The Duke Meets His Match by Karen Tuft Publisher: Covenant Communications (2020)
eARC (208 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Read 2021
Synopsis
At thirty years of age, Susan Jennings has long been considered a spinster. Exceptionally intelligent, she has little tolerance for London and the dreaded Season—if that’s how one is expected to find love, it’s not for her. But when an invitation arrives that cannot be ignored, Susan leaves her comfortable life in the country and enters the fashion and frivolity she most despises. She quickly discovers, however, that there is more to loathe in London—and his name is George Kendall.
George, Duke of Aylesham, has learned to keep his distance from cloying females chasing the title of duchess. Susan Jennings, however, proves an entirely different challenge—a woman who has pushed him to the limit of his patience with their every encounter. But their simmering hostility is disrupted by a thoughtless slip-up: to avoid a marriage of political strategy, George claims he is already betrothed. And when pressed for the name of the lucky woman, only one name comes to mind: Susan’s. Their forced betrothal proves advantageous, but when their verbal sparring must change in order to be convincing, the line between fact and fiction becomes blurred by something neither expected: love.
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My Review
This was a highly entertaining read. It is a historical fiction novel set in the Regency Era. The two main characters are Susan and George.
Susan is what most would consider a spinster and she does not mind that title… too much. She enjoys reading and spending time with her sibling and NOT being the center of attention.
George is a duke. He is ALWAYS the center of attention, whether he wants to be or not. And he has a predicament: he needs to avoid the marriage the Prince Regent is trying to force on him as a “reward” for his services to the Crown.
Susan and George first met about a year prior to the events of the main portion of the book. And those circumstances were not the most pleasant. Each was left with feeling that the other was terribly rude. In her mind, Susan called George His Loftiness. And in counterpart, George called Susan The Harpy.
When George is face to face with the Prince Regent and asked why he cannot marry the foreign princess the prince has chosen, George blurts out that he is already engaged. And when pressed for a name, he names Susan.
So now both George and Susan are a bit trapped. They do not want to be together but they also don’t want to anger the Prince Regent too much. So they come to an agreement. They will marry within the fortnight as the Prince Regent requires.
As you can assume from the way in which these two first met, they have their struggles with each other. And both need to learn to communicate with the other in ways that neither were ready for. Their futures are not entirely their own, but they both want to make the most of it.
Overall, this was an entertaining novel where the interactions between the two main characters were filled with so much tension. That tension building and resolving and cycling through this is part of what makes this book intriguing.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley for
review consideration. This in no way affects my opinion of the title
nor the content of this review.
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