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.

February 15, 2018
It is a piece-of-cake job. All Neil Wraxall must do is convince Lady Juliana to give up all of her charity work and return home to her father, the Earl of St. Maur. The earl is certain that not only is Juliana's reputation at risk the longer she works at the Sunnybrooke Home for Boys but the very location of the orphanage in London means Juliana's own safety may be in danger. But Juliana promised her late sister, Harriett, that she would take care of the orphanage no matter what. So if some scruffy, way-too-sexy-for-his-own-good ex-soldier turns up, expecting to escort her home, that's just too bad. In fact, if Neil isn't careful, Juliana just might give him a broom and put him to work. There is a fanciful, almost fairy-tale-like quality to the second installment in Galen's (Third Son's a Charm, 2017) Survivors series, and that, combined with perfectly matched protagonists and a tug-at-your-heartstrings cadre of orphans, makes it the perfect choice for fans of character-driven historical romances.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from January 15, 2018
An ex-soldier is charged with bringing an earl's daughter home from the shabby orphanage she's running but finds himself drawn to the woman and the children--and is tempted for the first time ever to ignore his mission.A former soldier in the Napoleonic War, Maj. Neil Wraxall is the illegitimate yet claimed son of the Marquess of Kensington. When Neil's father asks him to bring the daughter of the Earl St. Maur home from the orphanage she's taken over, he expects to simply drag her out of the building. However, when he arrives to find the place in chaos and Lady Juliana threatened by a local crime lord, he realizes she won't think of abandoning the dozen boys in her charge. Rolling up his sleeves literally and metaphorically, he sets out to put the place in order so she'll be willing to leave, but the more he spends time there, the more he understands she never intends to leave--and maybe he doesn't want to, either. Getting his wartime brothers in arms to help him ease the physical threat in the neighborhood does nothing to shield him from the emotional risk Lady Juliana represents, since as a bastard son and a psychologically wounded warrior, he's not the man for her. On the other hand, she is the most determined woman he's ever met, and if she decides to convince him to stay, he might reconsider. Galen (Third Son's a Charm, 2017, etc) continues her Survivors series with another compelling title that combines complicated emotional issues with humor, suspense, and blazing sexual tension while highlighting the power of empathy, conviction, and honor.Bright, funny, poignant, and entertaining--everything historical romance fans could ask for.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.