Girls Before Earls
Series: Rogues to Lovers #1
Author: Anna Bennett
Published December 28th 2021 by St. Martin's Paperbacks

Goodreads Synopsis
WHAT A GIRL WANTS

To survive her difficult childhood, Miss Hazel Lively relied on two things:a tough outer shell and a love of books. Now, at the age of twenty-eight, she’s finally realized her life-long dream of opening a school for girls. She’s hoping that the wealthy families who flock to the shore for the summer will entrust their daughters to Bellehaven Academy―and help pay the way for less fortunate students. All Hazel must do is maintain a flawless reputation and raise a good deal of money. It’s a foolproof plan…till a sinfully handsome earl strides into her office.

WHAT AN EARL NEEDS

Gabriel Beckett, Earl of Bladenton, has had a monstrous headache since the day his teenaged niece became his ward. She’s been expelled from two London boarding schools and is doing her damnedest to scare off his potential fiancée. But Blade has a plan of his own―enroll his niece at Bellehaven Academy, where she’ll be out of town and out of his hair. He just needs to convince the buttoned-up headmistress with the soulful brown eyes to take on his niece.

LEAD TO AN IRRESISTIBLE DEAL

When Blade makes a generous offer to the school, it’s impossible for Hazel to refuse. But she has one non-negotiable condition: the earl must visit his niece every other week. Soon, Blade discovers there’s much more to Hazel than meticulous lesson plans. In moonlit seaside coves and candlelit ballrooms, their sparring leads to flirtation…and something altogether deeper. But the passion that flares between them poses a threat to Hazel’s school and Blade’s battered heart. They say a good thing can’t last forever, but true love? Well, it just might…
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

After being given a chance at a school, and thriving, Miss Hazel Lively has always dreamed of having her own school, and helping girls, both rich and poor, achieve their own goals. Opening the Bellehaven Academy was a dream, but there's few girls enrolled, and money is tight. What she needs is for a prestigious member of society to choose her school, rather than another finishing school, and when the Earl of Bladeton appears, with his wayward niece in tow, this may be her chance. Blade is coming to the end of his tether with Kitty, who's already been kicked out of two other schools, and ruining his courtship with a potential fiancee. He's hoping a distant school, in the small town of Bellehaven, will put her on the right track, but Hazel can see that all Kitty wants is love and attention following her parents deaths, so she agrees to take Kitty, but only if Blade returns every fortnight to spend time with his last surviving family member. As Kitty matures, and Blade and Hazel are thrown together, it's seems as if their own feelings are at risk, but can they weather the storm together?

I really enjoyed this book. As soon as I started it, it was clear that both of the main characters were nuanced, and had histories which made them vulnerable, and I was hooked. The characters, both good and bad, were so well written, as was the plot, that it was like seeing a film play out in front of you. The romance between Hazel and Blade was sweet, and passionate, but what I loved the most was the family aspect to the story. Blade had been burnt by love before, and hadn't spoken to his family when he learnt his brother and sister-in-law had died, and he had the guardianship of a niece he was completely unaware of. He thought he would be able to keep Kitty away from him, and marry the widow who would be perfect - not someone he could fall in love with, but someone suited to be a countess, and mother of his heir. However, meeting Hazel, and the, initially forced, time with Kitty, showed him what it was like to care for someone, and to be a part of a family, and I was so pleased with how well they all became a family unit. I hated the fiancee, and was so glad with how that plot line was dealt with - I think she might reappear in subsequent books, but for the time being, she got what she deserved. A fantastic start to a new series!

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