What the Duke Doesn't Know

Starred review from July 25, 2016
Ashford’s delightful second venture into the social lives of the six sons of the Duke of Langford (after Heir to the Duke) pokes gentle fun at British society stuffiness in a story that pits propriety against authenticity, passion, and personality. Lord James Gresham, at loose ends after the Royal Navy ship on which he served is decommissioned, is surprised by the pistol-wielding, revenge-seeking Kawena Benson, the half–Pacific Islander daughter of an English trader seeking to avenge her father’s death. After James convinces her of his innocence, she asks him to help with her search for the robber whose theft of her father’s jewels led to his fatal heart attack, and a comedy of awkwardness, misunderstandings, and manners ensues. James realizes his joking request to his sister-in-law to find him a proper bride is at odds with his appreciation of Kawena’s outsider perspective and her island-learned freedom to ask for what she wants. The story resonates with the humor of English seafaring comedy such as The Pirates of Penzance while calling out narrow-minded exoticism in a fashion that has modern appeal. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary.

Starred review from September 1, 2016
For British navy captain James Gresham, it was a perfectly boring Oxford garden party until a woman disguised as a man and brandishing a pistol leaped out of the shrubbery and accused him of being a thief. It turns out that Kawena Benson believes that while James was visiting the island where she lived in Polynesia with her family, he stole a valuable cache of jewels from her father. Although it is true that James' ship, Charis, did dock at the island, he most definitely did not steal anything. It seems that the only way James can prove his innocence to Kawena is by helping her track down the real thief. With the second addition in her Duke's Sons series, following Heir to the Duke (2016), Ashford soars to new heights of literary excellence by creating a cleverly conceived story that takes all the traditional elements readers love in Regency romances and making everything seem refreshingly new. Throw in Ashford's gift for creating intriguingly different characters and her dry sense of humor, and you have a romance worth cherishing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)