My Darling Duke (Sinful Wallflowers, #1) by Stacy Reid

ABOUT THE BOOK

Miss Katherine Danvers has always been a wallflower. But now, with her family on the brink of financial ruin, she finds herself a desperate wallflower. To save her family, she’ll do anything. Luckily, she has the perfect plan…

She’ll impress the ton by simply announcing she is engaged to the reclusive and mysterious Duke of Thornton, Alexander Masters, and secure strong matches for her sisters. No one has heard from the duke in years. Surely he’ll never find out before her sisters’ weddings, and she can go back to her own quiet life.

Soon, though, everything is out of control. At first, it’s just a few new ball gowns on the duke’s accounts. Then, it’s interviews with reporters eager for gossip. Before she knows it, Katherine has transformed herself into Kitty Danvers, charming and clever belle of the ton—with everyone eager to meet her thankfully absent fiancé.

But when the enigmatic Alexander Masters suddenly arrives in the city, dashing and oh so angry, he demands retribution. Except not in the way Katherine expected…

MY REVIEW

A truly romantic story that I couldn’t put down!

When a desperate and penniless woman pretends to be betrothed to a Duke who has been absent from the ton for years, her whole world explodes when he comes back to call her bluff.

Kitty and her friends had been withering away in the ton, season by season, with no chances of improving their prospects. They were all fairly attractive but could not be considered great beauties, nor were they especially accomplished, having little useful connections and less dowries to inspire any real serious matrimonial attachments.

Lady Katherine “Kitty” Danvers, one of the Sinful Wallflowers, penniless and past her prime to marry at three and twenty, desperately needs to find a way to save her younger sisters and mother from being destitute. With the support of her fellow wallflowers, she comes up with a scandalous plan to announce her betrothal to Alexander Masters, the reclusive Duke of Thornton, just long enough to secure suitable matches for her sisters. 

An almost overpowering restlessness came over Alexander. Who are you, Miss Kitty Danvers? Intemperate and reckless, that much he knew. There would be no other reason to summon a beast into her life. Why would anyone say they were engaged to him? What charade was she playing—and why?

When mad, bad, and dangerous Alexander Masters, Duke of Thornton, finds out Lady Danver’s duplicity he is intrigued. Called the “puppet master” he is influential with the lords and is a powerful and dangerous adversary. Alexander has been a recluse holed up at his remote estate in Scotland for years due to a devastating fire losing his beloved parents and scarring and breaking his body.  He will never marry due to his inability to produce an heir, but to satisfy his curiosity he demands an unnegotiable arrangement to take her to Scotland for one or two weeks unchaperoned until he is no longer interested in her and in turn his godmother will help her sisters find suitable marriages.

I loved watching the sparks fly between Kitty and Alexander.  Kitty’s forwardness and charm are an enchanting compliment to Alexander’s stoic and straight-laced manner. Alexander’s injuries are painful and heartbreaking and I was intrigued by how the author would play it out. Kitty’s quick wit and kindness make her a  natural to help Alexander with his physical and emotional pain. There are so many wonderful nuances in their interactions that made this reader swoon with anticipation.

Overall, this is an enchanting and strikingly romantic tale of two souls who come together in a most unusual and clever way. Another author to add to my favorites! Recommend highly!

Thank you to Ms. Reid, Entangled Publishing, and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

Sinful Wallflowers Series

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stacy lives a lot in the worlds she creates and actively speaks to her characters (aloud). She has a warrior way “Never give up on dreams!” When she’s not writing, Stacy spends a copious amount of time binge-watching series like The Walking Dead, Homeland, Altered Carbon, watching Japanese Anime and playing video games with her love. She also has a weakness for ice cream and will have it as her main course.

Follow Stacy on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads.