I was pleased when I learned that Fearne Hill would be returning to Rossingley – this time for a series of historical romances set in the early nineteenth century. To Tempt a Troubled Earl is the first of a four book set, and tells the story of how Henry Orlando Fitzwilliam Albert Duchamps-Avery, eleventh Earl of Rossingley and the ancestor of Lucien, the sixteenth earl (To Hold a Hidden Pearl) finds love again after heartcrushing loss.

Lando is still grieving the death, some three years earlier, of the man he loved. Unable to be at his bedside at the end and unable to grieve him publicly, Lando has eschewed society, preferring to remain in isolation at his country estate. His solitude on this particular evening is interrupted by an unexpected and unwanted caller who introduces himself as Christopher Angel – the nephew of the late Captain Charles Prosser. Hearing his lover’s name spoken aloud after so long is something of a shock, but Lando agrees to see the young man and his sister, Anne.

Mr. Angel is dressed soberly but cheaply, in the manner of a secretary or clerk – and Lando can’t fail to notice that he cuts a striking figure, with his dark hair and eyes, his sulky mouth and single gold earring. Lando extends a distinctly chilly welcome, and listens as Mr. Angel explains that Anne – who was Captain Prosser’s ward – has recently been forced to leave her position as a lady’s companion due to the unwelcome attentions of a so-called gentleman – who happens to be Lando’s closest neighbour – and asks for his help in finding her another situation. Angel drops Charles’ name into the conversation frequently – too frequently for Lando’s comfort – and when he outright talks about the closeness of their relationship, Lando has had enough. If Christopher Angel has come to him with the idea of blackmailing him, he can think again.

Kit finds it hard to believe that the frosty, bloodless creature who’d confronted him is the man his gregarious, kind Uncle Charles described as the love of his life. His uncle hadn’t warned him the Earl had been carved from a block of ice – but neither had he told Kit how beautiful the man is. At least the Earl has allowed Anne to remain at Rossingley for the time being, placing her into the capable hands of his housekeeper before having Kit forcibly ejected from the house.

Kit returns to Rossingley the next day, and is allowed another audience with the Earl in order to present the full facts of the situation. Anne had travelled to the neighbouring Gartside Manor with her employer, but had been summarily dismissed when Sir Ambrose Gartside, a known lecher, had attempted to force himself upon her. Things didn’t get too far, but she was seen in his embrace and her mistress informed – and Anne was thrown out with nothing but the clothes on her back and a ruined name. Lando admits to Kit that Anne isn’t the first young woman to have suffered Gartside’s unwanted attentions and that she’s unlikely to be the last. But his condolences and offer for Anne to remain at Rossingley until she is well enough to leave aren’t enough for Kit. He’s furious that a man like Gartside can do whatever he pleases and get away with it simply because of his rank – and he wants revenge of the only sort readily available to him. He can’t challenge Gartside and he doesn’t have the clout to bring the law down upon his head, which leaves only one course of action open to him. Trickery. But for that, Kit needs the help of someone with wealth, someone of high moral standing… and in possession of a singularly sharp mind.

Although angry at Kit’s constant references to his uncle and what Lando believes to be a veiled threat to reveal the nature of their relationship, the younger man’s words about Gartside prompt Lando to take a more thorough look at his neighbour’s land – and what he sees is worrying. The fields are overgrown, many of the tenant cottages are in a poor state of repair, and Lando’s man of business has learned that the estate is being run into the ground. The tenants are being squeezed dry and many are being forced to leave and enter the workhouse as the crops fail and they can no longer support themselves. Lando decides it’s time something was done, and hatches an elaborate plan to do just that while also finding out more about the irritating – and dangerously attractive – Christoper Angel.

I do enjoy a clever, well-executed revenge plot, and I have a soft spot for the clever, sharp-tongued ruthless bastard with a heart of gold character-type, so To Tempt a Troubled Earl worked pretty well for me. Kit is a charming rogue who, after the sudden death of his elderly employer, was forced to find other ways of making a living, turning to petty thievery and card-sharping because finding another situation proved impossible without references. He’s kind and funny and clever; he tries hard to do the best for his sister, and he hates having to turn to someone else for help. Having to beg the icy Earl of Rossingley for help is bad enough; that the man is gorgeous and devious and all kinds of fascinating is just plain unfair. Kit can’t help slowly falling under Lando’s spell – even if he can’t help wondering if he can fully trust him.

Readers of To Hold a Hidden Pearl will immediately note the similarities in looks, personality and situation between the sixteenth earl and his illustrious ancestor. Like Lucien, Lando has suffered a weighty loss that has mired him in grief for years and hasn’t been dealing with it well. He’s just starting to think that perhaps it’s time to get back to living rather than existing when he’s presented with exactly the kind of thing he needs, a project that captures his interest – and a man who does the same.

The romance between Lando and Kit is nicely done, with the two of them growing closer as they work on Lando’s plan to deliver a comeuppance to his leery oaf of a neighbour. The scheme is deviously clever and really well thought-out, but I have to admit that I was sometimes more invested in that than I was in the romance. I liked the characters individually and they’re good for each other as a couple, but Lando is such a larger-than-life character that Kit suffers by comparison and comes off as a little bland. There’s a small but well-crafted secondary cast, most notably Lando’s half-brother, Robert (who has a very intriguing past), his long-suffering, sardonic valet, and Jasper, the bruiser-turned-footman assigned to keep an eye on Kit, who are afforded a greater freedom to speak their minds than others of their ilk while not being overly chummy with their employer. There are a couple of things in the story that don’t really reflect the societal mores of the time and the period feel isn’t strong. The ending is a little too pat; finding an HEA for a same-sex couple in historical romance is always difficult as they can’t be a couple openly, so in stories where one man is of higher rank, the other often becomes his secretary or man of business or somesuch, which provides the reason for them to live in the same house. Something similar happens here, but the solution arrived at feels somewhat unlikely to me.

Fearne Hill is one of my go-to authors, and while this book isn’t going onto my keeper shelf, it is, like all her her stories, intelligently crafted, well-written and infused with warmth and humour. I enjoyed To Tempt a Troubled Earl and will be back for the next in the series.