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A review by jackiehorne
Dancing in the Duke's Arms by Shana Galen, Grace Burrowes, Carolyn Jewel, Miranda Neville
3.0
Carolyn Jewel was kind enough to send me an e-book copy for review.
The Duke's cup, a rowing race between the representatives of four dukedoms in the same county, is the premise behind these four loosely connected regency romances.
3.5 for "May I Have This Duke" by Grace Burrowes. Typical heartwarming Burrowes fare, with a governess who falls in love with the guardian of her charge, who, of course, happens to be a duke. Our heroine is of noble birth, too, of course, but fled into service to avoid a scandal. A scandal which turns out to be not truly hers, but that of one of her family members. If only she had just talked things over with the duke, there wouldn't have been a problem...
2.0 for "Waiting for a Duke Like You" by Shana Galen. This one is the odd story out in an otherwise realism-based collection. A princess from a make-believe European kingdom flees said kingdom after her family is massacred in a political coup, and is rescued by an English duke who had fallen in love with her some years past (we never get the story behind this, so the emotions of the relationship are not that compelling). Our princess gets to fire her bow & arrows in pseudo-kick-ass fashion, but has to settle for happily ever after via marriage, not via recovery of her country, at story's end. Not quite the feminist heroism one might have hoped for.
4.0 for "Duchess of Scandal" by Miranda Neville. Typically well-written, character-driven Neville story, with an older duke who has lived estranged from his much younger wife for five years. A scheduling snafu brings them together again under the same roof, and each comes to recognize that their initial getting-to-know-each-other period may have led to mistaken assumptions about one another. And that their own choices during that period may have contributed to said false assumptions. Love a reconciliation story, especially one as well-written as this: "They exchanged tentative smiles. He felt like an explorer, picking his way gingerly into new territory, careful of pitfalls ahead yet eager to reach an unknown but potentially marvelous place" (Kindle Loc 3362).
3.5 for "An Unsuitable Duchess" by Carolyn Jewel. The Duke of Stoke Teversault has a reputation for being cold and distant, so much so that no one besides himself ever knew that he had fallen in love with Miss Georgina Hunter. But Stoke is a deliberate sort, a man who "observed from afar, who must see the eagle's-eye view of a problem before plunging to grasp in metaphorical talons the required solution. He did not act until he was certain." But his caution and prudence cost him a chance at love, for another man swooped in and married Georgina before Stoke could declare himself. Even now, after Georgina has been widowed for more than a year, Stoke thinks "he had no ability to make himself into the sort of man who would suit" the warm, vivacious, quick-witted Georgina. But emotions, especially those of an amorous sort, can only be bottled up for so long... I've always enjoyed Jewel's writing, although I often find she ends a scene overly abruptly, without coming to a satisfactory sense of closure. This was certainly true of this otherwise enjoyable story.
The Duke's cup, a rowing race between the representatives of four dukedoms in the same county, is the premise behind these four loosely connected regency romances.
3.5 for "May I Have This Duke" by Grace Burrowes. Typical heartwarming Burrowes fare, with a governess who falls in love with the guardian of her charge, who, of course, happens to be a duke. Our heroine is of noble birth, too, of course, but fled into service to avoid a scandal. A scandal which turns out to be not truly hers, but that of one of her family members. If only she had just talked things over with the duke, there wouldn't have been a problem...
2.0 for "Waiting for a Duke Like You" by Shana Galen. This one is the odd story out in an otherwise realism-based collection. A princess from a make-believe European kingdom flees said kingdom after her family is massacred in a political coup, and is rescued by an English duke who had fallen in love with her some years past (we never get the story behind this, so the emotions of the relationship are not that compelling). Our princess gets to fire her bow & arrows in pseudo-kick-ass fashion, but has to settle for happily ever after via marriage, not via recovery of her country, at story's end. Not quite the feminist heroism one might have hoped for.
4.0 for "Duchess of Scandal" by Miranda Neville. Typically well-written, character-driven Neville story, with an older duke who has lived estranged from his much younger wife for five years. A scheduling snafu brings them together again under the same roof, and each comes to recognize that their initial getting-to-know-each-other period may have led to mistaken assumptions about one another. And that their own choices during that period may have contributed to said false assumptions. Love a reconciliation story, especially one as well-written as this: "They exchanged tentative smiles. He felt like an explorer, picking his way gingerly into new territory, careful of pitfalls ahead yet eager to reach an unknown but potentially marvelous place" (Kindle Loc 3362).
3.5 for "An Unsuitable Duchess" by Carolyn Jewel. The Duke of Stoke Teversault has a reputation for being cold and distant, so much so that no one besides himself ever knew that he had fallen in love with Miss Georgina Hunter. But Stoke is a deliberate sort, a man who "observed from afar, who must see the eagle's-eye view of a problem before plunging to grasp in metaphorical talons the required solution. He did not act until he was certain." But his caution and prudence cost him a chance at love, for another man swooped in and married Georgina before Stoke could declare himself. Even now, after Georgina has been widowed for more than a year, Stoke thinks "he had no ability to make himself into the sort of man who would suit" the warm, vivacious, quick-witted Georgina. But emotions, especially those of an amorous sort, can only be bottled up for so long... I've always enjoyed Jewel's writing, although I often find she ends a scene overly abruptly, without coming to a satisfactory sense of closure. This was certainly true of this otherwise enjoyable story.