Review: Nice Earls Do (Goode's Guide to Misconduct #0.5) by Susanna Craig

    


Print Length: 91 pages
Publisher:  Zebra (December 27, 2022)

From Goodreads.com: To readers of her popular magazine, Goode’s Guide to Misconduct, “Mrs. Goode” is an expert in all domestic matters. Household management, home décor, entertainment... there is nothing about which she lacks an opinion. Who better to assist the Earl of Bennett, newly appointed guardian to his niece and nephew, in turning his house into a home?

The widowed Lady Manwaring is the farthest thing from a domestic doyenne, so when asked to pose as Mrs. Goode on behalf of the book’s true author, she warily agrees. On arrival, she’s surprised to discover that Lord Bennett is actually her childhood friend, Kit Killigrew. Tabetha might be an imposter, but her attraction to Kit is all too real...

After years separated from the woman of his dreams, Kit’s eager to do more than play house. Will Tabetha’s big reveal ruin everything, or lay the foundation for true love?

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My Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

I have to give this author credit. Starting off their new series with a prequel novella takes guts. In my experience, these types of novels typically come later on once a series is developed. 

Sadly, there is a reason they are often done this way and it (in my humble opinion) is because novellas rarely give the reader what they need in terms of story and character development. Take this novel for instance, Kit and Tabetha were childhood friends who may have at one point fancied each other. We don't know for sure because we are given no real backstory showing where they may have fallen in love when they were younger (although we are told that they did). We aren't even sure of the details surrounding her marriage other than she was "unhappy" and she had to "protect her step-son" (and given the fact he is old enough in this novel to pass as her lover and is the one to act upon certain things  makes me wonder just what she was protecting him from). 

I will say that I enjoyed Kit and Tabetha together, I just wish there had been more depth to this novel (or at least a bit of drama, or some potential problem for them to overcome). Oliver was the real star of the show, and (for me at least) the most interesting. I hope we get to see more of him as the series progresses. 

Speaking on the series, I am interested in reading at least the first one when it releases as I have read other novels by this author and enjoyed them immensely. She has a strong writing style and a solid concept in her characters, overall plots, but as I said, this one just needed to be longer in order for it to really work for me. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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                                             Nice Earls Do is available on Amazon.com
                                          
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