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A review by ireney5
Say Yes to the Duke by Eloisa James
4.0
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this!
To sum it up:
- This is the kind of book where the hero meets the heroine, and immediately knows she's going to be his duchess. No, he's not forceful or obstinate, but just literally charmed enough by her honesty and bright attitude that he knows she's the one for him and decides to woo her. Mind-numbingly romantic, yes. Domineering and ogre-like, no.
- There is a very slight love triangle, but the blurb exaggerates it. Yes, the heroine thinks she's in love with the perfect vicar, but she's also self-aware enough that she knows it's just a passing infatuation and doesn't take any serious action to pursue him after she meets our hero. It's not because she falls for the hero right away (in fact, she doesn't even know he's interested in her), but because she's very realistic and knows deep down that she and the vicar aren't suited. Plus, the vicar is betrothed and our heroine is far too good to want to break up that betrothal. So this is only really a plot point for the first 1/3 of the book, when the duke sees the vicar as competition.
- The friendship between the hero and heroine is genuine and refreshing. They are both likable characters, and the heroine especially is bright, cheerful, and straightforward. There's a moment of desperation on the duke's end where he thinks he needs to get her to agree to marry him even if he has to resort to having her pity him (this idea quickly disappears) so he tells her his mother died when he was young. Instead of pitying him like he expects, she asks him if he misses his mother, or the idea of his mother more.
- There are a few secrets the couple are keeping from one another, but they're don't result in a big rift or misunderstanding. I actually loved how anti-climactic the confessions were because they handled it so matter-of-factly and level-headedly. Who else hates it when the main character in a romance novel is keeping a secret the whole time until the truth comes out at the wrong times and it causes a huge rift?
You think that the reveal that the hero was the guy who yelled at Viola years ago and caused her crippling shyness is going to cause her to fear him and leave him temporarily. It's reasonable even, as he doesn't confess this until late in the novel. Fortunately, she takes it in stride and says she knows he would never yell at her or their future children, and reaffirms her love for him instead.
- The hero finds something that seems to incriminate the heroine, but doesn't care because his feelings for her are unwavering enough that he doesn't even confront her about it. This is really refreshing, and the heroine does bring it up later and clarifies that it was from before they got married and it's a total non-issue. I love a hero that doesn't immediately think the worst of his wife!
- The plot moves really fast. The couple gets married around the halfway point (I think?) so it's not going to be them going back-and-forth and being indecisive for the whole book.
TL;DR: I'm giving this book 4 stars because it avoids all the tropes I hate in romance novels (love triangles, characters unwilling to admit their feelings for one another, super slow burns, big misunderstandings/secrets, enemies-to-lovers, etc.) and is quick-paced and enjoyable despite being relatively shallow and weak in plot.
To sum it up:
- This is the kind of book where the hero meets the heroine, and immediately knows she's going to be his duchess. No, he's not forceful or obstinate, but just literally charmed enough by her honesty and bright attitude that he knows she's the one for him and decides to woo her. Mind-numbingly romantic, yes. Domineering and ogre-like, no.
- There is a very slight love triangle, but the blurb exaggerates it. Yes, the heroine thinks she's in love with the perfect vicar, but she's also self-aware enough that she knows it's just a passing infatuation and doesn't take any serious action to pursue him after she meets our hero. It's not because she falls for the hero right away (in fact, she doesn't even know he's interested in her), but because she's very realistic and knows deep down that she and the vicar aren't suited. Plus, the vicar is betrothed and our heroine is far too good to want to break up that betrothal. So this is only really a plot point for the first 1/3 of the book, when the duke sees the vicar as competition.
- The friendship between the hero and heroine is genuine and refreshing. They are both likable characters, and the heroine especially is bright, cheerful, and straightforward. There's a moment of desperation on the duke's end where he thinks he needs to get her to agree to marry him even if he has to resort to having her pity him (this idea quickly disappears) so he tells her his mother died when he was young. Instead of pitying him like he expects, she asks him if he misses his mother, or the idea of his mother more.
- There are a few secrets the couple are keeping from one another, but they're don't result in a big rift or misunderstanding. I actually loved how anti-climactic the confessions were because they handled it so matter-of-factly and level-headedly. Who else hates it when the main character in a romance novel is keeping a secret the whole time until the truth comes out at the wrong times and it causes a huge rift?
- The hero finds something that seems to incriminate the heroine, but doesn't care because his feelings for her are unwavering enough that he doesn't even confront her about it. This is really refreshing, and the heroine does bring it up later and clarifies that it was from before they got married and it's a total non-issue. I love a hero that doesn't immediately think the worst of his wife!
- The plot moves really fast. The couple gets married around the halfway point (I think?) so it's not going to be them going back-and-forth and being indecisive for the whole book.
TL;DR: I'm giving this book 4 stars because it avoids all the tropes I hate in romance novels (love triangles, characters unwilling to admit their feelings for one another, super slow burns, big misunderstandings/secrets, enemies-to-lovers, etc.) and is quick-paced and enjoyable despite being relatively shallow and weak in plot.