GRR Review: A Most Suitable Duchess by Patricia Bray

A Most Suitable Duchess is a "marriage of convenience turns into real love" trope romance in a Regency setting. However, the emotions are barely lukewarm, except near the end, and even then the problems are solved with a minimum of fuzz. Perhaps I just don't get this genre, but I've found other regency romances interesting.

Penelope basically refused to love any one after having her lover disappear years ago, until her half-brother answered an ad for a duchess in her name and now she's forced to marry the new Duke of Torringford, Marcus Heywood. Marcus inherited the title with little notice and needed a wife in three weeks, and finding someone that fast is impossible, except through an ad. And that was the gossip in town for weeks. Penelope turned out to be most suitable for the job of a duchess, even as Marcus turned out to be a perfect husband, even if he is the most un-duke-like duke, as they learn about each other. The only real obstacle is when Penelope's old lover comes back to England to add some trouble.

The entire book can be described as... mildly uncozy. There are no large mood swings, merely uncomfortable brooding between the two characters that only changed when the old lover came back to London. The world was really brought to life through excellent descriptions, but we're here to hear stories about people. Thus, this can be, at best, an average novel.

Category: Regency

Primary Plot: Woman who was jilted by lover was forced to marry a very un-duke-like duke and became a duchess; how will they fit together when her lover reappears in London?

Overall Rating: 3/5

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