Unusual!

-

The Duchess Hunt (Once Upon a Dukedom #2) by Lorraine Heath          

⭐️⭐️⭐️



A workplace romance set at a time when roles and responsibilities were strictly adhered to. A Regency tale expounding the trope of the heroine entering a man’s world in a time when women just weren’t employed in such positions. The courageous Penelope Pettypeace becomes secretary to the Duke of Kingsland in a male dominated world. Hugh Brinsley-Norton, ninth Duke of Kingsland, is a leading investor and his philosophy is to take opportunities. After all, if they fail they can be cancelled.
Penelope Pettypeace (I love the iteration of her name!) is a woman with a secret past, she’s a chameleon, able to walk away from a a life she’s conjured when needed. She hasn’t needed to so far. Her hidden identity is something she strictly guards. Even with all his resources Kingsland has not been able to uncover anything about her. Efficient to point of prescience Penelope takes to the investment world and secretly to Kingsland.
Kingsland lives only for business, Penelope lives to assist his aims. He has his own set of darkness inherited from childhood.
But it’s time to marry. His last effort didn’t go so well so he’s handed the task of choosing the perfect wife to meet his needs over to his perfect secretary. Her mission is clear—select his wife. After all his last attempt didn’t go so well so bring out the non negotiable requirements. (I have to say Kingsland’s either a man of his times, totally focused on his business, or insensitive. Marriage for him has become a business merger.)Penelope carries a notebook with a list of names, crossing off those who have some aspect that is not on Kingsland’s list of what he wants.
This all seems sterile and cold untl the rules change! Suddenly Kingsland and Penelope find in each other a temporary fulfilment, something they both realize will be short lived until the right Duchess is found. Can they walk away from each other?  When both are threatened by their pasts, how will the other react?
An enjoyable read.

An Avon / HarperVoyager ARC via NetGalley 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

The Three Muscateers—three widows, three sets of different circumstances

-
Image
The Widows' Wine Club  by Julia Jarman    ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Different enough to be interesting but I kept losing which character was which. I almost feel I need to read it again to follow who’s who. I do know that three women came together to form a support group, going to the pub for lunch etc. Better than the local widow’s group in the church hall.  All three had recently lost their husbands and now had to find a way to face their new lives. Viv Halliday is a knowledgeable gardener. Zelda Fielding is setting herself up with internet dates and searching the web for her unknown father. Janet had a controlling husband who it turned out was having affairs, and their son is just as controlling. How their lives unfold is the new challenge. A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Read more