The Wicked Ways of a Duke
38yo seamstress is infatuated with duke Hero the 1st time they met, when she was working at a ball. She gets an unexpected & massive inheritance from the father she never knew but its conditional upon her marrying within the year. She is flattered & hopeful that penniless duke Hero is interested in her even though he doesn't know that she's now very wealthy. But Hero does know but doesn't tell her. He schemes to marry her ASAP in order to pay for his family's enormous debts, including tapping into heroine's romantic notions of marriage. I've only rated Guhrke's books either a 4 or 5 star. Unfortunately, this one breaks the record. This book has Guhrke's usual good emotional involvement, sexual tension, sex scenes, & dialogue. But I didn't like some of the writing content & the main characters. Much of the book was devoted to describing how bad & devious Hero was. I definitely got that part & felt some angst about his redemption. Disappointingly, his redemption was rushed & not very convincing at that. I wasn't sure whether his change of heart was a genuine character change or temporary b/c he was desperate when heroine put a stop to his plans. And the solution to his financial problems seemed ridiculous for that time period. Could writing travel books really finance his life enough to pay for some of the huge debts & his daily living expenses? He's never even written one. I didn't care for heroine either. She was more likeable than Hero, with her kindness, independence, & simplicity. But she seemed easily deceived or blind to Hero's faults. She forgave him too easily for all his deceptions & lies. I can envision her making excuses for his bad behavior in their future.
Not a good Guhrke book. Read her Guilty Pleasures (Avon Romantic Treasure) & The Marriage Bed (Avon Romantic Treasure) instead.
