Shapeshifters in Regency times!

A Duke at the Door (Shapeshifters of the Beau Monde #3) by Susanna Allen 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This just wasn’t up to the standard of the previous in the series. Yes, I liked it because I’m following the series. However things became quite confusing, and keeping the occupants of Lowell Hall in Sussex, who they were, and how they fitted in, was a struggle.

What we have is a Welsh lion trapped in his lion body for years, never able to change, until a thief prized the gold chain off from his paw. Then, what a surprise! The thief was left a gibbering mess and the lion/human might just as well have been.

The Honorable Miss Tabitha Barrington, a female apothecary, is asked by the Prince of Wales (head of all Shapeshifters—versipelles) to take Alwyn ap Lewin, the Duke of Llewellyn in hand, to restore him if possible. After his years of being trapped as a lion, he’s now wedded to his human body, and yet he finds it hard to operate as a human. The slightest thing like holding a fork adds to his confusion.

Tabitha sees sensible solutions to his problems so that he’s not shamed.

It seems she can also distinguish animals who are shifters and those who are not. Unremarkable to her but a gift to others.

This story is an important step in the ongoing series, but really, I often found myself mired in a complex and confusing text, and just wanted out! I was unsure if I was trapped in some fresh hell with Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle Duck, or something more. Beatrix Potter on steroids! 

Of course I wasn’t, but it was hard to get a clear picture.

Oh, there is a wicked witch. Mmm! Really, a wicked versipellis! More to come on this front me thinks.

I did find Allen’s discussion on Apothecaries at the end of the book very interesting, so not all is lost.

A Sourcebooks ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.