anitaholz 's review for:

A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole
5.0

A Duke by Default was definitely a witty, well-rounded book that took a lot of risks and stood up to the challenges. Portia was a “hot mess” who had something to prove and hoped that she would find herself by learning how to forge a sword. Tavish is a silver fox who has been in over his head for some time now, and never would have guessed that his apprentice, Portia, would be the answer to his dilemma (and issues that he hadn’t even known existed).

The chemistry between them is fun, flirty, and witty, and I can see why this book has received such rave reviews. I really took my time with the story and enjoyed the prose; the voice of the author Alyssa Cole is fresh and edgy, and many topics are as contemporary as from the news headlines.

There were times when some scenes dragged, and a few of the beats were slightly repetitive, but that was easily and quickly forgiven. The ending felt a tad bit rushed for my liking - I would have liked more loose ends to have been tied up instead of dangling; also, the last scene with royalty was admittedly over the top, even with the premise of this book. The two reconciled far too quickly, and again, that was due to rushing to the finish line for the novel.

The author is so witty - there were times when I truly had to chuckle or laugh out loud, which I appreciated. Intimate scenes were exactly that - intimate - and they served to progress the romantic action in the plot.

Because I’m not the kind of reader who will hop into a series without reading previous books, I ended up also buying A Princess in Theory (Book #1) and read that before reading this book. I’m very glad I did, because I was able to enjoy both books immensely. I like the diversity among the characters, and I feel that it was done in a very natural way.

I recommend this book (actually the entire series so far), and I look forward to the release of Book #3 next year!