Review: Earls Trip

Jenny Holiday has written sweet romances and spicy romances and those books are always very enjoyable. So, I was intrigued when I heard she was writing a historical romance. And, friends, she can write the hell out of a historical romance, too! Earls Trip was too much fun and I enjoyed it so much. It’s out next week, April 23, so get those library holds and preorders in!

Here’s the book’s description:

Even an earl needs his ride-or-dies, and Archibald Fielding-Burton, the Earl of Harcourt, counts himself lucky to have two. Archie (the jock), Simon (the nerd), and Effie (the goth) have been BFFs since their school days, and their annual trip holds a sacred spot in their calendars. This year, Archie is especially eager to get away—until an urgent letter arrives from an old family friend, begging him to help prevent a ruinous scandal. Archie’s childhood pal Olive Morgan must be rescued from an ill-fated elopement—and her sister Clementine must be rescued from rescuing Olive. Suddenly the trip has become earls-plus-girls.
This . . . complicates matters. The fully grown Clementine, while as frank and refreshing as Archie remembers, is also different to the wild, windswept girl he knew. This Clem is complex and surprising—and adamantly opposed to marriage. Which, for reasons Archie dare not examine too closely, he finds increasingly vexing.
Then Clem makes him an indecent and quite delightful proposal, asking him to show her the pleasures of the marriage bed before she settles into spinsterhood. And what kind of gentleman would he be to refuse a lady?

I recognize that many books, TV shows, movies, etc are being created because of the “Bridgerton Effect” - that they (the powers that be who decide what to publish or create for screen) recognize there’s an appetite for stories that are as fun, frothy, and historical (ish) as the Bridgerton TV show. Earls Trip had a similar vibe as Bridgerton which I was totally into. Holiday paid attention to the historical elements she needed to but she wasn’t so strict about language or social norms. I find that authors sometimes force the language so much that it sounds…ridiculous. Holiday didn’t do that, thankfully!

I’m excited that this appears to be a series because I’m really looking forward to hanging out with all of these characters again. Holiday created a group of earls (well, two earls and a viscount) who were so delightful. I loved the ladies but the guys were the stars. Their friendship would be refreshing in a contemporary romance so to have it be the focus of a historical romance was a delight. They weren’t shy about their friendship and feelings for each other. Archie maybe mentioned that it wasn’t normal for them to be expressing those feelings a bit too often but it was nice to see how much they cared for each other, their found family. And they willingly embraced the ladies and brought them into the fold, too. Love!

Even though the main purpose of this novel was to be a fun romance, Holiday wove some more serious issues into the story as well. Some had to do with society of the time, such as how Clem (and all other women) were basically just things to be owned and ordered about by men, whether that was their father or their husband (because of course their life goal had to be marriage and marriage to a man - there was no other option). Others issues were more general and something contemporary readers can understand, such as Archie’s mother’s dementia. I felt everything was handled well and respectfully and added to the overall story in a really great way.

Earls Trip was such a fun read and I’m already missing the characters I met in Jenny Holiday’s latest novel. I can’t wait for the next book in the series and I think romance readers everywhere will also thoroughly enjoy this book!

*An egalley of this book was provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*