Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Earls Trip

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mabellene's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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emilywemily6's review

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

This could best be described as a cozy romance, and I don’t think that’s the vibe I’m looking for. This book was very character driven and slow, with a lot of dialogue and internal thoughts compared to scene description and plot. Also, one of the major plot points included on the back cover was introduced into the story at the 68% mark, which left no surprises to anticipate. I really loved the idea of Clem seeking Archie’s help with exploring her sexuality, but it came so late in the book that it felt like more of a secondary plot point than a major plot device. And while this book takes place in Regency England, it was greatly modernized to its detriment. It felt like a modern retelling of a classic story but set in the classic time period. Everything I love about Regency atmosphere, relationships, speech, etc. was watered down. It felt Regency only in name. I generally enjoyed the writing style and how to characters interacted, but it didn’t scratch the historical romance itch. The character viewpoints that aligned with modern times (vegetarianism, feminism, found family, etc.) were fun to read but took me out of the story a little because they were so heavy handed. Also, this book was advertised as a The Hangover-like guy’s trip, but the shenanigans were few and far between. The pacing was inconsistent as the story started off with some drama and a rescue, then turned into a turtle crawl. And I know that Simon was labeled as the quiet one, but he had zero personality while Effie and Archie had personalities, even if they weren’t super fleshed out. Sorry to complain so much, it just fell short in a lot of ways for me.
I enjoyed the prose of the writing style even with the content being so modern- lots of nice metaphors and thoughtful commentary from the characters’ interactions. It also warmed my heart how Archie and Clem came together at the end of the book. The spicy scenes were tasteful and tender and complimented their relationship at that point in the story. Overall, this was cute and cozy, but slow and overtly modern to the point of detracting from the Regency vibes. I wanted either more ridiculousness or more subtlety. I would read the next but only if I didn’t know what else to read.

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bibliomania_express's review

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday is a fun Regency romamce full of friendship, found family, men in touch with their emotions, sisterly bonding, and vegetarianism. I enjoyed all the friendship and family bonding moments immensely, just as much as I loved Archie and Clem's slow-burn childhood-friends-to-lovers romance.

The whole concept of the Earls Trip was delightful! Archie, Effie, and Simon are fast friends, each with their own quirks and interests. There's good natured teasing, fun rules, and so much support for each other. Effie and Simon unhesitatingly support Archie as he copes with his mother's dementia and the change of plans to rescue Clem and Olive. I can't wait to read their books and see more of these friends.

I also love how Holiday complicates the sisterly relationship between Olive and Clem, with what starts as a (seeming) betrayal leads to more honest communication between the two.

This book has so many sweet and fun moments. There's bonding while secretly stargazing, embroidery lessons, goofing around in dressing gowns, traipsing through forests, tree climbing, and a turtle race.

This book does skew very modern. Archie is unbelievably in touch with his feelings, feminist, patient, and reapectful. He doesn't believe in the concept of ruination, engages in honest debate with Clem about hunting, comes up with the term "found family" for him, Effie, and Simon, and takes care to make everyone feel appreciated by taking an interest in their interests.

If you want a sweet, fun, low angst book about a group of people having a nice holiday and two people realizing their love for each other, then you might like this book.

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thebruce's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was lots of fun and I'm eagerly anticipating the rest of the series!

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webbsusa's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

I won a print ARC through a publisher’s giveaway of Earls Trip, and I’m so glad I did. I really, really loved this book! I loved the friendship among the “earls,” the development of the relationship between the sisters, and of course Clem and Archie (separately and together). Archie is probably one of my favorite heroes ever. He was so sweet and loving. He cared so deeply about his friends, his mom, and Clementine. Clem was so loyal to her sister and fought for her, even when she wasn’t so sure her sister deserved it. Clem was true to herself and her value system, even when the sanctions for that could be quite high, and I really appreciated her commitment to her values (being vague so as not to spoil). Both Clem and Archie grew a lot and came to important realizations about themselves as they fell in love with each other.

Thanks again to Kensington Books for the giveaway! All opinions are my own.

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srivalli's review

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lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

3.75

3.7 stars

One Liner: Slow-paced but entertaining

1821

Archibald Fielding-Burton, the Earl of Harcourt, calls himself lucky for having two best friends who would do anything for him. Simon and Effie are his dearest friends and partners in crime. The trio plans an all-men trip every year and calls it the Earl’s Trip to unwind from the pressures of daily life.

That year was no different until Archie got a letter from Sir Albert Morgan, an old family friend, begging for help. His daughter Olive has eloped with someone. His other daughter, Clementine, has rushed to rescue Olive. Now, Archie has to rescue them both and bring them back safely.

Archie and Clem go back a long way. They were always good friends, but Archie finds the grown-up even more alluring. When Clem shares a proposal, Archie knows he would accept it. But where will this lead?

The story comes in the third-person POV of Archie and Clementine.

My Thoughts:

As the premise suggests, this is a fun book that deals with some serious topics. However, the overall tone is lighthearted and entertaining.

The beginning is slow but in no way boring. We get enough laughs as the characters are introduced and established. At the same time, we get a glimpse of the deeper emotions these characters feel.

Dementia/ early memory loss, found family, sibling relationships (between sisters), loss of a parent, dysfunctional families, etc., are some themes explored in the book. Not all of them are prominent, though. A few more tropes are modernish, but it has almost become a norm, so I won’t complain.

Archie is surprisingly easy to like. He is lively, friendly, mischievous, understanding, supportive, and fun. Yet, he has his pain, uncertainties, vulnerabilities, and doubts. Clem is nice, though not as much as Archie. He is a gem.

While it is good to have Regency FMC as a vegetarian, even if it doesn’t seem realistic for the period, Clem comes across as a bit too judgmental about others. (I’m a vegetarian, too, but I don’t go around wrinkling my nose at meat eaters). Moreover, she doesn’t seem to make the same effort to understand Archie the way he tries to get to know her thoughts and takes them seriously.

The relationship takes time to progress. This gives space for enough scenes and conversation between them. Things don’t feel rushed, despite what the blurb states.

The side characters are developed enough to go beyond what’s initially defined for them. There’s more than what meets’s eye applies here. Olive’s arc is very good. I did like her more than the FMC sometimes.

The repetition slows down the pacing, which could have been trimmed a little. The chapter length also contributes to the slowness due to the extended length (I like short chapters).

The book has some steam, though I don’t know why it changed toward the end and skipped over the scene (which was important). Didn’t make sense to me, but maybe they had a page limit to work with (?).

To summarize, Earl’s Trip is an entertaining book with a loveable male lead and worthy side characters. It works well as a standalone. The last chapter could be considered a lead for the next book, which I would love to read.

Thank you, Edelweiss+ and Kensington Books, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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bookrecsbyjess's review against another edition

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emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

Thank you to Kensington Books for this ARC of Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday. All opinions are my own.

This was my second time reading a Jenny Holiday book. I discovered her books earlier this year when I read Canadian Boyfriend, and I absolutely loved that book. I had expectations that I was going to love this book as well even though it’s a historical romance and not a contemporary romance.

I do think these expectations affected how I perceived this story because this book was drastically different than Canadian Boyfriend in writing style and pacing.

What I liked best about Earls Trip was the characters and the friendships between them.

Archie, Simon, and Effie were so lovable, and their friendship was just wholesome and so welcoming to read about. They were so supportive of each other’s passions and personalities, and I really appreciated this found family aspect since none of them had close relationships with their biological families.

Clementine was also a very likable character because she had a unique personality and interests unlike her sister Olive, which I didn’t particularly like. When I learned more about Olive’s backstory, she didn’t seem as awful, but she still wasn’t great.

The sexual innuendos were a bit much in this story. While some of them were funny, it seemed like the author was trying too hard to cram them in whenever she could.

Also, the pacing was just off in this book. The beginning of this book started off strong. I enjoyed all of the plot leading up to arriving at their residence for the earls’ trip. However, after they arrived, hardly anything happened for most of the book. The characters mostly just spent time talking. It wasn’t until near the end that the plot picked up a little and then was just wrapped right up.

Overall, I enjoyed the characters and relationships in this book, but the rest of the story fell flat for me. I would however read another book by this author since my first experience with her books was great.

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