To Educate an Earl - Gabrielle Meyer - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Gabrielle Meyer

SERIES: Dollar Princess, #3

GENRE: Historical Romance.

PUBLICATION DATE: October 6, 2026

RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A historical romance retelling the Hollywood musical ‘The Sound of Music’ by setting it in the Gilded era. Great characters, wonderful writing, excellent research, satisfying ending. Christian in approach, but never preachy. The third book of the Dollar Princess series, and can be read as a standalone though it continues from the earlier book. Much recommended.

Plot Preview:

1886. When nineteen-year-old Addie is forced to leave her wealthy New York home and work as a governess in the house of George Stafford aka the Earl of Torrington, she isn't exactly looking forward to it. But when she finds his household lacking in joy, with his five children determined to drive away every governess in the hopes of getting more time with their father who has turned reclusive after the death of his wife, Addie is determined to bring happiness to them. However, her past constantly threatens to reveal itself, especially when George is forced to take a drastic step to help his financial situation. Can Addie fight for the family she has come to love while still protecting her own interests?

The story comes to us in Addie’s first-person perspective.

🎜 Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start... 🎝

When I was 🎜Sixteen Going On Seventeen🎝, or perhaps even younger, the one cassette tape (Remember those?) I most listened to was the soundtrack of 'The Sound of Music'. I loved almost every song on that tape, but my favourite was the song I mentioned at the start of this paragraph. (I used to sing it to my imaginary future boyfriend. 😂) I've also watched the movie umpteen number of times, and while I'm not happy that it twisted the truth about the Von Trapps, I still like it as a fictional story.

When one of my favourite authors Gabrielle Meyer began working on a series that repackaged five classic Hollywood musicals to the Gilded Era setting, I was thrilled to see that Book Three retold 'The Sound of Music'. Book Two already introduced the main characters to us, and both of them seemed to deserve every bit of happiness. I'm so happy that this story provides them that and more.

🎜These are a few of my favourite... Bookish Yays!🎝

🎹 The story as a retelling. Does perfect justice to the movie musical while chucking out all unnecessary elements. There are several allusions to TSoM in the conversations and inner monologues that you'll get only if you've watched the movie and know the song lyrics.

🎹 Addie. Such a nice character! She is quite young and hence very impulsive. But she has a heart of gold and it always shows.

🎹 George. I might not have pictured Julie Andrews in my head while reading about Addie but George was Christopher Plummer through and through. I love how the story showed his stoicism as well as his vulnerabilities. The perfect lead for a romance.

🎹 The five children. They were adorable! Amazing how there is never any confusion among the five as the author skilfully gives them distinct personalities.

🎹 The age-gap romance. Not my favourite romance trope, but in this case, it is apt as the real-life Maria and Captain Von Trapp also had a large age gap. The plot handles the trope quite well, by mentioning the gap but not turning it into a major issue. Those who love slow-burn love stories of yearning will like this one.

🎹 The plot. I love how the change in era, setting, plot and characters doesn’t take away from the retelling. Rather, the new story feels fresh and still pays enough homage to the original.

🎹 The setting. With the plot divided between New York, London and the remote English moors by the North Sea, we get a fabulous look at all locations.

🎹 Addie’s love for books and reading, and the consequent highlight on the importance of fiction.

🎹 The historical research, with several real-life people and events cleverly woven into the fictitious story. The depiction of the Gilded Age is also spot on.

🎹 The Christian content. Not overly biblical or preachy, but still true to the genre, showing how everything happens for a reason.

🎹 The ending and the peek into the next book’s lead characters. Count me in!

🎜How do you solve a problem like... Bookish Nays!🎝

🥁 No need to worry about this. There are no major Nays at all. The plot slows down a bit in the final quarter and Addie's thoughts are somewhat repetitive in between as she's stuck in a difficult situation. But these aren't issues that negate the impact of the positives. I wasn't a big fan of a fourteen-year-old child thinking of love and womanhood, but this could be attributed to the era as well as to her familial circumstances.

Overall, this book turned out to be 🎜Something Good🎝. It contains all the ingredients that make the historical romance genre click: great characters, great writing, great romance, great historical research, and a great ending. The Easter eggs from 'The Sound of Music' are an added bonus. 🎜I have confidence🎝 that every fan of the movie who loves historical romances will enjoy this Gilded Age retelling.

Just as you need to 🎜Climb Every Mountain, Cross Every Stream🎝, you must also Read Every Dollar Princess Book. The stories are standalone as each contains the love story of a different couple. But the characters are somewhat interlinked (especially between Books Two and Three), so if you read the entire series in order, not only will you understand their backstories better but you will also have the pleasure of reading satisfying romance retellings.

The book reveals the circumstances of the character who will lead Book Four of the series, and given the change in location, I'm already excited to get my hands on it. The Hollywood movie it retells is known for its music, but there's no romance in its plotline. I'm very curious to see how the author has turned what is considered a children's movie into a romance. But before that, there's an upcoming Christmas novella retelling a Christmas musical and featuring one of the characters alluded to in this book! 😍🎄

Definitely recommended to every fan of this genre and of The Sound of Music. You don’t need to know the movie to enjoy the book, but if you do know the movie, you will appreciate the book even better.

My thanks to author Gabrielle Meyer for providing a complimentary digital review copy of “To Educate An Earl” at my request. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Interested in the earlier books in this series? Check out Book One: ‘To Love a Lady’ and Book Two: ‘To Dance with a Duke’.

That's all from me. 🎜So long, Farewell, Aufwiedersehn, Goodnight!🎝