The English Duke

January 30, 2017
Ranney’s second Duke Trilogy historical (after The Scottish Duke), set in late-19th-century England, unites a reclusive duke and an ingenious inventor. Martha York is upset that Jordan Hamilton, the Duke of Roth, hasn’t answered any of her letters. Her deceased father, Matthew, worked with the duke on a prototype torpedo and wanted Jordan to have his notes and latest prototype. Tired of waiting, Martha journeys with her spoiled sister, Josephine, and their grandmother to the duke’s home of Sedgebrook. As Martha and Jordan work together on the prototype, they discover how much they enjoy their companionable silence and collaboration. While the attraction between Jordan and Martha begins to sizzle, Josephine schemes to become the next Duchess of Sedgebrook. Jordan assumes women want him for only his title, and Martha is convinced that men won’t like her for her intellect; the believable connection between them enlivens the tale. Ranney has created a captivating story line complete with an intriguing cast of characters.

January 15, 2017
An inventor's daughter will stop at nothing to carry out her father's last wishes--even if it means confronting a handsome but unfriendly duke in his den.Martha York is not an ordinary young woman. When her late father invented a new type of torpedo ship, Martha took notes, built prototypes, and kept order in his workshop. Now that he's gone, she's determined to deliver his bequest. He left a working prototype of his torpedo ship to Jordan Hamilton, the Duke of Roth. Jordan is also an inventor and was her father's devoted friend. When Jordan refuses to accept the bequest, Martha travels to his country seat with her grandmother and half sister to entreat him to take it. The pain from a recent injury has made Jordan surly and reclusive, but Martha's grandmother fakes an illness so she'll have an excuse to stay at Jordan's estate for a few days, throwing her unmarried granddaughters into the ducal presence. Jordan and Martha spend the time working side by side in Jordan's workshop. They begin to respect each other as colleagues, and warm feelings develop, followed by very hot feelings indeed. But Martha's conniving younger sister, Josephine, is determined to win the duke for herself. Both Martha and Jordan are so unbearably passive and self-pitying that Josephine almost carries it off, getting herself affianced to Jordan through manipulation and outright lies. The reader is left in an agony of frustration and suspense, waiting for Jordan or Martha to speak up and end the farcical engagement between Josephine and Jordan. The second book in Ranney's (The Scottish Duke, 2016) Duke Trilogy is full of compelling details about Victorian naval armaments, but the secondary characters are almost more interesting than the brilliant but naive hero and heroine. A compelling read in spite of the aggravating main characters.

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April 15, 2017

Martha York is incensed when science-oriented Jordan Hamilton, the Duke of Roth, refuses to come for the papers her late inventor father wanted him to have. With her beautiful, self-centered younger sister and canny grandmother in tow, Martha sets out for the duke's estate to deliver the research herself. A quick trip is planned until Gran becomes indisposed. Jordan and Martha end up collaborating and bonding, but a conniving miss manipulates the truth, with a near disastrous outcome. VERDICT Exceptional characters, a self-serving villainess, and fascinating detail about underwater vessels combine in this rewarding, sweetly sensual Victorian romance; the perfect addition to Ranney's latest series. Ranney (The Scottish Duke) lives in San Antonio.

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