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jennireadsmaybe's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Anthony Bridgerton who? There's a new Anthony in town and you'd better step aside.
In all seriousness, I thoroughly enjoyed The Duke Gets Desperate. Raya and Strick are the epitome of "I hate that I'm attracted to you" and it's freaking delightful. Raya completely flips Strick on his head by masterminding several ways for the failing castle to make money. She's gorgeous, business savvy, and the exact match to Strick's attitude. Chef's kiss.
I love an inheritance plot, throw in the shenanigans around saving the castle, and the forced proximity of it all and I was ready to devour this book. I wasn't Strick's biggest fan, but he won me over by the end with just how much he believed in Raya. Their chemistry had me giggling and kicking my feet.
The mystery/suspense plot felt ridiculous but in the best way. It definitely added a bit of tension that I felt was missing in the last third of the book. Can't wait to keep reading in the series.
In all seriousness, I thoroughly enjoyed The Duke Gets Desperate. Raya and Strick are the epitome of "I hate that I'm attracted to you" and it's freaking delightful. Raya completely flips Strick on his head by masterminding several ways for the failing castle to make money. She's gorgeous, business savvy, and the exact match to Strick's attitude. Chef's kiss.
I love an inheritance plot, throw in the shenanigans around saving the castle, and the forced proximity of it all and I was ready to devour this book. I wasn't Strick's biggest fan, but he won me over by the end with just how much he believed in Raya. Their chemistry had me giggling and kicking my feet.
The mystery/suspense plot felt ridiculous but in the best way. It definitely added a bit of tension that I felt was missing in the last third of the book. Can't wait to keep reading in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Racism, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Death
auteaandtales's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is not flawless, by any means, there were a few things I had issues with, but none of them feel like they matter that much because I loved the rest of the book so much and I cannot WAIT to read the rest of the series as it’s released.
Their chemistry was fantastic, it was enemies-to-lovers done perfectly. I love the Arab culture woven in, how much Anthony wanted to make sure she felt at home and the cute little things he did for her, and Raya was such a great character. She had so much depth and strength, and could definitely hold her own ground.
The side characters were awful and added so much extra tension, and the bonus mystery was unexpected but fun. It was predictable but I don’t think that hindered the experience at all, and not everyone would find it predictable, I’ve just read SO many thrillers and mysteries in my reading history that there’s very little that takes me by surprise anymore, I can still enjoy the ride.
Well, my only real issue with it was the drama and it felt a little over the top at times, and I’m a fan of slow burn so I think it could have been dragged out a little bit longer.
But while I wait for the next instalment in the series, I’ll have to read Diana Quincy’s other works!
Their chemistry was fantastic, it was enemies-to-lovers done perfectly. I love the Arab culture woven in, how much Anthony wanted to make sure she felt at home and the cute little things he did for her, and Raya was such a great character. She had so much depth and strength, and could definitely hold her own ground.
The side characters were awful and added so much extra tension, and the bonus mystery was unexpected but fun. It was predictable but I don’t think that hindered the experience at all, and not everyone would find it predictable, I’ve just read SO many thrillers and mysteries in my reading history that there’s very little that takes me by surprise anymore, I can still enjoy the ride.
Well, my only real issue with it was the drama and it felt a little over the top at times, and I’m a fan of slow burn so I think it could have been dragged out a little bit longer.
But while I wait for the next instalment in the series, I’ll have to read Diana Quincy’s other works!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism, Abandonment, and Misogyny
Minor: Racism, Alcohol, Islamophobia, and Murder
lizzie_b99's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Cute, but has way too much repetition and limited romantic development. It felt like one moment they hated each other and the next they were in love, which didn't feel super realistic. The twist was pretty good, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Death, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement
jackiepreston's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent and Murder
caseythereader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thanks to Avon Book for the free copy of this book.
- THE DUKE GETS DESPERATE was my first Diana Quincy and it won’t be my last! I loved this enemies to lovers, competence is hot, are we fated mates story.
- I am not usually a big enemies to lovers fan, but this book does it right. It’s not “oh we had a misunderstanding and therefore hate each other forever,” it’s they legitimately have reasons to be pitted against each other and also legitimately keep pissing each other off but also they love how smart and stubborn and capable the other is and simply can’t keep away from each other.
- I also love that Raya is a Palestinian American heroine who is proud of her heritage. She belongs in this time period and in this book, an era and genre that often ignore women like her.
- THE DUKE GETS DESPERATE was my first Diana Quincy and it won’t be my last! I loved this enemies to lovers, competence is hot, are we fated mates story.
- I am not usually a big enemies to lovers fan, but this book does it right. It’s not “oh we had a misunderstanding and therefore hate each other forever,” it’s they legitimately have reasons to be pitted against each other and also legitimately keep pissing each other off but also they love how smart and stubborn and capable the other is and simply can’t keep away from each other.
- I also love that Raya is a Palestinian American heroine who is proud of her heritage. She belongs in this time period and in this book, an era and genre that often ignore women like her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Sexual content, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol and Racism
themeadowlibrary's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
“Castle Tremayne had made a woman out of her.”
When this book opened, I loved the first sentence and thought it was going to be a super fun read. I was very wrong.
It’s not that anything was awful, it just was meh. For example, I am a fan of archeologist heroes normally, but there was just something about Strick that annoyed me. He was completely against monetizing anything, so how does he plan to save his home? It started to veer into him being really unintelligent. I liked Raya a little more, but she still wasn’t a character I was excited to read about. In fact, there weren’t any characters in this book that I really loved.
The writing was very clunky in parts. At times the plot did not make sense to me, and the pacing felt off. Also some details did not ring historically true. One major thing that stood out to me was, no matter what’s going on behind the scenes, I don’t think servants at this time period would speak so harshly and correct their employer in the way they did from the very beginning of the book.
The mystery plot was really predictable; all it served to do was make me anxious and annoyed. Most of all I just never felt hooked- into the story or the characters.
It may be just that it didn’t resonate with me, because there were some good scenes (I love when Raya gets into the cider). Overall though, not my favorite.
Star Rating: 2/5
Tropes: Enemies to lovers, inheritance, class differences
CW: Death, murder, violence, racism, classism
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Classism, Death, and Death of parent
bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Murder, Xenophobia, and Classism
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol
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