Book Log 46/2016 - Sally MacKenzie: What to do with a Duke

[jacey]

I had this as a review copy from netgalley. it's a fun read as long as you don't know too much about the period. Both the main characters have incredibly modern ideas for people of the Regency. Having said that, if you take it for what it is, this is engaging, light and frothy and you'll rip through it in a day, forgiving it its inconsistencies and somewhat odd central concept. The duke of the title, Marcus, has been cursed for the deeds of his ancestor two hundred years ago. Unless he marries for love he'll die before his heir is born. Family history bears out that the curse is effective. His own father died while he was still in his mother's womb. The curse also demands that he maintains a house in the village of Loves Bridge (close to the ancestral seat that he avoids like the plague) which can be occupied in peace by a spinster. When the incumbent spinster unexpectedly decamps to get married, there are three Loves Bridge females vying for the place but Marcus only has eyes for one of them.

Cat is twenty four and considers herself on the shelf. She wants to be an author so she's not anxious to find a husband even though her desperate mother keeps throwing her at a local farmer who persistently asks for her hand. The vacancy at the spinster house is an opportunity to get away from the crowded vicarage and her six younger siblings, so she pursues it with vigour, even though the arrival of the (absentee landlord) duke does turn her head a little. More than a little, in fact.

You can see where this is going, can't you? Yes, of course you can, and it does go there in no uncertain terms. If I have one criticism it is that the duke's head is in his pants every time he sees Cat. He seems to have a problem with... err... tumescence. (Quite a problem in tight breeches and cutaway jackets I presume!) Pretty soon Cat's head is also in her nethers... as I say, attitudes not usually seen in Regency romances. It adds to the fun, but detracts from the period feel.

My other caveat is that there's rather a large loose thread at the end, which apparently is finished off in the next book, so this is not really a standalone if you want to see how Cat and Marcus' future plays out. It does make the ending slightly unsatisfactory, but I guess has the effect of encouraging the reader to seek out the next in the series.