Never Say Never to an Earl
4.5 Stars

Sinjin Pelham, the Earl of Revelstoke, conceals a lifetime of pain and struggle behind his jaded façade, and believes no one would accept let alone love the man he truly is. Afflicted with a disturbing ability to read others' emotions, Polly Kent keeps her secret, and herself, hidden from the cruelty of the ton. However, a series of unforeseen events force Sinjin and Polly together, and they must choose between a lifetime of loneliness, or confronting and overcoming their fears together.

Polly and Sinjin are wonderful together. Their surface differences only serve to reinforce their similarities, and their chemistry is off-the-charts.

Callaway's portrayal of Sinjin and Polly's "afflictions" is both realistic and heartwrenching, especially the social and medical perceptions of mental disorders in this time period, which, unfortunately, remained the same for centuries to come. The fact that one, i.e., Sinjin's bi-polar disorder is factual while the other, Polly's aura reading, is paranormal in nature, only highlights the skillful writing and descriptions.

The suspense plot is somewhat convoluted, yet ultimately comes together with a logical explanation. Callaway also produces several excellent red herrings, so the final twist is both surprising and satisfying.

In sum, this is one of my absolute favorites in the series and Callaway is rapidly becoming a go-to author. The final installment focuses on Primrose Kent, and while her actions in this book did not endear her, I am looking forward to seeing how her relationship with Andrew Corbett. plays out. ( )

I loved this! Super insecure heroine who thinks she is plain and odd and fat (the fact that she is actually goreous and just has big breasts didn't detract from the angst, so she is still going on a couple of trope shelves). Overheard insult, misunderstandings, tormented hero; this book is right up my alley. Catered to my favorite tropes but still managed to be unique and multidimensional. Interesting historical interpretation of Bipolar Disorder. Only two complaints, the first a minor spoiler (Rosie annoyed the crap out of me and the whole "sisterly betrayal" strife was not my thing at all), the second a MAJOR spoiler (WHY must she lose her ability at the end!? I found it disappointing that she became "normal" just randomly at the very end, for no reason.). The book starts out pretty textbook angsty and ends up having some pretty fleshed out subplots and intrigue/suspense storylines, so a bit more heavy and complicated than I am sometimes looking for in my escapist, trashy HR guilty pleasures, but I really enjoyed it. And it is SO explicit and DIRTY, damn, I have never been so jealous of a heroine's sex life!

Definitely off to see if I can find more of my favorite kinds of heroine! ( )

I loved this! Super insecure heroine who thinks she is plain and odd and fat (the fact that she is actually goreous and just has big breasts didn't detract from the angst, so she is still going on a couple of trope shelves). Overheard insult, misunderstandings, tormented hero; this book is right up my alley. Catered to my favorite tropes but still managed to be unique and multidimensional. Interesting historical interpretation of Bipolar Disorder. Only two complaints, the first a minor spoiler (Rosie annoyed the crap out of me and the whole "sisterly betrayal" strife was not my thing at all), the second a MAJOR spoiler (WHY must she lose her ability at the end!? I found it disappointing that she became "normal" just randomly at the very end, for no reason.). The book starts out pretty textbook angsty and ends up having some pretty fleshed out subplots and intrigue/suspense storylines, so a bit more heavy and complicated than I am sometimes looking for in my escapist, trashy HR guilty pleasures, but I really enjoyed it. And it is SO explicit and DIRTY, damn, I have never been so jealous of a heroine's sex life!

Definitely off to see if I can find more of my favorite kinds of heroine! ( )