The seventieth book I read in 2014 was If Wishes Were Earls by Elizabeth Boyle. This is the third book in her Rhymes With Love series. I finished this book on 8/12/14. I rated this book 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Harriet Hathaway and the Earl of Roxley. Harriett was introduced in books one and two in this series as she is the third in a close group of friends, the other two were the heroines of books one and two (I read books one and two previous to 2014). The Earl of Roxley grew up in Kempton, near the Hathaways. Since he was an orphan with no relatives besides his aging aunts, he was encouraged to spend time with the Hathaways as they had 5 boys in their family.

Harriett has been in love with Roxley all her life. But Roxley seems to only see her as an annoying kid sister. After a sensual encounter in the garden though, Roxley realizes that Harriett could be the one person who could steal his heart. And two months later they have another encounter that technically ruins Harriett, leaving her with the impression that they will soon marry. However, when Roxley immediately goes to London (apparently to obtain a special license to marry Harriett, which he never tells her so she starts to think that he’s abandoned her) he encounters problems that he learns could end up being life threatening.

Under very nefarious circumstances, Roxley ends up almost betrothed to someone else. And not wanting to draw Harriett into the danger of his current situation, he doesn’t write to her in Kempton to explain. So when she suddenly shows up in London on the same night he is supposed to propose to someone else, he ends up breaking Harriett’s heart. Harriett loves Roxley so no matter how much he might try to keep her out of this, she keeps involving herself in the mess he’s gotten himself into.

Overall I thought this was a very good book. I didn’t want to put it down and couldn’t seem to make myself stop reading it. It was interesting throughout and though Roxley could have prevented a lot of turmoil by just being open and honest with Harriett, the writer did an excellent job portraying both hero and heroine. Their passion lept off the pages and their personalities were fun to read. And the aging aunts were hilarious. Great read, and great addition to the series.

Link to author website: http://www.elizabethboyle.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/If-Wishes-Were-Earls-Rhymes/dp/0062089099/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1407933346&sr=8-1