Series: The Heart of a Duke, #18
Traits & Tropes: titled hero; spinster, ruined heroine; starched hero
Publication Date: 08.16.22
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; London, England, 1829
Heat Level: 1
Rating: 3.5/5
Thanks to his sister’s impending scandal, the pressure is on for Wynn Masterson, the Marquess of Exmoor, to find a respectable society wife as soon as possible. He has plenty of options, well-respected society ladies, but it’s shy, scandalous Lady Caroline Brookfield who interests him most.
Lady Caroline has never been able to escape a ruinous mistake from her past and it has ruined her marriage prospects. It doesn’t help that Wynn previously courted her younger sister either. Caroline is not at all what Wynn’s title and position call for in a wife, but he’s beginning to realize that she’s exactly what he needs for himself, leaving him to decide between his own heart and the future he wants for his two younger sisters,
This is the book I happened to be reading when I learned of my beloved grandpa’s passing, so I preface this review with that to say that I may not have given this one justice. I did feel like the pacing was a bit slow, but that was also probably down to my headspace and not exactly being in a place to focus on reading even when I was searching for a distraction. I actually really liked that our heroine was a ruined spinster who had given up on finding a love match and that our hero had himself been rejected twice. My only issue here was that Wynn seemed to make a lot of his own problems, so quite a bit of the angst here did feel a bit contrived and one-sided since the impetus for the relationship to move forward was all in Wynn’s hands and Caroline’s position in society meant she could literally do nothing to put herself in a position to be with him. I struggled much of the book to figure out what exactly was keeping Wynn from Caroline, besides his courtship of another woman which he began himself after he’d met Caroline, so I wasn’t a big fan of that. Wynn had a very misplaced sense of responsibility and I loved that his sisters put him in his place. I was also frustrated with Caroline some for being spineless and not standing up to her horrid mother sooner and I definitely wish that lady had gotten put in her place a bit more thoroughly. Otherwise, I actually really liked the pairing of Caroline and Wynn, mostly because they were a fairly nontypical Regency couple, both older than the norm. Though I did expect a bit more maturity and emotional awareness than we got, I did enjoy the way things came together in the end.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1452515351
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4468708245
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