Duchess Decandence by Wendy LaCapra

The Basics:
Duchess Decandence by Wendy LaCapra
Entangled: Scandalous
Book Three in the Furies series
Historical Romance
Published October 19, 2015
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Why I picked up this book:

I was intrigued by the cover, which didn't seem, ah, typical for historical romance.

Blurb:

London, 1784

Thea Worthington, Duchess of Wynchester divides her time between social engagements and playing her luck against fickle fortune. Yet every gamble is only a bluff—a means to hide from the pain deep within her, and the loss of a babe she never held in her arms. Now Thea's luck is about to run out. Her estranged husband has returned and seeks a reunion...

Plagued with guilt over what happened to his wife three years ago, the Duke of Wynchester has kept his distance. The duke is resolved to piece his family back together, especially now that he's discovered his beloved brother—long thought dead—still lives. But Thea's lovely, porcelain facade is on the verge of cracking...spurred on by the duke's brother's secretive, malevolent animosity.

With everything riding on her future, Thea plays a daring game of chance for love and her marriage...and this time, the dice are most certainly rigged

My Thoughts:

Duchess Decadence is the third book in the Furies series, and while I still quite enjoyed it, I felt like I was missing out because of having not read the first two. This is especially true in the very first chapters of the book, so if you're going to give this book a go, keep that in mind. 

Specifically, the story opens with a party put on by the three Furies, the three women who feature in each of the books. While this party marks an important change in Thea's life--with the wager to determine whether she'll spend a summer with her estranged husband or whether they'll talk about a divorce--after her husband has left, there's a series of other significant events that have direct impact on this story. I suspect that these events featured in the earlier books, but in this one they're described briefly, and then referred to a fair bit in the early portion of the book. Not actually reading the scene in the book was a real negative for me. I wanted to see what had happened instead of getting this glossed over version.

I did think the private scenes between Duke and Duchess were quite well written. I appreciated how their upbringings contributed to their conflict, and I liked that we were able to see the struggle for them to break old habits and patterns of behaviour. I also appreciated how the past affected them, with their unresolved issues colouring their perception of each other. Everything tied together really nicely. I loved how clearly open, honest communication between the two resulted in them being accord, but when they were trying to behave either as they'd learned was expected of Duke/Duchess or to protect each other... Well, suffice to say, it was often less productive!

There was one thing that made an odd impression on me, and that's that the duke's sexual knowledge was kind of... fluffed around. It didn't really bother me, but it was something that I did notice. Regardless, the intimate scenes were well-written, and a key part of the Duke and Duchess finding their way back to each other. 

I really liked Thea; her determination and loyalty were pretty incredible. I loved the closeness of the Furies, that friendship is so wonderful to read about. And I was curious about the earlier stories in the series, which is unusual for me. I don't like to move backwards in a timeline.

Bottom line:

Definitely grab the first two books in the series, so that you don't have my issues with the early chapters of Duchess Decadence. Otherwise, this was a solid, entertaining romance!

4 stars
For fans of historical romances, second chance romances

Don't just take my word for it though! I've gathered up a couple of other blog reviews, so check them out for some other opinions!

Romancing the Book 

The Reading Cafe

Bookworm2bookworm