I Kissed An Earl: Pennyroyal Green Series [Mass Market Paperback]

You don't need to have read the other books in the Pennyroyal Green series to enjoy I Kissed An Earl, but I recommend that you do so because you'll appreciate Violet Redmond (our heroine) and her story a little more. She's a livewire, is our Violet! I wondered how Ms. Long was going to give Violet a hero to match her but she did it- so Bravo Julie Anne Long!

Without going too much into the plot, here is the gist of it:
Beautiful, rich, bored and adored Violet comes across some information she believes will lead her to her missing older brother, Lyon, who may or may not be the brutal pirate Le Chat. Beautiful, not-so-rich, hard-as-nails ship Captain Asher Flint lost a close friend at the hands of Le Chat, and Flint wants justice for this friend. Too, Flint will have everything he's ever dreamed of (an earldom!) if he can catch this Le Chat, who is sinking merchant vessels left and right. Violet stows away on Flint's ship in an attempt to find her brother. She is discovered. They make a deal to track down Le Chat together (though the sense of this, from Violet's stance, is a bit skewed since if Le Chat is her brother and they catch him, he would hang. So... there's that.) Emotional mayhem, deliciously drawn out lusting, thwarted desire and very funny banter ensue. (I'd like to say again that it really is very funny at times- I love a romance author who can make me laugh with her characters!).

These two definitely do not want to fall for each other, and they certainly (in the context of a romance novel, at any rate) take their time doing so. I liked that it took some time for their attraction and respect to grow. They each had some emotional maturing to go through and I enjoyed watching them grow and try to fight their feelings and ultimately become better and stronger for knowing one another. Sometimes in romances the hero is the only one who has to learn how to love, and the heroine practically has a halo because she is so good already. This isn't one of those; and I actually prefer stories where both characters learn from each other and make mistakes, like in this story.

Yes, Violet's rashness may rankle some readers (stowing away on a ship?? rushing out on deck during a vicious storm at sea??), and I already mentioned the questionable wisdom about assisting someone who is trying to arrest a beloved brother. But Violet makes up for it as she comes to better understand herself and the world around her and she is not a complete nitwit. She's an interesting character, and it is a relief to not be bored by her. Flint's an interesting character, too- his tough, unsentimental exterior masks a tender heart and a surprising sensitivity and perceptiveness (plus, he doesn't let Violet get away with anything!); and I just love a hero with a hero complex! Always rescuing friends from Turkish prisons and lovers from rogue waves and wounded puppies (ok, no wounded puppies were rescued- but I betcha he would have had there been some!) He just wants to be loved and he's never had a family and he's so handsome and he just wants Violet so much (mmm, yummy sexual chemistry between them)... you really root for the guy!

I thoroughly enjoyed Julie Anne Long's writing style. Truly she is gifted at scripting the kind of moments where you just sigh with the romance of it all! Very touching and poignant and her characters and stories are really lovely and entertaining. For some reason there were some editing issues with this book- syntactical errors, double possessive noun insertions, that kind of thing. Overlook these and take an afternoon to sit and devour this book. I heartily recommend I Kissed An Earl!

This book was a thorough delight. The writing is top-notch, the plot interesting and fun to read, the characters appealing and well-developed, and the romance grows just the way love is supposed to, slowly and oh-so-romantically. I've been having trouble lately finding romances that appeal to me, because, although I'm no prude, I'm not satisfied with the immediate lust and sex that many books have, where it's hard to see how that lust will ever develop into love. Not so with this book. There's not even an immediate attraction between H and H. So you watch them slowly grow to like and respect each other, admire and trust each other, and, yes, to lust after each other. The love is so easy to see and feel developing.

The plot is fun and may be my favorite Julie Anne Long book ever, even better than her first ones published by Warner. (Avon now publishes her books.) Hero Captain Flint of the ship "The Fortuna" is of dubious parentage, definitely not blue-blooded, but he has recently been granted the title Earl of Ardmay by King George IV, the fortune involved with this being contingent upon his capture of the pirate Le Chat of the ship "The Olivia", who has been wreaking havoc on English ships in the past year. Captain Flint's ship has put into port near London and when attending a ball, he meets heroine Violet Redmond. Through conversations and eavesdropping, Violet begins to suspect that the pirate Le Chat may very well be her brother Lyon, who disappeared over a year ago. (If you've been following the Pennyroyal Green series with the families Redmond and Eversea, this fact of his disappearance will be familiar to you.) So Violet stows away aboard Flint's ship when he sets sail to capture the pirate Le Chat. She, of course believing her brother cannot be a thieving and murdering pirate, wants to somehow prove his innocence.

From there the adventures ensue. It's a funny, exciting, romantic, sexy tale. Wait till you get to the Potato Incident. Who knew peeling potatoes could be so sexy? I'll say no more. Just read the book. I think it's great.

This was a great story. I have been intriqued by Violet since the beginning of the series and have always wondered who she would end it with. Asher was perfect for her and a great character as well. He wasn't really likable at first but he grows on you, as do the side characters. What grew on my nerves was the HORRIBLE editing. I expect a few errors in all books, but this were ridiculous and at times, I almost threw the book down in frustration. Who are these people to release a book no one obviously edited first? I had to re-read several sentences to try to figure out what was supposed to be said or meant. There was misplaced words, misspelled words, punctuation missing, punctuation in the wrong place, the wrong character mentioned, etc. It was really bad; example 'He didn't even his drum his fingers.' That's only one example of several.
The story is great but the errors are bad. I don't recall the other three having them so I don't understand what happened here. So if you are someone who can overlook editing errors, this is a great story to read. If you are not, then, well, don't waste your time because it is frustrating.

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