REVIEW: Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti

In Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti, Lydia Hope-Wallace has finally done it. She has managed to move past her crippling social anxiety and is going to propose a marriage of convenience to the Earl of Strathrannoch to whom she’s been corresponding for the last few years. Of course, he only knows her as “H,” but that shouldn’t be a problem. She has it under control.

Until she doesn’t.

This man is certainly the earl… but he’s not the man she’s been exchanging letters with. Rather, he’s her correspondent’s older brother, Arthur. Unfortunately Arthur has no idea who Lydia is, nor does he know where his rapscallion brother, Davis, is. A brother he would very much like to find as Davis stole a potentially devastating weapon Arthur had created while tinkering in his workshop one day.

Arthur enlists Lydia to help him find Davis and take back the invention before Davis does something he can never come back from. Now if only the two can do this without losing their hearts in the process…

This book was a fun romp, with shenanigans ranging from chasing after a herd of zebras to a fake out make out. Arthur and Lydia were perfectly likable, although Arthur came out as my favorite of the two with his cinnamon roll casing covering an internalized sense that he has always been the less worthwhile brother. Arthur also had the better character arc of the two and his inner conflict was what drove the story most for me. Where this book really succeeds, however, is with the side characters. They were very well fleshed out, fun to get to know, and left me wanting more. (I need Jasper’s book right away, please!) The side characters did at times outshine the main couple but they set up future books really well.

I’m not a giant fan of romances with a mystery so trying to figure out where Davis was and what this character or that character was secretly up to made this a bit frustrating to get through, especially since it felt like a forced reason to keep the characters on page together. I also really struggled at times to figure out why these two didn’t get together right at the beginning. Lydia was proposing a marriage of convenience, after all, and the pair felt like they fell in love instantly. There was some internal push and pull with Arthur and I felt like the book could have been more of a success if that was the conflict driving the whole of the plot rather than a mystery.

This was my first book by Alexandra Vasti and it won’t be my last. She has a completely lovely way of describing things that makes this book worth your time to read, even with the issues I noted above. I found myself delighted multiple times by one turn of phrase or another and I’m looking forward to her next book.

If lighthearted but super spicy historical romances with quirky side characters to die for piques your interest then this is your book!

Book Info:

Publication: January 21, 2025 | St. Martin’s Griffin |

In Alexandra Vasti’s newest Regency rom-com, a reclusive earl’s life is turned upside down when a stranger shows up on his doorstep with an astonishing proposal—and an inconvenient connection to espionage.

For three years, wallflower heiress Lydia Hope-Wallace has anonymously penned seditious pamphlets. And for almost as long, she’s corresponded with the Earl of Strathrannoch, whose political ambition is matched only by his charm. When Arthur’s latest letter reveals his dire financial straits, Lydia sets out for Scotland to offer him the only salvation she can think of—a marriage of convenience. To, um, herself.

Unfortunately, the Earl of Strathrannoch has no idea who she is.

When a bewitching redheaded stranger offers him her hand in marriage, Arthur Baird is stunned—but when he learns that his traitorous brother has been writing to her under Arthur’s name, he’s bloody furious. He’s content to live alone in his moldering castle, and he has no desire for a provocative, radical wife. (Or at least, he shouldn’t.)

But Arthur is desperate to track down his brother, who’s become dangerously entangled in British espionage, and he needs Lydia’s help. What he doesn’t need? The attraction that burns hotter each moment they spend together. As Lydia slips past his defenses and his brother’s mysterious past becomes a very present threat, Arthur will have to risk everything to keep her safe—even his heart.