Love Letters From A Duke [Mass Market Paperback]

first off, this is a book that's a part of series. first two books:

something about emmaline
this rake of mine

secondly, THIS IS NOT A STAND ALONE BOOK. there are so many references to the previous book and it's plot, along with a number of secondary characters who pop up from that book and play a somewhat pivotal part of this storyline, that it's recommended you read at least THIS RAKE OF MINE before this one. otherwise, you're bound to feel as though you started reading this story in the middle, as i did when i began reading it.

miss felicity langley and her family are living on limited means. her father is missing and she, along with her twin sister and cousin, are left to make do with the little funds afforded them by the family's penny-pinching solicitor. in her determination to relieve the financial strains, she decides she will marry a duke. on the recommendation of the previous book's hero, she decides to write to the duke of hollindrake and propose marriage. unbeknownst to her, the man she thinks she's writing to is abroad fighting in the military. his grandfather (the living duke hollindrake) intercepts the letter and decides to correspond with her in his grandson's stead, accepting the proposal of marriage.

the story begins with the newly minted duke (hero aubrey walworth) showing up on felicity's doorstep with the intent on crying off of the betrothal. because he basically stepped off of the ship and went straight to her house, he's dressed rather shabbily. therefore, it's no surprise felicity mistakens him for the footman sent over from the agency. aubrey (known as thatcher when in footman disguise) decides not to dissuade her because now he's intrigued about the woman his grandfather was corresponding with.

what comes next is a series of adventures as the hero struggles to keep his real identity a secret and the heroine fights her attraction to the hero as she is determined to marry the duke.

this story ultimately suffers from a number of weaknesses in both plot and characterization. as the reader i was forced to suspend belief too many times for me to enjoy this story.

for one, so many people recognized the duke (or find out who he is) and yet nobody tells the heroine. that doesn't seem realistic, even if he is only in disguise for a few days. what's worse is the fact that the real footman never shows and that is never addressed.

also, the heroine and hero appear in public alot and without a chaperone. now normally i'm not such a stickler when it comes to historical accuracy, but the number of times they appear in public and the fact that they sometimes engaged in risque behavior and yet the heroine suffers no ostrasization or repercussions as a result of said ventures is unbelievable to me. i know he's the footman but there are a few incidents of 'public displays of affection' yet conveniently, nobody outside of family sees them.

then there is a secondary romance (began in the previous book) that disrupts the storyline here and ends up leaving a number of loose threads that will no doubt be addressed in the NEXT book of the series. this development takes away crucial time needed for me to more fully embrace the hero and heroine and really adds nothing to the story itself. it's strictly there to set up the next book.

finally, the maturation of the relationship between hero and heroine is slow and tepid. i never feel the chemistry or urgency. some readers will appreciate the fact that the relationship evolves in a manner that allows the hero and heroine to get to know each other better but the story itself only takes place over about a week or two so the slow pacing makes for a mad dash at the end.

on the plus side, there are moments where i laughed out loud, as there is some funny dialogue and amusing secondary characters who at least add levity to the story. unfortunately, the laughs weren't enough to save this story.

i recommend it for those who enjoy a light romance and won't allow an annoying thing like logic to prevent them from enjoying it.

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, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

I loved this!! It was my first Elizabeth Boyle book and I quickly bought her other ones. This is the first mistaken identity book I've read where I thought the author totally pulled it off. From the second Felicity answers the door in her red woolen socks, I was sucked in. And I stayed there until THE END.

I loved the characters. I could so see Felicity's vulnerability under her "I'm going to marry the duke and take care of everyone" facade. This was skillfully done. It's difficult to portray this in a character but Elizabeth Boyle did it splendidly. It wasn't a false bravado that Felicity sported but rather a dogged determination that had a touch of desperation to it.

I loved the chemistry between Felicity and Thatcher and can't understand why a couple of people didn't feel that. I not only felt the physical chemistry, but I felt a genuine liking of each for the other, something that doesn't happen in a lot of romances. It was especially amusing that Felicity didn't want to like him and kept trying not to.

I had not read any of Boyle's other books, yet I had no problem following this one, so for me I would have to say it definitely was a standalone book. Reading the earlier books later was quite a delight, really. I knew what was in store for Felicity and that made me smile. Yes, the supporting characters were sometimes a little whacky, but honestly, no more whacky than my family members (or yours, probably). And anyway, this is fiction. If I want to read something with no imagination, that doesn't demand any leap of faith, I'll read non-fiction.

This story was fast-paced and I never knew what was going to happen next, yet as it happened, it was like, Of course! Why didn't I realize that was coming? I love it when an author surprises me and everything fits perfectly into the story. I laughed out loud several times during this book, and that's important to me. Even if a book has me crying during the dramatic parts, I expect to laugh somewhere along the way, or it's not for me.

I loved it. What more can I say except I'll be looking forward to her forthcoming stories.

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