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With her regal bearing, Felicity Langley has been called ‘Duchess’ since she was a child. Barely making it on her monthly allotment of pin-money, Felicity would do whatever she could to ensure her unconventional family and servant’s well-being by providing a season for her sister and cousin and by marrying a wealthy duke. Carrying on a lengthy correspondence with the Duke of Hollingsworth, she is on the brink of finally meeting him and sealing their betrothal. What Felicity didn’t know was that the man she’d been corresponding with was not Aubrey, the newly titled duke of Hollingsworth, but his match-making and controlling grandfather. Aubrey had thought to escape the controlling tendencies of his grandfather years ago by changing his name and joining the army under the name of Thatcher. As a second son, he never dreamed he would have to assume the title. Returning home and learning of his grandfather’s mechanisms to again control his life, Thatcher immediately set out to break the promised betrothal. Alas, when he arrived at the Mayfair mansion, Felicity – set back momentarily by the handsome but scruffy looking fellow at the door – assumed he’d come from the agency sending over a footman. Sparks flew between the two and in a case of mistaken identity, both would be torn. Felicity to give into passion for a mere footman, rather than marrying a wealthy peer to protect and provide for her family; and Aubrey into letting his grandfather control his destiny, or giving into his all consuming passion for Felicity. *** For me, I found this story positively enchanting! Not only does Ms. Boyle write a delectable and fun love story, but populates it with the most engaging set of unforgettable secondary characters that will have you sighing in contentment and laughing out loud at some of their more outrageous predicaments. The author keeps the action level high in this fast-paced and charming romp of Regency England. The author fashioned Felicity as both an engaging and soft-hearted beauty with just a smidgen of larceny in her heart – willing to do whatever needed to be done to protect and provide for her sister and cousin. Taking on the responsibility of providing for her family after her madcap father had either been killed or disappeared (this point was never fully disclosed) Felicity and her sister were left to the mercy of their penny-pinching solicitor. Neither would gain their inheritance until they turned of age (twenty-five). I loved that Boyle managed to insert humor as Felicity provided HER reasoning as to why a male gained his inheritance at twenty-one and the female at twenty-five – and no, I’m not going to tell you and ruin her very logical and humorous explanation. This you’ll just have to read for yourself! As for Felicity’s reaction and attraction to a mere footman, and a scruffy looking one at that, well let us just say that Boyle is a master at creating believable chemistry between her leads. Aubrey/Thatcher who arrived at Felicity’s door with the express wish to end his betrothal never got a chance to get a word in edgewise as Felicity barreled right ahead into her assumption of him being a candidate as footman. Not only was Thatcher captivated by her beauty, but observed that all was not as it should be in the Mayfair residence, and as he was not offered an opportunity to explain he fell into the mistaken identity role. Boyle created numerous episodes where Thatcher, in spite of his intentions to tell the truth, felt compelled to save Felicity from herself and those she loved from scandal’s that could ruin them all. In so doing Thatcher worked behind the scenes in maneuvering events and trying to sway the Felicity into following her heart and giving into the passion he knew matched his own. Boyle kept not only the romance between Felicity and Thatcher at the forefront but set up what could possibly be another book of the Bachelor Chronicles featuring the romance between her cousin Pippin and the American privateer Captain Dashwell. Filled with memorable new characters and old friends from SOMETHING ABOUT EMMALINE and THIS RAKE OF MINE Ms. Boyle has kept this fan fully satisfied with her sensual and humorous historical romances that are just the thing to curl up with on a cold winter’s day. Marilyn Rondeau – Reviewers International Organization (RIO) |
Love Letters From a Duke
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