Tag: #TheDukesDaughters

Never a Bride by Megan Frampton

On By TracyIn Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)1 Comment

Never a Bride (Duke's Daughters, #4)Never a Bride by Megan Frampton

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Duke’s Daughters, #4

Release Date: April 30, 2019

Lady Della Howlett is the disgraced eldest daughter of the Duke of Marymount, years ago she ran off with her dance master and had a child. When her lover ran off, she was taken in by Sarah Wattings and she planned to never return to her family – but her sisters had other ideas and convinced her to return to London. She is not welcomed by her parents, but her sisters and their husbands helped her and Sarah buy a house and now she wants nothing more than to reunite Sarah with her husband Henry. When she learns that the captain of the last ship Henry was on is in town, she wastes no time finding him.

Griffin Davies, Viscount Stanbury is in a dockside pub when Della stalks in wielding a hatpin and demanding answers – when he saves her from an ugly confrontation, she learns he is the man she is looking for – but before she can get answers – he is arrested and taken away. Griffin is in a bit a trouble over his actions on his last voyage – but when his old friend Robson shows up and gets him out, he learns that his life is about to change – he walked away from his life of privilege years ago and hasn’t been back since – but much has changed and he learns that he is the heir presumptive to the Duke of Northam and that the duke, his cousin Fredrick is ill and expects Griffin to take up the duties of the dukedom immediately – it is overwhelming and when Della shows up at the Duke’s home the next day – Griffin strikes a bargain with her.

Griffin will help her find Henry, but he wants her to pretend to be his betrothed to keep the marriage-mined Mamas and title hungry debutantes away from him – she tells him that she is not welcomed in society, but that just makes him want her more. They strike an agreement and Della is a little surprised to find herself attracted to the arrogant man – she thought she was done with men, but since you can’t be ruined twice, she suggests they add an affair to their bargain and so it begins…

I thought this was a 5 star read right up until the last 3 chapters, then I wanted to smack Della and tell Griffin to grow a set – I was enjoying the story immensely, it was well written, flowed nicely, it was amusing and there was great chemistry between them and then it devolved into some weird Dom/Sub thing. Don’t get me wrong, I like strong, resilient, independent heroines – but Della came off as a little hypocritical – she can’t have anyone help her – but she can help others? Combine that with the fact Griffin never met her daughter, the incorrect formal address and the unresolved legal problem Griffin had at the beginning and the rating for this book dropped. I also have to wonder – where did Griffin get his title? His father was the Duke’s brother – so his title would be his honorific of Lord Firstname and Griffin would just be plain Mr. Davies – so where did the title of Viscount come from?? Even as the heir presumptive, he wouldn’t have a courtesy title – it is little things like this that just niggle at my brain and demand answers – did he have the title bestowed by the Queen for something? No idea and I guess I’ll never know – SIGH. This is the fourth book in the series, but it could easily be read as a standalone and if you have been following the series – you will definitely want to read this one!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an Uncorrected eARC that was provided to me by Edelweiss and the publisher.*

Lady Be Reckless by Megan Frampton

On By TracyIn Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

Lady Be Reckless (Duke's Daughters, #2)Lady Be Reckless by Megan Frampton
Tracy’s rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: The Duke’s Daughters, #2

Release Date: February 27, 2018

Lady Olivia Howett wants to make everyone happy, she also hates injustice in any form, so she believes that she is the perfect woman to marry Lord Carson, the man her sister Eleanor was supposed to marry, and it doesn’t hurt that Olivia is in love with Bennett, Lord Carson. Convinced that marrying him is the perfect solution, she gets him alone and proposes. When he tells her that he is not interested, she is angry and humiliated. He leaves and she is ready to indulge in a good cry when someone in the back of the room speaks up.

Edward Wolcott is the acknowledged bastard son of financier Mr.Beechcroft and best friend to Bennett. He was in the room avoiding the snide remarks about his birth and the not so discreet snubs. He overheard the entire interlude with Olivia and Bennett and offers her some advice, when she asks who he is, she ends up insulting him and he leaves.

Later they meet again when she is trying to find her sister, Bennett introduces them, Edward offers to help her find her sister and Olivia apologizes, she asks if everyone snubs him and is upset to learn that they do. She decides that she can help him (after all helping is what she does best), and then Bennett will see how wonderful she is and realize that he should marry her.

When Edward gets home that night, his father tells him that he is ill and only has months to live. He wants to see Edward settled and accepted before he dies and makes him promise to find a suitable wife. Edward agrees to try. The next day Bennett asks him to distract Lady Olivia and turn her interest elsewhere. Edward doesn’t understand why Bennett is not as captivated by her as he is, but he agrees.

When Olivia sees Edward later, she launches her plan to help him. He confesses that he needs to find a bride and offers her a large donation to her favorite charity if she will help him.

Olivia dives into this project head first and make every effort to see Edward accepted. They spend time together and Olivia begins to doubt her feelings for Bennett, because she is attracted to Edward. Olivia loves spending time with Edward, for the first time in her life she is completely free to be herself and she likes it. She invites him and his father to dinner and hopes to further his social acceptance and find him a bride – a plan that isn’t nearly as appealing as it started out being.

When her mother humiliates her at dinner and she runs out, Edward comes to comfort her and she kisses him. Later she tries to remind herself that it is Bennett she loves and she is trying to find a wife for Edward, not marry him herself. When Edward announces that he is returning to the country with his father and says that he will send her the donation, she kisses him – again. He kisses her back and then tells her this is goodbye. Olivia doesn’t understand what she is feeling and she goes to see him and brings him a gift and collects the donation.

A week passes and Olivia admits that she misses him and that she is not in love with Bennett, but Edward is gone and she will most likely not see him again. She also begins to make some discoveries about herself. She is ashamed to realize that she doesn’t really listen to people and always assumes that she knows what is best for everyone. She wants to change and becomes closer to her twin. When her mother tells her that Bennett has invited them to the country and is sure that he is going to propose, Olivia isn’t sure how she feels or what she will do if Bennett does propose.

They arrive and learn that they are staying at Mr. Beechcroft’s home and not Bennett’s – Olivia is overjoyed to see Edward and when they are alone, sparks fly. Olivia returns to the others and finds her sister Pearl, she tells Pearl that she kissed him (again) and that she might love him. Pearl suggests she tell him how she feels. She makes a plan but is sidetracked when they visit the village, she saw some children and assumed they needed help and charged in to “save” them. Her efforts are not well received and she is humiliated. Edward comforts her as they walk back and tells her she needs to learn to ask if someone needs help, not just act like she knows what is best for everyone, she agrees. When rain threatens, they detour to a vacant shed and one thing leads to another – but before they go too far, she tells him they should marry and lists the reasons why it is a good idea. Edward takes offense and leaves her – he is incredibly sensitive about his birth and felt like she was taking pity on him. He loves her, but he can’t be with her.

Olivia is bewildered and doesn’t know what she did wrong, then realizes that while she listed all the benefits marriage would have for them both – she never told him how she feels about him. Her sisters urge her to speak to him and when they speak the misunderstanding is quickly resolved.

But Edward still has demons to conquer and Olivia has to stand up to her parents, who are ready to marry her off to Bennett.

This was an interesting story, not what I was expecting and not like any other Megan Frampton book I have ever read. The story moves at a quick pace and while there is definitely significant change in Olivia, I didn’t really see the same change in Edward. I don’t know exactly what I felt was missing from the story, but I didn’t feel like it was everything it could have been. The writing is good, the love scenes steamy, the conflicts don’t drag out and there is a very nice HEA. It is the second book in the series, but it can absolutely be read as a stand alone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review of an uncorrected eARC that was provided to me by Edelweiss and the publisher*