Series: The Disgraceful Dukes, #3
Traits & Tropes: titled hero; marriage of convenience
Publication Date: 04.18.17
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; London, England, Summer 1820
Heat Level: 4
Rating: 3/5
Narration Rating: 4/5
Nicolas, Marquess of Hatherly, had never wanted to marry, despite being the heir to a duke. He had intended to allow his line and the “madness” it carries to end with him, but now, thanks to his father’s gambling, he’s left with no choice but to marry a social-climbing debutante or lose the family home in which his father is most comfortable.
Alice Tombs has no interest in marriage, much less to the notoriously rakish Lord Hatherly. She’s successfully put off any prospective suitors for the past three years and intends to do the same with this one, until Nick suggests a different sort of arrangement. They’ll spend the month together, satisfying Alice’s curiosity about the bedroom activities she’s heard her married friends discussing and then she’ll be free to travel as she wishes while Nick continues to enjoy each day he has to the fullest before the madness sets in. They’re both satisfied the plan is a good one and they’ll have no trouble walking away from one another, but of course that’s easier said than done when the time comes.
I’m left with some mixed feelings about this story. I didn’t wholly dislike it, though the heroine did bring it down for me, but neither did I love it. I was just not a fan of Alice, especially at the beginning. She really could not see anything beyond her own desires and goals. She also couldn’t seem to imagine the feelings of others and especially those of Nick. She was very singularly focused on her own goals and for a long time was unwilling to recalibrate her prejudgments of Nick, consistently believing the worst of him even when seeing signs of the opposite. When she finally did realize that he was a good man racked by fear of going mad like his father (a fear I can completely empathize with given that Alzheimer's appears to run in my family), her sympathy for him felt lukewarm. I would’ve liked to see Alice be the one to make the grand romantic gesture here rather than Nick having to do that too. I was left feeling like these two weren’t equal in their feelings for one another and that Nick had a somehow weaker position in their relationship. The ending was neat enough, but I was somehow left wanting more.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3013553998
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1704811572
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