Review: Not a good book
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 06 13, 2014
I pre-ordered this as I enjoyed the first book by this author. I didn't enjoy this one and it's surprising since I do love a Duke and a tortured H and the H was both. The author had lots to work with but the execution let her down. This reads more like what someone thinks a Regency sounds like rather than based on research. In my opinion no Duke would be treated the way this H was. He also wasn't very 'ducal' and not very authoritative, which wasn't credible. Dukes in those days were few and far between and second only to royalty in rank. Even if there were supposed madness in their backgrounds, their prestige would have silenced most. A Duke would be a most sought after prospective husband and he wouldn't have been scorned or ignored. None of these elements were to be found in this book and it really annoyed me. In my review of this author's previous book, I said I was prepared to overlook the inaccuracies because the story was good (it was a debut) but this story wasn't as good, therefore no room for overlooking errors.Basically the H is known as the Dark Duke because of madness in his background. He is never going to marry. His aunt dies and leaves charge of her ward to him. The H thinks the ward is a boy because of the name Alex but of of course it is short for Alexandria. The H then has the duty to marry his ward off and has to introduce her to society. He never goes into society because of his background but he does it for her sake. Meanwhile the H's best friend and his sister get involved to help. The sister has been in love with the H forever and so the story becomes a bit farcical. Later because the H feels sorry for the h not getting suitors, he makes up an alter ego who then 'courts' the h. It went from the sublime to the ridiculous. The h's background story of how she became the aunt's ward was also far-fetched.+++Spoilers+++Another reviewer recently coined the word 'mistorical' and this book falls firmly in this category. The H and h were openly living together at his home and she towards the end she was treated as if she were the Duchess. Unforgivable really. Everyone who reads historicals knows that the h would've had to have been chaperoned else be forced to marry the H, right from the very beginning. Obviously as their relationship progresses to a sexual one, their open intimacy would've been a real problem for those days. The sex scenes were also unbelievable. In the first we have the heavy petting but no sex. In the second this modern miss gives the H a bj, no shyness or hesitation for this Regency virgin. The h would freely roam around the H's house at night as if it were the 21st century. The conversations between the two main characters were so modern at time and the h was completely brazen. I could go on and on but I think you get the picture.The only saving element is that I really liked the secondary character, Phineas (the H's friend), in this book but I really don't know if I can bring myself to read another 'modern' historical by this author.*****I'm adding a postscript to this review after reading The Accidental Duchess by Madeline Hunter on 14 June 2014. Ms Hunter really knows how to write about a truly Ducal character and the comparison between her book and this one is glaring. Interestingly enough that book also includes a scene where the newly initiated Duchess gives the H a bj. What a difference. Ms Hunter describes someone learning the intimacy in a realistic way. Makes me feel justified in writing what I did in this review.