jacey | Booklog 102/2020: Julia Quinn: Splendid

Alexander Ridgely, Duke of Ashbourne versus Emma Dunster, American shipping heiress. This does feel like a battle – of wills if nothing else. Alex does not want to marry until he absolutely must to ensure the succession. He's 29 now and is quite happy to have at least anther decade of carefree batchelorhood. Emma has been persuaded to travel to England to enjoy one London season with her cousins, but she fully intends to return to Boston to (eventually) take over her father's shipping business (even though her gender will put her at a serious disadvantage). So when the two fall instantly in lust this creates a big problem. Alex is a controlling arse at first – all he wants is sex and doesn't deem to mind that Emma is an innocent. (There were times when I really didn't like Alex.) Emma is young (20) in inexperienced, and she lets her hormones turn her brain to mush. Both families are desperately trying to match-make. There's also a second half plot that seems a bit unrealistic… but what am I talking about? Is Regency Romance ever realistic? This was Julia Quinn's first published novel (1995) so it's perhaps not surprising that her later ones are better. This is a bit unsubtle, with a few historical missteps, but nothing dreadful. It's interesting to see where she started out.