A fun read!

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

*****

A fanciful Regency romance cleverly using the Snow White tradition as the organizing motif to give us a wonderfully witty romance. This fractured regency fairytale has a skew of cleverly inserted identifiable parts.
Lady Helena Lark has been evading her arranged marriage to the Duke of Lusk for years, using more outrageously creative attempts as time moves on.
Declan Shaw, a mercenary dubbed “The Huntsman” languishing in Newgate prison is released on the condition that he will guard Helena and prevent her from escaping her upcoming nuptials.
Helena has other ideas. Declan is faced with a rather different challenge. Guarding this astonishing woman is a test in more ways than one. His amazement as Helena plots with all the confidence and ability of the best of spies equals my delight at Helena's capabilities.
Helena plans to introduce alternative candidates to Lusk as part of her campaign.
Her seven potential duchesses list riffs off the seven dwarfs--Sleepy, Happy etc.
Helen's bodyguard and protector Declan (remember the Huntsman movie!) is fabulous.
The swapped roles with Lusk who seems removed to the point of sleepiness and is awakened by a surprising entry is nicely drawn. Indeed explosive!
All the best elements are present, aided by a strong plot and tight writing, to give us a three W read--Wow factor, Winsome and Wonderful!

A HarperCollins ARC via NetGalley 

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