https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/247552478
Alexander the Duke of Roxboro has a tragic history his father was attacked and left to die in the street with his mother on the run she is desperate for help, in an unknown (to her) area of the city (London) and very pregnant the ones that attacked her carriage and her husband are still after her but she manages to get to the midwife's home sadly she dies shortly after giving birth. ... there are some other things that happen here but don't want to give away more of this part of the story.
Many years later our Duke is all grown up after being raised by his Uncle (father's younger brother) and he is known around for being a notorious Rake very handsome and has taken advantage of this on many occasions he is also known to drink in excess and gamble too much... thankfully he can afford it... his life is about to change drastically and he doesn't even remember what happened.
While out on the town with his best friend they go to many places but the night gets murkier as he has had too much to drink (again) and when he wakes up with a pounding headache in his own bed he is surprised to hear his Uncle is at his home along with a Lord Canterbell and his daughter (not even the beautiful one) they are after one thing... they want him to do the right thing after compromising her the night before in the gardens of the ball he has no recollection of even attending... or did he?
Sophia has no filter she often speaks before thinking and has no desire to placate or bow to a man...even a Duke she has had enough of being compared to and found lacking when her older, beautiful, perfect sister is present and she is tired of parading around Ton events when she is well aware she isn't up to par with many other ladies her age... and even though she knows it's too good to be true she's had a few glasses of wine to get through the night she finds herself flattered when the Duke of Roxboro approaches her and leads her out to the gardens... very much alone only now other people have seen them together they shared a very unmemorable sloppy kiss and he deserted her after whispering sweetly about wanting to court her properly then just ditched her and there is gossip about her scheming to be a Duchess... now in the light of day he is claiming it wasn't him! The Audacity!... In fact she would rather join a convent then marry this rogue.
Our couple exchanges barbs all the while actually getting to know each other better and now being thrown together (whether they like it or not) since the Duke's Uncle has political aspirations and Sophia's father is high up in Parlament their wedding continues.
Alexander is still foggy on that night but knows that he wouldn't attend that ball the lady hosting it hates him... this can all be cleared up when his friend returns he will help him remember the night only he hasn't left any word as to where he's gone. Sophia now getting closer to the Duke than ever before notices that there are several differences in this man versus the man who led her into temptation in the garden... but if it wasn't Alexander... who was it? Who would impersonate a Duke?
Classic enemies to more where they both can't stand each other and you watch the couple have a battle of wits and come to find that maybe they don't hate each other as much as they once thought... could this be in fact love? When Alex finds himself on death's door the person who is there for him is the one he wanted to kick to the curb just recently. Sophia can't let Alex die... she needs to tell him all the reasons she can't stand him the leading reason at this point being that maybe she can't live without him.
*Netgalley *Arc read *enemies à More *Forced marriage *Rake *Strong FMC
*mistaken identity *historical Romance *spice *slow burn *handsome Duke *scandal
*Ends on a Cliffhanger
Likes:
Classic enemies to more where they both can't stand each other and you watch the couple have a battle of wits and come to find that maybe they don't hate each other as much as they once thought... could this be in fact love? When Alex finds himself on death's door the person who is there for him is the one he wanted to kick to the curb just recently. Sophia can't let Alex die... she needs to tell him all the reasons she can't stand him the leading reason at this point being that maybe she can't live without him.
I loved seeing Alex and Sophia turn softer towards each other once they let their guards down their passion was fireworks. Sophia broke out of her shell of feeling insecure around her sister with her mother always putting her down and her steady, calm, intelligent nature served her well in an emergency situation. She was a perfect match for the brooding, galavanting Duke and in turn he actually wanted to be a better person for her.
Great start to this new series and I look forward to the next book.
Dislikes:
I enjoyed the banter between our couple but did find some of it to be over the line and more into bullying and it happened maybe too frequently throughout the book I would have liked more of a getting to know you period for the couple and if there had been more time spent on the actual mystery of who was impersonating the Duke and what was going on with other shady dealings throughout the book. But understand that we will likely get the remainder of this information in future books from this series.
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