Review: The Duke Heist (The Wild Wynchesters #1) by Erica Ridley

       

Print Length: 332 pages

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing Forever (February 9, 2021)

From Goodreads.com:  Chloe Wynchester is completely forgettable—a curse that gives her the ability to blend into any crowd. When the only father she's ever known makes a dying wish for his adopted family of orphans to recover a missing painting, she's the first one her siblings turn to for stealing it back. No one expects that in doing so, she'll also abduct a handsome duke.

Lawrence Gosling, the Duke of Faircliffe, is tortured by his father's mistakes. To repair his estate's ruined reputation, he must wed a highborn heiress. Yet when he finds himself in a carriage being driven hell-for-leather down the cobblestone streets of London by a beautiful woman who refuses to heed his commands, he fears his heart is hers. But how can he sacrifice his family's legacy to follow true love?

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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5

There were so many witty and adorable moments in this book that I wish I had enjoyed it more. I enjoyed Chloe's character and the way she called Lawrence "His Arrogance", or "His Infuriating Loftiness" if only in her own thoughts, made her endearing in a way that I did not expect. 

I just wish that I could say the same for Lawrence. No, instead he is one of those stereotypical dukes whose estate as broke, and who needs to marry a wealthy woman "the sooner, the better" in order to keep his estates from crumbling. And while he does show signs of the person he is meant to be underneath all of that (the hat thing was hands down one of the funniest and most romantic things I have read in awhile), then he goes an ruins it all by not using Chloe and telling her that his plan was always to marry a rich "more appropriate" wife, but he also takes something she says and completely blows it out of proportion even though he was partially to blame for the way things came about. Of course, he comes to his senses, but I would have liked to have seen Chloe show some of her backbone instead of just forgiving him right away. 

One thing that consistently threw me were the constant references to "Tommy" as I had to keep reminding myself that this was in fact NOT Chloe's brother, but in fact her sister Thomasina.  I also was confused as to who the actual heir to their adopted father's fortunes and estates were as I don't think a name was ever mentioned other than an "imaginary heiress" that mentioned early on. This was made all the more confusing near the end of the book when it is mentioned that the late Baron's "son" inherited everything, but his "adopted children" were also left money. Who owns their house then? Is one of the Wild Wynchster males the legitimate heir? 

Despite the things I mentioned above, there was much to recommend this story, and I do think I would have enjoyed Lawrence a whole lot more just because of the gentle care he showed Chloe and the way he helped her "become herself" if not for the fact that he was so callous towards her other times. I will continue to read more of this series, because I can just tell the other siblings have exciting stories of their own to tell. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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                                                         The Duke Heist  is available from Amazon.com