Manic Pixie Dream Earl by Jenny Holiday

Edward "Effie" Astley is an eligible young lord. All of London knows it. In fact, women are throwing themselves at him. He mostly spends his life writing and trying to avoid his father. At least he has his yearly Earl's Trip to look forward to. Except, he sort of forgot. Again. But his friends know him well and are prepared for this eventuality. 

One of the people that Effie has been corresponding with is Juliana Evans. She does not know that Effie is a man but she is about to uncover that truth.

I was really expecting this book to be more like the first, with a clear throughline with points of both heaviness and levity. This book took longer to get through as there seemed to be a lot more meandering and even plodding at points. I also didn't completely believe that the end would be an HEA because I'm not sure that their relationship grew in this book as much as Effie did as a person. 

Three stars

This book comes out May 27, 2025

Follows Earl's Trip

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own