Triplet Anne Royle has spent her entire life honing one skill – to be invisible.  She can be at any tea or ball and blend in with the occupants of a drawing room so easily and effortlessly that she has been known to take drinks out of people’s hands without them ever having noticed.  Anne views this particular talent of hers as both a curse and a blessing because while it seems as if the ton doesn’t think she exists and they ignore her, it also frees her from the constraints of society and gives her a tiny bit more freedom than her two siblings.  It is on a night when she puts her talent to the test that the unthinkable happens—she is noticed by Laird Allen, the Earl of MacLaren.   What happens next lands Anne in more hot water than she bargained for; a betrothal. 

The Earl of MacLaren, Laird Allen, has spent his entire life whimsically going from woman to woman seducing everything in sight.  It is when he is given his title that he finally sits back and realizes that he might need to become a bit more responsible.  That’s all good when he isn’t being tempted, and women tempt him daily.  For a year he has been responsible and upstanding, but not tonight.  Tonight he wants to drown his sorrows and mourn the loss of a brother and the gaining of a title that he never really wanted.  Watching the ballroom, an angel passes before his eyes and captures his attention.  He watches her free the party goers of drinks without their noticing and when she tries the same with him, he lets her know she isn’t invisible.  Before he knows it, however, his angel is gone and so is his glass.  Looking for her the rest of the night, MacLaren is confounded to find her in his bedroom.  With seduction on his mind, he heads that way with the hopes of his angel allowing him to forget for a little while his sadness.  His family, on the other hand, has different plans.

I loved the premise of How To Engage An Earl. It is highly romantic to have three young ladies searching for the truth to their parentage.  Since this book is the second in the series and I didn’t read the first one, I found myself at a loss with the plot at the very beginning, but was soon able to figure out what was going on.  Anne’s characterization was somewhat plainer than what I think her character actually was.  I found her to be intelligent, loyal, and very brazen.  As for MacLaren? His naughtiness and almost brassy sensuality made me smile and melted my bones.  While he did not want a wife, and I almost could have choked him, he redeemed himself in my eyes with one simple but meaningful statement. 

How To Engage An Earl is a magnificent historical, and since reading it, I have gone back and read the first of the series, How To Seduce A Duke.  If I had the third installment, How To Propose To A Prince, my life would be complete!