NEVER DARE A WICKED EARL

An injured nobleman and his nurse clash in this Victorian melodrama.

Sophia Camden is the third attendant hired for Hayden Milton, Earl of Westfield, in a matter of days. The earl, shot in the leg by an estranged lover, is not an easy patient, but Sophia plans to do the work she was hired to do. What neither expects is the attraction that blossoms between them almost immediately. When Hayden tries to fire Sophia, she offers him a dare: that she can last 10 days as his nurse. To make it more interesting, he accepts her dare and turns it into a bet: if she doesn't resign, he'll give her a bonus, but if she does, he'll want...something from her. As neither can back down from a challenge, the battle of wits and wills begins. Unfortunately, the battle is cut short by misunderstandings galore, and sexual assault and the re-emergence of the earl's former girlfriend change the tone of the novel. The book is full of familiar romance tropes: the widowed Hayden has a cherubic and precocious daughter, meddling friends and family members, and a hidden heart of gold as well as the aforementioned crazy ex-girlfriend. In addition to small continuity issues, Miller’s debut has a pacing problem, with certain questions being drawn out too long and others answered with little fanfare or difficulty.

A compelling but uneven debut.