Book Review: Empowered by The Earl by Alexa Aston

Alexa Aston is an internationally best-selling author of regency and medieval romance novels. She places her characters in profound, meaningful situations that tug at a reader’s heartstrings. Her about page claims that their intense desire for one another blossoms into a tale of true love. In the case of Empowered by the Earl, a Second Sons Of London novel, she is 100% correct.

Summary of Empowered by the Earl

Page Count: 248

Publisher: Dragon Blade Publishing

Release Date: May 19, 2022

Series: Second Sons of London

Book Number: 3

Empowered by the Earl is a bitter-sweet romance novel that takes you on a story of love and heartbreak. However, true love prevails in the most redeeming way, with a blossoming love story.

The hero of this tale is Major Owen Hasbury, who returns home from the war on the continent as a second son. Though the fight is not over, his brother, The Earl of Danbury, was incapacitated in an attack and cannot perform his duties to the Earldom. Owen returns home a second son with barely a few pairs of clothes to his name and helps make the Earldom shine again, only to have the older brother he has never really known die. All this man wants to do is return to the war and his men, but now he is stuck in England and is determined to make the best of it, by carousing through the ton and keeping his estates afloat. Marriage is years off for him, or so he determines. But perhaps fate has other plans.

The heroine of this regency romance tale is Miss. Louisa Goulding. She has been a fixture in the other two Second Sons of London books, but mainly as a background character until now. Thus far, you will probably think that she is shy, ladylike, and perhaps a little innocent. In the other books, I did not gather that she was a total bluestocking. She has entertained her father’s acquaintances and staff from the war office for years, and it has given her a perspective of the world that the other ladies did not have. She is knowledgeable in many areas and sympathetic to soldiers.

Though she is more headstrong in this book than she has been as a background character in the others. In fact, in book 2 of the Second Sons of London series, Debiting with the Duke, Louisa was initially set to marry Ev, the new duke. However, she was intimidated by such a man, and he had a shy demeanor. Ev and Owen are much alike in build and look for all intents and purposes. However, Owen is much more confident and rakish. If you were to be intimidated by a man, you would think it would be the overconfident Owen, not the shy Ev. But nevertheless, the plot thickens.

Throughout the first part of the book, Owen returns home from the war and acts as a sort of mentor to Louisa. He teaches her to ride a horse again because she has not been on one in some time. Owen teaches her other lessons as well, such as how to kiss and flirt with a man. He also teaches her a lesson on what to never get caught doing with a man unless she wants to marry him.

Interestingly enough, the two are together often during the first half of the book, and he is featured touching her in various ways, from stroking her injured ankle to kissing her. All of this time, they are unchaperoned, and it is never mentioned once, though it is a large part of regency culture for a lady to have a chaperone. Louisa is 25, so this may play a role in it, and they are tucked away in the country with friends.

Things take a turn during the latter half of the book, and Owen holds true on his path to being Louisa’s mentor, abet a little overprotective at times. He is helping Louisa find a husband as he is nowhere near ready to marry, so he claims.

However, it really gets under his skin when she kisses a few other men at a house party and even applies some of the flirting advice that he taught her.

In a fury of passion, he decided that he longed to marry her and no one else. And so the rest is really history from there. The book ends with the sweet happily ever after of marriage and baby.

If Empowered by the Earl seems like a book you would like, go ahead and read the first two chapters for free!

Noteworthy Moments From Empowered By the Earl, A Regency Romance Novel

Empowered by the Earl is a historical romance novel set in the regency era of England. Alexa Aston does a fantastic job weaving historical elements into her books to build the setting and storyline. A couple details she mentions are Owen’s brother being ill. It seems like he was sick for about a year, and there was really nothing doctors could do for him besides make him comfortable.

Furthermore, she talks about Owen hiring the new steward for his estate. It was a word-of-mouth hire from Ev’s steward. Unlike today where you hit the google bar to find a job, so many back then were filled via word of mouth.

Speaking of staff at the estates, one funny thing is that it seems like the butler never dies. Arthur was alive and working for Ev’s family when Owen and Ev were boys running amuck on the estates. And alas, he was still working as the butler when Owen was a man, returned from war running amuck on the estate. This butler outlived the old earl and duke and the heirs to see the second sons take on the estates. The butlers never die.

But if they did, then no one would be around to tell stories of the mischief the lads got into.

Aston’s picture of Owen, the new Earl of Danbury, is an interesting one. First and foremost, he is a confident war hero. He isn’t afraid to take on anyone or anything. Owen is good at everything he does, like the shining athlete or popular boy at school. He also has very little self-control from the beginning. But then he is also seething with jealousy throughout the entire novel. Though green does not look good on many men, it looks good on him.

Ev is a pretty central character still in this book, so if you liked him from Debating with the Duke, you would like him again, except he has turned into a total simp by today’s standards, referring to his bride Addie while talking to Owen he says:

“I shall never break her,” Ev said. “Instead, I will always celebrate her.”

“You have changed, Ev.”

“I have. I will never be comfortable claiming the center of attention but I am more comfortable in my own skin now, thanks to Addie. She is my very soul, Owen. The love between us is powerful.”

Alexa Aston, Empowered by the Earl, page 34

Alexa Aston does an excellent job capturing elements of irony within this novel. Owen has previously described himself as a man with a roving eye. Then he later tells Louisa to warn her away from one of her other suitors:

“You deserve more than a husband with a roving eye.”

Alexa Aston, Empowered by the Earl, page 97

Finally, the last noteworthy moment in this book, without giving away too many details, is how Louisa’s cousins tell her that if anyone can tame a man such as Danbury, a rake and a rogue, it is her. I love how this is the farthest thing from reality as possible because bluestocking women do not tame rakes and rogues in the real world. It makes us all feel good about ourselves, though.

Five Star Regency Romance Novel

I give Empowered by the Earl 5 stars as a fabulous regency romance novel. At times, this romance novel will make you laugh. At other times you will cringe alongside the characters, literally feeling their awkwardness as your own.

Steamy Regency Romance Novel

Empowered by the Earl gets four flaming hearts for being a steamy Regency romance. A rather descriptive intimacy scene takes on a unique twist of lover and innocent within the novel that captures the dynamic relationship between Owen and Lousia.

Second Sons of London Series:

There are four books so far in the second sons of London series. So far each of them has been reviewed here on the Lyrica Lovell Blog.

1. Educated by the Earl
2. Debating with the Duke
3. Empowered by the Earl
4. Made for the Marquess (Release Date June 6, 2022)

Where can you Buy this Book?

You can get this book on Amazon in ebook or paperback format. You can also get this book through the Kindle Unlimted Program at the time this blog post was written. The Kindle Unlimited Program is like the Netflix subscription of the book world. If you are new to the program, check out these fantastic first-time subscriber discounts:

• 5% off a 6 month pre-paid plan
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