scars, and he has turned inward, leading a very constrained, scheduled life. Despite grieving the recent death of her parents, Matilda is open and ready for new adventures, even when life has knocked her down a bit.

Titus is a great hero. I love it when a stuffy aristocrat meets a free spirit and lets down his hair. He's also charmingly protective of Matilda, making sure there are no spiders near her (she's terrified of them) and cutting down down a mean girl who's vicious to her.

This one is a quick read (longer than a novella, but shorter than most romance novels), and it's just the perfect length for a sweet romance.

This is the fourth book of the Lords in Love series. The story centers around the recurring theme of the Marrywell festival, however, can certainly be read as a standalone. Matilda has suffered the loss of both her parents. She is just now coming out of mourning and approaching her 21st birthday and is looking forward to living an independent life with her inheritance, and not become any man's property. She is not thrilled withe the idea of having a guardian, but is determined to make the best of it. Titus is a grumpy, scarred man. He knows all too well the pain of losing your family. He carries that pain and guilt with him and deals with it by pushing everyone away and becoming cold and unapproachable. When he finds out he is now guardian to Matilda, he is suprised to say the least. He lives his life on a schedule and with predictability and is not looking forward to being responsible for his ward, who he comes to believe is unruly and needs to be controlled. He is ready to marry her off the first chance he gets. But when he meets her and gets to know her, he is undeniably drawn to her, but doesn't believe he deserves love because of his past guilt that continues to haunt him.
This was a lovely story that kept me engaged from start to finish. I enjoyed the grumpy/sunshine trope and became invested in the story. Matilda is the light to Titus' darkness and gloominess, and I felt they complemented each other well. Both characters were well-developed and I couldn't help but fall in love with them. A very charming story that I am glad to have had the opportunity to read!
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

I really liked this one! Matilda was a fun character to read from, I loved her antics. I also liked Titus. Having both POVs really helped this one, as both characters were given a bit more personality. I did feel like the romance moved a bit fast, but considering this one was so short, it was unavoidable. I'd recommend it!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

Such a fun read that is filled with some humor but much emotion as both Titus and Matilda have dealt with losing their family at a young age but in different ways. Titus closes himself off to others and Matilda is trying to find her place in the world.

It was interesting to watch the two of them interact and see Titus come out of his self imposed prison for a bit. Matilda was hilarious at times but also a very down to earth person.

I would have loved to smacked those bullies and so glad that at the end, Matilda stood up for herself and loved that Titus was always trying to defend her against getting hurt.

Great HEA and loved the ending!

Four words: Don't Put it Down! This is one of my favorite books by Erica Ridley. It's just lovely, engaging, and steamy. 10/10. One of the best historical romances, I read in awhile. If you're a fan of Eloisa James, Erica Ridley is up there with her.

The best book for all your lazy days, book days, and just need-to-read days!

I just reviewed Defying the Earl by Erica Ridley. #LordsInLove #NetGalley
[https://www.netgalley.com/member/book/287198/review]