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A review by jbeen21
The Accidental Duchess by Madeline Hunter
3.0
Thanks to the Goodreads First Reads giveaway program for a copy of “The Accidental Duchess” by Madeline Hunter.
This Regency romance follows young Lady Lydia Alfreton as she visits gambling tables, is blackmailed for a scandalous manuscript she’s written, and eludes a kidnapper. The culmination of these poor choices results in her marriage to her childhood acquaintance, the Duke of Penthurst; it is an initially undesirable union for both of them.
While I appreciated the headstrong and independent nature of Lydia, her behavior is so continually immature that it makes her an unlikable and unsympathetic protagonist. Likewise, her eventual love-interest, the Duke, has few memorable character qualities, although I did enjoy his visits into the countryside to work off his frustrations on the local soil. I also liked the dialogue and the endearing friendship shared by Lydia and her maid, Sarah.
Overall, I found the romance between Lydia and the Duke to be very lackluster, both in and out of bed. The back story about the duel-gone-wrong also played too much into the present story; I cared little about a dead character and his past intentions. While the language and dialogue was nicely-executed by Hunter, the story was average, the characters unremarkable.
This Regency romance follows young Lady Lydia Alfreton as she visits gambling tables, is blackmailed for a scandalous manuscript she’s written, and eludes a kidnapper. The culmination of these poor choices results in her marriage to her childhood acquaintance, the Duke of Penthurst; it is an initially undesirable union for both of them.
While I appreciated the headstrong and independent nature of Lydia, her behavior is so continually immature that it makes her an unlikable and unsympathetic protagonist. Likewise, her eventual love-interest, the Duke, has few memorable character qualities, although I did enjoy his visits into the countryside to work off his frustrations on the local soil. I also liked the dialogue and the endearing friendship shared by Lydia and her maid, Sarah.
Overall, I found the romance between Lydia and the Duke to be very lackluster, both in and out of bed. The back story about the duel-gone-wrong also played too much into the present story; I cared little about a dead character and his past intentions. While the language and dialogue was nicely-executed by Hunter, the story was average, the characters unremarkable.