Tuesday, 23 August 2016

Blog Tour: If Only I Had A Duke by Lenora Bell (Historical Romance, Romance, 10/10E, short 'n' sweet review)



Gorgeous dress!
30th August 2016, Piatkus, 384 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Content: some adult romance scenes, humour, tension, 

Summary from Little, Brown
After four failed seasons and a disastrous jilting, Lady Dorothea Beaumont has had more than enough of her family's scheming. She won't domesticate a duke, entangle an earl or vie for a viscount. She will quietly exit to her aunt's Irish estate for a life of blissful freedom. Until an arrogant, sinfully handsome duke singles her out for a waltz, making Thea the most popular belle of the season.
Well, the duke ruined her plans and now he'll just have to fix them.

Dalton, Duke of Osborne, is far too heartless for debutantes or marriage - he uses dalliances to distract from his real purpose: finding the man who destroyed his family. When his search leads to Ireland, the last thing he needs is the determined, achingly innocent Thea, who arrives in the dead of night demanding he escort her to her aunt. His foolish agreement may prove his undoing. The road to the Emerald Isle is fraught with unforeseen dangers, but the greatest peril of all might just be discovering that he has a heart . . . and he's losing it to Thea.


Nayu's thoughts
Sorry this is late! Not been well the last few days (insomnia mostly) and like to have blog posts go out at midnight. Midday isn't too late....

Having a glimpse of Thea at the end of Charlene's story which was the first book in this series I was delighted that the 2nd book focuses fully on Thea. Poor Thea is spunky, educated and opinionated, all things her mother dislikes. Thea's mother has an ideal life in how Thea should live and enforces that on her daughter. Thea, quite understandably, reaches breaking point thanks to Dalton's so called helpful actions so takes matters into her own hands. I admired just how brave she was once free from her family's grasp. She isn't fearless, but freedom gives her confidence to keep going in whatever action she's undertaking, to see where it will lead. She is fun to read about, and her stubborness makes life entertaining for Dalton and his manservant Con who meddles frequently in his master's life in a good way. 

So confession time for me. Initially I skipped the all Dalton parts of chapters as I prefer female characters and 0wasn't in the mood for him. A few chapters in and suddenly interesting 'stuff' is revealed about Dalton that made me go reread the parts I skipped, and I never skipped any more, that's the strength of Lenora's writing. He was an idiot a lot of the time, but Thea filled up his life and he realises he can't live without her. While not necessarily liking all Thea does, she does make life easier for Dalton, and even aids him in dispensing wjth some bad men using her newfound courage. 

I liked the tiny crossovers from book 1, as it was fun seeing familiar characters again. It is a happy ending reading, but be prepared for a huge surprise from Thea's family which had me gaping at the page. That part of the book is so awesome!!! Cue fangirl squealing. Eagerly awaiting book #3! This will is one to reread. 

Find out more on Lenora's website

You can buy it from many bookstores including on Amazon UK

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