My Darling Duke

Oh. My. God! I’ve read and enjoyed other books by Stacy Reid, but I think this might just be her best. This story was everything and I was thoroughly engrossed from beginning to end. This was such a unique premise, and I sympathized with and loved both the hero and heroine.
I love a wounded hero, and Alexander is probably the most damaged I’ve ever read, both physically and emotionally. I loved how Stacy was able to convey both vulnerability and strength in Alexander. AND she was able to paint a picture of a man with disabilities, while still making him sexy and virile!
And Kitty’s resilience and unshakeable love for him really made this story what it was. Many women would have given up on Alexander, but not her. Her patience and consistency were so inspiring.
This book was breathtakingly beautiful and poignant. I can foresee myself re-reading it again and again. I can’t wait to see what’s next for the rest of the “sinful wallflowers.”

I read fairly widely outside of what I write, and I’m currently on a historical romance kick. This book… I loved this book so, so much. From the bold, caring Kitty to tortured, gruff, inherently kind Alexander, I could not get enough of these characters. I don’t want to give too much away, but there’s a heartbreaking reason why Alexander hasn’t been seen for years. There were times I wondered how in the world they were going to make a relationship work. Beautifully done.

Seriously, if you want a historical that will grab you by the feels, you MUST read this book.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

After three unsuccessful seasons, Katherine “Kitty” Danvers makes a bold and potentially scandalous decision, to save her family. Since she is not wed and has no prospects, she leaks a story to the scandal sheets – that she is betrothed to Alexander Masters, the reclusive and absent Duke of Thornton. Her logic is simple, the duke has been written about many times and yet, he never refutes the stories and he never comes to London. She thinks that pretending to be his fiancée will elevate her socially, thus giving her sisters a chance to make good matches, she hopes that by the time the ton figures out her ruse, her sisters will be taken care of and she can just fade into the background. She knows that by following this course, she will be ruined and any hope of a happy marriage and a family of her own will be lost. But since her father died and left them almost penniless, she feels it is her duty to care for her mother and sisters, no matter the personal cost.
Kitty is amazed how easily the ton believes her story and when one of the duke’s solicitors visits and begin to toady to her, she thinks that she may actually pull this off! What she doesn’t know is that Alexander has been made aware of her scam and has decided to play along – for now.

Left seriously injured and badly scarred after the fire that killed his parents ten years ago, Alexander spent years slowly healing and when he tried to return to society, a humiliating incident sent him scurrying back to his castle in Scotland. So when he learns that he is betrothed to Kitty, he does the unthinkable – he goes to London to meet her.

Kitty is shocked when the duke shows up in a wheeled chair and demands an audience with her. She had no idea he was crippled and scarred, she brazens the meeting out and is surprised when Alexander seems willing to play along. The next time they meet, she is shocked again to learn that he can walk and when they dance, she feels a connection that she never dreamed possible, but when he rushes away after their dance, she is left wondering if she imagined the connection, unwilling to let him walk away, she follows and learns even more about her faux fiancé and agrees to a very improper demand by the duke to keep her secret safe.

What follows is a sweet “beauty and the beast” type story with some interesting twists. Personally, I liked the story and enjoyed the retelling, but for me, the story did become a little repetitious and dragged a bit in the middle until almost the end of the book, making it really easy to put down and a bit of a chore to finish. This is one of those rare books that I really liked the story, but felt that I would have liked it better as a novella. Katherine and Alexander are both likable, the chemistry between them is a living, breathing thing, most of the love scenes were subdued but potent, the story touches on issues not usually broached in romance novels and the author does an amazing job dealing with those issues, there are several set ups for future installments that add to the story without detracting from Kitty and Alexander, the secondary characters are wonderful and the ending brought a tear to my eye. Overall, I did like the book, I would recommend it and I am looking forward to reading the adventures of the other “Sinful Wallflowers”

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by the publisher.*

Katherine Danvers is light in the pocket and to make a place for her family in society she pretends to be engaged to Alex Masters, the Duke of Thornton. Figuring he has not been in public in several years he will never know of the ruse. The fake engagement opens doors for her ( with his financial help unknown to her) and her family.
Alex, disfigured in an accident decides to present himself to her and claim his fiancee.
The result is the struggle of how they keep up the farce and avoid falling in love.
Katherine wants love and marriage and Alex denies himself both as the accident has left him unable to function as a whole man.
How Katherine convinces him to love and open his heart is a great romp, wonderful caracters and excellent background characters make this a really delightful read. I will read the other books.

Reid stories always grab you and keep you wondering. I loved this story. The pain and suffering that Alexander had to go through was heartbreaking. I was so happy to see that Kitty fought to ensure they could have their happy ever after. This wasn’t a miraculous story in which he suddenly was healed. They both had to learn to have the relationship being who they were, physical limitations and everything. Kitty was sweet but strong. She was willing to go outside society’s expectations to ensure she could get her man.

1. I bought this book on the recommendation of Victoria Vale, one of my favorite authors of Regency Smut.
2. I had never read anything by this author before. I don’t know how that happened, but let’s move to Number 3.
3. I will highly recommend this book, and if you don’t enjoy the give and take, the push and pull, and the wonderfully, S L O W build up, then you have to be dead. You certainly aren’t reading the same book I just did.
4. If the people who follow my reviews read this book, I would love them to read this book and tell me what they thought. No, I’m not Stacy Reid’s new fan club, but I love reading the insights of people I follow and respect.
5. Holy Lord, this author knows how to build a book – and that’s what authors do, they build the characters, they build the plot and sub plot, they build suspense. In this case, she did a slow boil with the whole lot of it. You won’t be overwhelmed or titilated with sex, but you’ll see that the anticipation is there throughout the whole book. I found myself rooting for The Duke and Kitty all the way through.
6. The Unraveling of Kitty – should have been the name of the book, not just a good line within.

Apparently, I’m not the hard core historical reader I thought I was. I only started reading Woodiwiss when she first published, as well as the best of the rest, all the way through the 70’s and 80’s and 90’s. Then I took a break, and came back when I picked up a marvelous book written by the woman who said I should read this one. I don’t know a lot about whether a book should be true to the time period, if someone uses language that is “too modern” I’m not sure I know what that means, considering we’re reading a story based over a 100 years past. I can handle some artistic license from a good author … and Ms. Reid, you are that.

Oh the book? You wanted me to actually review the book? Oh jeez, I’m not sure if I can do that. You see I started writing this review when I was at 52%. But I ran out of superlatives when I was at 80%. Then I cried a tear or two somewhere around 90%, and decided that I then needed to spend some time on this review, and thinking hard about what I would say, because I want to convince the people who actually read what I write that this book is far more than just worth your time. It grabbed me at the start, and it really got me when I realized that we were about to go on a slow climb to heaven.

Alexander and Kitty. Those two couldn’t have been better suited for each other unless they were shrimp and cocktail sauce. Well, maybe that isn’t what I meant to say. They were like … hmmm, peanut butter and jelly, hot dogs and chili, salt and caramel, pen and paper? Or maybe just Love Sought and Love Found. As you can see by that last, I lost all my positive words while I was reading this book. It literally turned me to nearly speechless (yes, my friends, I do occasionally lose my words, not often, and don’t look for it to happen again for a while).

When you begin this book, you are going to think you know all there is to know about all the characters early on. Then you’ll find out, bit by bit that there is more than meets the eye. And yes, I totally understand why some people didn’t care for the book or panned it. I’m not a purist. I look for a strong story, a brave and strong female protagonist, a Hero who isn’t an ass (and believe me some of the historical romances I’ve read lately, I could cheerful kick the hero to the curb). I look for alliteration, description, EMOTION! If that means putting !!!!! exclamation points everywhere so be it.

But on top of everything, everything in every book I’ve read, I look for emotion most of all. I want it pulled from me, I want it to surprise me, and most of all, I want it to make me cry. Because when I get tears in my eyes, you know the author has done what she set out to do – and Ms. Reid, I can tell you that one certain Duke and one certain “wallflower” pulled a lot of it out of me today. Kudos for a story well told, and that IS why we read isn’t it?

I needed my historical fix after Bridgerton, and Stacy Reid provided the perfect read. Stacy writes swoon-worthy heroes and intrepid heroines with lots of fun stuff in between.

I loved Ms. Reid’s twist on the wounded hero trope. Both characters will draw you in to this great Regency escape.

I received an ARC of My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid, the first book in the Sinful Wallflowers series. I don’t often find myself throwing around words like enchanting and charming and delightful. But I’m about to throw all three around when it comes to My Darling Duke. Plus add a few more–romantic, witty, fun and passionate. Just a wonderful read that I so thoroughly enjoyed and love, as I have come to expect from Stacy Reid.

Kitty Danvers is a Sinful Wallflower, one of five friends who have seen several seasons in London and haven’t been offered for or even noticed. Kitty, desperate to save and provide for her family, embarks on a daring escapade–announce she’s the fiancee of the reclusive Duke of Thornton, Alexander Masters. She doesn’t really expect to get away with the ruse, but to carry it on long enough so her younger sisters have a successful season and are offered for. She doesn’t expect for the Duke, who hasn’t been seen in London for seven years, to show up at a ball. The scarred and wheelchair-bound duke is a mystery to her and the ton, and she is shocked when he doesn’t out her as a fraud. Instead, he proposes a friendship and a continuation of the engagement.

For the first time since he lost his parents in the fire that scarred and crippled him, Alexander is fascinated. He doesn’t believe this absorption with Kitty will last, and he’s unfailingly honest with her about not offering marriage because he can’t be the husband she needs. Or so he thinks. He hasn’t met anyone as passionate, as formidable, bold and brave as Kitty. And his loneliness can’t withstand her fire. And “watching” as he melted was magical. It was a little Beauty and the Beast and a TON romantic. I am not-so-patiently awaiting the next book in the series! We were given clues about possible matches, and I am so excited about the future books! My Darling Duke is quintessential Stacy Reid and an amazing opening to what promises to be a really stellar series!

What a gorgeous romance! An HEA that is unique and tender and two souls who build a friendship that turns into swoony love. I adored it.