The Duke of Paris by Merry Farmer | ARC Review

Series: Tales from the Grand Tour, #1
Tropes: instalove; reformed rake
Publication Date: 01.03.20
Genre/Setting: Historical; Victorian; Paris, France, 1890
Rating: 5 stars

As children of the youngest son of a duke, the Honorable Miss Dorothy McGovern and her brother Damien are part of a large and well-connected, if notorious, aristocratic family.  But thanks to their father's bad investments of his already small inheritance, they barely have two shillings to rub together.  Dorothy knows it's up to her to marry well in order to save herself and her brother and they both hope opportunity will arise when they join their McGovern cousins on a Grand Tour of Europe, beginning in Paris.

Lord Marshall Stone, now the Duke of Reith, is in Paris visiting his disgraced brother, Sebastian, and drowning his grief for his father in booze and women.  He has no care for his rapidly disintegrating reputation and even sets out to seduce a lady's companion in the employ of his friend, Asher, the Duke of Addlebury.  Only, it turns out the lovely lady is actually his friend's cousin and soon Marshall can't get her out of his head.  Even worse, Marshall and Dorothy begin receiving blackmail threats that are a danger to the reputation and standing of both families and they must work together to find out who is behind the awful, incriminating photos.

This was a fun, quick romp.  Marshall may have conducted himself rather appallingly at first, but he did improve and did some first rate grovelling to Dorothy.  These two had a lovely, immediate connection that made for a great read and I look forward to the continuation of this series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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