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libervorereads 's review for:
Duke of My Heart
by Kelly Bowen
*** I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review, which was originally published on book blog Will Read for Feels.
Sometimes you read a book and you know before you’re even halfway done that you’re going to be the author’s fan. I’m ecstatic that just a few weeks into the new year, I’ve found another historical romance author to adore—Kelly Bowen won me over with her book, Duke of My Heart, the first in her Season for Scandal series.
Happily, this is not her first published Regency; at the end of the book, I learned about three more novels to check out, if I was so inclined (and I am), part of her Lords of Worth series: I’ve Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm, A Good Rogue Is Hard to Find, and You’re the Earl That I Want. So hello, new books, goodbye, savings, I guess! But you may be wondering why I enjoyed this book so much, and I’ll try to explain without using exclamation points in every sentence, like I’m tempted to do.
First off, the heroine, Ivory Moore, totally kicks butt! If she were in a modern-day TV drama, I’m pretty she’d be one of the secret weapons on Raymond Reddington’s team in The Blacklist. He’d probably have her number on speed dial. She’s completely the opposite of a missish, naive debutante, something she proves in the very first chapter. Of course, she would have to be cunning, strong-willed, strong-stomached, quick to assess a situation, and absolutely trustworthy, given her profession as a fixer of scandalous situations and keeper of the Bon Ton’s most sordid secrets.
If you’re familiar with the show Person of Interest, she’s a lot like high-priced problem solver Zoe Morgan. She has that same quality of being able to think on her feet, knowing how people are likely to behave, and being intimately familiar with Society’s caprices as well as how to manipulate these. She’s also got an obvious set of ethics that she follows, but she’s also pretty jaded about how the world works.
As a character, she’s got unplumbed depths—I’m sure the author could craft a series around the cases and clients she’s taken on, were she so inclined—and she’s absolutely delicious. I especially loved the fact that her most dominant traits are both asset and flaw for her. She’s fiercely independent, for example, but it makes her too slow to accept or ask for help from those she cares about. She is extremely (but not ruthlessly) efficient and able to see a situation from multiple angles, but her cool head and ability to keep her wits about her can intimidate and even alienate those she encounters.
On the other hand, Max Harcourt, the Duke of Alderidge, seems almost her diametric opposite in temperament. Where Ivory is all about surgical precision, Max is a force of nature. In fact, Ivory and her associates even liken him to a bull in a china shop, given his tendency to steamroll over anyone and anything in his way as well as the rather loose hold on his temper, which we mark from his very first scene. Yet his blunt, fiery attitude serves as an excellent foil to Ivory’s icy efficiency, and the combination is a lot like lightning. And what adds to this couple’s swoon factor is that, while their attitudes and approaches are different, the core of both these characters is a singular, intense brand of integrity and compassion for those who struggle and persist under different circumstances.
Also awesome is the mystery that brings them together, in which a dead earl is found bound to Max’s debutante sister’s bed, and the lady herself turns up missing. I enjoyed the way Bowen kept me guessing as to causes and circumstances, but handed me just enough clues so I knew who the culprit was right before he was revealed as the villain. And speaking of villains, Duke of My Heart is so chock-full of characters who tread the black and gray areas of both law and polite society, but who are absolutely intriguing and deserve to be featured throughout the series and beyond!
Sometimes you read a book and you know before you’re even halfway done that you’re going to be the author’s fan. I’m ecstatic that just a few weeks into the new year, I’ve found another historical romance author to adore—Kelly Bowen won me over with her book, Duke of My Heart, the first in her Season for Scandal series.
Happily, this is not her first published Regency; at the end of the book, I learned about three more novels to check out, if I was so inclined (and I am), part of her Lords of Worth series: I’ve Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm, A Good Rogue Is Hard to Find, and You’re the Earl That I Want. So hello, new books, goodbye, savings, I guess! But you may be wondering why I enjoyed this book so much, and I’ll try to explain without using exclamation points in every sentence, like I’m tempted to do.
First off, the heroine, Ivory Moore, totally kicks butt! If she were in a modern-day TV drama, I’m pretty she’d be one of the secret weapons on Raymond Reddington’s team in The Blacklist. He’d probably have her number on speed dial. She’s completely the opposite of a missish, naive debutante, something she proves in the very first chapter. Of course, she would have to be cunning, strong-willed, strong-stomached, quick to assess a situation, and absolutely trustworthy, given her profession as a fixer of scandalous situations and keeper of the Bon Ton’s most sordid secrets.
If you’re familiar with the show Person of Interest, she’s a lot like high-priced problem solver Zoe Morgan. She has that same quality of being able to think on her feet, knowing how people are likely to behave, and being intimately familiar with Society’s caprices as well as how to manipulate these. She’s also got an obvious set of ethics that she follows, but she’s also pretty jaded about how the world works.
As a character, she’s got unplumbed depths—I’m sure the author could craft a series around the cases and clients she’s taken on, were she so inclined—and she’s absolutely delicious. I especially loved the fact that her most dominant traits are both asset and flaw for her. She’s fiercely independent, for example, but it makes her too slow to accept or ask for help from those she cares about. She is extremely (but not ruthlessly) efficient and able to see a situation from multiple angles, but her cool head and ability to keep her wits about her can intimidate and even alienate those she encounters.
On the other hand, Max Harcourt, the Duke of Alderidge, seems almost her diametric opposite in temperament. Where Ivory is all about surgical precision, Max is a force of nature. In fact, Ivory and her associates even liken him to a bull in a china shop, given his tendency to steamroll over anyone and anything in his way as well as the rather loose hold on his temper, which we mark from his very first scene. Yet his blunt, fiery attitude serves as an excellent foil to Ivory’s icy efficiency, and the combination is a lot like lightning. And what adds to this couple’s swoon factor is that, while their attitudes and approaches are different, the core of both these characters is a singular, intense brand of integrity and compassion for those who struggle and persist under different circumstances.
Also awesome is the mystery that brings them together, in which a dead earl is found bound to Max’s debutante sister’s bed, and the lady herself turns up missing. I enjoyed the way Bowen kept me guessing as to causes and circumstances, but handed me just enough clues so I knew who the culprit was right before he was revealed as the villain. And speaking of villains, Duke of My Heart is so chock-full of characters who tread the black and gray areas of both law and polite society, but who are absolutely intriguing and deserve to be featured throughout the series and beyond!