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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
2.5 really. it's nice enough, but for a book portraying a minx and a scoundrel, there wasn't much fun involved. or jokes. oh, well.
L'intégralité de ma chronique ici: http://lune-et-plume.fr/le-duc-qui-fuyait-lamour-de-lorraine-heath/
Nouvelle série qui commence dans la collection Victoria de chez Harlequin (dont les livres sont toujours aussi beaux). Une série dont les héros sont les descendants de héros d’une série précédente de l’auteure qui n’a pas encore été traduite en français. J’espère que cela sera le cas un jour mais sachez que ça ne gêne aucunement la lecture de ne pas l’avoir lue (si je ne l’avais pas appris sur le site de l’auteure, je ne m’en serais même pas aperçu !).
Ne connaissant pas l’auteure, j’y suis allée seulement pour le résumé, me demandant dans quoi j’allais tomber et ce fut une très bonne surprise. J’ai de suite été absorbée par Le duc qui fuyait l’amour grâce à plusieurs éléments mais surtout pour la connexion qu’il existe entre nos deux héros. Tout de suite, l’auteure met discrètement en place ses pions, montre avec finesse les liens qui les unissent, la confiance qu’ils ont l’un envers l’autre, tant de petits éléments que nos héros ne voient pas eux-mêmes mais qui rendent leurs scènes très intéressantes pour nous lecteurs. [...]
Nouvelle série qui commence dans la collection Victoria de chez Harlequin (dont les livres sont toujours aussi beaux). Une série dont les héros sont les descendants de héros d’une série précédente de l’auteure qui n’a pas encore été traduite en français. J’espère que cela sera le cas un jour mais sachez que ça ne gêne aucunement la lecture de ne pas l’avoir lue (si je ne l’avais pas appris sur le site de l’auteure, je ne m’en serais même pas aperçu !).
Ne connaissant pas l’auteure, j’y suis allée seulement pour le résumé, me demandant dans quoi j’allais tomber et ce fut une très bonne surprise. J’ai de suite été absorbée par Le duc qui fuyait l’amour grâce à plusieurs éléments mais surtout pour la connexion qu’il existe entre nos deux héros. Tout de suite, l’auteure met discrètement en place ses pions, montre avec finesse les liens qui les unissent, la confiance qu’ils ont l’un envers l’autre, tant de petits éléments que nos héros ne voient pas eux-mêmes mais qui rendent leurs scènes très intéressantes pour nous lecteurs. [...]
3.5 stars
A cute and very enjoyable story. Grace is trying to find a love match but since she comes with an enormous dowry, many of her suitors are simply fortune hunters. In order to find out who like her for who she is, she wants to enlist her friend Henry who is still grieving from the loss of his wife and daughter. Here are some thoughts:
-Grace is so smart and humble, I loved these particular aspects of her character the most and their really isn't much negative to say about her. She's had a crush on Henry since forever, they grew up together but he's 10 years (I think?) her senior.
-Henry, duke of Lovingdon, was obviously a broken hero. After his wife and daughter passed away he lost himself in drinking, gambling and other habits fit for scoundrels. This takes place 2 years after his loved ones died and I think that's rather soon to find love again. Obviously, grief is different for every person but for me personally it felt very soon.
-The climax of the story was very action-packed and very unexpected. Maybe I don't read enough historical fiction and this type of sscenario is entirely plausible but it just felt very unexpected for me.
-Many characters were introduced as so-and-so, daughter of son of so-and-so who are unconventional aristocrats and had a whirlwind romance despite there differences. I was very confused and then I understood that there is a whole series about the parents. Henry's mother used to be married to his father, the former duke and fell in love with Jack Dodger, owner of a gambling hell. Grace's mother grew up with Jack and they used to live on the streets as thieves. I was ever so confused when I read all of this in one paragraph and the author clearly expected us to have read the previous books.
All in all, reading this was a lovely experience.
A cute and very enjoyable story. Grace is trying to find a love match but since she comes with an enormous dowry, many of her suitors are simply fortune hunters. In order to find out who like her for who she is, she wants to enlist her friend Henry who is still grieving from the loss of his wife and daughter. Here are some thoughts:
-Grace is so smart and humble, I loved these particular aspects of her character the most and their really isn't much negative to say about her. She's had a crush on Henry since forever, they grew up together but he's 10 years (I think?) her senior.
-Henry, duke of Lovingdon, was obviously a broken hero. After his wife and daughter passed away he lost himself in drinking, gambling and other habits fit for scoundrels. This takes place 2 years after his loved ones died and I think that's rather soon to find love again. Obviously, grief is different for every person but for me personally it felt very soon.
-The climax of the story was very action-packed and very unexpected. Maybe I don't read enough historical fiction and this type of sscenario is entirely plausible but it just felt very unexpected for me.
-Many characters were introduced as so-and-so, daughter of son of so-and-so who are unconventional aristocrats and had a whirlwind romance despite there differences. I was very confused and then I understood that there is a whole series about the parents. Henry's mother used to be married to his father, the former duke and fell in love with Jack Dodger, owner of a gambling hell. Grace's mother grew up with Jack and they used to live on the streets as thieves. I was ever so confused when I read all of this in one paragraph and the author clearly expected us to have read the previous books.
All in all, reading this was a lovely experience.
2021 re-read: I liked this more at the beginning, then it started to bore me and the change from him lusting after her to saying he loves her was so sudden and done in such a lazy way, so... it really did nothing for me. But I was really charmed in the beginning by how they teased each other and were there for the other.
lighthearted
medium-paced
This was a buddy read with my buddy, Nenia, and here's her review (or it will be once she's finished reading and writes it).
Read for the URR 2017 New Year's Reading Challenge prompt 'Victorian Romance'
Big spoilers under the tags, don't click unless you already know or don't care.
5/11 - I really appreciated the way Heath wrote Grace's character. The way Grace dealt with and Lovingdon's dissolute lifestyle were really interesting. She didn't curse him or cry and wail about why didn't he love her or try overtly to get him to change his mind (even if that's exactly what she wanted), she tried to understand why he was behaving that way, how the deaths of his wife and daughter had changed him and through that understanding she was able to get through to him and he fell in love with her without her having to push him into it. Her final revelation of her to Lovingdon rang true to me . My favourite scene was Grace's . I was worried he might or ask her too many probing questions, but he was really great and reacted exactly as I would want in the same situation. He was fuelled with worry about her long term health that had him throwing his clothes off (a slightly irrational reaction, but maybe he didn't want Grace to feel more vulnerable because she was the only one topless), but considering what happened to Juliette and Margaret I think we (and Grace) can forgive him for that behaviour. I also thought Lovingdon's way of finally dealing with his first wife and child's death was very mature and sensible - not completely erasing their existence from his house, but also not shoving his past love in Grace's face.
The information about the way was very interesting, especially Heath's author's note that told us a little extra detail about how doctors were treating it in those early days.
Read for the URR 2017 New Year's Reading Challenge prompt 'Victorian Romance'
Big spoilers under the tags, don't click unless you already know or don't care.
5/11 - I really appreciated the way Heath wrote Grace's character. The way Grace dealt with
Spoiler
her breast cancerSpoiler
scarsSpoiler
(I'm not missing a breast, but I have surgery scars of my own)Spoiler
revelation of her missing breastSpoiler
draw back in shock at the 'ugliness of her scars'The information about the way
Spoiler
cancer was treated (and the fact that it was called a 'malignancy' and not cancer)
Although it is fun to see how the children of previous characters do, it was somewhat distracting trying to remember the stories. I found Grace to be somewhat confusing and her actions seemed particularly bold for the era but I still enjoyed the book. I also appreciated the inclusion of as a part of life.
Spoiler
breast cancer
emotional
funny
sad
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was exactly what I needed. I was complaining I haven't had anything 'unputdownable' (totally making up words) and this book totally sucked me in. I started it pretty late Thanksgiving night and just kept reading and reading and when I finally turned my kindle off and closed my eyes, I laid there ANGRY that I wasn't still reading. It actually bothered me so much, I picked up and just kept reading haha.
Heath has another series prior to this called Scoundrels of St. James which is about the parents of these characters. Both the Duke and Grace from this book, their parents have stories from this series. I haven't read either, but it did make me want to try them.
Grace is ready to begin the search for a husband, at her father's wish. She has a secret that she is sure true love will conquer but doesn't quite know how to tell love from a fortune hunter. She enlists the help of the Duke of Lovingdon, a family friend, at least before the death of his wife and child.
Lovingdon has totally withdrawn into himself. Basically abandoning his family, he has searched out only the basic needs for pleasure to dull the pain of losing his family. Drinking and brothels repeat endlessly. Until Grace barges into his life. Grace who isn't a small girl stuck in trees with scrapes on her knees anymore.
There's an age difference here, can't remember exactly how much older the hero is, but I think its either 7 or 9 years? I thought it was done pretty well though. They have known each other forever and he never really 'saw' Grace in that light. He was like an older brother, a friend, and it takes a quite a few encounters for him to see Grace as a woman.
The things I loved about this book were the feels. So much of it was spent in the hero's head, and I am always a sucker for that. Watching Lovingdon basically 'awaken' after secluding himself in his pain, was oh so sweet. Grace was perfect for pulling him out his guilt. Grace was an enjoyable character to me. She wasn't super sassy, she wasn't a wallflower. She was a society darling and everyone just loved her, myself included.
My favorite parts were the duke slowly but surely falling head over heels in love with her. He first imparts advice 'If he loves you...' and states things Grace should look out for with her many, many suitors. But as time goes on, he is sharing his own feelings without even realizing it. He is sharing how he loves her and it's oh so sweet and beautiful. I adore his jealousy and how he doesn't know how to to handle it. I love how he loses control with Grace.
My complaints are the middle just pulling something away for me. I'm not sure if it was the little villain aspect, but I just wasn't as attached to the book after the midway point, but I loved the ending. The sex scenes I wanted to be longer. It felt like the book had so much tension, feels, and build up, then the sex was so short and almost lacked some of that feeling that was there. Just totally a personal preference/observation. I adored all the kisses and touches in this book. It made it amazing.
Heath has another series prior to this called Scoundrels of St. James which is about the parents of these characters. Both the Duke and Grace from this book, their parents have stories from this series. I haven't read either, but it did make me want to try them.
Grace is ready to begin the search for a husband, at her father's wish. She has a secret that she is sure true love will conquer but doesn't quite know how to tell love from a fortune hunter. She enlists the help of the Duke of Lovingdon, a family friend, at least before the death of his wife and child.
Lovingdon has totally withdrawn into himself. Basically abandoning his family, he has searched out only the basic needs for pleasure to dull the pain of losing his family. Drinking and brothels repeat endlessly. Until Grace barges into his life. Grace who isn't a small girl stuck in trees with scrapes on her knees anymore.
There's an age difference here, can't remember exactly how much older the hero is, but I think its either 7 or 9 years? I thought it was done pretty well though. They have known each other forever and he never really 'saw' Grace in that light. He was like an older brother, a friend, and it takes a quite a few encounters for him to see Grace as a woman.
The things I loved about this book were the feels. So much of it was spent in the hero's head, and I am always a sucker for that. Watching Lovingdon basically 'awaken' after secluding himself in his pain, was oh so sweet. Grace was perfect for pulling him out his guilt. Grace was an enjoyable character to me. She wasn't super sassy, she wasn't a wallflower. She was a society darling and everyone just loved her, myself included.
My favorite parts were the duke slowly but surely falling head over heels in love with her. He first imparts advice 'If he loves you...' and states things Grace should look out for with her many, many suitors. But as time goes on, he is sharing his own feelings without even realizing it. He is sharing how he loves her and it's oh so sweet and beautiful. I adore his jealousy and how he doesn't know how to to handle it. I love how he loses control with Grace.
My complaints are the middle just pulling something away for me. I'm not sure if it was the little villain aspect, but I just wasn't as attached to the book after the midway point, but I loved the ending. The sex scenes I wanted to be longer. It felt like the book had so much tension, feels, and build up, then the sex was so short and almost lacked some of that feeling that was there. Just totally a personal preference/observation. I adored all the kisses and touches in this book. It made it amazing.