Review: How to Deceive a Duke

Reviewed by Jen
 

I've got mixed feelings on this one. There was potential there. I liked it in the first half, but the story took a hard left turn in the last nine chapters or so, that just didn't gel with everything that came before it.

Meg and her family have been struggling ever since her father died, leaving them destitute. When the Duchess of Temberlay calls, trying to set up a wedding between her grandson and Meg's sister, Rose, it seems like a perfect solution to their financial troubles.  But Rose wants nothing to do with Nicholas and his terrible reputation as a rake of the first order.  She runs away on the marriage, prompting Meg to take her place at the ceremony. Having never met Rose, Nicholas has no idea of the switch.

Nick hates the idea of getting married, but his grandmother blackmailed him into it.  He is shocked when he actually begins to fall for his bride.  She is fiery, beautiful and smart. But his reputation and a string of misunderstandings threatens to destroy their hopes at happiness. The story follows their power struggles and emotional entanglements as they try to make their marriage of convenience work.

I liked Meg a lot. She is practical and smart without being overly stubborn.  Nick's not bad, though sometimes he is a bit too arrogant.  My only problem before the weird twist was the fact that Nick refused to clear up their misunderstandings when he had a chance. He knew Meg was hurting; he knew he could fix it, but he chose to wait --for some reason that completely eludes me.  I still held out hope that it would give me a satisfying ending and then, well, it just went in a totally different direction.  I didn't like it --and I felt cheated that the dire circumstances brought about the resolution more than character growth on its own.

Like I said, it had potential. The writing was good and the sexual elements were there, but in the end, I was left off-kilter.

Rating: C-

*ARC Provided by Avon

Click to purchase: Amazon

How to Deceive a Duke

by Lecia Cornwall

Release Date: November 27, 2012

Publisher: Avon