No Earls Allowed

Starred review from January 22, 2018
Galen’s second Survivors Regency (after Third Son’s a Charm) has phenomenal protagonists—a former soldier haunted by those he was unable to save, and an earl’s daughter who has left the trappings of nobility behind to care for those less fortunate—who will win readers’ hearts. Lady Juliana, daughter of the Earl of St. Maur, runs a London orphanage, the Sunnybrooke Home for Boys. She finds it difficult to keep the boys well provided for after the cook leaves, so she tries to care for them herself. Juliana’s father is worried for her safety and sends Neil Wraxall, the bastard son of the Marquess of Kensington, to try to get her to leave the orphanage. Instead, Neil, a former soldier, ends up staying and helping to teach the boys to cook, arranging for repairs on the building, and protecting Juliana from Slag, a local crime lord. Amid the chaos of the boys’ antics, Juliana begins to admire handsome and caring Neil, and he is drawn to her beauty and selflessness. Passionate romantic interludes and the marvelous hero and heroine will put this on many keeper shelves. Agent: Joanna MacKenzie, Nelson Literary.