The Trouble With Being a Duke

Starred review from July 29, 2013
In this humorous and captivating Regency take on the Cinderella story, carriage worker’s daughter Isabella Smith sneaks into the Kingsborough masquerade ball, hoping to have some fun before becoming engaged to the dull and demanding Timothy Roberts. Isabella, wearing a mask and the beautiful gown that she’s kept hidden in her attic, captures the attention of Anthony, Duke of Kingsborough, and sparks immediately fly. When Isabella hastily exits, Anthony is devastated but knows he must locate her—especially when friends assert that she was wearing the dress in which their kidnapped daughter was last seen. Isabella realizes that her mother, who hates the aristocracy, will never approve of her flirtation with Anthony, yet as her dislike for Mr. Roberts grows, so does her affection for the duke. Before finding love, the two must confront society’s rules, family secrets, and vengeful debutantes. Regency fans will happily devour this tale’s heady passion, comical interludes, and engaging story.

August 1, 2013

Deciding that his mother has mourned her husband long enough and needs something to pique her interest, Anthony Hurst, Duke of Kingsborough, plans to get serious about securing the succession and finding a wife. He thinks reestablishing the annual masquerade ball is a step in the right direction. Although dutiful Isabella Chilcott knows she is expected to marry boring Mr. Roberts for the sake of her impoverished family, she can't let go of her romantic dreams. When the ball is announced, as a village girl Isabella would never be invited. Yet she attends anyway, hoping no one will recognize--or even notice--her. But the duke is charmed, and others do notice. Then an elderly couple begins asking about the lovely, mysterious dress she is wearing, and Isabella knows it's time to leave. VERDICT Funny, whimsical, and wonderfully romantic, this delightful riff on the Cinderella story is pure fun. Barnes has published a number of e-original Regencies with Avon Impulse (The Secret Life of Lady Lucinda); this title is her print debut. She lives on the East Coast.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2013
All Isabella Chilcott wants is one dance at a ball before doing her duty and marrying the eminently respectable (and mind-numbingly predictable) Timothy Roberts. So when presented with the chance to attend the Kingsborough ball, the first to be held in five years, Isabella isn't about to let the opportunity pass her by. Dressed in an exquisite gown she finds in the attic (Wherever did her mother get this creation?) Isabella is having the time of her life masquerading as Miss Smith until Anthony Hurst, the Duke of Kingsborough, asks her to dance. One waltz with Anthony soon leads to another, and before she knows what is happening, Isabella is kissing him. While Isabella may be resigned to the idea that the two of them have no romantic future, Anthony is equally determined to make the mystery woman he is kissing his forever. Barnes, who got her literary start with Avon's e-publishing imprint, Impulse, makes her print debut with a flawless, fairy talelike romance that will enchant readers with its perfect blend of sharp wit and sizzling sensuality.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)