Review and Giveaway: The Indebted Earl by Erica Vetsch

 

About:

Can Captain Wyvern keep his new marriage of convenience all business--or will it turn into something more?

Captain Charles Wyvern owes a great debt to the man who saved his life--especially since Major Richardson lost his own life in the process. The best way to honor that hero's dying wish is for Wyvern to escort the man's grieving fiancé and mother safely to a new cottage home by the sea. But along the way, he learns of another obligation that has fallen on his shoulders: his uncle has died and the captain is now the Earl of Rothwell.

When he and the ladies arrive at his new manor house in Devon, they discover an estate in need of a leader and a gaggle of girls, all wards of the former earl. War the new earl knows; young ladies and properties he does not. Still wishing to provide for the bereaved Lady Sophia Haverly, Charles proposes a marriage of convenience.

Sophie is surprised to find she isn't opposed to the idea. It will help her care for her betrothed's elderly mother, and she's already fallen in love with the wayward girls on the Rothwell estate. This alliance is a chance to repay the captain who has done so much for her care, as well as divert her attention from her grief. When Wyvern returns to his sea commission, she'll stay behind to oversee his property and wards.

It sounds so simple. Until the stalwart captain is arrested on suspicion of smuggling, and Sophie realizes how much he's come to mean to her. Now she'll have to learn to fight, not only for his freedom but also for his love.

Click here to read an excerpt.

My Thoughts:

So much to say about this story and the major one was the direction this story went with the characters. Charles is a man of the sea and he was grievously injured along with one of his men, Rich. He also experiences guilt that he lived and Rich did not especially since he blames himself for Rich's wounds.

Sophie is a young woman who has dreams of a life together with her fiancé, until the devastating news arrives that he has died. Now what is she to do? All her hopes and dreams have been broken. I felt for Sophie, a woman questioning the fairness of life and the goodness of God.

Charles and Sophie are a couple with a little bit of an age gap, Charles is a bit older than her. He is also a bit adrift due to his wound and the war being over and not having a ship to command. And then life makes him a guardian of three precocious girls and they keep him on his toes and he knows he needs help. So he and Sophie agree to a marriage of convenience to continue to care for Sophie's almost mother-in-law and and these three young ladies. I enjoyed this family of convenience that were put together not by birth or choice but by circumstances.

I also liked how Charles and Sophie "knew" each other through the letter writing that she and her fiancé did frequently. This was a true love's tale of moving on, making sacrifices, and learning to love one another and quite possibly have an amazing life and love story after all. Throw in danger and smuggling and you have a wonderful third book to a series that I have greatly enjoyed. Certainly ones for the keeper shelf.

I was provided a copy of this novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

About the Author:

Erica Vetsch is a New York Times best-selling and ACFW Carol Award–winning author. She is a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota with her husband, who she claims is both her total opposite and soul mate. 

 

Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks.

 

A self-described history geek, she has been planning her first research trip to England.

 

Learn more about Erica Vetsch and her books at www.ericavetsch.com. She can also be found on Facebook (@EricaVetschAuthor), Instagram (@EricaVetsch) and Pinterest (Erica Vetsch).

Giveaway: