Author: Julia QuinnPublished: May 2008 (Avon)
Category: Historical Romance
Series: The Two Dukes of Wyndham #1
Rating: 6/10
Jack Audley, formerly a respected soldier and currently a highwayman, has just held up his grandmother's coach, and then kissed her companion, the lovely Grace Eversleigh, while grandmother, the dowager Duchess of Wyndham, fetched a miniature of his father. While on the way back to England from Ireland, Jack's father died in a shipwreck, and his family never knew that he'd married in Ireland and fathered a legitimate son. If the marriage record is found, Jack would become the true Duke of Wyndham, displacing his cousin, Thomas, who has been raised as the future duke.
Jack doesn't want the dukedom, but his grandmother, who still hasn't completely redeemed herself by the end of the book, is shoving it down his throat because she wants to restore him to his rightful place, mostly because she liked Jack's father more than Thomas's father. Usually this sort of older character is amusing and has a really soft heart, but the dowager didn't have many good moments and annoyed me most of the time. And then out of left field, it turns out Jack can't read, probably because of dyslexia, and that's partially why he doesn't want to be duke. I thought that was completely unnecessary; Jack didn't need that extra excuse to decline the dukedom. The responsibilities that come with the title are more than daunting to someone who never expected to inherit them. And did I really want to spend most of the book reading about a character who doesn't want the power and responsibility? That's why I didn't like the Spider-Man movies!
I felt like the romance took second place to Jack and Thomas dealing with the possible monumental changes to their lives. Once Grace and Jack's mutual attraction was established, it felt like their story was on autopilot, and I was kind of disappointed in The Lost Duke of Wyndham. I'm hoping that the sequel, Mr. Cavendish, I Presume is fantastic and makes up for this one.
2 comments:
I really loved this book when I read it not long ago. I didn't feel like the duke stuff overwhelmed the love story, and in fact appreciated that the storyline was so straight forward.
I am looking forward to the next book.
I think I was hard on this one because I was reading it in 99-degree weather while waiting for my movers to arrive!
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