Review: My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid

My Darling Duke
(Sinful Wallflowers #1)
Stacy Reid
Release: December 31, 2019
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ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

Miss Katherine Danvers is a desperate wallflower. Her family is on the brink of financial ruin, and it is up her to save her mother and sisters from a life of indignities. So she transforms herself into the incomparable Kitty Danvers, the fiancée of the enigmatic and reclusive Alexander Masters, Duke of Thornton—once dubbed the mad, bad, and dangerous catch of the Season.

Ten years ago, society and the woman Alexander Masters loved called him a monster, after a tragic accident left him scarred and confined to a wheelchair. His heart exists in cold, lonely exile, until he learns he has a fiancée—a deceptive, clever, and utterly intriguing woman he's never met. Miss Danvers will now learn the consequences of engaging herself to the beast, for Alexander is determined to make her his. Soon, they are involved in a chase, a clash of wills, and though he once vowed to never love again, he burns for the enchanting Miss Danvers. And denying his heart may cost him an exquisite love that happens only once in a lifetime. 

Review:

One of my favorite things about Historical Romance is its willingness to embrace the Bat Shit Premise. Society makes impossible demands of young women, who are forced to do crazy things to live up to expectations. But the lack of modern technology makes schemes like Kitty's claiming to be engaged to someone she's never met possible. And Kitty is just so charming that we want her crazy plan to succeed.

Historicals also often seem to feature the Beauty and the Beast trope. My Darling Duke embraces its fairy tale roots with the characters actually discussing how their story parallels the original. At the same time, it does something very modern with its representation of chronic pain and disability. Despite that, I felt like Alexander's relationship obstacles were much the same as all the other Beasts.

Still, I enjoyed the story and I look forward to more Bat Shit premises to come from the rest of Kitty's Sinful Wallflower friends.

   1/2 

3.5  stars

Romanceopoly Courtship Row: Historical where H/h is a wallflower