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A review by rjordan19
Her Night with the Duke by Diana Quincy
5.0
This is my first Diana Quincy and I will definitely be back for more! This is the first in a new series. She also has Accidental Peers (4 books) and Rebellious Brides (4 books) as series.
This premise totally sounded like a book I would not like. Leela is on the road heading to see her step daughter and meet her almost betrothed for a house party and due to the rain, shelters at an inn. She meets a stranger, Elliot Townsend, and they have a night of passion. As she continues on her journey the next day, she finds out that the man almost married to her own step daughter is the same man she just spent the night with. Wow. Talk about awkward. I was a bit anxious to read this hahaha. I am usually not a huge fan of early sex in books, and I also don't love when the hero/heroine is promised to another (like a love triangle), and experienced heroine's aren't my favorite, but I adored this book. I was really pulled in by Daina Quincy's writing.
Elliot, or Hunt, was a hero I liked, even though he comes off at first like a total scoundrel. But I felt like he did stand up for himself to Daina. He's usually a predictable man, someone who plans out the aspects of his life and follows them through. Staid. Steady. Completely unlike his reprobate dead brother. Rumors say there is a curse on his family where irresponsibility and scandal covers every other generation. He is from the scandal laden generation and must do what he can to avoid scandal and be an upstanding member of society. Yet from the moment he meets Leela, it's like he's lost his mind. He does things that are out of character for him. He has a hard time controlling himself. He wants to do what he can to make Leela happy and Leela insists it's to marry her step daughter and make her happy.
Leela in this book truly shines. I am usually all about the heroes, and while I did like Hunt, I LOVED Leela. She was so fun. She is super independent and while her pride went a liiiiiittle far for me in some parts, it was easy to forgive. She was wed to her step children's father at the age of 17. Her step daughter was 9 and her step son was 19. After being married for 9 years she found herself a widow. She's the daughter of the Mad Marquess. Mad because he dared marry and Arab woman, the daughter of a shopkeeper. With her low social status on her mother's side and her mixed heritage, she has never fully been accepted by the ton and has faced catty remarks her entire life. Even once she secured her husband, an Earl, it continues. As a dowager countess, she just wants the freedom to explore the world, learn her culture, and have financial independence from her step son.
Give this book a try if:
-you like a forbidden love trope. Stepdaughters betrothed? Pretty forbidden...
-heroine with a diverse cultural background, she has an Arab mother and has traveled the world meeting some of her family members and learning their way of life
-a steamy read – plenty of partial scenes, full length scenes, fade to black scenes. Not erotica but it definitely doesn't shy away from the sex
-a bit of angst. There's no villain or mystery to solve here, but there's plenty of obstacles for the couple to overcome. Society, cultural, financial, family, I didn't know how they would make it work, but it does!
-I can't call this heroine older...she's only 26 (? I think) but she feels like the older woman here. She's similar age to Hunt and I love that he wanted her instead of the new debutante.
-An independent heroine! A secret writer heroine! A working heroine!
-Very light enemies to lovers. They have some animosity throughout the book and it leads to some great dialogue and steamy angst.
This story did have a few obstacles I wasn't a huge fan of. Also there was quite a bit of back and forth about why they couldn't be together. Some parts dragged a tiny bit, more of when Hunt was still engaged to her stepdaughter (but that could have been me just being really anxious over the situation). STILL. I LOVED parts of this book. There is a scene where she chases the duke down and chucks a golf ball at his head. I loved her then. I loved her before but she might be one of my favorite heroines at that point. And what follows is so steamy and good and then filled with angst and stomped on my heart and I'm pretty sure my eyes actually filled with tears. Me, who thought her emotions dead at this point.
Writing this review has filled me with so much emotion about the book I want to read it again. I think I'll go buy another by her. Can't wait to try her again. Thank you NetGalley for introducing me to a new forever author for me. All these opinions are my own gushing love for this novel.
This premise totally sounded like a book I would not like. Leela is on the road heading to see her step daughter and meet her almost betrothed for a house party and due to the rain, shelters at an inn. She meets a stranger, Elliot Townsend, and they have a night of passion. As she continues on her journey the next day, she finds out that the man almost married to her own step daughter is the same man she just spent the night with. Wow. Talk about awkward. I was a bit anxious to read this hahaha. I am usually not a huge fan of early sex in books, and I also don't love when the hero/heroine is promised to another (like a love triangle), and experienced heroine's aren't my favorite, but I adored this book. I was really pulled in by Daina Quincy's writing.
Elliot, or Hunt, was a hero I liked, even though he comes off at first like a total scoundrel. But I felt like he did stand up for himself to Daina. He's usually a predictable man, someone who plans out the aspects of his life and follows them through. Staid. Steady. Completely unlike his reprobate dead brother. Rumors say there is a curse on his family where irresponsibility and scandal covers every other generation. He is from the scandal laden generation and must do what he can to avoid scandal and be an upstanding member of society. Yet from the moment he meets Leela, it's like he's lost his mind. He does things that are out of character for him. He has a hard time controlling himself. He wants to do what he can to make Leela happy and Leela insists it's to marry her step daughter and make her happy.
Leela in this book truly shines. I am usually all about the heroes, and while I did like Hunt, I LOVED Leela. She was so fun. She is super independent and while her pride went a liiiiiittle far for me in some parts, it was easy to forgive. She was wed to her step children's father at the age of 17. Her step daughter was 9 and her step son was 19. After being married for 9 years she found herself a widow. She's the daughter of the Mad Marquess. Mad because he dared marry and Arab woman, the daughter of a shopkeeper. With her low social status on her mother's side and her mixed heritage, she has never fully been accepted by the ton and has faced catty remarks her entire life. Even once she secured her husband, an Earl, it continues. As a dowager countess, she just wants the freedom to explore the world, learn her culture, and have financial independence from her step son.
Give this book a try if:
-you like a forbidden love trope. Stepdaughters betrothed? Pretty forbidden...
-heroine with a diverse cultural background, she has an Arab mother and has traveled the world meeting some of her family members and learning their way of life
-a steamy read – plenty of partial scenes, full length scenes, fade to black scenes. Not erotica but it definitely doesn't shy away from the sex
-a bit of angst. There's no villain or mystery to solve here, but there's plenty of obstacles for the couple to overcome. Society, cultural, financial, family, I didn't know how they would make it work, but it does!
-I can't call this heroine older...she's only 26 (? I think) but she feels like the older woman here. She's similar age to Hunt and I love that he wanted her instead of the new debutante.
-An independent heroine! A secret writer heroine! A working heroine!
-Very light enemies to lovers. They have some animosity throughout the book and it leads to some great dialogue and steamy angst.
This story did have a few obstacles I wasn't a huge fan of. Also there was quite a bit of back and forth about why they couldn't be together. Some parts dragged a tiny bit, more of when Hunt was still engaged to her stepdaughter (but that could have been me just being really anxious over the situation). STILL. I LOVED parts of this book. There is a scene where she chases the duke down and chucks a golf ball at his head. I loved her then. I loved her before but she might be one of my favorite heroines at that point. And what follows is so steamy and good and then filled with angst and stomped on my heart and I'm pretty sure my eyes actually filled with tears. Me, who thought her emotions dead at this point.
Writing this review has filled me with so much emotion about the book I want to read it again. I think I'll go buy another by her. Can't wait to try her again. Thank you NetGalley for introducing me to a new forever author for me. All these opinions are my own gushing love for this novel.