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I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Book Review-The Duchess War

by | Nov 25, 2014 | Book Reviews | 1 comment

Book Review-The Duchess WarThe Duchess War by Courtney Milan
Also in this series: A Kiss For Midwinter
Series: Brothers Sinister #1
Published by Courtney Milan on December 8th 2012
Genres: Historical Romance, Regency Era
Pages: 270
ISBN: 1937248097
Goodreads
four-stars

Sometimes love is an accident.
This time, it’s a strategy.

Miss Minerva Lane is a quiet, bespectacled wallflower, and she wants to keep it that way. After all, the last time she was the center of attention, it ended badly--so badly that she changed her name to escape her scandalous past. Wallflowers may not be the prettiest of blooms, but at least they don't get trampled. So when a handsome duke comes to town, the last thing she wants is his attention.
But that is precisely what she gets.
Because Robert Blaisdell, the Duke of Clermont, is not fooled. When Minnie figures out what he's up to, he realizes there is more to than her spectacles and her quiet ways. And he's determined to lay her every secret bare before she can discover his. But this time, one shy miss may prove to be more than his match...

For quite some time now I have seen plenty of high rating and reviews, and recommendations from fellow bloggers and friends about this series, and I kept putting it off. But as I was browsing I saw that The Duchess War, was free, so I thought I should start reading it. This is not the first time that I have read this author, but I haven’t read her in quite some time. I do love wallflower themed romances, but this story had so much more depth that I was expecting.

The story begins with Minerva Lane, who finds herself hiding behind a couch, when her almost fiancee comes in with his friends, talking crap about her, and she finds herself with a partner listening in, Robert Blaisdell, who she later learns is a bloody Duke. Can her day get any worse? Minerva has been hiding her true identity for years, and now she has no choice but to marry, because the only family she has left, two women that practically adopted her into their lives, friends of her mother, are left in dire straits, and she needs to marry and soon. But when Robert enters her life, and begins to pursue her, she starts to want a better way for her life, and not just marrying someone for convenience. And soon she starts to realize that there is alot more to Robert than meets the eye, and she will have to decide if she could handle being the Duchess of Clermont, or will her inner fears from her past consume her?

What I loved about this story was the emotional intensity that is displayed throughout the story. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this authors style, that pulled me right into the story from the beginning. What I liked at the start was how Robert and Minnie got along with each. There was quite a bit of fun interaction, and it was a show seeing these two rub along together, and try to work things out, with a bit of heated and strongly sensual scenes that could fire up the room. There definitely is plenty of sparks flying back in forth between the two. Another characteristic that I really enjoyed was the building up of the characters. We see quite a bit of development of both Minnie and Robert. The kind that really capture you attention, and I fell in love with both Minnie and Robert. They were such a pair, and I couldn’t get enough of them and the kind of attachment that they form to each other.

Robert is ….well I loved him as the hero, he really got my radar up and working furiously, there was something so telling about him that made me just want to marry the man myself. Robert isn’t looking for a conventional marriage, he is quite a schemer, but in a good way. He has secrets of his own, but he goes about doing things that he knows he can get away with because he is a Duke. Robert never grew up with parents that loved him, he has never really known love or affection, until the arrival of his brother and cousin come into his life. He hasn’t had a easy road, but is determined to make a difference in his life. Minnie, grew up in a situation that was not her own, and has her own talents and is way intelligent, but has had to settle for less because of the secret that she is afraid of coming out. What match that these two were for each other. They may have different types of history, and status in society, but they work so good together and really balance each other really well.

I found that The Duchess War was a fascinating story of healing, past hurts, and a poignant love to win every heart….SENSUAL AND WELL PLAYED OUT!!

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1 Comment

  1. Carol Cork

    Renee, I have been a huge Courtney Milan fan ever since I read her Turner series. I always find her stories original and thought provoking, her characters compelling and her writing superb. Her books are also meticulously researched. I still have The Countess Conspiracy and The Suffragette Scandal to read in this series.

    Reply

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