You don't need to have read the other books in the Pennyroyal Green series to enjoy I Kissed An Earl, but I recommend that you do so because you'll appreciate Violet Redmond (our heroine) and her story a little more. She's a livewire, is our Violet! I wondered how Ms. Long was going to give Violet a hero to match her but she did it- so Bravo Julie Anne Long!
Without going too much into the plot, here is the gist of it:
Beautiful, rich, bored and adored Violet comes across some information she believes will lead her to her missing older brother, Lyon, who may or may not be the brutal pirate Le Chat. Beautiful, not-so-rich, hard-as-nails ship Captain Asher Flint lost a close friend at the hands of Le Chat, and Flint wants justice for this friend. Too, Flint will have everything he's ever dreamed of (an earldom!) if he can catch this Le Chat, who is sinking merchant vessels left and right. Violet stows away on Flint's ship in an attempt to find her brother. She is discovered. They make a deal to track down Le Chat together (though the sense of this, from Violet's stance, is a bit skewed since if Le Chat is her brother and they catch him, he would hang. So... there's that.) Emotional mayhem, deliciously drawn out lusting, thwarted desire and very funny banter ensue. (I'd like to say again that it really is very funny at times- I love a romance author who can make me laugh with her characters!).
These two definitely do not want to fall for each other, and they certainly (in the context of a romance novel, at any rate) take their time doing so. I liked that it took some time for their attraction and respect to grow. They each had some emotional maturing to go through and I enjoyed watching them grow and try to fight their feelings and ultimately become better and stronger for knowing one another. Sometimes in romances the hero is the only one who has to learn how to love, and the heroine practically has a halo because she is so good already. This isn't one of those; and I actually prefer stories where both characters learn from each other and make mistakes, like in this story.
Yes, Violet's rashness may rankle some readers (stowing away on a ship?? rushing out on deck during a vicious storm at sea??), and I already mentioned the questionable wisdom about assisting someone who is trying to arrest a beloved brother. But Violet makes up for it as she comes to better understand herself and the world around her and she is not a complete nitwit. She's an interesting character, and it is a relief to not be bored by her. Flint's an interesting character, too- his tough, unsentimental exterior masks a tender heart and a surprising sensitivity and perceptiveness (plus, he doesn't let Violet get away with anything!); and I just love a hero with a hero complex! Always rescuing friends from Turkish prisons and lovers from rogue waves and wounded puppies (ok, no wounded puppies were rescued- but I betcha he would have had there been some!) He just wants to be loved and he's never had a family and he's so handsome and he just wants Violet so much (mmm, yummy sexual chemistry between them)... you really root for the guy!
I thoroughly enjoyed Julie Anne Long's writing style. Truly she is gifted at scripting the kind of moments where you just sigh with the romance of it all! Very touching and poignant and her characters and stories are really lovely and entertaining. For some reason there were some editing issues with this book- syntactical errors, double possessive noun insertions, that kind of thing. Overlook these and take an afternoon to sit and devour this book. I heartily recommend I Kissed An Earl!