Review: Forgotten & Remembered: The Duke's Late Wife (Love's Second Chance #1) by Bree Wolf

Print Length: 309 pages

Published: November 22, 2015

From Goodreads.com: A grieving widower. A strong lady. And a little girl who needs them both.

After losing his wife in an accident, GRAHAM ASTOR, DUKE OF KENSINGTON, decides that love is not worth the risk of having his heart broken all over again. Even his little daughter he keeps at a distance, afraid to hurt her with the darkness that now lives in his heart. Since he is unable to be the father she deserves, he vows to find her a mother who will heal her little heart.

At a garden party, Graham spots a young woman with a shy smile tending lovingly to her little cousins…and he knows his duty.

As the black sheep of her family, ROSABEL LANDER has no illusions about love. After her parents’ deaths, her aunt and uncle reluctantly took her in, demanding nothing short of complete obedience. Unable to live down her past, Rosabel only wishes for one thing: freedom.

However, before she dares to take the first step toward an independent future, a cold-hearted stranger asks for her hand in marriage…and as the obedient niece, Rosabel cannot refuse.

Will Rosabel find love after all? Or will the memory of Graham's late wife keep them both from finding happiness?

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My Rating:  1 star out of 5

My first read of 2019, almost became my first DNF of 2019. And for those of you who have been following my reviews since I began, you know how rare it is for me to DNF anything. 

This story does not paint a good picture for the rest of the series. In fact, after reading this one, as much as I liked Edmond, I am doubtful that I would read another story in this series. Much less another story by this author. 

Harsh? Yes. But let me explain why. 

This book was like a carousel. It had its ups and down, but it was slow and repetitive. Dreadfully so. 

Graham lost his first wife, that he loved despite certain "flaws". When she dies, he decides to marry Rosabel without ever speaking to her. Nope. Merely seeing her play with her own young relations is enough to convince him that she will be the perfect mother for his child. And then he spends 99.9% of the book

1. Running away
2. Wallowing in self-pity
3. Acting like a spoiled child
4. Mad at Rosabel for doing what's best for his child

He's quite frankly a cruel bully, even going so far as to threaten to separate Rosabel and his daughter because he's unhappy.  One minute he's happy around them and the next he's making them miserable. Or he makes progress, and he runs away in the night. On and on it goes for forty some odd chapters when really this book could have been condensed, heavily edited and probably much better for it. 

With such heavy repetition and characters as unlikable as this, do not be surprised if I never mention this author again.

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                           The Duke's Late Wife is available from Amazon.com