My Dangerous Duke
Kate Madsen was orphaned as a girl and raised by a family friend in an isolated cottage near the sea. She’s surprisingly educated for a young Regency woman of little means and has little contact with the outside world. So it’s especially shocking when she is kidnapped and brought to the Duke of Warrington as a “gift.” Her captors believe she is the daughter of one of Warrington’s enemies, and they expect that Warrington, known for his roguish ways, will appreciate a beautiful young woman. As Warrington gets to know Kate, he learns the secrets of her past—secrets that Kate herself did not know. Together, they manage to figure out the mystery of Kate’s parentage, as well as further dismantle a bizarre enemy organization.
If all of this sounds convoluted—it is. There’s a lot going on in this novel, and much of it falls outside the realm of possibility, even for a purely escapist read. It’s difficult to believe that Kate (who was purportedly raised in isolation) is so worldly about sexuality—she goes from shy virgin to complete wanton in a matter of pages. A more gradual transition would have been more likely. Warrington is a tough hero to like—an intelligent man who, for reasons unknown, believes that any woman he marries is cursed to die a violent death. I’m all for a bit of camp in my historical romances, but sometimes too much is just too much.
