Some fairy tales begin with the kiss.Drake Mowbrah, the Duke of Annick, needed a wife. After choosing an acceptable bride, he traps himself in a marriage of convenience and must tap his creativity to woo his frigid wife and fuel her passion. Drake battles scandals, duels, and his own carefully crafted reputation to win her heart.¿Charlotte Trethow dreamt of a fairy tale marriage to the perfect … perfect man. When she marries the Duke of Annick, all her dreams should have come true, but no one told her happily ever after doesn’t start with wedding bells. Charlotte is thrust into a world with a plotting housekeeper, an interfering despot, and an unconventional husband.¿This is the love story of Charlotte and Drake as they turn a marriage of convenience into a fairy tale romance.
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This was a fast-paced, interesting read, that I found I did not want to put down! The story is fresh, original and exciting with characters that are realistic and likable. The story had everything that I crave in a Regency romance.
#TheDukeandTheEnchantress #NetGalley
This is a cautionary tale of get to know who you are marrying without the stars in your eyes. You may find there is a dragon living in your new home, the world does not revolve around you, and marriage is work. Both our hero and heroine learn that they have to work for the marriage that they want. I laughed as these two worked their way through their own idiocy to find their happiness.I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review.
The Duke and The Enchantress it´s the second book of the Enchantress series. It can be read as a stand-alone, though I suggest reading the 1st. And tells the story of Charlotte and Drake. They met in London and are already married. We see this in book one of the series. This one focuses on how they face this new stage in their lives, especially Charlotte, who has to learn to be a duchess.
I was very excited to read this book and to get to know Charlotte and Drake a bit deeper. It was quite lighthearted, amusing and cute. The plot was not intense at all and easy to read. I enjoyed a lot to know Drake for real, understand him and be fond of him.
I love Paullette Golden’s writing style! especially the lengths of her novels! Though I did find this one a bit slow in the beginning.
I give it 3.5 because I feel I needed a stronger plot maybe and it focused too much on sex for my liking. Apart from that, lovely story!
I received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review.
I liked Drakes character as I read this book. Drake appeared to me to fight with a lot of internal emotions brought on by his mother. I felt really sorry fir him when he didn’t know how to relate this to his wife. Charlotte, I liked her character somewhat, but I found myself getting aggravated with her character when for weeks she practically begged for her husband’s attention. One day he confesses all to her.
She then turns around and says that he’s the same man that she concluded him to be in the beginning. While reading the story, I understood the meaning that the writer was conveying to her readers. I like the emotion and raw determination the writer gave her characters. The book explores the passion of a couple who wants nothing but for their partner to love them.
This was absolutely delightful! I loved Charlotte and Drake and how they made their own happily ever after. It wasn’t an easy journey for either of them. I almost hurt watching them slip past each other and I loved seeing the pieces come together between them. It was healing the heart of a young man and giving confidence to a stunning woman to rule the roost.
I didn’t think it would ever be possible to like Drake! He was so uncouth in the first book and cringy. I’m so glad that we got to meet the Composer as well. He really did deserve Charlotte after all! The twists to his personality were brilliantly plotted out.
Charlotte wasn’t an instant favorite of mine from the first book, but there was something about her personality that made me want to discover more about her. I think her taking charge with her marriage and her household was a huge development for her. Being the younger sister, it was so interesting to watch her blossom!
I really disliked the mother in law, she was quite the fire-breathing dragon. But I believe that she’s now on the way to happy golden years. I really felt very irritated at Drake for not speaking up for his wife, in my point of view that is never acceptable. I literally cheered when he manned up and told Catherine how things were going to proceed going forward.
Seeing past favorites sprinkled here and there was positively diverting! I can’t wait to see where this series will take us and which couples will find their heart’s desires next! I love a well-written tale and this glorious author never disappoints!
Drake Mowbrah, the Duke of Annick, needs a wife and fast before his overbearing mother chooses one for him. He becomes infatuated with Charlotte Trethow and they marry within the month. Both go into the marriage with unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings and miscommunications abound. Throw into the mix the cold and cruel Dowager Duchess of Annick and Charlotte’s first month in her new home is a nightmare. Can these two find a way back to each and be their true selves?
I was looking forward to this book and was hoping that Charlotte had matured a bit from the first book. I get that she’s young, but I found her constant whining about her situation annoying. The biggest surprise in the book is Drake who was not the arrogant duke portrayed in the first book. I loved his passion for music. The author does a great job of teasing out Drake’s talent and how his mother made him feel about it. The writing is well done and I’m looking forward to reading Lilith’s story.
I voluntarily read a copy of this book and all opinions are my own.
After the wedding.
Do they realize that they really don’t know each other. One month of courtship (stolen kisses in dark corners) leads eighteen year old Charlotte to huge insecurities. She’s very young and I experienced and doesn’t know what the expectations of being a duchess entails. And a new mother in law.
Drake is kind of lazy. He married Charlotte wanting a flirtatious wife and immediately feels deceived.
They lack communication skills.
Instead of talking to each other like adults and growing together, they immediately start growing apart.
Another excellent book that is able to portray the insecurities of a very young bride who marries a man almost twice her age and how she is able to grow and come into her own while being subjected to a disapproving mother-in-law and a new husband who for a proclaimed rake is not showing an awful lot of finesse or tact both in and out of the bed-chamber. I thoroughly enjoyed this story about Charlotte and Drake and in spite of the disastrous beginning to their marriage, they were able to reconnect through their mutual appreciation of music. I was happy to see that Drake was portrayed as having to show a good amount of character growth as well before he was able to deserve the love and respect of Charlotte. The next book in the series about Lilith and Walter sounds like it is going to be just as good as the previous books were!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The storyline was great and the characters were developed with such great detail and depth that I was totally captivated as each and every page was turned!
Newly married to a Duke, Charlotte is only eighteen and hasn’t got a clue how to be a Duchess or the intimacy of marriage. All she knows is her husband is a rake. Drake, the Duke of Annick, doesn’t know how to approach his virgin wife except as a rake, which puts her off. Add into the mix his dominating mother and his secrets. This marriage seems doomed from the start. I was a little frustrated because I felt all their complications took too long to resolve. Sometimes I wanted to give them my opinion on what they were doing wrong. Thank heavens for Aunt Hazel! Finally, they get it together. I must say Drake’s secrets were nice surprises. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.
July 1790
“Miss Charlotte Trethow married the Duke of Annick, and all her dreams came true.” Not! yes Charlotte had no idea what to really expect from marriage, she was young and all she had considered was the wedding and being married to a handsome duke. But had no idea what really would happen or how to move forward. “She was a duchess for crying in a chamber pot!” What to do? Then she meets her mother in law!
Their story began in the first book in this series when we meet Charlotte and Drake. He quickly courts her and then we pick up with them just married and on their journey to his home. I really wanted to shake Charlotte, but she was really just a naive girl and deep down I think scared. Drake had felt pressured to marry by his mother who would have chosen a bride for him if he had not chosen one himself. He had his insecurities too and wanted to be loved for himself and not his title or money.
This was a slow, sizzling journey for these two and even painful at times and I could not wait to find out what would happen. Another fabulous story by this new author and I loved it! It was good to visit with Lizbeth, Sebastian and Aunt Hazel again and I am looking forward to the next story in this series! Well Done!
Book two in the An Enchantress Novel series a well written regency story with a very good storyline. This is Drake Mowbrah, the Duke of Annick, and Charlotte Trethow’s story there is suspense, drama, danger, a duel, twists, turns,and romance. I hope there is going to be more in this series. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
When I read the first book in this series I wondered if we would get these characters’ story but I didn’t know how that would play out. I was excited to see them as the feature and this book went above and beyond my expectations. Involved storyline and the characters we grew to love in the first book. I cannot wait to read more in this series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
In this second book, we get to have a closer look at the relationship of Drake and Charlotte. In the first book, Charlotte came across as vain, naive, simpering, needy, self-centered, shallow, lonely, and willing to marry for a title instead of love. All it seemed to have gotten her was an empty marriage, a cold marriage bed, a stranger for a husband, and a domineering mother-in-law. Drake was no better. He seemed foppish, a dandy, an adulter, crass, crude, lascivious, weak-willed when it came to his mother. Honestly neither one had anything to endear them. I was however intrigued to see what their marriage was like through their eyes.
Though those book this shows these characters with the above shortcomings, there are those moments of “Ah” and growth. While the angst of Charlotte continues throughout the story and her always thinking of herself first (that’s what it feels like), there is real growth and change for Drake. His heart opens and he grows a backbone to stand up against his mother. While I may not care Charlotte, by the end of the book Drake has grown on me. He is able to look past flaws and see what the other needs and isn’t afraid to give it. It commendable.
It was fun getting to know Charlotte and Drake. They both wanted love but were too afraid to ask for it. Charlotte has married Drake, the Duke of Annick. Now on their way to his ancestral home after the wedding he sleeps and ignores her. During their courtship he wooed her and she enjoyed his kisses, but now she is being ignored except for his crude comments about wanting to hurry up and consummate the marriage. No feelings involved. She rejects him and for the next few weeks. they live separate lives, only seeing each other at meals. Her new mother-in-law is overbearing and bossy, and Charlotte feels inadequate. Then she finds out Drake goes to see a mistress every night. Or does he? What can she do? Is the marriage over before it has begun or can she make Drake fall in love with her? I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The story of this book occurs concurrently with the previous book.
While Lizzie struggled with the growing feeling for Sebastian Lancaster, Earl of Roddam, Charlotte was visibly courted by Drake Mowbrah, the Duke of Annick.
We met Charlotte unsure of her new role as duchess in the carriage that was taking her to her new home, Lyonn Manor.
Charlotte was the daughter of a prominent man of parliament, but she was also aware that she was not raised to be the wife of a noble, after all, her father owned a mine.
But it was impossible to resist Drake’s charm – and lips.
But now that they were married, he didn’t look like that charming man from before. In fact, he spent most of his time in carriage sleeping.
“Not only she married a man she didn’t know the first thing about aside from his ability to find every dark corner at a ball… Dazzled wasn’t a strong enough word for the attraction she had felt during their monthlong acquaintance. Hypnotized, perhaps.”
By contrast, Drake, at the age of 33, a man notoriously known as a rake, far more experienced than his 18-year-old wife, was beginning to feel insecure about his chosen. Was she interested only in his title, while before she was ardent to his kisses, now she was cold and distant?
“The Charlotte during courtship had giggled at his flirtations and kissed him in dark corners. This woman, however, did none of those things, not since the exchange of vows.”
This tense situation only worsened over the course of the trip, when Drake realized that he would not be able to consummate his marriage at any Inn they stayed at.
Upon arriving at the Manor, Charlotte had a new challenge ahead: to please the unshakable Dowager Duchess of Annick, Lady Catherine.
Marriage turned out to be a nightmare!
Charlotte felt lonely and unhappy, and she still had to learn how to be a perfect duchess (her mother-in-law would accept nothing less than perfect). She and Drake were looking farther and farther apart, and to make matters worse, she discovers that he has a mistress many years his senior.
Hold on !!
Before you think the worst of each character (and believe me, I had a bad impression of Charlotte in the previous book), open your mind and get to know each character.
Paullett has the genius of showing each character not for their best, but for their flaws.
The great truth is that each, in their own way, was inexperienced, afraid, did not want confrontation and, above all, did not know how to express their feelings.
And as some unpleasant events happen and you think “OMG, this marriage is a huge mistake!”, the game turns brightly.
If I had liked Sebastian Lancaster’s character before, I was delighted at how Charlotte and Drake turned a marriage of convenience into a fairy tale.
“After a storm comes calm”, the saying said, and here, step by step, the couple find the perfect path to happiness.
Drake looked like an irresponsible and sarcastic dandy; Charlotte looked like a spoiled and ambitious girl, and in the end, they turned out to be two tormented souls hungry for the desire to love each other.
Wonderful reading. Can’t wait for the next book, the Baron.
5 stars
Marry in haste, repent at leisure is often bandied about. However, it would seem that marriage between the Duke of Annick and Miss Trethow is summed up in these words. Although the plot of this story is good, the characters left a lot to be desired. The Dower Duchess of Annick had so beaten her son down that he was unable to protect his wife from his mother’s vitriol. Fortunately, Charlotte does find a way to support her husband, but with disastrous consequences. However, it is enough to give Drake the push he needs to take control of his marriage and his home, but it is almost too late. I found this book a little disturbing especially as Charlotte was forced too endure the Dower Duchess’ harsh instruction without her husband’s support. The story fortunately does comes to a happy conclusion, however I am not convinced that all their demons had been slain.. I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily post this review. This is my honest review.
I really enjoyed the first book in this series and the second (this book) was excellent as well. The characters actions and reactions were so unique and genuine. I loved the “hidden secrets” and the connections between the couple when they finally worked things out. I really enjoyed the time I got to spend reading this book.
I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review.
I had a difficult time getting through the first 20-25%. In fact, I almost quit this book because I really didn’t like either Charlotte or Drake. I am glad that I stuck with the story and the characters because they did get better and I even ended up liking the story. I believe one of the reasons I kept reading was the writing. It was smooth and believable, except for the occasional lapses in the historical accurateness. Even the dialogue moved the plot and the development of Charlotte and Drake’s life together. Another surprise was the amount of researched the author did concerning both fencing and music.
All in all The Duke and the Enchantress by Paullett Golden became an engrossing read. One of the biggest surprises was how the chemistry between Charlotte and Drake went from blah to mildly erotic. I began to actually believe they loved each other, which made their happy ending believable.
Content alert: the swearing is pretty mild, but the sexual intimacy is pretty descriptive.
Disclosure: I received this book for free from eBook Discovery via Prolific Works. I am voluntarily posting my honest review.
FYI: I also posted my review on Amazon (as Rural Reader) and with Good Reads.
The Duke and the Enchantress
An Enchantress Novel book 2
by Paullett Golden
Drake Mowbrah, the Duke of Annick, has chosen a bride, courted and wooed, the delightful Charlotte Trethow is now his bride. She made his heart skip a beat during their courtship and now he’s ready to make her his. Instead he’s witnessing a different side to his bride that has him believing that all she wanted was the title of Duchess! Can he have been mistaken? Her kisses say yes and he knows just how to melt his ICE QUEEN…..one kiss at a time!
Charlotte Trethow’s dreams have come true, she’s met her Prince, had a fairytale wedding and on her way to the fairytale castle. Instead her Prince has turned into a rude groping frog!!
Her dream of being the perfect Duchess to make her husband proud turns into a nightmare!
How could the perfect man change so fast?! If only his kisses didn’t leave her so breathless!
A fast paced read that keeps the reader engaged with wonderful and entertaining characters. Charlotte and Drake both danced around each other, both wanted the same thing but each had issues. Charlotte was innocent and had no idea what to do on her wedding night – she had the jitters poor girl! Drake wanted to be loved for who he was, pouncing on his wife didn’t go well with her.
And if that wasn’t enough she had to deal with a dragon of a mother-in-law! Their courtship as a married couple was a slow burn, I loved the way both matured and found their very much deserved HEA!
Another delicious read by the very talented Paullett Golden! Can’t wait to read the next book.
I received a complimentary copy from the author, this is my honest unbiased opinion.