First one fails, the other goes awry…Whatever the cost, the Duke must die… Allen, the dashing Duke of Lyndon, is enamored by the new servant and her enigmatic aura and intrigued by her mysterious past. But when an attempt against his life is made, all clues lead to her.
On a quest to prove her innocence and save the Duke of Lyndon, Regina has only ten days to unmask the true monster before he makes his final move.
*If you like powerful Dukes, loving Duchesses and a marvelous depiction of the majestic Regency era, then The Perilous Quest of the Rejected Duchess is the novel for you.
Emma Linfield’s 9th book is a historical Regency romance novel of 80,000 words (around 400 pages). No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a sweet happily ever after.
Pick up “The Perilous Quest of the Rejected Duchess” today to discover Emma’s new amazing story!
more
The plot is complex with mystery, intense suspense, with twist and turns, betrayal , lies, deception to keep you turning the pages. The characters are portrayed in depth and are believable. The story has everything I love in a book.
What an amazing roller coaster ride,! My emotions were everywhere! I actually couldn’t put it down even after a 18 hour workday! I picked it up and said I’ll just read a chapter… 4 hrs or so later I fell asleep.. WOW I loved it!!
I wanted to be the beautiful heroine
An famous warrior uncle, an orphaned girl who is fleeing an arranged marriage, a young Duke barely over mourning his father’s sudden accidental death, all meet up in this intriguing story of love-nearly-lost!
Regina Burton, an orphan taken in by a blacksmith and his wife, finds herself again bereft of a loving parent with the death of the blacksmith. His wife has never allowed Regina to call her mother, only Mistress Smith, and now she finds herself the servant of Mistress Smith, who intends to sell her off along with the blacksmithing business. Rather than face a future not of her choosing, Regina runs away, disguised as a boy. Life is difficult, and stealing supplies some of her needs, until she attempts theft from the wrong man, the Duke of Landon! After catching her in the act, and overcoming her, he takes pity on her and offers her employment in his estate, as a lowly scullery maid. Grateful for a position and a home, she accepts. Will Regina clean up her life and become an honest worker, leaving thievery behind? Will her skills as a blacksmith ever be appreciated? Will she be able to make a good life for herself out of the shambles her life has become?
CRITIQUE: Excellent storyline, with the H & h both appealing characters. Many unexpected events keep the reader on their toes, and the pages turning. This clean book, with it’s tantalizing mysteries, will appeal to readers of all ages!
I received a free copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving my review.
Adopted daughter of a blacksmith, Regina Buxton was orphaned by the deaths of her parents, a similarly orphaned parish minister and his wife. She has learned the art of blacksmithing at her adoptive father’s side, but due to his wife’s disdain for her, she hasn’t learned any of the usual feminine skills. With the untimely death of her adoptive father Regina is left in the care of his hateful wife, Catherine, who seeks to arrange her marriage to a much older man, causing Regina to flee. She soon finds herself essentially starving and resorts to thieving, but when she attempts to steal a watch from the wrong man she is caught. Of course, this particular man turns out to be Benjamin Allen, the Duke of Lyndon, who offers her a job as a maid in his house. Benjamin believes himself ill-suited to his new role as duke and is still mourning his beloved father’s death. He has been mostly uninterested in social contact beyond that of his uncle and his best friend, but finds himself intrigued by the little thief. The two grow rather inappropriately close, but when Regina overhears treachery against the duke she fears for her own life and wonders if he’ll believe her as it implicates someone close to him.
I was not a fan of this hero. He was weak and very quick the believe the worst of the heroine he was supposedly in love with; he even begins to move on to another lady. That just didn’t jive for me with his supposed love for Regina.
The premise of this novel was set up very rapidly and felt a bit rushed to me. There were several shifts in point of view that I found rather distracting. The author demonstrates a broad vocabulary, which I appreciated, though it is perhaps a bit stilted in some of the dialogue. Even if she was not raised as a servant, Regina was still not from the nobility or even the gentry, so the way she spoke to the duke, especially after becoming a servant in his employ, was just not believable. There’s also an awful lot of telling rather than showing and this explicit explanation got a bit tedious. This plot was interesting and promising, but a bit convoluted and it tended to drag on and lag a bit with many scenes that did nothing to actually advance the plot. The overall plot is intriguing, but it needed a bit more pep to it to keep me engaged.
I received an ARC in exchange for a review. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.