A
Duchess in Name
The Grantham Girls #1
The Grantham Girls #1
By: Amanda Weaver
Releasing
January 18, 2016
Carina Press
Carina Press
Victoria Carson never expected love. An American
heiress and graduate of Lady Grantham's finishing school, she's been groomed
since birth to marry an English title—the grander the better. So when the man
chosen for her, the forbidding Earl of Dunnley, seems to hate her on sight, she
understands that it can't matter. Love can have no place in this arrangement.
Andrew Hargrave has little use for his title and even
less for his cold, disinterested parents. Determined to make his own way, he's
devoted to his life in Italy working as an archaeologist.
Until the collapse of his family's fortune drags him back to England to a
marriage he never wanted and a woman he doesn't care to know.
Wild attraction is an unwanted complication for them
both, though it forms the most fragile of bonds. Their marriage of convenience
isn't so intolerable after all—but it may not be enough when the deception that
bound them is finally revealed.
I
have never read an Amanda Weaver book before, but as I love historical romances
and was intrigued by the blurb on this book but the blurb doesn’t do it justice.
As
the daughter of an wealthy American business man, Victoria Carson knew from a
young age that she would never marry for love, she know that she was just a
pawn for her parents. Victoria has faced down public scorn all her life,
because she was American born, even though she had been in England since she
was 8! She was prepared to marry, just so she could have the freedom from her
mother!
Andrew
Hargrave (Future Duke of Waring) was never meant to inherit the title as he was
the second son, so he spent his days in Italy, digging for history! But then
his brother died, his father lost his fortune and he was “won” in a game of
cards by Philip Carson and was going to be married Carson’s daughter in order
to save his sisters.
When
dark deeds were discovered the night before the wedding, Andrew assigned the blame
not just to his future in-laws, but to Victoria as well! So after he abandoned
her in his family estate, he fled back to his beloved Italy.
As
in all things though, the truth comes to light and Andrew tries to make amends...but
is it too little too late?
I
don’t think that I have ever been spellbound by a book in a long time, but A
Duchess In Name totally knocked me onto my butt and kept me mesmerized all the
way through the story and left me with such a book hangover, that I haven’t
been able to get rid of it 5 days after I read the book!
The
writing, plot and characters were simply divine and left me begging for the
next installment of this book. I truly loved Victoria! She was a woman of strength
and really just wanted to be loved and needed. I only struggled with one very
small part of this book and that was Andrews’s mistress. Yes, I am aware that
having a mistress back then was common place, but the diehard romantic in me
just struggled with that.
Overall
that book was a beautiful tale which I simply adore and I will read this book a
million times and never want it to end. A Duchess in Name earns 5 stars from
me.
Victoria concentrated on her breathing as
she watched the girls disappear into the garden. When she was sure they were
out of earshot, she glanced back at her husband again. He smiled at her. Smiled! A warm, casual smile, as if his
appearing at Briarwood out of the blue when she hadn’t seen or spoken to him in
six months was nothing at all out of the ordinary.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
He blinked and took a step back. “I…I came
to visit my sisters. My wife.”
She snorted and crossed her arms over her
chest. “Indeed?”
“Indeed.”
“We weren’t expecting you.”
“I didn’t realize I’d need to wait on an
invitation to be allowed to visit my own home.”
Victoria’s fury, already bubbling under the
surface, burst into flame. “Well, you’ve spent quite a bit of time making it
clear in no uncertain terms that this is no home of yours. Eventually I got
used to the idea.”
He looked almost abashed. His every
reaction was so far from what she’d come to
expect from him, she was left feeling caught out. But she wasn’t ready
to relinquish her anger, even if he refused to meet it with his own.
“Yes, I’m sorry I’ve been so uninvolved
with the house.”
“Uninvolved? You’ve been entirely absent!
I’m sure the neighbors all think I’ve made you up.”
“I’m sorry,” he said simply.
She stopped and blinked at him. “What?”
“I’m sorry.” He raised his hands and let
them drop. “I should have been here. I should have helped you.”
“Oh.” He’d taken the heat right out of her
fury, damn him. She floundered helplessly for a biting comeback but came up
empty-handed. Where was the cold, heartless man she’d come to expect? Surely
any second he’d snap at her and mock her for slaving away in the countryside to
rebuild this house. Or he’d attempt to lure her back into bed just so he could
unravel her and abandon her again. She’d been such a naive little fool where he
was concerned. Well, she was no fool now. She finally had the measure of him
and she’d be damned if he’d make a fool of her one more time.
Amanda has loved
romance since she read that very first Kathleen E. Woodiwiss novel at fifteen.
After a long detour into a career as a costume designer in theatre, she’s found
her way back to romance, this time as a writer.
A native Floridian,
Amanda transplanted to New York City many years ago and now considers Brooklyn
home, along with her husband, daughter, two cats, and nowhere near enough
space.
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What a great review!!! So happy you enjoyed!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reviewing!
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