“Lush, beautifully written, and deeply romantic, My Darling Duke will sweep you off your feet. My heart was lost to this couple from the very start.” —Amalie Howard, author of The Beast of Beswick Miss Katherine Danvers has always been a wallflower. But now, with her family on the brink of financial ruin, she finds herself a desperate wallflower. To save her family, she’ll do anything. Luckily, … family, she’ll do anything. Luckily, she has the perfect plan…
She’ll impress the ton by simply announcing she is engaged to the reclusive and mysterious Duke of Thornton, Alexander Masters, and secure strong matches for her sisters. No one has heard from the duke in years. Surely he’ll never find out before her sisters’ weddings, and she can go back to her own quiet life.
Soon, though, everything is out of control. At first, it’s just a few new ball gowns on the duke’s accounts. Then, it’s interviews with reporters eager for gossip. Before she knows it, Katherine has transformed herself into Kitty Danvers, charming and clever belle of the ton—with everyone eager to meet her thankfully absent fiancé.
But when the enigmatic Alexander Masters suddenly arrives in the city, dashing and oh so angry, he demands retribution. Except not in the way Katherine expected…
Each book in the Sinful Wallflowers series is STANDALONE:
* My Darling Duke
* Her Wicked Marquess
more
I cannot “Credit” a lot of things, BUT I will give this book 100 credits. (You will understand once you read the book). It was hilarious, engaging, and heartwarming. The hero and heroine were both different from what you would think. Read this book when you need a good laugh…You will thank me later.
Well done.
The wounded hero is wounded throughout, no falseness or convenient forgetfulness. The characters are well rounded and believable. I did struggle with him climbing a tree, and Iraq wasn’t a state until 1932, well past this time period. Those hiccups aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the story.
I loved how the story unfolds bringing a wounded reclusive Duke (Alexander) and wallflower, Kitty together in a most unconventional manner thanks to Kitty’s ruse in pretending to be his fiancé. She has good reasons for it but when he unexpectedly turns up it puts her plans in jeopardy and things get very complicated.
3 stars – I liked it
Miss Katherine “Kitty” Danvers has always been a wallflower. To save her family from financial ruin she deducts a sinful plan to claim she is engaged to the mysterious Duke of Thornton until she can secure strong matches for her sisters. Everything goes as planned until the Duke shows up.
This was an enjoyable slow building romance. I really liked both Kitty and Alexander. Kitty was a beautiful woman inside and out. She accepted Alexander how he was and just wanted to make him happy. Alexander is a very strong man. He has overcome so much but he still struggles with his fear of acceptance. Kitty shows him he is still a man and can do what he wants. She pushes him to travel and be adventurous. She doesn’t let his disabilities prevent him from having a life which makes her a perfect partner for him.
I did find that it took me a while to get used to Reid’s writing style. This is my first book by her and I don’t know if it was just this book or her writing style in general. Overall though, this was a great historical romance with a wonderful wallflower and a disabled Duke.
This book features a great and realistic depiction of a disabled hero which was so refreshing and original. It was such a romantic and lovely story.
starting with a daring young impoverished but shouldering the responsbility of her family’s well being and her younger sisters future… fun tale with some good twists to keep you turning the page
This story would have been wonderful only the good part ran out long before the book itself was finished. So to fill the pages the same things were repeated and repeated and repeated!
Entertaining and a bit different from most romance novels. It dragged a little in the middle but was otherwise a fun read.
It made you relate to how an individual overcomes his disability for someone who gives him hope and love. I enjoyed the characters and the story development to a happy ending
Alexander Masters, Duke of Thornton, is reclusive and hasn’t been seen in society in years. While there have been much gossip and rumors about him in the past, none of it was true. However, when he receives word that he is betrothed to Miss Kitty Danvers, he is intrigued especially since he’s never met the young woman. The more he reads about Kitty, the more he wants to meet her. The ballroom is shocked when his name is announced and no one is more shocked than Kitty. She came up with the scheme of their betrothal to save her mother and sister from impending poverty. Having her name linked with the duke has helped her sister attract gentlemen. She never meant to hurt anyone and when she comes face to face with the duke who wears a mask covering half his face and is in a bath chair, she is fascinated with the elusive man. When he orders her to visit him in Scotland, neither of them could predict where the visit would take them. Can Kitty help Alexander out of the darkness in his mind or will he ruin her disavowing their engagement?
I absolutely loved this story. Alexander was such a strong character having endured and fought to recover from a devastating injury when his home goes up in flames. I felt such empathy for him and admired him as well. He is determined to live a lonely existence in the silence of his castle, that is, until Kitty comes to visit. She fascinates him and begins to chip away the ice around his heart. Kitty was such a strong and fiesty young woman especially how she is willing to do anything and sacrifice everything to help her mother and sisters. As she gets to know Alexander, she begins to understand his reluctance to interact with anyone, but she also is not willing to walk away from the scarred duke who is slowly worming his way into her heart. Ms. Reid does a masterful job with Alexander’s character teasing out the details of his injury and all that he endures to reclaim even a shred of independence. I loved the interactions between Kitty and Alexander especially the humorous ones. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
Enter a glittering world of wonderfully well rounded characters who make you laugh and cry. Stacy Reid delivered a story of love and sacrifice that takes your emotions up and down the spectrum!
My Darling Duke was refreshing, witty, and charming and outright entertaining to read!
The original premise is really great– I liked the idea of the heroine ‘impersonating’ the absent, hermit duke’s fiancee, thinking he wouldn’t find out, and you just know he’s going to find out and there’s going to be a reckoning, but once that’s happened (and it happens early) the fun cat and mouse piece of the book, of getting caught and found out is over before the first third of the book is done and when it it is, it takes a lot of the story’s energy with it. Then it just becomes a beauty and the beast kind of book and really shifts gears into something else.
Delightful book!
In Katherine and Alexander romance we have a very clever young miss who has to look out for her family after her father dies and a man who is trying to get back to normal after a near fatal accident.
I loved their pluck and courage and the more he tried to push her away, the more she kept coming back at him.
Very lovable characters in an absolutely delightful book which I couldn’t put down.
I received an ARC of this book.
Being unfamiliar with this author I went head first into the book with only the synopsis to drive me forward.
Katherine (Kitty) Danvers has had multiple seasons with them going nowhere. She has two sisters who need to marry and marry well in order to save their family from impending financial ruin. As they already have little money, the sisters are not marriageable and Kitty has had no luck. So she conducts a plan and claims to be engaged to a duke who has not been seen in years. With the duke’s name and title attached to her, her sisters immediately start attracting men and material things are coming to the family. Alexander, said duke, reads of his engagement in the papers. Surprisingly he does nothing but continue to send her stuff and plan a trip to meet her.
This book has a beauty and the beast retelling vibe, particularly in the second half of the novel. Alexander experienced an accident in which scarred his face, much of his body and made it so he is unable to walk without a walker, but is often confined to a wheelchair. In the age of this story, all things that makes this duke unwanted by society. Kitty is unaware of all this until meeting him. Despite his injuries she slowly falls in love with him, for him and his kindness. She doesn’t care for the looks. He “the beast” worries that she will eventually want for more (children) in which he can not provide for her.
So despite the unique situation, they become friends. He helps her by keeping the lie alive. She helps him by being a friend and helping his loneliness. Together they fall in love and it is magical. What I especially love about this book is the development of the romance. It’s not quick. They do truly become friends while falling in love with one another. There’s a quote from a movie I love: “Love is friendship on fire” and this book represents that. Despite the attraction, the hold off and become friends but once the attraction builds more, on top of the friendship, it really all becomes enflamed creating one hell of a story. Alexander and Kitty are so great for each other. While she is young and “fresh” she had had a few seasons so both characters have an air of maturity around them.
Due to his limitations nothing physical happens for most of the book. I love that about this one. The story truly stayed true to the character’s disabilities and limitations and didn’t magically speed healing along in order to drive the physical aspects of the relationship.
I’m very happy I picked this one up. I can’t believe I need to wait a year for book 2, which is undoubtedly about a friend of hers in the club. I enjoyed this book immensely. A fairytale retelling without being too much of a retelling; more of a theme than anything. Magical, heartwarming, and lovely! I’ll definitely check out more from this author.
All of her books are great!
“The twisted skin of his face was so macabre, yet the man so beautiful.”
Such a moving line from the book as Alexander revealed his burn-scarred face to Kitty for the first time. It took my breath away when I read that.
That pretty much reveals that this is a beauty and the beast trope, but this was different from any of the others I’ve read. A burned hero is nothing new, but him being disabled and using a wheelchair for a great amount of the time was new for me. In addition to that, he was impotent. With him being a duke and needing an heir other than his cousin, my interest was piqued.
I’m already ahead of myself. Kitty is on a mission to get her sisters onto the marriage market and get them and their mother out of poverty. She makes a bigger than life move and declares herself betrothed to Alexander Masters, the Duke of Thornton. He’d removed himself from society years ago and hadn’t been seen. The gossip papers picked up on it quickly and soon she was hounded by what today would be considered the paparazzi. She’s on the shelf anyway and has nothing to lose. The duke is in Scotland. She’s in London. What are the chances of him finding out? And there was no chance of them meeting. She’d get her sisters introduced to the ton, hopefully they’d find suitable husbands, she’d call off the engagement with the duke, and go back to her life. It was the perfect plan…until it wasn’t.
Alexander got copies of these newspapers and was reading up on the brash Miss Danvers and their fake relationship. It was amusing and intriguing and he wanted to know more. I’m going to leave it at that because I’m afraid if I say more, it’ll end up being a spoiler.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved Kitty, her determination, and tenacity. She was kind, not easily outraged, courageous, and loyal. She sacrificed herself just to save her mother and sisters. There wasn’t a selfish or self-serving bone in her body. That was so refreshing. She was bold and daring, but not over the top.
As for Alexander…oh, be still my beating heart. He’s got some infirmities and is in pain often, but he bore through it and did things that I didn’t think were possible. He never gave up on anything. He was proving the doctors wrong on almost every level. But there was that one thing that was holding him back. Again if I say anything else, it’ll come out as a spoiler. This book is too good to have that happen.
I’m a rather picky reader when it comes to historical romance and there’s always some truth in fiction. Sadly, a little search on this fact would’ve taken less than two minutes. There’s a part in the book where Kitty is looking at a bowl and asks Alexander if it was from Iraq. Uh, Iraq was actually Mesopotamia until August 23, 1921.
There’s also a part where Alexander says to Kitty that she has no filter on her mouth. I’m not sure having a filter was a thing back then.
This would’ve been a solid five star book had it not been for the historical inaccuracies. But overall, it was a great read. The feels were great, the characters were so easy to get involved with, and the few love scenes were not lusty or trashy. It was making love at its best.
I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and I am voluntarily reviewing it.
This was an updated version of Beauty and the Beast. The Beast is the Duke of Thornton, Alexander Masters. Ten years prior, a twenty year old Alexander saved himself and his seven year old sister from a fire that raged in their home in Scotland that killed their parents. He sustained life-threatening injuries. He hasn’t been seen in London for seven years, preferring to remain in Scotland away from the ton. Miss Katherine Danvers, but goes by Kitty, is the Beauty. She is a wallflower. Kitty along with her closest friends, who are also wallflowers, decide to do something wickedly fun. She concocts a tale to weave that she is engaged to the Duke to help promote her younger sister(s) to make better matches as they are near-penniless since their father a Viscount has passed away several years ago.
The tale is a charming one. It is full of wit and angst. I felt for both characters. I was extremely glad to see the story written in a dual POV format. Getting into Alexander’s thoughts and see the fear and pain that he suffers really helped me to understand some of his actions much better.
For the most part, this is a clean read but there are a few parts that near the end that should really only be read be someone over the age of 18.
I finally got to read this book and boy was I pleasantly surprised. This is a first time read for me by this author. Katherine Danvers, Kitty, to her family and friends, is desperate to keep the good graces of her family’s name intact all for her family. She is considered on the shelf, a wallflower and then an idea pops in her head. What if she says she is engaged to someone who they have never met or heard from in over 10 years? Brilliant, you say? Hmmmm….ok, Lol. The Duke of Thornton, Alexander Masters, has indeed been a recluse due to a terrible accident and has been away from society for a decade. Imagine his surprise when he receives congratulations on his engagement, while he resides in Scotland, all the way from London. His attitude, well he has got to meet his fiancee, Lol. Filled with laughter, a bit of angst and a tender and emotional story, made for a wonderful read, I enjoyed this one very much and look forward to the next one. 4 solid stars******
****I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book provided by Entangled Publishing through NetGalley*****
My Darling Duke was my last read for 2019 and it was fantastic way to end the year. Its been a while since I’ve last read a historical romance and this story reminded me why I loved them so much. This novel was deeply emotional, steamy, amusing and will have you hooked from beginning to end. This was romance at its finest. I loved the storyline and the chemistry between the two characters Kitty and Alexander was intense. I loved the back and fort banter between them and I loved the secondary characters who all added to the story in their own way.This is my first book from this author and I was really impressed with her style of writing. The characters were well developed, the plot was interesting and I would definitely check out other works by this author.
My Darling Duke was an excellent read and I would highly recommend it to all lovers of regency romance.