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A review by naika
Her Night with the Duke by Diana Quincy
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I enjoyed "Her Night with the Duke", though sadly I was left with some disappointments that impacted my reception of the story. Delilah "Leela" Chambers, upon returning from her travels abroad, finds herself stuck in a storm that forces her to seek shelter in a very unaccommodating inn. Due to her skin tone, the inn keeper and many of the guests make lewd and racists comments towards her.
Upset with her mistreatment, Duke Elliot Townsend sets them all in their place and offers up his room to Leela. Having spent years taking care of herself, Delilah doesn't take kindly to Elliot's chivalry, but being left with little options, she agrees. What was supposed to be a quick layover, turns into a fiery dalliance. Neither knows of their true identity, nor do they know that their agreement for a one night affair will soon be more than they bargained for.
What I enjoyed: Leela's determination and independence. She is well aware of her rights as a Lady and a widow and often challenges the accepted norms of society. She has traveled extensively and has written well-received travelogues (even though she is presumed to be a male author). She has little interest in remarrying or settling down in the traditional sense. This is particularly admirable, given her identity as a half-English, half-Arab titled woman and the challenges she faces existing in her environment.
Elliot was quite the opposite; he was determined to be regarded as respectable in an attempt to shake the rake reputation of all the previous male relatives, particularly his brother. He had a lot of internal battles between following what is proper and following his heart. I appreciated seeing the male love interest be the one to do the pining.
What I did not enjoy: For such a formidable character, I could not help but feel as though there was significant discourse about Leela's darker features that felt exoticized, rather than a challenge to the biases or discriminations of the time period. However, I fully recognize that I am not an own-voices reviewer and cannot speak to whether the Arab representation was sensitively addressed. All I can say was that those parts of the story were awkward to me as a Black reader.
I also was not always a fan of how Elliot seemed eager to bed Leela after she would express her fears and insecurities about being in a relationship with him. Leela often jumped to conclusions. It also felt like they had the same argument over and over again with very little resolution until the end. This resulted in some pacing issues and a waning interest. The ending left much to be desired.
Throughout the story we are told that Leela is barren. I was pretty excited to read a historical romance with the female love interest being not just barren, but also completely uninterested in the idea of having children. But at the very end we see that she gave birth to a child. It's fairly typical to have a wedding or baby in an epilogue of a romance, I get it. But it was quite the letdown to have this be the HEA for the couple when Leela didn't really seem to care for motherhood and often used this as a way to justify why she and Elliot could never work.
Even though I had my own gripes with the story, it is unique and I can see why others enjoyed it. There is angst, banter, and forbidden love. It may not have delivered everything I thought it would, but I am not opposed to reading something else from the author.
Upset with her mistreatment, Duke Elliot Townsend sets them all in their place and offers up his room to Leela. Having spent years taking care of herself, Delilah doesn't take kindly to Elliot's chivalry, but being left with little options, she agrees. What was supposed to be a quick layover, turns into a fiery dalliance. Neither knows of their true identity, nor do they know that their agreement for a one night affair will soon be more than they bargained for.
What I enjoyed: Leela's determination and independence. She is well aware of her rights as a Lady and a widow and often challenges the accepted norms of society. She has traveled extensively and has written well-received travelogues (even though she is presumed to be a male author). She has little interest in remarrying or settling down in the traditional sense. This is particularly admirable, given her identity as a half-English, half-Arab titled woman and the challenges she faces existing in her environment.
Elliot was quite the opposite; he was determined to be regarded as respectable in an attempt to shake the rake reputation of all the previous male relatives, particularly his brother. He had a lot of internal battles between following what is proper and following his heart. I appreciated seeing the male love interest be the one to do the pining.
What I did not enjoy: For such a formidable character, I could not help but feel as though there was significant discourse about Leela's darker features that felt exoticized, rather than a challenge to the biases or discriminations of the time period. However, I fully recognize that I am not an own-voices reviewer and cannot speak to whether the Arab representation was sensitively addressed. All I can say was that those parts of the story were awkward to me as a Black reader.
I also was not always a fan of how Elliot seemed eager to bed Leela after she would express her fears and insecurities about being in a relationship with him. Leela often jumped to conclusions. It also felt like they had the same argument over and over again with very little resolution until the end. This resulted in some pacing issues and a waning interest. The ending left much to be desired.
Even though I had my own gripes with the story, it is unique and I can see why others enjoyed it. There is angst, banter, and forbidden love. It may not have delivered everything I thought it would, but I am not opposed to reading something else from the author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia