Never Say Duke By Erica Ridley
Never Say Duke by Erica Ridley Series: 12 Dukes of Christmas Series Book #4
on January 5, 2019
Genres: Fiction / Holidays, Fiction / Romance / Historical / Regency, Fiction / Romance / Historical / Victorian, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Pages: 200
Goodreads
A feel good, opposites attract romance between a grumpy hero and an indomitable heroine, from a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author:
Miss Virginia Underwood cannot resist rescuing a stray. Her latest find turns out to be a surly, reclusive war hero trying to recover from his wounds in peace. He doesn't want her help—and Virginia definitely doesn't want to fall in love. Not when a future with him would mean returning to the the same haut ton who laughed her out of Town during her very first Season.
Theodore O’Hanlon, Viscount Ormondton, sequestered himself far from London to heal in anonymity. For now, he can be himself. As soon as he returns, he's meant to wed the woman his father selected years before. But when Miss Underwood turns his carefully mapped life upside-down, Theo must decide which battles are truly worth fighting for.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erica Ridley’s newest regency romance series features twelve delightful laugh-out-loud romps… and plenty of delicious dukes!
THE 12 DUKES OF CHRISTMAS:
1. Once Upon a Duke
2. Kiss of a Duke
3. Wish Upon a Duke
4. Never Say Duke
5. Dukes, Actually
6. The Duke's Bride
7. The Duke's Embrace
8. The Duke's Desire
9. Dawn with a Duke
10. One Night with a Duke
11. Ten Days with a Duke
12. Forever Your Duke
Get your Duke today!
Never Say Duke is the fourth book in the 12 Dukes of Christmas regency romance series. I have to say that so far this one is my favorite. This is a very powerful story of two people who have endured great suffering and found each other through it. I love how Ridley even weaves poetry from an author of that time in her book. Matilda Betham ( 1776-1852) was a poetess and portrait painter in England. Ridley incorporates a book of poetry by Betham into this magical tale.The poem “The Heir” is a focal point.
“Long kept in exile by paternal pride,
He feels no joy beneath this splendid dome;
For, till the elder child of promise died,
He knew a dearer, though a humbler home.”
The hero Theodore O’Hanlon, Major Viscount Ormondton is vulnerable and believable as a character. “She tried not to notice. He was distractingly handsome. The strong jaw, she suspected he shaved himself. Well-defined muscles from riding horses into battle and rolling his chair across thick carpets. He wore no cravat and one leg of his breeches had been sliced to the knee. The state of semi-undress made him seem at once more powerful and more vulnerable.”
I especially liked the heroine’s character Virginia Underwood. She is a mixture of strong independent woman and suffering, fearful miss. Virginia is a complex character. I love one of her lines, “Scars aren’t evidence of failure,”she said softly. “They are proof of survival.”
The romance is sweet and not steamy.
I think Ridley has knocked this one out of the park. I am sure I will be reading it again and again.
