Review: How to Catch a Duke (Rogues to Riches #6) by Grace Burrowes

 

Print Length: 350 pages

Publisher: Forever (April 13, 2021)

From Goodreads.com:  "I have come to ask you to kill me, my lord."

Miss Abigail Abbott desperately needs to disappear, and the only person she trusts to help her do that is Lord Stephen Wentworth, heir to the Duke of Walden. Stephen is brilliant, charming, and—when he needs to be—absolutely ruthless. So ruthless, that, he proposes marriage instead of a pretense of murder, to keep Abigail safe.

Stephen knows that Abigail has the dignity and determination of a duchess and the courage of a lioness. When she accepts his courtship of convenience, he also discovers she kisses like his most intimate wish come true. For Abigail, their arrangement is a sham to escape her dangerous enemies. For Stephen, it's his last, best hope to share a lifetime with the lady of his dreams—if he can convince her his love is real.

                                                         *******************

My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Sadly, this story just didn't work for me on a lot of levels. To begin with, while there was definitely an attraction between our two leads, it seemed more like a platonic sort of relationship for me rather than romantic. Added to that when Stephen casually mentions that he had a sexual relationship with both an ex, and her new husband (and how they might discuss his sexual prowess between them), Abigail just accepts it without question or comment, something that most definitely would not have happened during that time period. I could have overlooked that, had the rest of the story seemed to be filled with other things like it. Things that did absolutely nothing to move the plot forward. 

Even the culmination of who was after her and why fell flat for me. It seemed as though parts of this story were rushed, and cobbled together to try and make sense which simply leads to things feeling more disjointed than anything else. For example, how did Stapleton not know of the role that his daughter-in-law played in him getting (or not getting) what he wanted? How did no one realize the secret Harmonia kept when it took Abigail less than ten seconds to figure it out? 

However, I will say that these characters were definitely not your typical historical romance characters, Stephen had a bad knee forcing him to use canes in order to walk, and Abigail was not only nearly as tall as him, but able to support his weight when needed to take some of the pain away (not to mention she worked as an inquiry agent). These things made them stand out from other novels of the same time period. 

All things considered, the things that didn't work for me with this one will no doubt work for other reasons. Take what I've said into consideration, but not let that stop you from reading this if it sounds like something you will enjoy. 

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.

                                                         *******************

                                
                                           How to Catch a Duke in London is available from Amazon.com