A review by jackiehorne
The Accidental Duchess by Madeline Hunter

3.0

2.5 I've been unimpressed with Hunter's latest regencies, and this one struck me as weaker than the others in this current series. The blackmail plot that brings the hero and heroine together struck me as rather ridiculous--would a halfway intelligent woman truly believe she could be accused of being a spy based on something she'd written as part of a novel? This feeling was exacerbated by the fact that the heroine doesn't seem to take her blackmailer very seriously, or feel very threatened or in danger from him. It all seemed just a ploy for her to need money, and to take up the dare of the man she hates in order to get it. And of course her reasons for hating him are all wrong, and her love for another man are all based on false impressions. And she's fairly passive in her resistance to the blackmail. All which made me find her far too close to the TSTL heroine to make for a compelling read. And she gambles, but only because she's bored, AND because she wants to get back at a man who cheated her friend. AND she donates her winnings to charity. Ties in to the false impressions theme, but also made me feel she was too good to be true.