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A review by sarah_moynihan
Never Have I Ever With a Duke by Darcy Burke
4.0
'Meet the smart, independent women who've decided they don't need Society's rules, their families' expectations, or, most importantly, a husband. But just because they don't need a man doesn't mean they might not want one...
Graham Kinsley is shocked when he inherits a debt-ridden dukedom, and now he has just one month to repay a loan. He needs an heiress—or find a way to recoup the former duke's losses. When he meets the alluring Arabella, he's entranced. Unfortunately, she's as bankrupt as he is, but if they work together they may be able to recover their fortunes. Though if they keep stealing kisses, they may lose their hearts instead.
Arabella Stoke can't afford an attraction to the penniless duke who has vowed to help rescue her family from financial devastation. She needs to find a wealthy husband before her father succumbs to the stress of losing everything. However, as Graham brings them closer to finding the swindler who stole their money, the war between what they want and what they need may ruin them both.'
_________________________
Never Have I Ever With a Duke is the first book in Darcy Burke's new The Spitfire Society series. I started by reading the second book in this series, A Duke is Never Enough, which I relly enjoyed and so I decided to go back and see how the series started.
I liked both Graham and Arabella as the main characters in this story. I loved that Graham was not born into nobility. A powerful man of the ton with humble beginnings is one of my favorite plot devices in a historical fiction.
Arabella was sweet and loyal. Most importantly she was willing to defy conventions to accomplish what needed to be done. Arabella was an interesting mix of bold and obedient. She defies the expectations of her day in regards to relationships with men and her conduct, which is awesome. But at the same time, when it comes to her family she is sure to follow her parents demands and wishes. She just didn't seem like much of a spitfire to me.
I did however find the both of them to frankly a bit naive in regards to the ease with which they woud be able to reverse their fortunes. I don't quite understand what lead them to believe that they would be able to so easily convince a duo known for swindling numerous people across class lies to simply return the money to them. What kind of con man would ever? All their planning hinged on pulling this plan off successfully and I found that to be quite foolish on their part.
The part of the book that bothered me was Arabella's father, he greatly infuriated me. He was careless enough to squander their money away, keeping from them how dire the situation was until it was far too late. Then he give into self weakness and illness due to the stress of the situation, thus making himself an even greater burned to the family, not only in the sense that they had to do eveything for him, but also in that a bed-ridden man can make no attempts to improve the situation the family is in. Even in illness, he refuses to divulge the extent of their circumstances until Arabella forces his hand. How can you keep your family in the dark? Only once Arabella begins taking actions toward helping the family's situation is he able to find the strength to raise himself from his bed and care for himself. At which point he seems to be in relatively perfect health...so he was just wallowing in his only self-pity all that time. Ugh, what a worthless man. Due to these reasons instead of feeling a great investment in her fathers recovery I mainly felt unmoved.
Overall I did not enjoy this book quite as much as the second in the series, but I was still invested in seeing how things would work out considering what I knew of Arabella and Graham from the following book. I really enjoy Darcy Burke's writing style and will be looking forward to the third in the series, A Duke Will Never Do as well as looking into some of her other books to read. I recommend The Spitfire Society series for Darcy Burke fans and fans of historical romance.
Graham Kinsley is shocked when he inherits a debt-ridden dukedom, and now he has just one month to repay a loan. He needs an heiress—or find a way to recoup the former duke's losses. When he meets the alluring Arabella, he's entranced. Unfortunately, she's as bankrupt as he is, but if they work together they may be able to recover their fortunes. Though if they keep stealing kisses, they may lose their hearts instead.
Arabella Stoke can't afford an attraction to the penniless duke who has vowed to help rescue her family from financial devastation. She needs to find a wealthy husband before her father succumbs to the stress of losing everything. However, as Graham brings them closer to finding the swindler who stole their money, the war between what they want and what they need may ruin them both.'
_________________________
Never Have I Ever With a Duke is the first book in Darcy Burke's new The Spitfire Society series. I started by reading the second book in this series, A Duke is Never Enough, which I relly enjoyed and so I decided to go back and see how the series started.
I liked both Graham and Arabella as the main characters in this story. I loved that Graham was not born into nobility. A powerful man of the ton with humble beginnings is one of my favorite plot devices in a historical fiction.
Arabella was sweet and loyal. Most importantly she was willing to defy conventions to accomplish what needed to be done. Arabella was an interesting mix of bold and obedient. She defies the expectations of her day in regards to relationships with men and her conduct, which is awesome. But at the same time, when it comes to her family she is sure to follow her parents demands and wishes. She just didn't seem like much of a spitfire to me.
I did however find the both of them to frankly a bit naive in regards to the ease with which they woud be able to reverse their fortunes. I don't quite understand what lead them to believe that they would be able to so easily convince a duo known for swindling numerous people across class lies to simply return the money to them. What kind of con man would ever? All their planning hinged on pulling this plan off successfully and I found that to be quite foolish on their part.
The part of the book that bothered me was Arabella's father, he greatly infuriated me. He was careless enough to squander their money away, keeping from them how dire the situation was until it was far too late. Then he give into self weakness and illness due to the stress of the situation, thus making himself an even greater burned to the family, not only in the sense that they had to do eveything for him, but also in that a bed-ridden man can make no attempts to improve the situation the family is in. Even in illness, he refuses to divulge the extent of their circumstances until Arabella forces his hand. How can you keep your family in the dark? Only once Arabella begins taking actions toward helping the family's situation is he able to find the strength to raise himself from his bed and care for himself. At which point he seems to be in relatively perfect health...so he was just wallowing in his only self-pity all that time. Ugh, what a worthless man. Due to these reasons instead of feeling a great investment in her fathers recovery I mainly felt unmoved.
Overall I did not enjoy this book quite as much as the second in the series, but I was still invested in seeing how things would work out considering what I knew of Arabella and Graham from the following book. I really enjoy Darcy Burke's writing style and will be looking forward to the third in the series, A Duke Will Never Do as well as looking into some of her other books to read. I recommend The Spitfire Society series for Darcy Burke fans and fans of historical romance.