Review: Caroline and the Duke by Sabrina Darby
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 19, 2014
Note: Page references refer to an ePUB version.At the urging of her best friend, Caroline, Lady Ballister, seeks a lover with no emotional attachments. After all, experience has taught her that love is a fickle, pointless thing.Sutbridge has wanted Caroline for ten years and, now that she is once again free, is determined to make her his wife. But will he settle for her body, or wage a war for the most important treasure of all: her heart?A short story written by the wonderfully underrated Sabrina Darby. Her works are not long, usually novellas—not that I mind this at all—and her writing style is very concise and spare; her words are chosen very carefully and it displays her craft very well. I cannot put down her stories; I want to read more.This was a story about a young widow intent on taking a lover, not another husband. I thought it was an interesting twist, since it’s usually the man who wants merely a mistress without the entanglements and responsibility of marriage. This showed me that Sutbridge was hero material, and it was interesting to see how he talked Caroline out of her plans. ”How ridiculous that he of all men would want something permanent when she was offering him what every other man desired most?” (p18)The matchmaker moment revealed toward the end of the story was a surprise, nicely unexpected, but perfect, too.Memorable moments:“Why not pursue the promise of their youth with the freedom her widowhood had bought?” (p10)“His hand tightened around her wrist. If she were a woman who bruised easily, there would be a mark there in the morning. Her heart locked far away, she learned not to bruise. She could only dream of wearing his mark.How different a sign of possession would that be in the label of wife.” (p13)“So easy to be tricked, to convince oneself that these flights of fancy added up to some ephemeral love.” (p24)A quietly affecting romance.