Sigh
https://www.madelinehunter.com/
It’s been awhile. I must admit that I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, and couldn’t
decide what I thought about it. It was an average read, and it took me longer than usual to finish. Part of the reason was that it featured a slow building romance between our protagonists: Davina MacCallum and Eric Marshall, the Duke of Brentworth. Never Deny a Duke is the last of Madeline Hunter’s Decadent Duke series. While I am a big fan of Ms. Hunter, I have found this series to be a little lackluster. But, then I’ve been finding a lot of historical romance books to be not so thrilling lately. I have complained and whined till I am blue in the face and no one seems to be listening. Oh sure, occasionally a gem will cross my path; for instance, debut author Mia Vincy. But the authors I depend on for my weekly good read are letting me down. Boo-hoo, see these tears in my eyes. Enough about my tears. As I said before, this is a slow book. Davina MacCallum has been promised by George IV that she can have her family land back. The land was taken from her family because they were on the wrong side during the Jacobite uprising. Now she has arrived in London intent on holding the King up to his promise. He puts her off. She leaves, still determined to prove her rights. On the way out, she passes the handsome Duke of Brentworth on his way in. She has encountered him before, and thought that he was charming. Little does she know that he is the man who is now in possession of her family land. That land was given to the Duke of Brentworth by the crown. Well, Brentworth is not going to give up any of his land, but he does wonder about Davina’s claim. Could the land actually be hers? He never doubts that George IV made promises to Davina; after all, George has a weakness for pretty women. He just could not say no, nor was he strong enough to get himself out of his own mess. He has passed his mess on to the Duke to straighten out. Brentworth is no fan of George IV, and he has never hidden his disdain from him. He is a tad bit outraged when he discovers what his sovereign has done, and he can barely hold his tongue. Now, he must clean up the problem. Imagine his chagrin when he finds out that the gorgeous woman he passed on his way in is the woman he must say no to.
Yes, my little Petunias, Brentworth and Davina have a big hurdle to overcome: who owns the land. They both want that land. Now, the author could have chosen many paths to take the story down. She could have turned our couple into conniving pair, with all kinds of lies and tricks along the way. But, she didn’t. Davina and Brentworth join forces in finding out the truth. They embark on a road trip to follow all of the clues. These clues will prove or disprove Davina’s claim. This whole approach gave a strong sense of maturity to the story. I have to thank the author for that. I cannot tell you how tired I grow of over dramatic posturing done by our heroes and heroines. But - and this is a big but - while the story was handled in a mature way, and the romance turned into a slow build, I found the narrative a little boring. I even found the fun bromance between the men from the previous books and Brentworth uninteresting. And, that was the best part of the previous stories.
I am always up for mature characters, the ones who take their time, and are honest with each other. But I also like my characters to have a little spark in them. These characters were reasonable people, they thought through their problems, and there wasn’t too much conflict. It was that lack of conflict which proved to be humdrum. It’s not that this book is bad, it’s just that this book is so-so. For me, this is not one of Ms. Hunter’s better stories.
Time/Place: England, George IV reign
Sensuality: Warm
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