The Duke That I Marry

November 1, 2018
Wanted for her money, a woman holds out for love in the third book in the Spinster Heiresses series (A Match Made in Bed, 2018, etc.).Matthew Addison is a duke without an inheritance. His family fortune has been steadily dwindling ever since a blackmailer discovered a shocking family secret. Willa Reverly is an heiress without a title, and after three unsuccessful seasons, she's in danger of remaining a spinster. Their pending marriage will be a love match, if what they love is money. But after reading a book of poems Matt wrote for his estranged mistress, Willa decides she will settle for nothing less than the feelings that inspired him to write such tender words. She jilts Matt the day before their wedding, forcing him to try to win her heart for real. Though Matt is reluctant to fall in love again, he can't deny his attraction to Willa and rises quickly to the challenge, and they reschedule their nuptials. But after a disastrous wedding night, he has an even harder time earning her trust--and when the blackmailer returns, he might lose her for good. The historical details are thought-provoking: In the Regency-era setting, the couple doesn't expect to marry for love, and an affair is only shocking when the lovers are of the same sex, a topic that's handled with care. But the topic of consent is treated unevenly. At first, Matt, who towers over his tiny bride, takes his time to make her comfortable. But when she asks him to stop, he doesn't. Then he denies his humiliated bride her privacy, even to take a bath and use the chamber pot. When he takes a step back and proves he can control his urges, their love blossoms to great effect. But although Willa changes her mind about him, readers might not.The story begins and ends with a swoon, but the headstrong heroine endures too much in between.

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December 1, 2018

Wealthy Willa Reverly had hoped to marry for love, but when Matthew Addison, the newly minted but woefully impoverished Duke of Camberly, offers for her, her father gives her no choice but to accept. Despite her unsuccessful attempt to jilt Matt, Willa marries him and hopes for the best, never thinking she'll be drawn into the web of a vicious blackmailer who bankrupted Matt's family and whom Matt is now determined to unmask. VERDICT With quick-witted plotting, delicious chemistry, sparkling wit, and a serious dollop of danger, Maxwell delivers another Regency gem and gives the third of her spinster heiress heroines a husband who is definitely worth loving. Maxwell (If Ever I Should Love You; A Match Made in Bed) lives in Buda, TX.

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