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A review by phoenixinthecity
If I Only Had a Duke by Lenora Bell
5.0
My first Lenora Bell and I loved it - first for the epistolary prologue and the witty wordplay.
Thea was the perfect, accomplished daughter who was sequestered away from other children and when she was finally out in society to catch a husband with her perfect lady-ness, she failed utterly because she had no idea how to socialize.
She comes into her own when she meets her duke and she’s an absolute delight. I loved that in her made up cover story on the run, the 3 kids she and “Mr. Jones” have are named Melisande, Mirabelle and Michaelmas, who is a girl because “she was born on the holy day, poor thing.”
Further shenanigans ensue as they make their way to Ireland and long story short, Dalton the duke messes up, pushes her away, but he manages to pull his head out of his ass and they loved HEA.
Great side characters in Con the bodyguard/manservant who conspired against Dalton to get him and Thea together. It was reather tidy that the sweetheart Con had left behind ended up being Molly’s mother. Molly was a delight as well, with her enthusiasm to be a cabin boy on one of Dalton’s ships and her voracious reading habits.
Thea was the perfect, accomplished daughter who was sequestered away from other children and when she was finally out in society to catch a husband with her perfect lady-ness, she failed utterly because she had no idea how to socialize.
She comes into her own when she meets her duke and she’s an absolute delight. I loved that in her made up cover story on the run, the 3 kids she and “Mr. Jones” have are named Melisande, Mirabelle and Michaelmas, who is a girl because “she was born on the holy day, poor thing.”
Further shenanigans ensue as they make their way to Ireland and long story short, Dalton the duke messes up, pushes her away, but he manages to pull his head out of his ass and they loved HEA.
Great side characters in Con the bodyguard/manservant who conspired against Dalton to get him and Thea together. It was reather tidy that the sweetheart Con had left behind ended up being Molly’s mother. Molly was a delight as well, with her enthusiasm to be a cabin boy on one of Dalton’s ships and her voracious reading habits.