{Earls Next Door Review} What the Earl Needs Now by @MichelleWilling

What the Earl Needs Now by Michelle Willingham
on October 24th, 2017
Pages: 301
Buy on Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon CA
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Lily Thornton waited two long years for the return of her beloved husband, the Earl of Arnsbury. But the man she married in secret has no memory of her.

After being tortured in India, Matthew Larkspur can hardly return to a normal existence. He cannot sleep at night, and he knows he is not the man Lily needs. A haunted darkness festers inside him, turning him into a beast who does not deserve the love of a beauty.

But beneath his tormented scars lies the man Lily has loved all her life. And she refuses to give up on him, especially when his wildness stirs her blood…

I received What the Earl Needs Now for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Matthew Larkspur, Earl of Arnsbury, has loved Lily Thornton as long as she’s loved him. When her father threatened to make a match for her, Lily begs Matthew to wed and bed her before he leaves for India with her brother, James. He gives in and they share one night together, before their lives go terribly wrong.

Lily’s father dies shortly after James and Matthew leave for India. While in India, James and Matthew are kidnapped and tortured for over a year. Two years have passed and James and Matthew are finally home, but Matthew is horribly broken and refuses to honor his marriage to Lily. They both knew it wasn’t legal, but Lily always assumed they would make it so once Matthew returned.

Willingham takes this story in several different directions. Matthew deals with horrific post traumatic stress disorder including hallucinations. Lily has to learn to accept Matthew as the man he’s become. With several secondary characters rooting for and against the couple, the stakes have never been more dangerous. I was sobbing at points in the story about the torture Matthew endured in India and what he continued to battle once he was back home.

This was my first experience reading Willingham and thankfully she has dozens of novels I can sink my teeth into. Even with the box of tissues I went through with this story, the ending was worth it all. If any of her other novels are this good, I will be filling my bookcase with more Michelle Willingham novels as soon as possible.