As an orphaned young woman
with a sizable trust fund, Penelope has no desire to marry. For one, she is near-sighted and incredibly clumsy. The only part of life she excels at is as a
botanists. Since women are not recognized in the field, when she writse up her
findings and sends them to The Linnean Society of London, the world’s oldest
active biological society, she does so as a man, knowing as a woman they would
never read a word of her discoveries. Penelope intends to skip the marriage
mart and go gently into spinsterhood, living comfortably on her inheritance as she pursues her discoveries a botanist.
Unfortunately, due to the prodding
of her aunt, her guardian sends Penelope to London for a season. Her aunt
settles her with a family boasting five sisters, (four unmarried), and a handsome young man, Drake, who, due to the
death of his father, has taken the position of a Duke much too early for his
liking. He is determined to uphold his position by marrying the perfect Duchess
of elegance, style and social graces, certain his life will be better then.
When Penelope first arrives,
Drake is downright rude to her, but in short time, he discovers, despite her clumsiness
and a penchant to crawl in dirt, he genuinely likes her…enough to kiss her, not
just once, but several times, each time ending with a declaration it will never
happen again, for he needs to marry a woman capable of being a duchess.
Penelope assures him she is
fine with that, for she does not wish to marry at all. She wants to be a
scientist.
Despite their determined
words, they continue to be drawn to one another until one of their unintended
moments is witnessed by two ladies of the ton and Drake is forced to announce their
engagement at once to prevent Penelope from being ruined by his actions.
Drake's first command is that
Penelope cease all scientific study and learn to be a proper duchess. With that
one order their future looks bleak.
I won’t say more, so you can
enjoy the story.
So allow me to discuss other matters. The Duke’s
Quandary is beautifully written. The characters are full and real. This is a book
where the pleasure is the journey, not the actual ending. I enjoyed every page
and always looked forward to returning to it. And to be honest, now that I
reached the ending, I’m sad. I already miss them.
I give this book 5 stars
Thanks so much for the lovely review, Liza. I'm so glad you enjoyed Penelope and Drake's love story. His sister Abigail is up next, with The Lady's Disgrace - October release.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds most interesting. Can't wait.
DeleteGreat review. Sounds like an awesome book. Tweeted.
ReplyDeleteIt really is
DeleteSounds good!
ReplyDeleteIt is
DeleteSounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Liza. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, you know me, I love to share my thoughts
DeleteThis is a wonderful book!! Congratulations, Callie!!
ReplyDeleteSee! I told you it was a fabulous book. Ella back me up!
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