TEST
Forever My Duke is one of those ‘just okay’ romances, one that has its sweet points but whose joints creek alarmingly.
Hadrian Ames, Eighth Duke of Clayton, is on his way to dinner with his family and his prospective bride when he’s waylaid at a taproom by an ice storm. He has not seen his intended, his seventeen-year-old (yikes!) second cousin Lady Ellen, since they were adolescents, and his lateness does not provide a positive impression. Yet he is determined to capture this “perfect bride”.
His valet, Chumley, disapproves the reason for his master’s having journeyed so far from home – the pursuit of liquor – but then a small boy and his mother appear, and Hadrian’s plans go rather sideways.
The woman is American Natalie Fanshawe, and her adopted son, Leo, is the pirate-obsessed boy who disrupts Hadrian’s intentions. Natalie plans to escape their life of drudgery, by opening a school for the poor in the city, and to unite Leo with his British relatives, but it’s a hard row for her to hoe alone.
Hadrian offers her a helping hand, and the two of them begin to develop feelings for one another. But how can a duke who wants to marry an aristocratic miss ever find true love with a common girl?
Well, it’s a romance novel – they’ll find a way. The problem with Forever My Duke is that it doesn’t go about things in a unique or inventive way, resulting in audience fatigue, even though the romance itself is generally all right.
Natalie and Hadrian are decent people, though Hadrian’s obsession with finding the perfect wife does grate, and Natalie occasionally lacks backbone. Their romance is sweet and fairly supportive; I liked that he was willing to stand up to society for her.
The minor characters provide some of the best parts of the novel, specifically little Leo, who is hilarious and comes across as a real kid rather than a plot moppet..
After a while though, the reaction to this American-girl-with-her-American-ideas-and-low-class-birth-Does-Things by the various monocle-popping members of society became totally annoying. I could’ve used with a lot less stereotyping and a lot more general fun and silliness. The downbeats, the inevitable kidnappings – I’ve seen them all before, and seen them better written.
Forever My Duke is just average. For some, it might be exciting. But for me, it was tragically nap-inducing.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Visit our Amazon Storefront or shop at your local independent bookstore
Grade: C+
Book Type: Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 03/01/20
Publication Date: 12/2019
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
Lisa Fernandes is a writer, reviewer and recapper who lives somewhere on the East Coast. Formerly employed by Firefox.org and Next Projection, she also currently contributes to Women Write About Comics. Read her blog at http://thatbouviergirl.blogspot.com/, follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thatbouviergirl or contribute to her Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/MissyvsEvilDead or her Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/missmelbouvier
Related Reviews
“After a while though, the reaction to this American-girl-with-her-American-ideas-and-low-class-birth-Does-Things by the various monocle-popping members of society became totally annoying.” FFS.! Just the trope I loathe the most in HR. Just so damned irritating and condescending as well – to both Brits and Yanks. No thanks. And the pirate-obsessed kid? The Barbary pirates were still raiding in Europe and taking captives for slavery in the early 19th century so no one would have been glorifying them for sure.
That’s a good point about the pirates, although some boys have probably been into pirates, soldiers, bandits, gangsters, and robbers for time immemorial.
Yeah, this just sounds like another generic poor American woman meets duke fairy tale, but without enough interesting twists to make it original. I’ll be giving this one a pass.
I hadn’t thought of that factoid while reviewing – but yeah, pirate fantasies will always be pirate fantasies. The book is set roughly after the Revolutionary War by a few years.