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How To Marry A Duke (2011)

by Vicky Dreiling(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0446565377 (ISBN13: 9780446565370)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Forever

series

How To

review 1: I liked this book. I liked the pace. I just really liked it. I have been looking for a book that is like Suzan Elizabeth's Match Me If You Can, which I adored. It is no surprise that I adore this book. The book revolves around Tristan's marriage. After saving the family from a financial crisis, Tristan decided that it is time to fulfill his duties, that is, to marry and beget heirs. He hires the service of Tessa Mansfield, always the matchmaker, never the matched. Tessa is a great matchmaker. She has created love matches for the members of the ton. Ladies have come to her seeking help and she matches them with their perfect partners. She accepted the task of finding the Duke of Shelbourne's wife in the hopes of advancing her matchmaking career. However, the task proved to ... morebe a lot more challenging that she anticipated. The duke gave her only a week to give him a name. He gave her a list of qualities that he is looking for in a wife. His approach to his wife-hunting was as sterile as it could be, and that, is antithetical to Tessa's approach to matchmaking, which is to make a love-match. However, she accepted and assigned herself an additional task, to open up the duke's heart. Their close proximity to each other made them grow closer. They discovered more about each other's lives. Propelled by their mutual attraction, they exchange a few kisses here and there. It is sweet during but they know it is a bad idea right after. With these increasing attractions, their feelings get involved, which is unfortunate for Tessa. Tristan knew that he could not offer her anything without starting a scandal. He already lived enough of it in his childhood and had no plans on following on his adulterous father's footsteps. He is torn between the path he had always thought he was in and Tessa, his love. Tessa knew that nothing could happen to them. There are already rumours of her affections for the duke. However, she also hides a secret that she had closely guarded. Eight years ago, she gave herself to Richard. She avoided marriage in fear of being discovered that she had shamed herself many years ago. She is barely accepted in society because she is independent and a free-thinker. Her past will only serve as fodder for people that want to ostracize her. Therefore, they resist each other. Meanwhile, the duke goes along with Tessa's outrageous courtship competition. She had devised a way for the duke to get to court twenty four women at once. They go through a process of elimination to whittle down the numbers to a manageable few. The experience are frustrating and comical. There are nasty and catty participants, dumb ones, timid ones, and confident ones. Tessa experiences jealousy, which compromised her objective role in the courtship. In the middle of the courtship, Tessa's secret, in the form of Richard, pops up. Richard seduced and manipulated her years ago. He was after her fortune and he irrevocably steered her life in another direction with a single act. When Tessa's uncle gave Richard an ultimatum, marry Tessa without a penny to her name or go to the army, he chose the army. He resurfaced with the intent of getting her fortune. He still believed her to be the naive girl from the past. However, Tessa fights back. There are numerous encounters from public manipulation to outright stalking. Tessa holds her own but Tristan also helped. Tristan really disliked Richard. He sent in Bow Street Runners to investigate his past. What he found only confirmed his initial impressions. Richard reminded Tristan of his father, a manipulator. He sought to protect Tessa for his peace of mind. He was infatuated with her but he wouldn't admit it. Their feelings come to peak when their carriage ride turns into a passionate encounter. He offers for her out of duty and she refuses, knowing her past will destroy his good name. He does not understand this and lashed out. This occurred in his country home, during the last leg of the courtship. It was a bittersweet moment that only highlighted their separation. He proposed to her, she declined. He continued with his courtship to two other women with the intent of choosing one of them to be his wife. When the house party ended, they said their goodbye. Tristan delayed his decision with the excuse of wanting to deliberate on a decision of a lifetime. When he returned to London, he delayed with the excuse of dealing with Tessa's problem, Richard. Richard stepped up his game by blackmailing Tessa. Tessa did not play along and finally confided to Tristan. He helped in the end but he was furious with her for keeping this big secret from him. They fought and Tessa cried. His mother set him straight though and he realized how cruel he had been. He came to Tessa and proposed marriage to her. She accepted and they lived happily ever after. My only gripe with this book is that Tessa got the short stick. I don't think one indiscretion should have set her off marriage forever. She obviously wanted love and had it vicariously through her matches. She wanted it for her own but also decided against it. I wish that Tristan was more accepting of her. I like him as hero but he really dropped the ball when she confessed and he pushed her away. Other than that, I really liked the book. I wish he grovelled over that. Tessa made one mistake and he shouldn't have held her accountable. She had a right to her secrets and he didn't. Tessa was really likeable. Tristan should have seen that right away. I wished the other male competitor wasn't the antagonist. I wished Tristan could have felt jealousy like Tessa did. I wished Tristan had competition for Tessa's affection. I'm writing this review days after I finished the book but the scene that made me crack up was the question and answer game in the courtship. The lady's brother fixation on ship was hilarious. Hawk was so funny in his reactions. He was a scamp. I hope his book will be good. Although, the one I'm looking most forward to reading is Amy Hardwick. I love reading about wallflower or spinster books. Figures I would really like this one. The duchess was smart in her matchmaking efforts. Her prodding for Tristan to find Tessa a husband was nice. It made me smirk for quite a while.
review 2: this book had a new idea - even if it was not really realistic for that time. The Duke of Shelbourne decided to marry but for him the marriage mart is more like a tortouros field of possible injuries because all the women in the right age are loosing their fans, gloves ... so he decides to ask a matchmaker - one who was very successful in the past with wallflower, so there should not be a problem with a Duke,right?what I really loved in this book is the funny dialogues and there are some really funny scenes in it.the suspense part was a bit much, but maybe needed to divulge the big secret. and that was what really annoyed me. I hate it when there is a big secret lurking in the shadows - everyone reading the book has his/her suspicion but you don't reall know what it isbut the ending was very sweet, although I would have enjoyed a good Epilogue. it is a pity that authors do not recognize the need in the reader to see how their main characters will do after the marriage.all in all, I really enjoyed it and can recommend it to every fan of historical romance less

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