A review by kelinek
When the Duke Loved Me by Lydia Lloyd

3.0

'When the Duke Loved Me' begins with a young Catherine and John attending a ball, pretending to be someone other than themselves. They sneak out to the garden and end up caught in a compromising situation. To make matters worse the find out that they’ve been lying to each other about who they really are. Now, it's seven years later, and John has become the Duke of Edington upon his father's death and needs Catherine's help to ensure a large sum of money doesn't go to his wretched cousin. Catherine and John's families are enemies, and even though their encounter was brief, neither has forgotten those stolen moments in a garden years ago.

This was a decent debut novel, but I had issues with the insta-lust and over-the-top drama throughout the book. I wanted a more emotional connection between Catherine and John instead of their lust-based back and forth.