Month: November 2020

Discovering the Duke by Madeline Martin

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

Discovering the DukeBarbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Matchmaker of Mayfair #1
Publication Date: 11/10/20
Number of Pages: 99

This was a lovely, fast-paced, well-written romance between two people who each had flaws to work through. Both sets of flaws had to do with their upbringing, she didn’t trust men to be faithful and he submerged himself in order to please others. I enjoyed watching them get to know each other, and most importantly, trust each other. It was a lovely romance which was first published in the Dukes by the Dozen anthology, but it has been updated just a bit since then.

Julia Sinclair, the Duchess of Stedton, married in order to get out of her deceitful father’s house. Not that she didn’t care for William, she did. However, when she awakens after a rather awkward wedding night and finds William has left, to go see to Maribel, well – that just doesn’t work for her at all and she plans to inform him of that fact as soon as she sees him again – hopefully at the house party they are both to attend. She’ll tell him that she’ll provide the required heir, then she’s going to retire to the country because she won’t live as her mother did.

William Sinclair, the Duke of Stedton, married Julia because he wanted her very much. He was smitten from the first time he laid eyes on her. He hated to have to rush off to his country estate to care for his father’s horse Maribel, but she was his last link to his father and he had to see to her welfare when she fell ill. He left Julia a note – surely she’d understand.

William was expecting a warm welcome from his new wife when he arrived at the house party, so he was shocked when she told him she’d be leaving him as soon as she bore the required heir.

I loved watching William woo his new wife and seeing Julia learn to trust him. That was not an easily won battle and both of them had to face past demons to get to their HEA.

The reason I didn’t give it a 5-star rating – as I usually do with this author – is that I found his leaving to be implausible. I know it is a novella and there wasn’t a lot of room for explanations, but I find it hard to believe that a newlywed would just up and take off for an extended stay without more than a note to his new wife.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Duchess A Day by Charis Michaels

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

A Duchess a Day (Awakened by a Kiss, #1)A Duchess a Day by Charis Michaels

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Awakened by a Kiss, #1

Release Date: November 10, 2020

Declan Shaw is rotting in Newgate, charged with a crime he did not commit. He was hired by the palace to escort Miss Knightly Snow to her aunt in the south of France, but Miss Snow disappears and Declan is charged with abduction and foul play, with the threat of murder hanging over his head. He has tried without success and at considerable expense to have the charges dropped, but to no avail. But all that changes when he is visited by Titus Girdleston, the uncle to the Duke of Lusk. He tells Declan that The Duke is betrothed to Lady Helena Lark, but the lady is not thrilled at the prospect of marrying the duke – she has evaded the marriage for the last five years, but has at last agreed to come to London. Girdleston wants Declan to guard her and make sure she doesn’t bolt – the reward if he succeeds is great, enough to settle his debts and care for his father and sisters, not to mention having the charges against him dropped. But if he fails, he will get nothing and quite possibly will be returned to jail. With no opinions, Declan accepts – besides, how hard could watching a young woman and delivering her to her wedding possibly be?

Lady Helena Lark has used many strategies over the years to put off marriage to the duke – she knows he doesn’t want her, but their families want the land that her grandmother left her – the land that contains a summerhouse that she calls home, her apple orchard, a forest and tenants – all of which will be lost if she marries the duke. She is determined to end her betrothal and has the perfect plan – she will find a new duchess for the duke – because if he jilts her, her family will finally let her retire to her forest in peace. When she arrives in town, she is prepared for Girdleston’s spies – but even knowing isn’t enough to stop her immediate fascination with Declan. She has never felt even the slightest attraction to a man before – but she is drawn to Declan and hopes to win him to her side.

Helena waits until everyone is asleep and slips out to the stables to talk to Declan – he tries to resist, but he is just as taken with her as she is with him and cajoles him into helping her. And against his better judgement, he tells her he will help her and then to make matters worse – he kisses her. He is angry with himself and fully intends to resist her and to inform Girdleston of her plan – but he can’t and finds himself falling under her spell. But he has secrets and while he will help her, he can’t afford to lose his heart to her, but will he be able to walk away?

I really loved this story, it was a fun tale with a bit of a Snow White twist – Helena and Declan are both wonderful characters and I loved their interactions and dedication to each other – which never wavered, no matter how dismal things appeared. The story is well written, fast paced, filled with witty banter, schemes, secrets, surprising twists and turns, a couple of warm love scenes, great secondary characters and a very satisfying ending complete with a epilogue, The copy I read was an uncorrected proof, so I assume that the typos and title errors will be corrected by publication and did not factor them into my review rating. This is the first book in the new series and I am hooked – I highly recommend this book and am really looking forward to the next installment.

**I am voluntarily leaving a review for an uncorrected eARC that I requested and was provided by NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.*