Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Blog Tour: The Countess's Groom by Emily Larkin (e-novella) (Review + Giveaway)


Love Saves the World welcomes Emily Larkin, who is currently on tour for her e-novella, The Countess's Groom, published by Flirt, an imprint of Entangled Publishing.

Emily is offering a tour wide giveaway for a $15 Amazon gift card via Rafflecopter. Emily will be stopping by the following blogs on her tour:

9/9 - The Rookie Romance Blog
9/10 - Love Saves the World
9/12 - Novel Reflections
9/13 - Adria’s Romance Reviews
9/16 - Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance
9/18 - What I’m Reading

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About the book --

Title: The Countess’s Groom
Author: Emily Larkin
Genre: Historical Romance
Length: 65 pages
Release Date: August 26, 2013
Imprint: Entangled Flirt
ISBN: 978-1-62266-222-7

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18308603-the-countess-s-groom


Blurb:

Rose, the Countess Malmstoke, is trapped in a marriage from hell. Escape seems impossible --until her horse groom Will Fenmore offers to help her find a way out.

Will has loved Rose since she was brought to Creed Hall as a new bride, but their relationship has only ever been that of mistress and servant. Born worlds apart, Will knows he could never be her husband, but maybe he can be her salvation.

As they plan her escape to the American colonies, Rose learns to trust Will with her life and her heart, but trusting him with her body is another matter. Can she conquer her fear of the marriage bed? Is the future she dreams of -- being Will’s wife -- possible?

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My Review --

Will Fenmore works as a groom at Creed Hall and serves Rose Quayle, the Countess of Malmstoke. Rose is a young lady married off to the abusive Earl of Malmstoke, Henry Quayle.

The staff of Creed Hall are all silent witnesses to Rose's suffering -- all of them afraid to speak up and defend their mistress for fear of losing their jobs. As the countess's groom, Will sees Rose at her most unguarded and he wishes he could do more for his mistress than assist her in her daily rides.

Rose's family needed Henry Quayle's money and title and one would think Rose is fortunate to marry someone willing to overlook her lack of dowry, but marriage to Henry is even more hellish than poverty, and Rose has no choice. For her husband, a woman married is little more than her husband's possession and ought to stay where he puts her, and Rose almost believes this because of Henry's constant beating and abuse. But a spark of bravery awakens within Rose when Will steps in to help her and, when the opportunity arises, she and Will devise a daring escape from Creed Hall.

Will has loved Rose since her arrival at Creed Hall but believed himself to be helpless against his master. It was very brave and heroic of Will to finally speak up and offer his help to Rose. He did so at the cost of his livelihood and future -- because, what kind of future and life would it have been had he allowed his mistress to be continually abused?

So he takes a leap of faith, and answers his heart's call to save her.

After what she had endured, Rose didn't think she would be capable of trusting or loving another person: her family have abandoned her, her husband -- the man who swore before God and man to honor and protect her -- hurts her, and she lives isolated from her neighbors. When Will steps up, Rose is surprised because no one has ever cared for her enough to defend her. How could she not love a man with such courage and resolve?

Emily Larkin's novella paints a very emotional portrait of the downside of "marrying up." Her hero might not be of noble birth but possess an innate sense of honor and loyalty -- and, literally, saves the heroine from her horrible life. Rose's transformation from scared mouse to fearless heroine was very gratifying. I thought Larkin plotted out her novella very well and I was intrigued with Will and Rose's plan and kept reading to see how it would turn out. This was an engrossing novella and I'm really glad to have read it.

The Countess's Groom is the prequel to Emily Larkin's The Spinster's Secret.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes. Many thanks to Emily Larkin and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity. Yes, this is an honest review.

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About the author --

Emily grew up in a house full of words and books -- her mother worked as a librarian and her father was a novelist – so perhaps it’s not surprising that she became a writer.

She loves to travel and has lived in Sweden, backpacked in Europe, and journeyed overland in the Middle East, China, North Africa, and North America. She enjoys climbing hills, yoga workouts, and watching reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.

Emily writes fantasy novels (with strong elements of romance) as Emily Gee, and regency romance novels as Emily Larkin.

Author Website: www.emilylarkin.com
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6943048.Emily_Larkin

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One lucky winner will receive a $15 Amazon gift card! Open internationally. Giveaway ends 9/20/13.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Emily will be stopping by the following blogs on her tour:

9/9 - The Rookie Romance Blog
9/10 - Love Saves the World
9/12 - Novel Reflections
9/13 - Adria’s Romance Reviews
9/16 - Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance
9/18 - What I’m Reading

For more information about Emily's blog tour, click here.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for being part of my blog tour, Tin! I'm glad you enjoyed The Countess's Groom so much!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, Tin, you’ve done it again. What a terrific sounding book and one that I would love to read. Thanks ever so much for the “heads-up."

    ReplyDelete

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