Close but no cigar.
https://lorettachase.com/It’s been a long wait, three years in fact, since Loretta Chase’s last book, A Duke in Shining Armor. Now it’s time for the second book in the Difficult Dukes series, Ten Things I Hate About the Duke. When it comes to Loretta Chase, I’m always excited for one of her new books. After all, she is the voice behind The Lord of Scoundrels, and in my opinion, nothing will ever top that book. Of course, there is a problem with being the author of one of the bestest romance books ever; there’s always that pesky comparison for each new book. Maybe authors don’t compare, but readers do. So, does Ten Things I Hate About the Duke live up to the greatness of The Lord of Scoundrels? Sorry to say, it doesn’t, it’s a pleasant read, humorous in spots, but just a little off.
Because this was a Loretta Chase book, I was tickled pink, excited, eager to begin. There is nothing better than a Loretta Chase character who is full of witty dialogue. And honestly, there is some splendid dialogue between the leading characters of Cassandra Pomfrey, and Lucius, the Duke of Ashmont. There are also some wonderful secondary characters, Cassandra’s sister Hyacinth, and their parents. Much to my surprise and pleasure, for once in Romanceland, Cassandra’s parents are loving. Oh sure, Cassandra’s father is often irritated by Cassandra’s antics, but there is a strong sense of respect for each other threaded throughout this story. For all of you who are interested, this story is loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew, not one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, it hasn’t aged well over the years. I’ve never been too fond of the “women in their proper place” theme. Lucky for us, Ms. Chase has given her female characters some back-bone, in Cassandra’s case, maybe tooooo much of a back-bone. When it comes to fighting injustices, it’s always been my theory, that sometimes you’re screaming so loud, you can’t hear what’s being said. That seems to be Cassandra’s problem, she wants to right wrongs, save people, stamp out injustices, but she wants to do it her way, regardless of the consequences, or what anyone else may think.
Let’s talk about Lucius. Our hero. You know, when Ms. Chase began this series, I wondered how she was going to turn the three men slated to be heroes, into mature, hero worthy men. She created quite a conundrum with their high level of immaturity. It’s not as if she hasn’t written heroes before who were not the smartest bulbs on the block. There was Bertie Trent, from The Lord of Scoundrels, and he eventually got his heroine, even though she was the smarter of the two. There was also Rupert, from Mr. Impossible. Lucius reminds me of those two, he even falls in love with Cassandra’s brain, and tries to figure out how to win her. It’s a struggle for him, because he is just not used to using his little gray cells. However, it wasn’t Lucius who didn’t work for me, it was the chemistry between Lucius and Cassandra which didn’t quite spark. I felt that Cassandra was tooooo much of a cold-fish for Lucius. While I had hopes that the chemistry between these two would work as the story continued, there was no connection. Their story had a rather disjointed feel about it, there wasn’t much going on. It just meandered along.
So, while I had high hopes for this story, after waiting for three years, I was sort of disappointed. It wasn’t all that bad, there just wasn’t anything that grabbed me. I didn’t think the romance between Lucius and Cassandra worked, the chemistry felt forced, and the story line didn’t seem to go anywhere. I love Ms. Chase’s books, she is a master of the witty dialogue, but the pacing of this story seemed disjointed to me. This was not one of my favorite Loretta Chase stories. The next book in the series should be about the third immature male in the group. He happens to already be married, and mention is made in this book that something is just not quite right with their marriage. Do I smell a marriage of convenience plot coming? What could be better? Just hope it's not another three years, I'm getting old.
Time/Place: 1833
Sensuality: Warm
https://lorettachase.com/It’s been a long wait, three years in fact, since Loretta Chase’s last book, A Duke in Shining Armor. Now it’s time for the second book in the Difficult Dukes series, Ten Things I Hate About the Duke. When it comes to Loretta Chase, I’m always excited for one of her new books. After all, she is the voice behind The Lord of Scoundrels, and in my opinion, nothing will ever top that book. Of course, there is a problem with being the author of one of the bestest romance books ever; there’s always that pesky comparison for each new book. Maybe authors don’t compare, but readers do. So, does Ten Things I Hate About the Duke live up to the greatness of The Lord of Scoundrels? Sorry to say, it doesn’t, it’s a pleasant read, humorous in spots, but just a little off.
Because this was a Loretta Chase book, I was tickled pink, excited, eager to begin. There is nothing better than a Loretta Chase character who is full of witty dialogue. And honestly, there is some splendid dialogue between the leading characters of Cassandra Pomfrey, and Lucius, the Duke of Ashmont. There are also some wonderful secondary characters, Cassandra’s sister Hyacinth, and their parents. Much to my surprise and pleasure, for once in Romanceland, Cassandra’s parents are loving. Oh sure, Cassandra’s father is often irritated by Cassandra’s antics, but there is a strong sense of respect for each other threaded throughout this story. For all of you who are interested, this story is loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew, not one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, it hasn’t aged well over the years. I’ve never been too fond of the “women in their proper place” theme. Lucky for us, Ms. Chase has given her female characters some back-bone, in Cassandra’s case, maybe tooooo much of a back-bone. When it comes to fighting injustices, it’s always been my theory, that sometimes you’re screaming so loud, you can’t hear what’s being said. That seems to be Cassandra’s problem, she wants to right wrongs, save people, stamp out injustices, but she wants to do it her way, regardless of the consequences, or what anyone else may think.
Let’s talk about Lucius. Our hero. You know, when Ms. Chase began this series, I wondered how she was going to turn the three men slated to be heroes, into mature, hero worthy men. She created quite a conundrum with their high level of immaturity. It’s not as if she hasn’t written heroes before who were not the smartest bulbs on the block. There was Bertie Trent, from The Lord of Scoundrels, and he eventually got his heroine, even though she was the smarter of the two. There was also Rupert, from Mr. Impossible. Lucius reminds me of those two, he even falls in love with Cassandra’s brain, and tries to figure out how to win her. It’s a struggle for him, because he is just not used to using his little gray cells. However, it wasn’t Lucius who didn’t work for me, it was the chemistry between Lucius and Cassandra which didn’t quite spark. I felt that Cassandra was tooooo much of a cold-fish for Lucius. While I had hopes that the chemistry between these two would work as the story continued, there was no connection. Their story had a rather disjointed feel about it, there wasn’t much going on. It just meandered along.
So, while I had high hopes for this story, after waiting for three years, I was sort of disappointed. It wasn’t all that bad, there just wasn’t anything that grabbed me. I didn’t think the romance between Lucius and Cassandra worked, the chemistry felt forced, and the story line didn’t seem to go anywhere. I love Ms. Chase’s books, she is a master of the witty dialogue, but the pacing of this story seemed disjointed to me. This was not one of my favorite Loretta Chase stories. The next book in the series should be about the third immature male in the group. He happens to already be married, and mention is made in this book that something is just not quite right with their marriage. Do I smell a marriage of convenience plot coming? What could be better? Just hope it's not another three years, I'm getting old.
Time/Place: 1833
Sensuality: Warm
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