Reviews

Meet the Earl at Midnight by Gina Conkle

becbec624's review

3.0

Meet the Earl at Midnight tells the story of Lydia and Lord Edward. Lydia was sold to Lord Edward in exchange for her families debt to be settled. Lord Edward usually does not go out into society, but is determined to gain a wife and an heir before he leaves the country to study science.
From the beginning of the book it is clear that Lydia is more interesting and not as passive as other women Lord Edward may have met before. This creates a fun and interesting dynamic between the two. I really enjoyed the fact that Lydia does not stand down on doing the things she loves, like painting. Lydia also pushes Edward to not live based on his history.
This was a nice historical romance to read filled with the glamor and hardships of the regency era.

jillmlong's review

1.0

This book didn't work for me. I found the story to be hard to follow. The author seemed to leave at key details. I also found the plot to be unbelievable to the time period.

ilaurin's review

4.0

I am always a sucker for the old fairy tales so this re-enacting of the beauty and the beast was quite enjoyable for me. The heroine had spunk and the hero was mostly kind and like able . It was a nice, easy read.

andrea_author's review

4.0

Forced into a marriage of convenience with the Earl of Greenwich, a reclusive botanist, artist Lydia is shocked to find a man who appreciates her talent. As passion ignites, she resolves to unveil the real man behind his beastly facade before she loses him forever.

Full of secrets and intrigue, this novel has a gothic quality. Lydia and Edward are likeable characters with a strong attraction between them. I enjoyed the audiobook narration.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

blodeuedd's review

3.0

It's not often I come across a hero like this. Half his face normal, the other side filled with scars. He does not want to go out in society, he can't get anyone to marry him.

There is our story, he needs a woman and an heir. Luckily he finds Lydia, a spinster, an artist, a woman who says what she wants. But who needs to save her family. While Edward is a scientist and now a recluse. I liked him. And I sure wanted Lydia to save him, for him to move on, for them to be happy.

Most of the book, and then I mean most takes place in his house. It really is about them getting to know each other. I liked that as when they spent so much time together I believed them falling in love.

A nice romantic tale

melanietalksbooks's review

4.0

This beauty and the beast retelling was so engaging and entertaining! We start in a dark night where the FMC was tricked by her stepfather into going to meet the MMC to give her in exchange for some debts. Chaos ensues when the FMC finds out but she agrees to the exchange so her mother will not suffer due to the debt. I really enjoyed this book, it went by so quickly and the narrator did a fantastic job in making you feel immersed. I was on the edge of my seat for half of the book wondering where it would go next. Sure, it is a little predictable which is why I docked it one star but the journey was delightful.

Tropes: Arranged marriage, rivals to lovers, and forced proximity.

Thank you NetGalley, Gina Conkle, and Dreamscape Select for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

thisboricuareader's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.0

A Historical Beauty and the Beast retelling. 

Thought it was a cute Beauty and the Beast retelling. I loved the way the whole story played out and liked the narrator. It was very cute. 

Thank you NetGalley for the audio-arc version of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

herzundseeleleserin's review

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

woolyllamareads's review

lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

difficultwomanreads's review

emotional lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

2.25/5. (Re)releases 10/6/23. This is a review of the audiobook, narrated by Marian Hussey.

Vibes: Beauty and the Beast, nerdy hero, a surprisingly experienced heroine, forced marriage.

When Lydia is taken to meet the reclusive Earl of Greenwich, Edward, she doesn't understand that her stepfather and brother have put themselves in debt to the earl. The only payment he wants? A wife to give him an heir. Although she doesn't intend to go through with the marriage, Lydia accompanies the earl to his estate, where she quickly discovers that there is much more to him--and his plan for the future--than meet the eye. If she marries him, he plans on giving her relative freedom within a short amount of time; but once she actually gets to know Edward as a person, will she want it?

Here's the thing. Gina Conkle is a solid writer, I love Beauty and the Beast, there are some unique takes on the character beats here, and the leads have chemistry. So why didn't this work for me?

Well--pacing is everything.

Quick Takes:

--I want to point out the things I found unique about this book, which was originally published nearly a decade ago. Lydia is a fun, confident heroine who isn't a rebellious renegade type, but also isn't at all missish. She's not a virgin, and there isn't some particularly tragic backstory to all that. She just wanted to get with a guy and he turned out to be a douchebag. But she had fun before that! She's described as a "hoyden" a little too often, and at times she can be a bit too perky, but overall, I found her likable and I appreciated that she wasn't just this sweet girl who existed purely to soothe Edward's tormented soul.

And despite Edward being one of those heroes who has this super beautiful one side of his face and a super scarred other side, he kind of defies a lot of the stereotypes there. Yes, he avoids society; but he's not nearly as tortured about the scars as you would expect, and a lot of his character arc revolves around him being like. Obsessed with plants. And worms. Did this always work for me? Uh, well, no, but I appreciated the creativity.

--Edward and Lydia do have chemistry, and there is an immediate sexual tension between them that is boosted by the fact that she knows what sex is and does in fact like it. She's not afraid of her own sexuality, or his for that matter, and that was a really nice change of pace.  And like I said, the writing is good, which makes it easy to get engaged from the start. The issue is that the early engagement and momentum is totally lost, because...

--The pacing of this book is really off, and I have to think that a different editorial hand would have perhaps tightened it up. I was kind of shocked when I realized how little had happened at the 50% mark, because you really do begin so strongly. I was excited about the beginning. Like, I thought these two were going to GET DOWN to the business pretty quickly, based off the immediate sparks and innuendo.

What begins the slowdown is the fact that Lydia tells Edward she's not a virgin, which he isn't super bad about, the bar is underground, but... He does insist that they wait a month before getting married in order for him to ensure that she's not carrying another man's child. Which is not an unheard of trope in historicals, I've seen it before. 

However, here it doesn't make sense for a couple reasons. For one thing, when the book begins Edward is going to basically dip for a long journey in three months, and the journey is long and dangerous and family trauma and so on, and as such he wants to basically leave a wife behind, pregnant with his heir. Already, this is kind of a flimsy plan because, as the book acknowledges, that is not a lot of time to get someone pregnant. Also, it might not even be a boy. Hell, it might not even be born alive. But whatever, I can wave that away.

But if the need for an heir--which is more about satisfying familial legacy obligations than Edward's own personal desires for an heir--is so great, and he is willing to have Lydia stay at his estate for the month prior to the marriage anyway... Why not just go ahead. Does the child have to be HIS? I mean, who could really prove anything? Additionally, why does he have to wait a month? Just wait until her next period, which will probably come sooner. (This is a tactic used to great effect in Elizabeth Lowell's Untamed, where the hero is like ready to GO as soon as she's had her period, and if that worked for Medieval Times McGee, I don't know why it couldn't work for Georgian Botanist Earl.) I mean, it's not foolproof, but it's pretty good and will give you some extra time to try. Sort of. Not really sure how that lines up with fertile windows, but honestly! I don't think local Georgian Botanist Earl does either!

--And after this one big obstacle to our leads at least knowing each other carnally (I mean, I'm not saying they have to be IN LOVE early in the story, but at least getting somewhere) occurs, there are then a million little broken moments. Oops, his mom walked. Whoops, here's his housekeeper. Oh no, here's an Issue. It just killed the excitement I had and made me really, really frustrated.

I'm all for obstacles to lovers being together, but this felt like obstacles to basic progress, and that just hurts a romance, always.

--To be clear, I would say that if you love love love a slow burn, this may work for you. I found the degree of slow burn contrived. However, I won't deny that the sexual tension in this novel was well done, and those who throw down for a slow burn above all else may really like this. I'll admit: if I'd known how slowly this burned ahead of time, I wouldn't have requested it, because slow burns are pretty hit or miss for me and prolonged slow burns often don't work for me at all.

--That said, on an audiobook note, Marian Hussey is a very good narrator. I've heard her narrate books before, and she does a very good job of differentiating male voices in a pleasing way--voicing the opposite gender well is always tough, so I appreciate that.

The Sex:

There is one sex scene. It's solid, but it is very late in the story, and you don't really have much physical buildup to it. Furthermore, because this sex scene happens so late in the story and so much hinges on these two consummating the relationship, you then have a total rush to the finish line of the entire romance arc, physicality aside.

Ultimately, I just felt like this was a great start that totally wasted its own potential. Which kind of annoyed me more than a book that was bad from the start would. I'm not against trying other works by Gina Conkle because she clearly has the ability to write romance, but I do think I'll need to read some reviews first to ensure that the pacing quickens.

Thanks to Netgalley and NYLA for providing me with this audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.