A Duke for a husband!
All You Need is a Duke (The Duke Hunters Club #1)
by Bianca Blythe.
Well this had a five star promising start! Wallflower Margaret Carberry is deceived by her mother, tied to her host's bedposts and left there in a compromising position, with her desperate mother ready to shout foul! The prize-- a Duke for her daughter, and for herself a non too shabby son-in-law. A heady ascent to the ranks of the ton for a family that's made its wealth in "trade."
Fortunately for Jasper Tierney, the Duke of Jevington, Margaret shows more integrity than her scheming mother. Margaret's gutsy escape from the Duke's bedroom was hilarious, frightening and awesome, with a special thanks to the Duke's thoughtful butler.
Unfortunately from there on, although the situations as they developed had the bones to become hilarious or dangerous they mostly trailed of into insipidness. The fire of the first chapters was spent.
The Duke is a well meaning soul, definitely not a fribble, more a pleasant gudgeon, making all the wrong moves even as his heart was calling him to opposing actions as he pushed himself into finding a suitable husband for Margaret. To that end he holds a house party with all his dukely friends. Fertile ground for husband seeking with Jasper organizing the event.
I couldn't understand why Margaret didn't have more of a showdown with her mother. It's obvious her father would have supported her. This didn't tally with Margaret's first intrepid actions.
I'm also at loss to see how her friend, the engaged Lady Juliet was able to bounce around the countryside with Margaret when the need arose. I suspect that will become clearer in the next title in the series.
There are definitely moments of humor and charm in this "wallflower wins the day" tale, and as I said, the key plot points were terrific. Still for me they just didn't carry through with the same panache as the beginning promised.
A Victory Editing ARC via NetGalley
***
by Bianca Blythe.
Fortunately for Jasper Tierney, the Duke of Jevington, Margaret shows more integrity than her scheming mother. Margaret's gutsy escape from the Duke's bedroom was hilarious, frightening and awesome, with a special thanks to the Duke's thoughtful butler.
Unfortunately from there on, although the situations as they developed had the bones to become hilarious or dangerous they mostly trailed of into insipidness. The fire of the first chapters was spent.
The Duke is a well meaning soul, definitely not a fribble, more a pleasant gudgeon, making all the wrong moves even as his heart was calling him to opposing actions as he pushed himself into finding a suitable husband for Margaret. To that end he holds a house party with all his dukely friends. Fertile ground for husband seeking with Jasper organizing the event.
I couldn't understand why Margaret didn't have more of a showdown with her mother. It's obvious her father would have supported her. This didn't tally with Margaret's first intrepid actions.
I'm also at loss to see how her friend, the engaged Lady Juliet was able to bounce around the countryside with Margaret when the need arose. I suspect that will become clearer in the next title in the series.
There are definitely moments of humor and charm in this "wallflower wins the day" tale, and as I said, the key plot points were terrific. Still for me they just didn't carry through with the same panache as the beginning promised.
A Victory Editing ARC via NetGalley
***
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