Review: Lusting for the Broken Earl

Lusting for the Broken Earl by Olivia Bennet
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Unfortunately, "Lusting for the Broken Earl" was not one of Olivia Bennet's better books. I think the only good thing I can say about it is that it was an improvement on her previous book, but only because I was actually able to finish it. I wouldn't say that it was particularly well-written or memorable, but at least the plot (mostly) made sense and the main characters didn't consistently come across as TSTL.

My biggest complaint about this book is that the vast majority of it was filler that had nothing to do with advancing the plot, mainly in the form of needless description and exposition. Examples include multiple lengthy descriptions of the characters' homes, their clothing, and getting dressed for various social events. The characters also seemed to have variations on the exact same conversations over and over again, which was very repetitious. All of this combined to make the story drag, and frankly the first half of the book was pretty boring as a result.

Also, the central relationship between main characters Allan and Esther was not developed well at all IMO, which made this book very disappointing as a romance. Personally, I do not find it to be very romantic when the "hero" hasn't even settled on which woman he wants to court by the time the book is halfway over, and that is exactly what happened here as Allan was still agonizing between Esther and another woman from his past. Further, there was basically zero relationship development between Allan and Esther. It seemed like one minute Esther was refusing to even consider Allan as a potential husband because he might be "damaged" from the war, but then the next minute she was telling her sisters that she was head over heels in love with him. I could not figure out how she could possibly have fallen in love with him so quickly, especially when they had only met on three or four occasions and shared about 15 minutes of conversation in total.

In addition, it may be a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things, but I was incredibly bothered by all of the times servants announced people as they walked into rooms. Yes, there would have been some announcing during that time period, but I would think it was more of a convention when one first arrived at a social event like a ball or dinner party, not just upon entering a room at home or visiting family. However, at one point in this book, Allan's cousin Edward walks out of the drawing room in his own home and literally says that he'll be right back. When he returns about two minutes later, the footman announces him to the other family members who had remained behind. Why on earth would that have been necessary? It all seemed so ridiculous and excessive to me. Perhaps it was just another example of the filler I noted earlier in my review.

Overall, there was so much unnecessary filler and repetition in this story that it could have been shortened into a novella and still told the exact same story. It still may have been kind of boring with such a lackluster "romance" at the center of it, but at least it would have been a lot less frustrating to read.

*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

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