Thursday, July 2, 2015

BOOK REVIEW- DANCING IN THE DUKE'S ARMS



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BOOK REVIEW- DANCING IN THE DUKE'S ARMS- Why Do Dukes Fall in Love? 
Every summer the cream of society gathers at the Dukeries, named for the ducal estates concentrated in one small corner of Nottinghamshire. While the entertainments include parties, balls, and a famous boat race, the ducal hosts and their guests find heartbreak, love and happy endings. 
Four heartwarming stories from four bestselling historical romance authors. AMAZON

MAY I HAVE THIS DUKE? by Grace Burrowes 
The trouble with Houseparties. . . 
Gerard Hammersley, Duke of Hardcastle, is dragooned by an old friend into attending a house party, though Hardcastle refuses to fall prey to the matchmakers who relish such gatherings. He recruits his nephew’s prim, prickly governess, Miss Ellen MacHugh, to preserve him from being compromised by the conniving debutantes, and offers in exchange to deflect the drunken viscounts who plague Ellen. . . . Is that they must end. Ellen agrees to Hardcastle’s scheme for two reasons. First, she’s been attracted to His Grace since the day she laid eyes on him, and knows that behind Hardcastle’s lack of charm lies a ferociously loyal and faithful heart. Second, she’s departing from Hardcastle’s household at the conclusion of the house party, and two weeks safeguarding His Grace’s bachelorhood is as much pleasure—and as much torment—as she can endure before she leaves him. 
 My Thoughts?   It was okay.  Charming in its way.  It was nice to see the very stiff appearing Duke had so much loneliness and tenderness in him.  He had been fighting off his attraction for 3 years not recognizing what it really was until almost too late.  Ellen was trying to live down a scandal of sorts by going far from home and becoming a governess.  She was good at it too.  She was smart AND kindhearted.   Once Gerard made up his mind about her, she gave him quite the dance to really catch her. 

DUCHESS OF SCANDAL by Miranda Neville 
Too Many Scandals 
After months of marriage, the Duke of Linton agreed to live apart from his wife. Thrown together due to a scheduling error, Linton finds Althea still has the power to make his heart race. Linton seems different from the critical, indifferent man Althea married. But though she burns for him as a lover, can she trust him to be the husband she needs? 
My thoughts-  A good story with two people who have been at odds for 5 years.   So many misunderstandings, mistaking motives and lack of trust generally.  Linton started out the marriage so arrogantly, feeling that Althea should be so grateful that he married someone so below his station in life.  Can you see the problems forming?   When they thrown together because of that scheduling mishap, the reader gets to look at the fact that there might be some maturing going on.  Wait for the twist at the end, Althea has quite the interesting take on how to solve some problems between the two of them.  


WAITING FOR A DUKE LIKE YOU by Shana Galen 
There’s no such thing as the perfect hero… 
Nathan Cauley, tenth Duke of Wyndover, is so handsome ladies swoon—literally swoon. His blond hair and blue eyes certainly draw attention at the Duke of Sedgemere’s house party, but Nathan doesn’t want a fawning young miss for his duchess. He stumbles upon a bedraggled woman sleeping under Sedgemere’s bridge, and his protective instincts stir. When he recognizes her as the princess he fell in love with eight years before, he’s determined to win not only her affections but her heart. Or is there? 
After revolutionaries massacre Princess Vivienne’s family, she and the head of her guard flee to England. Before they can reach London to beg asylum, assassins kill the last of her defenders. Vivienne is alone and on the run when the Duke of Wyndover comes to her rescue. She barely remembers meeting him years before, and isn’t comfortable with gentlemen who are more attractive than she is. Nathan is more than a pretty face, though, and when the assassins return, he might just prove to be the duke Vivienne has been waiting for. 

My thoughts: Promising storyline, promising start.  it lived up to its promise.  I loved it.  Enjoyed every minute of it. Romance and danger.   
I would give it a 5 Star Amazon Rating.  

AN UNSUITABLE DUCHESS by Carolyn Jewel 
The Duke of Stoke Teversault has well earned his reputation for bloodless calculation. Indeed, recently widowed Georgina Lark has no idea he’s loved her since before her late husband swept her off her feet. Stoke Teversault means to keep it that way. The cold and forbidding duke and the blithe and open Georgina could not be less suited in any capacity. And yet, when Georgina and her sister arrive at his home, his ice-bound heart may melt away.Georgina Lark has never thought of thought of the Duke of Stoke Teversault as a man capable of inducing passion in anyone. He’s long disapproved of her, but she will be forever grateful to him for his assistance after her husband died. It’s been a year since she’s realized he’s not the man she thought. Can she find a way to convince him to open his heart to her?

My Thoughts:  There was just so much more to The Duke  than anyone could see or understand.  He appeared cold, strict, so restrained as to be unfeeling.  Georgina or "George as she was called by her closest friends was the exact opposite.   She was warm, open, and lived with her feelings wide open.  She also faced a lot of disapproval because of it.  She also had many friends both male and female because of it too.  There is a sweet unrequited love and a beginnings of love in this story that was so charming.  It looks like Georgina MIGHT just get to have experience with two loves in her lifetime in this story. 



I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. 

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