Series: League of Dukes, #6
Tropes & Traits: arrogant, titled hero, suspense; starched heroine
Publication Date: 05.28.20
Genre/Setting: Historical, London, England
Rating: 3/5 stars
As the proprietress of the London Ladies' Typewriting School, Isabella Hilgrove must maintain an excellent reputation for the quality of her staff. When the Duke of Westmorland goes through three typists in less than a week, she decides to take on the bullying duke herself.
Benedict Manning, the Duke of Westmorland, is up to his ears in work for the Special League regarding bombings around the city and he can't seem to find a secretary with any backbone. The arrival of the exceedingly proper and obstinate Ms. Hilgrove brings out the less than gentlemanly side of Benedict and he finds himself unable to resist toying with her.
Beneath their mutual animosity lies an equally mutual attraction and their attempts to deliver set downs to one another quickly evolve into more. But with the Fenian bombers still terrorizing London, a connection to the leader of the Special League means Isabella is in as much danger as Benedict and they soon become targets of an even more lethal faction of the radical group.
I wanted to love this book so much but I have to say it's definitely not my favorite of this series, perhaps because I've loved the other entries so very much. I didn't much care for Benedict as a hero; he was very high-handed and could be downright rude. However, I must say if I were in Benedict's stressful position and then had to come home to deal with his sister Callie's antics and face near constant sniping from Isabella, I'd probably be rude too. They had no respect for him so it was still annoying but not surprising that he didn't show much for them. Isabella's constant griping and rigid attitude were not endearing to me and although I appreciated her willingness to stand up for herself, that fire seemed distinctly at odds with her insecurity about her social status and her constant, often rather repetitive, wavering about her feelings for Benedict. At some points it almost felt like she was two different characters; it's no wonder Benedict was so confused. I'm not a fan of heroines who don't own up to their actions and her trying to blame Benedict for a kiss she initiated and then trying to say he was attempting to ruin her was a bit much for me to like her. All that said, I actually did like this couple together and enjoyed the action in the last third of the book, I just wish there had been a bit more of it. This has been one of my favorite series and I'm sad to see it come to a close.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
goodreads.com/review/show/3119975298
Comments
Post a Comment