Series: Decadent Dukes Society, #3
Tropes & Traits: titled hero; class difference
Publication Date: 04.30.19
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; England
Rating: 3/5 stars
Davina MacCallum is out to hold the English king to promises made by his father. Her family's lands in Scotland were confiscated for lack of an heir and given to the Duke of Brentworth. She wants to get the land back and establish a hospital to carry on her father's medical legacy. But to do that she must avoid being railroaded by the king and his cronies and get Brentworth to be reasonable.
Eric Marshall, the Duke of Brentworth, refuses to give up any of his estates lest he set a precedent for any future charlatan's claiming lost inheritances. He's not afraid to go toe to toe with the king; he's too assured of his own consequence. The only one who doesn't seem impressed with him is Davina, which unwittingly intrigues Eric, though not enough to make him give in.
As the two are thrown together in a search for the truth about Davina's ancestry, with opposite goals, their growing attraction soon makes it difficult for them to remain staunch enemies. However, attraction doesn't make a happy future and both may have to learn how to compromise if they want one.
Eric was fiercely proud, arrogant and very well aware of his own power and influence. This made him largely unlikable for much of the book but of course he has hidden depths and old hurts he is hiding to protect himself. Davina was almost a bit callous in her single-minded determination to prove her rights to the land in that she began to focus only on that designation and forget a bit about her main goal of establishing a hospital to help people. Sidenote: her insistence on calling him "Brentworth" most of the time, rather than Eric, even after they married, was a little annoying.
It was a bit of a meander through the extra scenes to the barebones plot, but I think they added to my enjoyment and made the relationship between Eric and Davina believable. I found the final admission of feelings between them left me a bit unsatisfied but I think it was also fitting for the characters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Eric Marshall, the Duke of Brentworth, refuses to give up any of his estates lest he set a precedent for any future charlatan's claiming lost inheritances. He's not afraid to go toe to toe with the king; he's too assured of his own consequence. The only one who doesn't seem impressed with him is Davina, which unwittingly intrigues Eric, though not enough to make him give in.
As the two are thrown together in a search for the truth about Davina's ancestry, with opposite goals, their growing attraction soon makes it difficult for them to remain staunch enemies. However, attraction doesn't make a happy future and both may have to learn how to compromise if they want one.
Eric was fiercely proud, arrogant and very well aware of his own power and influence. This made him largely unlikable for much of the book but of course he has hidden depths and old hurts he is hiding to protect himself. Davina was almost a bit callous in her single-minded determination to prove her rights to the land in that she began to focus only on that designation and forget a bit about her main goal of establishing a hospital to help people. Sidenote: her insistence on calling him "Brentworth" most of the time, rather than Eric, even after they married, was a little annoying.
It was a bit of a meander through the extra scenes to the barebones plot, but I think they added to my enjoyment and made the relationship between Eric and Davina believable. I found the final admission of feelings between them left me a bit unsatisfied but I think it was also fitting for the characters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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