The Heartless Earl

By: Regina Jeffers

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

STERLING BAXTER, the Earl of Merritt, has married the woman his father has chosen for him, but the marriage has been everything but comfortable. Sterling’s wife, Lady Claire, came to the marriage bed with a wanton’s experience. She dutifully provides Merritt his heir, but within a fortnight, she deserts father and son for a baron, Lord Lyall Sutherland. In the eyes of the ton, Lady Claire has cuckolded Merritt. EBBA MAYER, longs for love and adventure. Unfortunately, she’s likely to find neither. As a squire’s daughter, Ebba holds no sway in Society; but she’s a true diamond of the first water. Yet, when she meets Merritt’s grandmother, the Dowager Countess of Merritt creates a “story” for the girl, claiming if Ebba is presented to the ton as a war widow with a small dowry, the girl will find a suitable match. LORD LYALL SUTHERLAND remains a thorn in Merritt’s side, but when the baron makes Mrs. Mayer a pawn in his crazy game of control, Merritt offers the woman his protection. However, the earl has never faced a man who holds little strength of title, but who wields great power; and he finds himself always a step behind the enigmatic baron. When someone frames Merritt for Lady Claire’s sudden disappearance, Merritt must quickly learn the baron’s secrets or face a death sentence. =========== TAYLOR JONES SAYS: In The Heartless Earl by Regina Jeffers, Ebba Mayer is a squire’s daughter in England, sure that she will never find a suitable marriage as she has no place in Regency Society. But when she meets the Earl of Merritt and his grandmother, the dowager countess suggests that she pose as a war widow with a small dowry, which will make her acceptable to the ton. The plan backfires, however, when Ebba becomes a pawn in an unscrupulous baron’s scheme for control. Now, the Earl of Merritt must find a way to protect Ebba as well as save himself when he is framed for the disappearance of his wife. Written with Jeffers’s flare for Regency romances, this one is charming, fast paced, well written, and full of surprises. A really great read. REGAN MURPHY SAYS: The Heartless Earl by Regina Jeffers is the story of Ebba Mayer, a squire’s daughter without much hope for her future, and Sterling Baxter, an earl caught in a bad marriage. After her father dies, Ebba’s brother settles a small allowance on her and pretty much sends her “off to seek her fortune.” Ebba has a small dowry, but it is not enough to ensure a suitable marriage, so she is determined to work and save her money until she has enough for a proper dowry. But on her way to London, the public coach Ebba is in has an accident and Ebba ends up in the coach of the grandmother of the Earl of Merritt, Sterling Baxter. The old woman takes a liking to her, and Ebba’s life is changed forever. Like Jeffers’s other Regency romances, The Heartless Earl is well written, fast paced, and suspense filled, with a ring of truth common to all Jeffers’s historical romances. A charming, intriguing love story, this is one you won’t want to miss.