ONE NIGHT WITH AN EARL by Jennifer Haymore

PUBLISHER: Forever Yours, 4/1/2014
GENRE: Historical Romance
FORMAT: E-book only
SETTING: England, 1812 or 13
SERIES: House of Trent, # 2.5
MY GRADE: A-

SYNOPSIS: Beatrice Reece, Lady Fenwick, has retired from polite society. Everyone knows her late husband treated her abominably, and she simply cannot bear the whispers of the ton. But it's the night of London's premier masquerade ball—and Beatrice's one chance to revel in anonymity. She hopes no one will recognize her beneath her mask, not even the sinfully sexy stranger across the room who holds her captive in his gaze. Andrew Sinclair would know beautiful Beatrice anywhere from the gentle sway of her hips, the richness of her hair and the lushness of her body. When he asks her to dance, the attraction is instant and all-consuming. The only woman he's ever truly wanted is finally in his arms. But when the clock strikes twelve, will this one reckless night fade into the morning light?

MY THOUGHTS: This was pretty good but being a 129 page novella, it was too short and rushed. The heroine, brown haired and brown-eyed Bea, has been widowed for two years and is living with her over the top domineering parents. Her husband was abusive but how so, we weren't told. For some reason she's been shunned by most people since his death.

The hero, blue-eyed Drew, has been attracted to Bea since before she married. He recognized her at the masquerade party even though everyone was wearing an eye mask. They chatted and she was instantly attracted to him, not recognizing him at all. Things took a sexual turn real quick then got dramatic when his identity was revealed.

The sex scene was graphic and I liked that. I like both characters but we didn't get any background info on Drew and just a little on Bea. I wanted to know more about her abusive marriage and all she endured.

The things that bothered me were: Three days later they declared their love for each other, which was way too soon. More time should have lapsed between when they last saw each other and when they were reunited, like months, not three days. Their ages weren't given nor was it stated how long she was married. All we know is they knew each other when she married at seventeen. The year wasn't given but I know this story is wedged in between books two and three, which took place in 1812/13. Since they met at a masquerade party I think Bea should have been wearing a mask on the cover.

I received a print ARC from the publisher in 2014 in exchange for an honest review.