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Ranford #1
An Unlikely Duchess
Edward Crawdon, Duke of Hartridge did not relish the idea of spending time on an obscure estate in Ireland with his mother’s old friends. The idea held even less appeal when he found out about the marriage contract that existed between Edward’s father and the Earl of Ransford; Edward was to marry the Earl’s eldest daughter!
The situation, already bad enough, was made decidedly worse by the Earl’s beautiful, headstrong and extremely unorthodox youngest daughter, Rebecca Carrington.
Edward does what any man would do in his situation – he runs away. Back to London, away from unappealing marriage contracts, matchmaking mamas and especially away from the temptation of the gloriously unsuitable Rebecca.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans and Edward’s ordered world continues to be turned upside down by Rebecca’s arrival in London and all of the complications that come with it.
Will Edward manage to keep his distance, his wits, and his mind off Lady Rebecca? Or will he succumb to his growing attraction toward the lady and defy convention to make her his extremely unlikely duchess?
The situation, already bad enough, was made decidedly worse by the Earl’s beautiful, headstrong and extremely unorthodox youngest daughter, Rebecca Carrington.
Edward does what any man would do in his situation – he runs away. Back to London, away from unappealing marriage contracts, matchmaking mamas and especially away from the temptation of the gloriously unsuitable Rebecca.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans and Edward’s ordered world continues to be turned upside down by Rebecca’s arrival in London and all of the complications that come with it.
Will Edward manage to keep his distance, his wits, and his mind off Lady Rebecca? Or will he succumb to his growing attraction toward the lady and defy convention to make her his extremely unlikely duchess?
363 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 26, 2014
About the author
Nadine Millard
65 books229 followersHey everyone!
I'm Nadine, a writer from County Laois in Ireland.
I’ve been writing historical romance since March 2014 and have no plans to stop!
While my heart belongs to Regency, there are a lot of other genres and ideas fluttering around in my brain so who knows what will happen next?!
When I'm not writing I can be found scurrying around after my three children. Or my dog. Or my cat.
I have a brilliant family and wonderful friends who are ever patient and supportive of me.
I'm sometimes asked where my inspiration comes from. I guess it's from everywhere! I love my gorgeous husband to distraction so that helps! I think I also put a little bit of people I know into my characters...so if you know me and you recognize someone... ;)
Have an ever so mild obsession with Jane Austen and have properly researched time machines in case there's one who could take me back to 1800s. Spoiler alert: there isn’t one. My brain might be odd but it's a pretty fun place to be at times!
My writing really took off when my youngest started preschool. So now, while my children are being taken care of by teachers, my characters are being taken care of by me!
To be fair though, I can quite regularly be found at 2am glued to the laptop when I get an idea!
I'm Nadine, a writer from County Laois in Ireland.
I’ve been writing historical romance since March 2014 and have no plans to stop!
While my heart belongs to Regency, there are a lot of other genres and ideas fluttering around in my brain so who knows what will happen next?!
When I'm not writing I can be found scurrying around after my three children. Or my dog. Or my cat.
I have a brilliant family and wonderful friends who are ever patient and supportive of me.
I'm sometimes asked where my inspiration comes from. I guess it's from everywhere! I love my gorgeous husband to distraction so that helps! I think I also put a little bit of people I know into my characters...so if you know me and you recognize someone... ;)
Have an ever so mild obsession with Jane Austen and have properly researched time machines in case there's one who could take me back to 1800s. Spoiler alert: there isn’t one. My brain might be odd but it's a pretty fun place to be at times!
My writing really took off when my youngest started preschool. So now, while my children are being taken care of by teachers, my characters are being taken care of by me!
To be fair though, I can quite regularly be found at 2am glued to the laptop when I get an idea!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
April 22, 2016
So I have to admit that I swallowed this Kindle freebie whole in a couple of hours, but I'm ... not proud of it? It's total brain candy, that's for certain.
This type of book is intended for a very specific audience: those who like romance novels without sex, but with lots of passionate liplocking between handsome noblemen and gorgeous and virginal young ladies with vouchers to Almacks. Also the reader has to not mind if the Regency setting is paper-thin and the plot is hurling contrivances at you in the best Regency romance tradition.
The duke here is drop-dead good-looking* and the heroine lovely but accident-prone, and she has difficulty complying with society's rules. He wants her badly but is pretty certain she wouldn't make for the kind of lady that he thinks he needs to marry. Too bad he can't keep his hands off her.
It's cute and fluffy and fun if you're just looking for romantic feelz and not for anything that will make you think deeply.
*Question: how many drop-dead good-looking dukes have there actually been in the entire history of England? Because there sure are a disproportionate number of them in romance novels.
This type of book is intended for a very specific audience: those who like romance novels without sex, but with lots of passionate liplocking between handsome noblemen and gorgeous and virginal young ladies with vouchers to Almacks. Also the reader has to not mind if the Regency setting is paper-thin and the plot is hurling contrivances at you in the best Regency romance tradition.
The duke here is drop-dead good-looking* and the heroine lovely but accident-prone, and she has difficulty complying with society's rules. He wants her badly but is pretty certain she wouldn't make for the kind of lady that he thinks he needs to marry. Too bad he can't keep his hands off her.
It's cute and fluffy and fun if you're just looking for romantic feelz and not for anything that will make you think deeply.
*Question: how many drop-dead good-looking dukes have there actually been in the entire history of England? Because there sure are a disproportionate number of them in romance novels.
April 21, 2014
3.5-4 stars. It's not the books fault, it's mine. Be sure to read the full review to understand why!
ARC provided to G the Book Diva Blog in exchange for an honest review
A proper Regency Romance, very well written and perfectly put together. I think a lot of time and thought were put into this story. I instantly believed the attraction and the obstacles Edward and Rebecca faced because of it. I liked how unconventional and free spirited Rebecca was and how cute she seemed to Edward. This story had everything I loved in my historical romances EXCEPT for the steam. Like I said, it's me not the book. The reason I love HR so much is because being alone with someone you are not married to simply isn't done. Taking the risk of being caught at any moment doing something scandalous is thrilling to me. I love for the hero to pull the heroine into a darkened corner and have his wicked way with her. I kept waiting to Edward to ravish Rebecca and that never happened...well to my standards anyway. Maybe if I had known not to expect it, I would have liked the story better.
If you don't need steam in your stories, this would be a 5 star read. The only thing I can compare it to is maybe a Jane Austen type of read but with a more modern voice, if that makes sense.
Don't pass it up! Enjoy :)
ARC provided to G the Book Diva Blog in exchange for an honest review
A proper Regency Romance, very well written and perfectly put together. I think a lot of time and thought were put into this story. I instantly believed the attraction and the obstacles Edward and Rebecca faced because of it. I liked how unconventional and free spirited Rebecca was and how cute she seemed to Edward. This story had everything I loved in my historical romances EXCEPT for the steam. Like I said, it's me not the book. The reason I love HR so much is because being alone with someone you are not married to simply isn't done. Taking the risk of being caught at any moment doing something scandalous is thrilling to me. I love for the hero to pull the heroine into a darkened corner and have his wicked way with her. I kept waiting to Edward to ravish Rebecca and that never happened...well to my standards anyway. Maybe if I had known not to expect it, I would have liked the story better.
If you don't need steam in your stories, this would be a 5 star read. The only thing I can compare it to is maybe a Jane Austen type of read but with a more modern voice, if that makes sense.
Don't pass it up! Enjoy :)
September 14, 2022
Reread: 2015
This book has great written with great humour! I highly recommend!
This book has great written with great humour! I highly recommend!
March 22, 2017
After reading the prolog I went ahead and downloaded this one.
The story starts with Edward accompanying his mother to visit friends in Ireland. When he arrives he soon discovers this is more than a friendly visit and that he has actually been betrothed to the Earl’s oldest daughter, Caroline. If that wasn’t bad enough, he finds himself drawn instead to the younger daughter, Rebecca. Rebecca is more of a free spirit, she has a love for life and isn’t afraid to show it. She gets into one scrape after another and needless to say, she is not what he had in mind for his future duchess. Despite their differences, they can’t help falling for each other and I thought they had great chemistry. I liked their banter, but also how they were loyal to each other and came to really care for each other.
There were a few things I didn’t love.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. Was it original? Not really, but to be fair, I’ve read hundreds of regencies, so there are few that really surprise me. While I wasn't surprised with how things played out, I did think it was well written and the story flowed well with likable characters and a creepy villain. I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for more from Ms. Millard, I’m thinking Caroline needs her own happily ever after.
Content
Romance: Pretty clean.
Language: Mild-Moderate (mostly D)
Violence: Mild
The story starts with Edward accompanying his mother to visit friends in Ireland. When he arrives he soon discovers this is more than a friendly visit and that he has actually been betrothed to the Earl’s oldest daughter, Caroline. If that wasn’t bad enough, he finds himself drawn instead to the younger daughter, Rebecca. Rebecca is more of a free spirit, she has a love for life and isn’t afraid to show it. She gets into one scrape after another and needless to say, she is not what he had in mind for his future duchess. Despite their differences, they can’t help falling for each other and I thought they had great chemistry. I liked their banter, but also how they were loyal to each other and came to really care for each other.
There were a few things I didn’t love.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. Was it original? Not really, but to be fair, I’ve read hundreds of regencies, so there are few that really surprise me. While I wasn't surprised with how things played out, I did think it was well written and the story flowed well with likable characters and a creepy villain. I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for more from Ms. Millard, I’m thinking Caroline needs her own happily ever after.
Content
Romance: Pretty clean.
Language: Mild-Moderate (mostly D)
Violence: Mild
July 27, 2018
2.5 Uneventful Stars
June 21, 2024
This started out great, and then it turned into a very dramatic FMC who is CONSTANTLY clumsy and getting herself into ridiculous situations that are highly avoidable if she just TRIED. But she’s “so quirky and cute and has a temper.” This got old real fast and the MMC gave me whiplash with his loathing and insta-lust. This book was just super dramatic and so were the characters.
March 31, 2014
I have to say, I'm a huge fan of regency romance. And this book brings regency books to a whole new level... It's not your typical boy meets girl, girl meets boy, fall in love and live happily ever after. It's exciting and keeps you wanting to not put it down at all times, there's a lot of twists and thrilling moments throughout the book.
The characters are well thought of and have interesting personalities. The two main characters Edward, the Duke and Lady Rebecca, have a great contrast in personalities and every time they have an interaction your just waiting for some twist in the plot. The Lady Caroline, is the complete opposite to Lady Rebecca's wild and eccentric behaviour. That leads to wonderfully exciting encounters between the two sisters and anyone who Rebecca comes across.
Over all the book is a wonderful and exciting read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new age kind of regency romance.
Complements to the author.
The characters are well thought of and have interesting personalities. The two main characters Edward, the Duke and Lady Rebecca, have a great contrast in personalities and every time they have an interaction your just waiting for some twist in the plot. The Lady Caroline, is the complete opposite to Lady Rebecca's wild and eccentric behaviour. That leads to wonderfully exciting encounters between the two sisters and anyone who Rebecca comes across.
Over all the book is a wonderful and exciting read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new age kind of regency romance.
Complements to the author.
March 27, 2014
Wonderful historical romance. I absolutely love the interplay between Rebecca & Edward. Rebecca is absolutely enchanting. I was impressed by the depth of the characters and the well-developed storyline that took a few twists and turns I hadn't anticipated. I can't wait For Caroline's book!
April 11, 2014
What a fun read! I couldn't believe how much I liked this. I never wanted the story to end!
January 18, 2018
I loved this book! I'm a sucker for passionate regency romances.
April 5, 2014
The Duke of Hartridge is young, handsome and unbeknownst to him, he's about to meet his betrothed Duchess. It's a pact his father made with a dear friend before their children were born... in order to keep them from the dreadful scene of being in season in the 'ton, akin to spouse hunting.
Edward didn't know about the pact when his mother took him to meet some "dear friends" of the family for the week. Turns out he was the only one who didn't know. Young Caroline had been educated to be his Duchess since she was born, due to the pact the fathers had concocted. She was proper, sat with her hands in her lap, had beautiful, shiny, golden hair and eyes like the sky. *insert eye roll here. Caroline was also a bit on the cold side. As if all of this work and preparation were a duty of sorts.
Within minutes of arriving at the house and meeting Caroline, Edward caught on and was trying to find the right moment to put an end to the ridiculous idea of arranging his future wife, when he saw HER. She was cursing like a sailor, running from the grove of trees out onto the courtyard and up a marble man, to untangle the kite that wound itself around the unsuspecting statue. It was sight to behold and Edward is not only amused, but she is the most beautiful and unexpected woman he has ever seen. It is Caroline's younger sister, Rebecca. Full of life and reckless abandon, she was everything he was not considering for a future wife/Duchess.
From the moment he saw her, he could think of no one or nothing else. He would lean in to smell her citrusy scent, tense up with desire at her chestnut hair that seemed to always be on the verge of exploding from the tight bun and hairpins trying to rein it in. He admired her quick wit and her beauty. Rebecca was unedited and completely the opposite of her proper family.
Once Edward informs everyone he will not be in an arranged marriage, the pressure is off and the girls are encourage to have a season of their own in London with the 'Ton. This is when Edward realizes he may have made a mistake. Every man will want Rebecca, lust for Rebecca and despite the obvious electrical charge and attraction between the two of them, she may want the other men's attentions.
This was a witty and charming story from the very beginning. Author, Nadine Millard, puts you there with them using all your senses and all of your emotions to keep you wanting to know "what on earth is going to happen next?!". She delivers on it too! It's a beautiful era and these are beloved characters to me now.
I think perhaps I enjoyed this book right away, because I found myself in parts of Rebecca. She enjoyed life, was self deprecating and it's hard not to root for the underdog.
Edward... the consummate gentleman. The kind of book boyfriend who ruins it for the real ones in your life. I'll be thinking of Edward for a long time to come. *devilish grin.
Did I mention, this is her DEBUT NOVEL??!! Holy cow! She's a wonderful story teller! I'm wringing my hands waiting for the next one!
Edward didn't know about the pact when his mother took him to meet some "dear friends" of the family for the week. Turns out he was the only one who didn't know. Young Caroline had been educated to be his Duchess since she was born, due to the pact the fathers had concocted. She was proper, sat with her hands in her lap, had beautiful, shiny, golden hair and eyes like the sky. *insert eye roll here. Caroline was also a bit on the cold side. As if all of this work and preparation were a duty of sorts.
Within minutes of arriving at the house and meeting Caroline, Edward caught on and was trying to find the right moment to put an end to the ridiculous idea of arranging his future wife, when he saw HER. She was cursing like a sailor, running from the grove of trees out onto the courtyard and up a marble man, to untangle the kite that wound itself around the unsuspecting statue. It was sight to behold and Edward is not only amused, but she is the most beautiful and unexpected woman he has ever seen. It is Caroline's younger sister, Rebecca. Full of life and reckless abandon, she was everything he was not considering for a future wife/Duchess.
From the moment he saw her, he could think of no one or nothing else. He would lean in to smell her citrusy scent, tense up with desire at her chestnut hair that seemed to always be on the verge of exploding from the tight bun and hairpins trying to rein it in. He admired her quick wit and her beauty. Rebecca was unedited and completely the opposite of her proper family.
Once Edward informs everyone he will not be in an arranged marriage, the pressure is off and the girls are encourage to have a season of their own in London with the 'Ton. This is when Edward realizes he may have made a mistake. Every man will want Rebecca, lust for Rebecca and despite the obvious electrical charge and attraction between the two of them, she may want the other men's attentions.
This was a witty and charming story from the very beginning. Author, Nadine Millard, puts you there with them using all your senses and all of your emotions to keep you wanting to know "what on earth is going to happen next?!". She delivers on it too! It's a beautiful era and these are beloved characters to me now.
I think perhaps I enjoyed this book right away, because I found myself in parts of Rebecca. She enjoyed life, was self deprecating and it's hard not to root for the underdog.
Edward... the consummate gentleman. The kind of book boyfriend who ruins it for the real ones in your life. I'll be thinking of Edward for a long time to come. *devilish grin.
Did I mention, this is her DEBUT NOVEL??!! Holy cow! She's a wonderful story teller! I'm wringing my hands waiting for the next one!
September 8, 2016
I have to say, I was a little hesitant about reading this type of genre, as I've typically stuck with YA, contemporary fiction, or fantasy novels, so I wasn't sure whether or not I would enjoy regency romance.
However, having just finished reading this book not two minutes ago, I must say I am pleasantly surprised.
This novel is wonderfully written and has plenty of romance and twists to keep you on your toes! The interactions between Edward (the Duke) and Lady Rebecca are what I lived for throughout the duration of the book. Rebecca is definitely not like other girls, and I love her for it! She is a wonderfully endearing (and most definitely clumsy) character, whose outlandish and often quite unladylike behaviour will certainly put a smile on your face!
Moving on to the Duke of Hartridge, Edward Crawdon. He may be a fictional character but boy did I swoon when reading about his interactions with Lady Rebecca! His startlingly good looks and sharp wit are just two of the reasons you should read this book!
Don't let his arrogant "dukish" demeanor fool you, as he is an absolute sweetheart!
I definitely have quite a soft spot for all of the characters in this book, save Mr Simons and Lady Sarah, of course. If you don't know what I'm talking about then either you need to read quicker, or you need to go purchase this novel right this second and read, quick go!
The dowager, Lady Caroline, and Tom Crawden are all great characters and most definitely add to the enjoyment of reading the novel. Also, keep an eye out for a possible romance between Lady Caroline & Mr Crawdon eh? I ship it!
There's definitely a 'will they, won't they' vibe throughout the duration of the novel, and the sexual tension between Edward and Rebecca is enough to make anyone lose their minds!
The author creates wonderful images in the mind of the reader by making great use of description. When reading this book, one can literally see what is happening in their heads, from the meals they are having, the tea they are drinking whilst in the drawing room, the gardens (wow), and finally the clothes. Oh god the clothes. I can see the magnificent garments that were worn in this book clearly, and I want them all.
It's fair to say that the plot and storytelling are impeccable in An Unlikely Duchess!
I am so glad that this was the book that would introduce me to the genre that is regency romance, and I honestly cannot wait to see what awaits us in the next book!
However, having just finished reading this book not two minutes ago, I must say I am pleasantly surprised.
This novel is wonderfully written and has plenty of romance and twists to keep you on your toes! The interactions between Edward (the Duke) and Lady Rebecca are what I lived for throughout the duration of the book. Rebecca is definitely not like other girls, and I love her for it! She is a wonderfully endearing (and most definitely clumsy) character, whose outlandish and often quite unladylike behaviour will certainly put a smile on your face!
Moving on to the Duke of Hartridge, Edward Crawdon. He may be a fictional character but boy did I swoon when reading about his interactions with Lady Rebecca! His startlingly good looks and sharp wit are just two of the reasons you should read this book!
Don't let his arrogant "dukish" demeanor fool you, as he is an absolute sweetheart!
I definitely have quite a soft spot for all of the characters in this book, save Mr Simons and Lady Sarah, of course. If you don't know what I'm talking about then either you need to read quicker, or you need to go purchase this novel right this second and read, quick go!
The dowager, Lady Caroline, and Tom Crawden are all great characters and most definitely add to the enjoyment of reading the novel. Also, keep an eye out for a possible romance between Lady Caroline & Mr Crawdon eh? I ship it!
There's definitely a 'will they, won't they' vibe throughout the duration of the novel, and the sexual tension between Edward and Rebecca is enough to make anyone lose their minds!
The author creates wonderful images in the mind of the reader by making great use of description. When reading this book, one can literally see what is happening in their heads, from the meals they are having, the tea they are drinking whilst in the drawing room, the gardens (wow), and finally the clothes. Oh god the clothes. I can see the magnificent garments that were worn in this book clearly, and I want them all.
It's fair to say that the plot and storytelling are impeccable in An Unlikely Duchess!
I am so glad that this was the book that would introduce me to the genre that is regency romance, and I honestly cannot wait to see what awaits us in the next book!
June 16, 2014
Sophomoric
Edward, the Duke of Hartridge, had just arrived with his mother, the Dowager Duchess, at the Estate of the Earl of Ranford. Edward's father and the Earl of Ranford had been best friends. Edward did not understand until he arrived, that the friendship had manifested an agreement that the Duke's heir, Edward, would marry the Earl's eldest daughter, Lady Caroline. This came as quite a blow to Edward as he had no plans to marry any time soon. Besides, how could he marry Lady Caroline when all he could think of was her younger sister, Lady Rebecca?
This is another author that takes a Regency heiress and turns her into one of the Three Stooges, getting into implausible situations, taking pratfalls, frustrating all about her, including and most especially, this reader. I am not a fan of this type of physical comedy. Essentially nothing happens during the first 50% of this book. The H and h meet, and then 90% of the book is the H mind talking about his nether regions being affected by the h, and the innocent h mind talking about, "What can this tingly feeling be down there? Oh, gee, I am so embarrassed." The author does dialogue, but most of it is in the H and h's head. The external dialogue is stilted and predictable as well.
We are asked to believe that the H and h's families have been close friends, yet we are also told their children had never met, so the H and h are strangers to each other as adults. We are also asked to believe that the Earl's daughters know that the eldest is pledged to the Duke, but the Duke, who runs an empire, has no idea of a marriage contract? Hello?
The 3rd quarter of the book drags the reader through all the requisite Regency venues giving the h more opportunities to make a fool of herself, convincing the reader further that maybe the age of the h is 12. The last 25% of the book gives us the "danger makes me see the love" cliche. The only thing that kept the book being a one star was a couple of romantic declarations by the H at the very end. The plot had such promise, but, sadly for this reader, the promise was empty.
Edward, the Duke of Hartridge, had just arrived with his mother, the Dowager Duchess, at the Estate of the Earl of Ranford. Edward's father and the Earl of Ranford had been best friends. Edward did not understand until he arrived, that the friendship had manifested an agreement that the Duke's heir, Edward, would marry the Earl's eldest daughter, Lady Caroline. This came as quite a blow to Edward as he had no plans to marry any time soon. Besides, how could he marry Lady Caroline when all he could think of was her younger sister, Lady Rebecca?
This is another author that takes a Regency heiress and turns her into one of the Three Stooges, getting into implausible situations, taking pratfalls, frustrating all about her, including and most especially, this reader. I am not a fan of this type of physical comedy. Essentially nothing happens during the first 50% of this book. The H and h meet, and then 90% of the book is the H mind talking about his nether regions being affected by the h, and the innocent h mind talking about, "What can this tingly feeling be down there? Oh, gee, I am so embarrassed." The author does dialogue, but most of it is in the H and h's head. The external dialogue is stilted and predictable as well.
We are asked to believe that the H and h's families have been close friends, yet we are also told their children had never met, so the H and h are strangers to each other as adults. We are also asked to believe that the Earl's daughters know that the eldest is pledged to the Duke, but the Duke, who runs an empire, has no idea of a marriage contract? Hello?
The 3rd quarter of the book drags the reader through all the requisite Regency venues giving the h more opportunities to make a fool of herself, convincing the reader further that maybe the age of the h is 12. The last 25% of the book gives us the "danger makes me see the love" cliche. The only thing that kept the book being a one star was a couple of romantic declarations by the H at the very end. The plot had such promise, but, sadly for this reader, the promise was empty.
May 1, 2015
3.5 Stars
This one was hard for me to rate while I really enjoyed the story-line it had too much other "stuff" for me to really enjoy it.
Moral Note: Lots of innuendos (can't wait to "have" her, etc.) Lots of hecks, dangs and a few son of a motherless goats, and lots of diety exclamations. Romance was on the heavy side - an attempted rape, making out which almost leads further but stops, passionate kissing. Lots of lusty thoughts.
Thought Kathy's review of this was spot on...Too much talk of the attraction, and not enough meat to the story.
This one was hard for me to rate while I really enjoyed the story-line it had too much other "stuff" for me to really enjoy it.
Moral Note: Lots of innuendos (can't wait to "have" her, etc.) Lots of hecks, dangs and a few son of a motherless goats, and lots of diety exclamations. Romance was on the heavy side - an attempted rape, making out which almost leads further but stops, passionate kissing. Lots of lusty thoughts.
Thought Kathy's review of this was spot on...Too much talk of the attraction, and not enough meat to the story.
September 4, 2018
July 2014: This book was so fun!!
Re-read Sept 2018: I liked it even more the 2nd time around!
Re-read Sept 2018: I liked it even more the 2nd time around!
March 17, 2015
80% of this book is an inner dialogue and quite frankly that's just lazy writing, on top of being annoying.
January 17, 2015
I read some of the reviews, but really? A misspelled word, nor missing comma did not put me off this delightful tale. Edward is being persuaded rather strongly to visit a country estate, with his mother in tow. He has no idea that at birth his father, and his best friend signed papers that he should wed their oldest daughter Caroline. When he arrives he finds a very beautiful young woman, who is everything a Duchess Should be, including prim, and proper, and boring. He has no idea he is to marry this young woman so he is pleasant. Edward knowing his mother to be a schemer, has brought along his cousin for reinforcements. They are all strolling in the gardens, when out comes a young woman chasing a kite, swearing like a sailor, and ending up in the fountain. Her name is Rebecca, and she is the younger sister to Caroline. Rebecca only laughs at the mess she has made, besides what else can one do, when you are covered in water, and have made a fool of yourself. I found the sisters charming, and Edward all that was fun, yet proper. This is regency romance at its most fun. Rebecca does get into one problem after another, but I too can be clumsy, so I could relate. I felt that the addition of the nasty neighbor in the plot, did break up the parties, and balls, and I liked that. He was all that was creepy indeed. I loved the ending , and am anxious to begin the next book in this series. A strong 4.5 to be sure....
July 31, 2023
Redundancies and editing problems bog down this quirky sweet romance. The editing errors were bad enough that I was tempted to make a complaint to Amazon. The author is lucky I gave her the third star.
I write technical reviews so my review won't have a synopsis or much in the way of subjective analysis. Instead, it will dwell on the items that can niggle a reader into dropping a star if done poorly.
- The premise is excellent and the plot is well carried out to a complete HEA, even if there is some repetition of the theme of the "she can't because..." that could have been avoided.
- Flow is steady with a moderate to fast pace that is only slowed by the redundancy mentioned above and some long narrative sections.
- Point of view is third person multiple with head hopping. This would have been improved had the POV characters been clearly separated with scene breaks and deep point of view been used in the narrative.
- Most of the narrative is telling and includes filter words. The book could have benefited had the author known of and applied showing techniques.
- Language was fairly modern for a Regency romance, yet it didn't have the sparkly of a wallpaper novel. Instead, it was a poor Regency voice, with too many (31, which is 5x normal) non-Regency words and phrases and non-British words (five) to pull the reader out of the era and feel of the story. The worst thing the author did, however, to jar the reading experience was to make absolutely no effort to edit for contractions. This book had 171 contractions, a record for a Regency romance in my reading. A good Regency romance will have less than ten. Pride and Prejudice had eight, and those were reserved for silly or lower-classed characters. Many of these contractions weren't even in use yet by the Regency, and in my view, their presence in this book is evidence of a lazy writer and a lazy editor. In addition, the book had eight misused or wrong words that I found, though I suspect there were more. More than any other book I've read lately, Millard leaned on unnecessary adverbs, including and over-use of "really." Some awkward wording seemed like it was meant to sound period "Sure and why would not you" but fell flat.
- The editing problems extended to punctuation, where the understanding of punctuation of appositives and complex sentences was sadly lacking. I counted 17 instances of missing commas, making the novel read in a clunky manner. Other punctuation issues included extra space, en-dashes used for em-dashes, an en-dash for trailing off instead of an ellipsis, missing apostrophe on possessive, misplaced hyphen, misplaced period, extra period, out-of-place apostrophe, extra comma, comma for period...well, you get the idea. The proofreading sucked.
- Five sentence fragments were found that did not seem to be artistic, rather, they were phrases that tended to belong to the previous sentence.
- The author used redundant dialogue tags "thought" with italicized thoughts.
- "Smiled" was used as a dialogue tag. It is not appropriate for that usage.
- Regency errors included incorrectly calling a duchess "Lady Catherine." That would be the name of her daughter. She would be called "Duchess Titlename." In addition, the only time a peeress is referred to as "dowager" is when the current titleholder is in the room at the same time. Otherwise, she just gets the plain title. Dowager is just a word used to differentiate between them. There would be no such title as "The Dowager Townhouse." The butler would not be introduced first to the ladies as ladies are always introduced first; besides, they had precedence and should be introduced to a butler first. I have never heard of sweet tea as a tonic in Regency England; it sounds American to me. It is inappropriate for the men to call each other by first names rather than by title names.
- Was it Mr. Crawdon or Mr. Crawford?
- A cliché was that he tucked an errant curl behind her ear. I read that in the book I read just after this one, too.
- The countess would not say "Stevens, the valet" to the girls. They would know this. It's an unnecessary redundancy.
- The author used some excellent scene setting right from the beginning of the book. She has a gift for the descriptive.
- Similarly, the scenes of passion were dynamic and well written. One could almost be there, the sense of the mutual attraction was so strong. Therefore, the romance was quite believable and its pacing was perfect. The only problem was that the line "his body reacted" was used too often.
- Characterization was clear, concise, and consistent. Level of use of each character was appropriate for their role in the novel. Both the hero and heroine were quite likeable and the reader was ready to cheer on their romance from early on in the novel.
- The cover is fabulous. It's so different from all the other Regency romance covers that it stands out and says "Pick me!" The colour, font, and artwork choices are all excellent, and the composition makes it pretty.
I really enjoyed reading this engaging story despite the hiccups of all the non-Regency words, errors, and contractions that kept nagging at me. Nadine Millard is a good writer who needs to realize that there's much, much more to putting out a novel than having a good idea for a story. Certain style issues are now the gold standard of romance writing: she needs to read up on deep point of view and apply it as well as she can, use only one POV per scene and use scene breaks to show the change, and find an editor who has experience with Regency novels and who will tidy up her contractions and punctuation as well. There are quite a few out there--ask around. In the meantime, I do encourage her to keep writing, as this showed lots of promise.
I write technical reviews so my review won't have a synopsis or much in the way of subjective analysis. Instead, it will dwell on the items that can niggle a reader into dropping a star if done poorly.
- The premise is excellent and the plot is well carried out to a complete HEA, even if there is some repetition of the theme of the "she can't because..." that could have been avoided.
- Flow is steady with a moderate to fast pace that is only slowed by the redundancy mentioned above and some long narrative sections.
- Point of view is third person multiple with head hopping. This would have been improved had the POV characters been clearly separated with scene breaks and deep point of view been used in the narrative.
- Most of the narrative is telling and includes filter words. The book could have benefited had the author known of and applied showing techniques.
- Language was fairly modern for a Regency romance, yet it didn't have the sparkly of a wallpaper novel. Instead, it was a poor Regency voice, with too many (31, which is 5x normal) non-Regency words and phrases and non-British words (five) to pull the reader out of the era and feel of the story. The worst thing the author did, however, to jar the reading experience was to make absolutely no effort to edit for contractions. This book had 171 contractions, a record for a Regency romance in my reading. A good Regency romance will have less than ten. Pride and Prejudice had eight, and those were reserved for silly or lower-classed characters. Many of these contractions weren't even in use yet by the Regency, and in my view, their presence in this book is evidence of a lazy writer and a lazy editor. In addition, the book had eight misused or wrong words that I found, though I suspect there were more. More than any other book I've read lately, Millard leaned on unnecessary adverbs, including and over-use of "really." Some awkward wording seemed like it was meant to sound period "Sure and why would not you" but fell flat.
- The editing problems extended to punctuation, where the understanding of punctuation of appositives and complex sentences was sadly lacking. I counted 17 instances of missing commas, making the novel read in a clunky manner. Other punctuation issues included extra space, en-dashes used for em-dashes, an en-dash for trailing off instead of an ellipsis, missing apostrophe on possessive, misplaced hyphen, misplaced period, extra period, out-of-place apostrophe, extra comma, comma for period...well, you get the idea. The proofreading sucked.
- Five sentence fragments were found that did not seem to be artistic, rather, they were phrases that tended to belong to the previous sentence.
- The author used redundant dialogue tags "thought" with italicized thoughts.
- "Smiled" was used as a dialogue tag. It is not appropriate for that usage.
- Regency errors included incorrectly calling a duchess "Lady Catherine." That would be the name of her daughter. She would be called "Duchess Titlename." In addition, the only time a peeress is referred to as "dowager" is when the current titleholder is in the room at the same time. Otherwise, she just gets the plain title. Dowager is just a word used to differentiate between them. There would be no such title as "The Dowager Townhouse." The butler would not be introduced first to the ladies as ladies are always introduced first; besides, they had precedence and should be introduced to a butler first. I have never heard of sweet tea as a tonic in Regency England; it sounds American to me. It is inappropriate for the men to call each other by first names rather than by title names.
- Was it Mr. Crawdon or Mr. Crawford?
- A cliché was that he tucked an errant curl behind her ear. I read that in the book I read just after this one, too.
- The countess would not say "Stevens, the valet" to the girls. They would know this. It's an unnecessary redundancy.
- The author used some excellent scene setting right from the beginning of the book. She has a gift for the descriptive.
- Similarly, the scenes of passion were dynamic and well written. One could almost be there, the sense of the mutual attraction was so strong. Therefore, the romance was quite believable and its pacing was perfect. The only problem was that the line "his body reacted" was used too often.
- Characterization was clear, concise, and consistent. Level of use of each character was appropriate for their role in the novel. Both the hero and heroine were quite likeable and the reader was ready to cheer on their romance from early on in the novel.
- The cover is fabulous. It's so different from all the other Regency romance covers that it stands out and says "Pick me!" The colour, font, and artwork choices are all excellent, and the composition makes it pretty.
I really enjoyed reading this engaging story despite the hiccups of all the non-Regency words, errors, and contractions that kept nagging at me. Nadine Millard is a good writer who needs to realize that there's much, much more to putting out a novel than having a good idea for a story. Certain style issues are now the gold standard of romance writing: she needs to read up on deep point of view and apply it as well as she can, use only one POV per scene and use scene breaks to show the change, and find an editor who has experience with Regency novels and who will tidy up her contractions and punctuation as well. There are quite a few out there--ask around. In the meantime, I do encourage her to keep writing, as this showed lots of promise.
April 27, 2014
If you love "Pride and Prejudice" style books and Regency period romance, you will love this book. It is from a new author who says she is writing two more in this series. I cannot wait for them! I loved the characters, the detail in her writing and the romance (clean). I love the personality and spunk of Rebecca and the charisma, devotion, and personality of Edward. (Though I wish they would have been more honest about their feelings towards each other to each other a little earlier on in the book). The cover art work is what initially drew me to the book and now I have found another author to add to my list of author's I love to read.
April 10, 2015
My goodness this book was good! The romance was dare I say "Hot!" But clean hot still....
Edward was like an adorable hero and said the sweetest things! Rebecca was awesome! Spirited, lively, fun, witty everything I like in a heroine. The end was exciting and had me swiping very fast on my iPad. This was a heart melting, toe curling romance that I didn't want to end! I can't believe it took me this long to read this. I stinking LOVED IT SOOOOOOO MUCH! Oh also Caroline and Tom....yeah needs to happen. Can't wait to read the companion novel about Caroline!
Edward was like an adorable hero and said the sweetest things! Rebecca was awesome! Spirited, lively, fun, witty everything I like in a heroine. The end was exciting and had me swiping very fast on my iPad. This was a heart melting, toe curling romance that I didn't want to end! I can't believe it took me this long to read this. I stinking LOVED IT SOOOOOOO MUCH! Oh also Caroline and Tom....yeah needs to happen. Can't wait to read the companion novel about Caroline!
May 8, 2016
I was surprised to find some grammar/spelling errors - but they did not spoil the book for me.
What did send me back a few pages was a duplicate paragraph to one nearer the conclusion. It was better in that position, not earlier. Perhaps it was meant to be a wishful dream - but I found it confusing.
Nevertheless, I found the story an interesting read. A bit too much almost 'ravishing' for my knowledge of the times and the high position in society both held.
Predictable outcome - but I enjoyed seeing how the author worked it out.
What did send me back a few pages was a duplicate paragraph to one nearer the conclusion. It was better in that position, not earlier. Perhaps it was meant to be a wishful dream - but I found it confusing.
Nevertheless, I found the story an interesting read. A bit too much almost 'ravishing' for my knowledge of the times and the high position in society both held.
Predictable outcome - but I enjoyed seeing how the author worked it out.
January 14, 2015
What a great read!!!! This book is everything every girl dreams of and more - Ladies, Gents(handsome ones), drama, humour, adventure and action!!! Grab a glass of wine and curl up with this book and you will be instantly hooked to an amazing author.
January 21, 2023
A Livewire
Rebecca is lively, clumsy, and swears like a sailor. She is an unlikely choice for a Duke.
A good story with a predictable arc but no less enjoyable for that. A couple of risible errors spoiled the flow for me, yet I enjoyed her and Edward's story.
Rebecca is lively, clumsy, and swears like a sailor. She is an unlikely choice for a Duke.
A good story with a predictable arc but no less enjoyable for that. A couple of risible errors spoiled the flow for me, yet I enjoyed her and Edward's story.
January 9, 2015
5 STARS!
I really had fun reading this Nadine has this unique way of writing regency and I can’t wait to read more of her books.
Full review to follow.
I really had fun reading this Nadine has this unique way of writing regency and I can’t wait to read more of her books.
Full review to follow.
April 11, 2019
While bearing every consideration for others, our heroine refuses to change even one thing that bears substantively on her being. She recognizes the truth, honors it, and commits to bearing the consequence of it.
Many historical romances have heroines with a weakness - they subjugate themselves for their family, the prosperity of those they love, societal norms, and what not - and must be rescued. Too often that rescue is from themselves.
Standing in her truth without pretense and, with grace, affording the courtesy of disassociation from her circle makes this a standout character and an endearing heroine all at once.
Many historical romances have heroines with a weakness - they subjugate themselves for their family, the prosperity of those they love, societal norms, and what not - and must be rescued. Too often that rescue is from themselves.
Standing in her truth without pretense and, with grace, affording the courtesy of disassociation from her circle makes this a standout character and an endearing heroine all at once.
October 12, 2017
I had looked up clean books to read and someone recommended this one. It could of been a good book, if it had just a little more to it. (I shouldn't of finished reading it.) Too many innuendos and just thinking lustful thoughts all the time. This was not a clean book although they never went all the way. Also lots of lesser bad language just throughout. This is geared to a certain kind of audience that is just looking for lustful fluff. Not enough character build up or real life lesson learned romance in it.
June 5, 2018
I throughly enjoyed this book. I don't read many Regency romances, but I'm glad I took a chance on An Unlikely Duchess. This was a five star read for me! I enjoyed the characters, especially the spunky heroine and standoffish duke. They were charming together. This one is a slow burn that kept me captivated and turning the pages. I loved the progression of their relationship, and the hint of something sinister lurking in the background. If you love Regency romance, I highly recommend this entertaining read!
November 6, 2019
Good read
I enjoyed this book. Second time reading so definitely entertaining. I just, (especially second time around) noticed the distinctive immaturity of the primary characters and uncomfortably, the hero reminded me of an abusive personality type. Speaks a lot of hyberpole, and is often very brash/smug. But definitely not a deal breaker. Probably just get away with it with him being a duke and all. Would likely buy more of this author and hope the primary characters improve a little. In saying that, heroine was definitely likeable.
I enjoyed this book. Second time reading so definitely entertaining. I just, (especially second time around) noticed the distinctive immaturity of the primary characters and uncomfortably, the hero reminded me of an abusive personality type. Speaks a lot of hyberpole, and is often very brash/smug. But definitely not a deal breaker. Probably just get away with it with him being a duke and all. Would likely buy more of this author and hope the primary characters improve a little. In saying that, heroine was definitely likeable.
September 23, 2023
This is a good, entertaining, fun read. Edward and Rebecca are intriguing, entertaining, relatable characters. I enjoyed their romance and on-page interactions. These two are good characters as individuals and as a couple. I enjoyed many of the secondary characters and what they brought to the story. This is an easy read.
I enjoyed the audio version of this book and the narrator was ok. I wish we had gotten more recognizable Irish accents for a few characters.
I enjoyed the audio version of this book and the narrator was ok. I wish we had gotten more recognizable Irish accents for a few characters.
March 27, 2024
A rushed trope-filled historical romance novel at best, and grammatically incorrect, lengthy, and monotonous at worst. The author has abandoned all coherence to historical accuracies in an appeal to modern audiences. The characters fit neatly into the stereotypes they are based upon and end up coming across as two-dimensional. In addition, the plot was primarily focused on the last 20% of the book and dragged on for ages at points. I would not recommend this book.
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