ARC Review: The Duke Diaries

The Duke Diaries by Sophia Nash
4/5 stars
Avon, 2013
384 pages
Adult Historical Romance Comedy
Scheduled to release February 26

Source: Received an e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

As I mentioned in my review of first book Between the Duke and the Deep Blue Sea (I seemed to have missed book two), these books seem to be much more focused on comedy than on accurately capturing its purported time period. As someone who adores lighthearted stories, this isn't really a problem a for me although it bothered me more here than it did in the first book.

The biggest problem was the ultimate climax and resolution (revolving around the titular diaries) of the story, which I won't share for fear of spoilers. Suffice it to say that I was shaking my head at the utter ludicrousness and I know that I'm very gullible so if even I had difficulty swallowing the scenes, there will definitely be others who scoff at it.

But the plot is not the main reason to read. No, the main reason to read is for delightful characters and their quippy conversations. Our hero and heroine in this story have a history, being neighbors: Rory, Duke of Abshire and Lady Verity, sister to another duke. Their past is very complicated and that creates additional complications on their way to true love and happily ever after. 

As I mentioned, this is technically part of a series. I feel like some of the characters I should have known already from book one and I know some of the characters played a role in book two after reading the summaries so it was personally frustrating that my memory was failing me on how exactly they all fit together. I can't believe I'm saying this but maybe there were too many dukes! (How can there be too many dukes? I know but kind of felt that way.)

Overall: A pleasant afternoon diversion-I do recommend reading the series in order if you can just because the characters do pop up in each other's stories but can also be read as a standalone if you want to check out Nash's style in this series.

Between the Duke and the Deep Blue Sea

Between the Duke and the Deep Blue Sea by Sophia Nash
Avon Books, 2012
371 pages
Romance; Historical
4/5 stars

Source: Received an ARC from Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.

Some of the other reviews I've seen for this book classify it as a "mistorical", meaning a mistaken historical or that which does not take the historical part of its setting seriously. This can be good or bad in the eyes of the reader. For me, that is not usually too important although there were several elements of this book that did make me roll my eyes with disbelief. Overall I liked the humor and the characters enough that I was able to enjoy the majority of the book.

The book opens with a prologue as the newly minted Duke of Kress, Alex Barclay, and other dukes awaken from a drunken stupor, having enjoyed a most raucous night that caused great embarrassment for the crown. The Prince Regent orders everyone to get married, beginning with Barclay as the instigator of the night. He is exiled to his estate in Cornwall to rebuild a fortress and to marry an heiress.

The story proper begins with Roxanne Vanderhaven, Countess of Paxton, hanging from a cliff where her husband left her to die. Although she had grown disillusioned with him over the years from her elevation from tin miner's daughter to peeress, she could not fathom why he might want to dispose of her. Luckily Alex saves the day and is convinced to hide her until she can seek her revenge and make an escape.

This all sounds a bit ridiculous but as I was laughing quite a bit, it didn't matter to me. The humor continues to escalate as Alex attempts to avoid matrimony while tormenting Roxanne's husband and Roxanne tries to maintain her cover as a poor relation of Alex's. Of course, both are falling in love despite his hard shell and her married and presumed dead status. There are lots of other complications along the way.

But what really sold me on this book was the main characters. Roxanne is fairly sensible in the context of the story as well as headstrong and independent. I liked her immediately and loved that she was able to have some friendships with ladies who will presumably marry the other dukes over the course of the rest of the series. I also really loved Alex, a refreshing palate cleanser after the jerk in A Rogue By Any Other Name. Alex is far from perfect with unenlightened views about women but deep down, he's a softy with deep love and respect for his great-aunt as well as care for his ancestral lands.

There is a lot that is blipped over such as Alex's experiences in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars (we were only offered glimpses) and Roxanne's husband's precise motivation for killing her (arrogance over her common roots while being content to spend her money?) Additionally there were  a few too many characters with similar names that led to my confusion whenever many people were in the same scene. And the ending is a bit ridiculous with it's "I am Spartacus" aspect. Nonetheless this will probably be an enjoyable read for those who stress the comedy part of a "romantic comedy." I definitely want to read the rest of the series!