Book Review: The Duke Meets His Match by Karen Tuft
My Rating: 3 Stars
Susan Jennings is unmarried, and, though long past the threshold of spinsterhood at age 30, she is happy with her life. She bears the role of the doting aunt, devoted daughter and sister, and prides herself on her extraordinarily sharp intellect. As a result she cares very little for what society has to offer.
George Kendall has had too many close calls with death. After recovering from a deadly illness, he determines it is time to search for a wife in earnest. He simply cannot stand the flirtatious and scheming young ladies of society intent on securing wealth and a title.
After crossing paths, both Susan and George cannot deny utter loathing for one another. However, when George is cornered by the Prince Regent and must either claim engagement to a young lady or suffer an arranged marriage, the only name that comes to George’s mind is the name of Miss Susan Jennings. Once he has claimed engagement to her, he--and Susan--must follow through and learn to make things work.
This book was sweet and interesting. I enjoyed and appreciated the historical aspects that were sprinkled throughout the book. I feel that gives historical fiction more credibility.
I enjoyed the themes discussed in this book. Themes include choosing to trust one another, accepting others’ help and good intentions, learning to see yourself in new light, beauty is more than skin-deep, and intelligence and outer beauty complement one another. I felt these themes were thought-provoking and resonated with me.
This book started out well, wasn’t so great during the middle, but ended well at last. At the beginning I felt like I had a pretty good grasp of the characters’ personalities and I looked forward to finding out how the confrontations between Susan and the Duke would eventually be resolved. As the story played out though, I had an increasingly difficult time keeping a grasp on their personalities. Some of their actions (i.e. makeout scenes) did not seem congruent with how their personalities had been described or portrayed during the prior chapters. It was as if they would think or say one thing, and then do another. It could be that the characters didn’t know their own minds because they were in a difficult circumstance, but I found the lag in continuity disorienting. Perhaps their actions needed additional explanation and that would have resolved that issue. In any case, their actions seemed more in line with their personalities around three-quarters of the way through the book and I enjoyed the last quarter. By the end of the book I felt things had resolved well enough that the end was satisfying. However, I didn’t feel like I really came to understand the characters by the end of the story.
Overall, this book was cute and interesting, but I am not convinced I would recommend it.
Content:
Susan Jennings is unmarried, and, though long past the threshold of spinsterhood at age 30, she is happy with her life. She bears the role of the doting aunt, devoted daughter and sister, and prides herself on her extraordinarily sharp intellect. As a result she cares very little for what society has to offer.
George Kendall has had too many close calls with death. After recovering from a deadly illness, he determines it is time to search for a wife in earnest. He simply cannot stand the flirtatious and scheming young ladies of society intent on securing wealth and a title.
After crossing paths, both Susan and George cannot deny utter loathing for one another. However, when George is cornered by the Prince Regent and must either claim engagement to a young lady or suffer an arranged marriage, the only name that comes to George’s mind is the name of Miss Susan Jennings. Once he has claimed engagement to her, he--and Susan--must follow through and learn to make things work.
This book was sweet and interesting. I enjoyed and appreciated the historical aspects that were sprinkled throughout the book. I feel that gives historical fiction more credibility.
I enjoyed the themes discussed in this book. Themes include choosing to trust one another, accepting others’ help and good intentions, learning to see yourself in new light, beauty is more than skin-deep, and intelligence and outer beauty complement one another. I felt these themes were thought-provoking and resonated with me.
This book started out well, wasn’t so great during the middle, but ended well at last. At the beginning I felt like I had a pretty good grasp of the characters’ personalities and I looked forward to finding out how the confrontations between Susan and the Duke would eventually be resolved. As the story played out though, I had an increasingly difficult time keeping a grasp on their personalities. Some of their actions (i.e. makeout scenes) did not seem congruent with how their personalities had been described or portrayed during the prior chapters. It was as if they would think or say one thing, and then do another. It could be that the characters didn’t know their own minds because they were in a difficult circumstance, but I found the lag in continuity disorienting. Perhaps their actions needed additional explanation and that would have resolved that issue. In any case, their actions seemed more in line with their personalities around three-quarters of the way through the book and I enjoyed the last quarter. By the end of the book I felt things had resolved well enough that the end was satisfying. However, I didn’t feel like I really came to understand the characters by the end of the story.
Overall, this book was cute and interesting, but I am not convinced I would recommend it.
Content:
Sex & Affection--A few instances of passionate kissing, general references to a wedding night, intimacy, providing an heir, and mistresses.
Alcohol, Drugs, and Substance Use--moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Language--Individuals direct insults at other people.
Crime & Violence--None
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