A new Virginia Heath story is always a joy and I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of The Earl's Inconvenient Houseguest in return for an honest review.

Set in the fictional Regency village of Whittleston in the Water, it concerns the new local landowner and his relationship (or lack thereof) with the local populace and one comely lady in particular. It cracks along at a rollicking pace, full of humour and verve and paints a picture of the village and its inhabitants with the broadest of brush strokes. For all that the characters are larger than life, they bear a certain authenticity. We all know a spiteful busybody or a spry old lady with a twinkle in her eye.

I enjoyed getting to know Sophie and Rafe and watching them sparring as their protective layers are slowly stripped away. However, the star of the book is Archie, Rafe's younger brother. With his joyful zest for life and innocence, he does much to bring our hero and heroine to their happy ending.

While the tone is largely frothy and humorous, there are some shrewd observations about how we deal or fail to deal with our grief and fears and how we should not take people at face value but look beneath the masks we all wear to cope with life.

Ms Heath's books are such fun: the author's joie de vivre shines through, her characters are so relatable and her blissful happy endings make me feel the world is a better place for having her stories to read.

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The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest is the first in the a new series by one of my favorite author's Virginia Heath. Virginia has a way of making characters and locations come to life and leave me feeling like I've just watched a movie. I always look forward to a new book from Virginia as I know that both the heroine and hero are going to ultimately be kind people.

In The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest the hero Rafe has inherited Hockley Hall a rundown estate he doesn't want, and a with it a village and a large variety of tenants that have a multitudes of issues. The previous owner of the estate had been a terrible landlord and things are in a serious state of disrepair. Rafe has a brother, Archie, who means the world to him and he doesn't have time to care for the village and their concerns.

Rafe immediately comes into conflict with the residents of the village because his intentions do not align with their needs. The villagers decide to protest the direction Rafe had planned on going in and elect one of their own, Sophie, as their champion. Sophie is living in a run down cottage near Rafe's estate with her Aunt Jemima. Sophie has ideas on how she can stop the Rafe's plans and our hero and heroine proceed to bump heads.

Sophie and Rafe both have troubled pasts that leave them unwilling to easily trust people's intentions and their road to happily ever after is strewn with trouble. The Earl’s Inconvenient Houseguest is an entertaining read and I look forward to more in the A Very Village Scandal series.My favorite character is Rafe's brother Archie but I don't want to spoil the joy of discovering him by revealing too much. ( )

Whinging Whittleston on the blasted Water. This is what our hero, Rafe, calls the village attached at the hip to his new estate. He doesn't want to be an Earl, he was a soldier until a distant relative kicked the bucket & left Rafe in a pickle. All he wants is to sell anything not entitled and raise horses. I can't tell you the exact reason, it would give too much away. He's complicated, of course, as a good hero character should be. To get inside his mind would still give too much away. Sorry but you'll have to figure Rafe out on your own.

The heroine, Sophie, is so complicated that she perfects a facade of calm, dedication, friend, care taker. It's annoying for someone to be so seemingly perfect. Thrown into a difficult, unwanted circumstance brings out determination in masses. The village nominates Sophie to change the new Earl's mind about selling and it begins. Nice HEA and lovely characters. I like Whittleston-on-the-water, the real name of the town but I like Rafe's version better. ( )

Barbara’s rating: 4.3 of 5 Stars
Series: A Very Village Scandal #1
Publication Date: 2/22/22
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 288

This was a delightfully entertaining, witty, romantic, heartwarming book and I loved every word of it. I loved these two flawed people who had endured so many hurts and now lived within an insular shell where nobody could reach them. If nobody could get past the shell, then nobody could hurt them. Neither Rafe nor Sophie could get past those past hurts and we almost missed out on our lovely HEA. Rafe’s walls were easier to break than Sophie’s because Rafe had a weakness – his brother Archie. If you won Archie over, then Rafe was soon to follow.

Rafe Peele definitely didn’t want to become an earl and surely never expected it. He had no idea whatsoever that he had a cousin who was an earl – now that cousin is dead and Rafe is left with all of those responsibilities. Rafe is a war hero – a loving brother – and all he wants is to buy some land in the middle of nowhere and raise horses. When he inherits the title, money, and estate that goes with it, he has no intention of keeping the unentailed estate and starts making arrangements to sell it to the highest bidder. Except, he visits the estate at Whittleston-On-The-Water only to be inundated by villagers who fight him at every turn – and they are led by one witch named Sophie Gilbert. She was like a General in battle and bested him at every turn.

I love that Rafe always refers to Sophie as a witch – and always refers to the village as ‘whinging Whittleston on the blasted Water’. I loved Rafe as soon as I discovered Archie, his brother. Rafe was so very loving and protective of him that I just knew immediately that he would be a wonderful husband and father.

Sophie has lived in the village for the last ten years – since she was disowned and thrown into the street by her cruel father. She lives with her aging aunt whose health is precarious. Sophie will do anything to protect her aunt – and the villagers who have all taken her in and loved her for all ten of those years. So, when it appears the upstart new earl is planning to sell their homes out from under them, she vows to do whatever it takes to protect them.

It was a delight to see Sophie and Rafe find their HEA. The only reason I didn’t give this book 5-stars is that it didn’t have an epilogue. To me, this story cried out for an epilogue and I just didn’t feel as if the story was finished without one. However, I still loved the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )