The Duke's Obsession by Frances Fowlkes

The Basics:
The Duke's Obsession by Frances Fowlkes
Entangled: Scandalous
Historical Romance
Published May 12, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon.ca Kobo.com

Why I picked up this book:

Sounded like a sweet historical romance.


Blurb:

London 1818

An American Heiress Who Must Swallow Her Pride

Miss Daphne Farrington despises three things: England's dreary weather, the grimy streets of London, and most especially the English aristocracy. Despite her misgivings, she must persuade the very English Duke of Waverly to save her family shipping business. If only she could ignore the way he makes her pulse race whenever she's near him.

A Duke Who Must Overcome Her Prejudice

Edward Lacey, the Duke of Waverly, is convinced that the lovely Miss Farrington, with her penchant for numbers, is the woman he'd like to make his Duchess. But unless he can convince her that not all English lords are callous, calculating rakes, a dark secret will ruin his chance at happiness.

My thoughts:

My initial impression was spot-on - this *was* a sweet historical romance. It was a quick read with no huge surprises for the genre, but instead it found my sweet spot wherein the woman is clever and slightly outside of normal society, and the man was both powerful and completely at the mercy of his affections for said woman.

Daphne and Edward both appealed to me. Daphne's a clever American with a chip on her shoulders when it comes to English anything, and Edward's a Duke who just wants someone to see him for himself. There's legitimate conflict between them as Daphne has to battle her preconceived notions about the English - and also the dark secret hinted at in the blurb. Edward's controlling, manipulative mother is also a force to reckon with. I wish her choice for Edward's bride had a slightly more 'on-screen' presence.

This one is fairly tame as far as heated moments go. There are a few stolen moments but the book primarily focuses on bringing the couple together emotionally.

The character of Westbrook was a little off for me - there's a scene towards the end of the book when he hits on Daphne that didn't sit right. Not that I wanted him to be less of an ass, but more that he makes some presumptions about Daphne that I didn't think were very believable.

Bottom line:

Overall, this was a sweet historical romance that I could see picking up again on a rainy day. Nothing earth-shattering, this book left me feeling happy and that's what I want from a historical romance. At the time of this review, the book is priced at 99 cents and well worth it for that price.

4 stars
For fans of historical romance, smart women, men who love them