Never Doubt a Duke

GIVEAWAY
RANDOM RETRO READ DAY

SCOTT, REGINA

NEVER DOUBT A DUKE

After spending the last ten years following her late husband on campaign, the irrepressible Jane Kimball finds herself badly in need of a position to support herself. Marriage holds no appeal; she's not likely to find a husband like her Jimmy again. But when Miss Thorn of the Fortune Employment Agency offers her a post with the Duke of Why, Jane feels drawn to help the lonely widower with his three daughters. He may seem a bit aloof, but Miss Thorn's cat Fortune approved of him. Why should Jane doubt a duke?

Alaric, Duke of Why, commands his staff, his tenants, and the halls of Parliament, managing vast holdings in England and across the seas. Why is it he cannot manage his own daughters? As an old danger rears its head, he comes to rely on Jane's practical nature, her outspoken ways to navigate the waters of fatherhood. And when necessity dictates he take a wife, thoughts turn to an unlikely governess who might make the perfect bride.

This sweet, clean Regency romance is the first in the Fortune's Brides series.

My Review:

published in 2018

I am in a state of twitter-pated stupefaction so don't expect coherency from me at this point...or any time in the future. Because....

Eeeeeppppp....literally everything I LOVE in a Regency to the nth degree!

And, can I say for the record, I never doubted this duke once during the course of my read! :-) There's a little bit of a Sound of Music vibe going on here as the very practical and decidedly ungoverness-y governess arrives at the Duke of Wey's estate. She manages to rock the austere household to its very foundation, from upstairs to downstairs and everything in between. All in a very good way, of course. Sometimes funny, sometimes touching and often swoonalicous (enter Duke stage left.) I'm still in the glory haze of reader delirium.

Love Jane -- she's. a unique heroine with an equally unique background. The widow of an army officer, she has lived an exotic life where she's had to eke out her own codes and standards which are very different from what the Duke's domineering mother expects from her granddaughters. Ha, let the clashing of wills begin as Jane sets out to show this upper crust matron (and the duke, insert silly fan-girling grin) that there's much more to a young lady's life than deportment and conniving for the perfect match...especially when the young ladies in question are all under the age of twelve!

Our duty bound Duke wallows in his responsibilities, so much so that he's turned over the raising of his daughters to his mother. Until Jane turns up and helps him connect with the little girls who clearly adore him. And in the process, the impossible happens. Attraction between a Duke and a governess? Not unheard of, but marriage between the two? Impossible!

Love the way this story flows, the expectional secondary characters who add depth and dimension and even a hint of sinister into the mix. And the romance...be still my heart. Perfectly paced in the most breathtaking way!

And I love the mysterious Miss Thorn of the Fortune Employment Agency. We get hints of her backstory and why she has come to be a champion of suddenly impoverished women. Plus there's her cat, Fortune, who is as royally smug as only a cat can be. Really looking forward to continuing the series...I can't believe I have gone without for four years!!!! I mean to catch up now though.

I listened to the audible edition expertly narrated by Janine Meisberger. I enjoyed the story all the more for her winning performance.

Goal Update: #5 Diversify my reading, #7 Start new-to-me series

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a paperback or ebook copy -- winner's choice. 

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Never Doubt a Duke, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add your email to a comment, remember to use AT AND DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the Draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday June 11 2022. Offer open to International Readers.