ARC Review: Forever My Duke (Unlikely Duchesses #2) by Olivia Drake

Title: Forever My Duke

         Unlikely Duchesses 2

Author: Olivia Drake

Release Date: December 31, 2019

(ARC Version)

Published By: St. Martin’s Press

Category: Romance – Historical – Regency

Type: Digital – Paperback

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Olivia Drake Website

Blurb: 

Hadrian Ames, the Duke of Clayton, needs a bride. He even has the perfect one picked out. That is, until he meets the lovely, free-spirited Natalie Fanshawe. She’s the opposite of what a man of his high rank should desire in a wife—an outspoken American who has never even set foot in a London ballroom.

But Natalie doesn’t have time to be swept off her feet by a handsome duke who must be a spoiled scoundrel like every other British lord. And she couldn’t care less about Hadrian’s title. After all, it’s not as if he actually worked to attain his wealth and status. He surely can’t understand what it’s like to be a busy woman, planning to open a school while trying to reunite a six-year-old orphan with his English relatives. Nevertheless, Hadrian launches his campaign to win her heart. Can the utterly delightful American beauty ever find a way to love him…despite his being a duke?

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age.

If you are under the age of 18, please exit this site.

Favorite Lines:

One of his dark eyebrows shot up. “Can this be the nettlesome Miss Fanshawe? Pray don’t curtsy, too, lest I think you’ve lost all of your spirit.”  ~  Hadrian

Now, if only she would look at him that way. Fool! Had he fallen so low that he could envy a child? Apparently so!  ~  Hadrian

“Simply put, you’re everything I never knew that I needed.”  ~  Hadrian

“Chumley warned me there was a hoyden in my bedchamber who’d had the cheek to banish him from the room.”  ~  Hadrian

Excerpt:

          A tapping sounded on the door. Hadrian glanced up at the disturbance, then looked back down at the brat. His eyes had widened and his sturdy form quivered. He scrunched himself up into the smallest possible ball. 

          “Please, you mustn’t give me away! It’s only for a minute. Now, shh.”

          Reaching up, the boy tugged the tablecloth back down to conceal himself. Hadrian was tempted to haul him out by his ear and frog-march him out of the room. But it was too late, for the door was already opening. A woman stepped into the parlor. 

          His heart rocked in his chest. The world faded as he stared at the vision standing before him. 

          Pretty seemed too tame a word to describe her. Appearing to be in her mid-twenties, she had a frank gaze and an aura of distinction that set her apart from the ladies of his acquaintance. She was tall and willowy, her chin held high, as if to take pride in her height. In the glow of the firelight, several curls of dark sable hair had escaped her chignon to frame her face with its pert nose and rosy lips. Her skin had a healthy glow as if she’d spent a good deal of time outdoors without a parasol. The cinnamon-hued gown with its long sleeves and plain scoop neckline would be considered pitifully drab by London standards, yet it skimmed her feminine curves in a way that lent her a natural flare of style. 

          Hadrian tried to put his finger on precisely why she fascinated him. He had seen plenty of other lovely women over the years, but none of those others had affected him on quite such a visceral level. Perhaps it was her eyes. They were a deep, vibrant green that lit up like sunlight on emeralds when she smiled. 

          As she did now. “Pardon me for intruding, sir. I’m looking for a little boy.”

          Her melodious voice held a faintly foreign flavor which he tried to place. Not Welsh or Irish or Scotch or even Cornish. It was as mysterious and appealing as the woman herself. 

          As she gazed inquiringly at him, Hadrian realized he was still sitting and gawking like a dolt. He shot to his feet. If that scruffy imp belonged to her, he could not imagine she was one of the upper ten thousand, yet he felt compelled to show her the respect afforded a lady. 

          He bowed. “Ma’am.”

          She gave him a distracted look and then ventured closer, gazing around the small parlor. “Leo? I know you’re in here. I saw you go through this door when I was coming down the stairs.”

          Hadrian held an inward debate. As much as he admired this splendid creature, he had a gentleman’s distaste for tattling. It was an unwritten rule that males did not betray one another’s secrets. Especially not to the female of the species. 

          Or did that honor exclude disobedient cubs like Leo? 

          Fortunately the dilemma was resolved without any duplicity on his part. With a small cry, she sprang forward and lifted the edge of the tablecloth to peer underneath it. 

          “There you are, you naughty child!” she said on a trill of laughter. “That’s quite the clever hiding spot.”

          “It wasn’t very clever since you found me,” Leo griped. 

          “Well, come out of there at once,” she said, watching as he scrambled to his feet. “And next time, mind that your toes don’t stick out. Now, pray make your apologies to the gentleman for disturbing his dinner.”

          “Sorry, mister.”

          “There’s no harm done,” Hadrian said, forgetting that he’d chastised the lad for that very thing only moments ago. 

          “Sometimes Leo doesn’t stop to think about his actions,” the woman said ruefully. “It is a trait we are working on modifying. In the meantime, I must thank you, sir, for being so understanding.”

          Her mouth curved in that appealing smile, she leaned over the table and extended her hand to Hadrian. 

          Startled, he realized that she meant for him to shake it as a gentleman would do to his equal. Not even the grandest grand dame of society would commit such a faux pas with a man of his rank. A lady might offer the back of a gloved hand to be kissed, but only after having curtsied to him. Nevertheless, he found himself clasping her hand, keenly conscious of the warmth of her slim fingers. 

          “It was my pleasure,” he murmured. 

          The feel of her bare silken skin heightened the intensity of her effect on him. He felt as giddy as a schoolboy meeting his first pretty girl. It made no sense, for he prided himself on being a man in firm control of his emotions and somewhat jaded by the allures of the fairer sex. 

          She must have sensed his reaction, for her gaze widened slightly and a rosy blush tinted her cheeks. Her expression held a frank curiosity about him, as if she too were puzzled by the unseen energy of attraction. As they stared at each other for timeless moments, Hadrian felt as if he were drowning in those gorgeous eyes. He had the strongest urge to reach out and unpin her hair, to see those sable tresses tumble around her shoulders and bosom. 

          It was only when she gave a tug that he realized he was still gripping her hand. He loosened his hold, and she stepped back, the sparkle of warmth on her features dimming to a mask of politeness. She lowered her gaze to the boy, who had wandered to the hearth and picked up a stick of kindling to poke at the fire. 

          “Put that away, Leo, and come along. Your bath is growing cold.”

          He abandoned the stick, but dug in his heels. “Don’t want no bath.”

          “Proper grammar, please. And the bath is necessary, for tomorrow you are to meet your grandfather.”She took hold of Leo’s hand and guided him away, pausing only to toss a quick, heart-stopping smile over her shoulder. “Good evening, sir. Do pardon us again for the intrusion.”

          A moment later, they disappeared out into the corridor and shut the door. The muffled grumble of Leo’s protests gradually died away. 

          It took a moment for Hadrian to feel like himself again. A trace of her alluring feminine scent lingered in the air. Now that she was gone, it seemed ludicrous that a stranger could affect his equilibrium to such a degree. 

          Her poised manner did not fit the lower orders, so he had been wrong about the boy being the offspring of servants. Rather, she must be an overnight lodger here, another traveler stranded by the freezing rain. He hadn’t noticed a wedding ring, yet it seemed reasonable to assume that a husband awaited her upstairs. 

          Logic dispelled the remainder of Hadrian’s undue reaction. She was the very opposite of his preferences, for he liked women who were dainty and sophisticated. Her appeal perhaps could be explained away by the fact that he’d discharged his latest mistress a fortnight ago and had been on the lookout for another to catch his interest. But he strictly confined his liaisons to willing widows and discreet courtesans. 

          Not mothers with young children. 

          He resumed his seat at the table and took up his newspaper, though the printed words failed to hold his attention. Instead, he frowned into the dying flames of the fire while his mind continued to mull over the intriguing encounter. Despite the faint accent, she had a refined mode of speech, possessed a natural grace, and displayed a charming blush. 

          Yet the handshake was curious behavior, indeed. She was clearly a rustic who was unfamiliar with the protocol of curtsying to a gentleman. Even if she was unaware that he was the Duke of Clayton, she ought to have recognized him as a man of consequence. He wasn’t offended, only baffled as to what it might reveal about her background. 

          Devil take it. She would have to remain a mystery. Tomorrow, they’d each set forth to different destinations, never to cross paths again. He wouldn’t waste another thought on a fleeting encounter with a nameless beauty. 

          Especially not when he was on his way to acquire the perfect bride.

Highlight:

          Leo had been playing with his toy ship, but he piped up, “What’s egal-li-tar-ian?”He sounded the word out carefully. 

          She turned her head to smile at him. “It means that we do not have dukes and kings and nobles who inherit their position by virtue of birth. In America, one’s success in life is entirely up to each person. You must work hard to raise yourself to a position of authority.”

          “Like a sea captain?”

          “Precisely,” she said with a laugh, combing her fingers through the mop of tawny hair that always became messy no matter how many times she tidied it. “Though perhaps your future occupation will depend in part upon the wishes of your Grandfather Godwin.”

          Leo shrugged, returning to his attention to sailing his ship along the back of the seat, making little sounds that she deduced were meant to be the crashing of waves. Her heart squeezed. At least she could be comforted that he now seemed more reconciled to meeting his grandsire for the first time. 

          If only she herself could accept the prospect of losing Leo. 

          When she returned her attention to the duke, he was leaning forward with his hands clasped, his brow furrowed and his gaze unusually intent on her. “Godwin, you say? The Earl of Godwin?”

          “Yes, his estate is called Oak Knoll. It’s located near the village of Whitnash. Do you know him?”

          An odd alertness on his face, Clayton didn’t reply at first. He stared fixedly at Leo and then at her as if he were trying to see inside her mind. Without answering her question, he said in a strangely rough tone, “If indeed Leo’s grandfather is Lord Godwin, who are his parents?”

          “Audrey and Jeremy Bellingham. They were my dearest friends in America. I taught in their mission school on the frontier.”Her throat caught. “Unfortunately, they’re both gone now.”

          “Gone?”

          The sharpness in his tone startled her, as did the stark expression on his face. Unwilling to use the word dead in front of the boy, she merely said, “Yes, Leo is an orphan.”

          The duke appeared shaken by the news. “May I ask what happened?”

          She lowered her voice to a murmur. “I’m afraid it is best not to speak of that at present.”

          If only it were so easy to block that horrific day from her thoughts. Though she’d grown adept at locking away the memory, vivid flashes of the scene played in her mind. The surprise attack had happened on a sunny afternoon the previous summer at their fenced compound in the wilderness. She had been teaching a reading lesson to a group of children in the schoolhouse when a gunshot had sent her rushing to the window. . . . 

          Now, despite the warmth of her cloak, Natalie fought off a shiver. She was hardly aware of gripping her gloved fingers in her lap. The acrid memory of smoke and blood twisted her stomach into knots. Though months had passed, she had not been able to shed the heavy burden of guilt for having survived when so many had died. 

          “Well,” the Duke of Clayton said, “it seems that destiny has set you in my path, Miss Fanshawe. In truth, our meeting was a bona-fide fluke of fate.”

          Her attention snapped back to him. His watchful stare gave her the unsettling sense that he’d guessed something of her dark thoughts. “Fate?”

          “Yes. As it so happens, we are traveling to the same destination. My father was cousin to Lord Godwin. I’m on my way to pay his family a visit.”

          Astonished, Natalie tilted her head to one side. How could that be? His announcement seemed too farfetched to be true. But she could think of no earthly reason why he would fabricate such a connection. Nor could she detect any sign of deception on his strong features. 

          All other thought vanished as she tried to work through the tangle of family relationships. “Then Audrey would have been . . .”

          “Lady Audrey was my second cousin. Which would make Leo my second cousin, once removed.”One corner of his mouth curling in ironic humor, he regarded the boy at play. “Fancy that, the brat shares my blood.”

          She was too rattled to chide him again for the name-calling. Besides, the duke’s expression showed a dash of the same amazement that captivated her senses. How extraordinary to think this lofty aristocrat was kin to her best friend. And to Leo. 

          “Then you’ve met Audrey,” she said, eagerly leaning forward. “You must have known her when she was a girl.”

          “We grew up together at Oak Knoll. My father died when I was five, and Godwin was my appointed guardian. Being the same age, Lady Audrey and I were as close as siblings.”

          So, the duke was twenty-nine years of age, as Audrey would have been. How strange that her friend had never mentioned the connection. Then again, she’d seldom spoken of her life back in England. 

          “She never called herself lady,” Natalie corrected. “Titles didn’t matter to her. She once told me how relieved she was to have left all that pomp behind.”

          “It was her birthright, nevertheless. You’re in England now, where proper forms of address matter.”

          “Not to me.”

          “Then permit me to warn you,” he said with a darkening frown. “The Earl and Countess of Godwin will expect you to call them my lord and my lady. As well as to curtsy to them.”

          “Bah. In America we bow to no one, not even to President Madison.”

          “Here it is considered an obligatory sign of respect.”His face was set in hard lines. “Pray recall the old proverb: when in Rome, do as the Romans. I would strongly advise you, Miss Fanshaw, to heed that advice.”

Review:

Natalie is an American and has no desire to be in England any longer than necessary. Disgusted by the separation of classes based on titles people are born to, she assumes the ton is nothing more than a bunch of soft dandies. If it were not for the final wish of her best friend, she would not be here. Would not be delivering the young Leo to a family he has never known. Would not have accidentally stumbled into Hadrian’s room at the inn, searching for her young charge. Would not be questioning everything she thought she knew about the upper classes of England. Would not be falling hard for the haughty Duke. Would not allow herself to entertain the slightest fantasy about what life might or could be like with Hadrian at her side. And yet, here she is. But her promise has yet to be fulfilled and in the face of unexpected complications and danger lurking around the corner, there is quite a lot left to sort out before she can hash things out with Hadrian. Her worst fear, previously surrounding the safe delivery of Leo, has now undergone a complete transformation and now has everything to do with losing Hadrian due to their glaringly opposing beliefs.

Hadrian is captivated by the opinionated Natalie from the very beginning. She challenges him at every opportunity and shows no fear in expressing her severe dislike for the very fabric of the society in which he was bred to thrive in. Wanting to prove her wrong, he suddenly finds himself struggling with the callous beliefs of the society that produced him. The family who raised him to be the Duke that he is now turn out to be strangers; people he no longer wishes to align his life with despite his father’s wishes. Plans he had made suddenly seem unfathomable. In what seems like an instant, Natalie shakes his very foundation. Hadrian quickly adapts to scenarios as they occur in ways he never would have prior to his meeting with the beautiful Miss Fanshawe. Weaker men would have crumbled with the revelations Hadrian uncovers, but his strength of character sculpt him into an even better person when everything is said and done. With any luck, his transformation will be enough to convince Natalie that their differences are not as disparaging as they had originally seemed and that there is a happily ever after in their future – if only she will agree to this journey of love and happiness at Hadrian’s side – an equal to be loved and cherished as demanded by her American upbringing.

The title of this series pretty much says it all. Unlikely duchesses. Natalie for sure fits this bill. For a Duke of the English aristocracy to fall for an American of the untamed wilderness would be one heck of a faux pas. Luckily, once the lust bug strikes (which is pretty much immediately), both Hadrian and Natalie begin to break from their lifelong beliefs and let their feelings lead them along their path as they work together to solidify a positive future for Leo. The trick is to find a place in which they can happily co-exist without giving up too much of themselves in order to accommodate the other one. I completely adored this book and could not put it down once I began it. While it wasn’t a story of mystery in the sense that you weren’t sure what would happen next, it still continued to move at a quick pace and kept me engaged with all of its quirky characters – even the ones I strongly disliked. Just about the time I had reached my limit of the wretched Godwin family, a wonderful change of location was provided in which Hadrian’s lively mother and sister were introduced. Both Millie and Lizzy added the perfect amount of light-hearted joviality and mischievous matchmaking to this tale. I thoroughly enjoyed them both and would be thrilled to encounter them again in a future book. Hadrian is initially presented as haughty with an inability to bend. However, we glimpse the slightest crack in the façade with his first interaction with Leo. From there the cracks continues to spread until he is full-on courting Natalie – a fact to which she was shockingly oblivious for a rather long amount of time. One interesting aspect here is that for every bit of Hadrian’s arrogance, Natalie is even more so with her American pride; almost to the point of taking things too far. While I could relate to her ingrained beliefs given her background, there were times that allowances needed to be made. When Prinny showed up, I almost thought things would go the other way. In the end, this becomes a story of love overcoming differences and two people who couldn’t be more opposite attracting one another. At the end of the day, pride makes for a lonely bedfellow and so Natalie and Hadrian find a place in which they can continue to be true to self, but also operate better together as a unified couple.

I have not had the opportunity to read the first book in this series, but I do not believe that it is imperative to read the series in order. I am unaware if the preceding story had anything to do with any of the characters in this book, but neither did I feel that I was receiving a bit of back story in which to catch me up to where I needed to be. A positive trait for a reader, like myself, who has not begun at the beginning. That said, I will more than likely make sure to read book one at some point in the future. Based on my recollection, this is my first read with Ms. Drake. As a historical romance author, she is wonderful. Ms. Drake skillfully crafts an engaging tale with the perfect balance of details essential for a delightful historical romance read that is guaranteed to bring readers back for more. If I wasn’t a fan before, I definitely am now. Everything from the description to the cover to the writing style draws the reader in. I, myself, was happily caught. I can’t say as I had many complaints within this book besides the couple of characters I truthfully couldn’t stand. However, such traits were intentional, so cannot be held in the negative toward this piece of work, which leaves only one thing. I felt like Hadrian was willing to give up far more than Natalie was when it looked like it was going to be love or loss. Yes, everything works out, but Hadrian did effectively undergo a fundamental change while Natalie really didn’t. I would have liked to see her give just a bit more in the name of love. The few scenes of intimacy were descriptive without crossing the threshold of risqué. For my personal taste, it was just enough and yet not enough. A perfect combination. That said, this book was good enough that the scenes could easily have been omitted or cut much shorter and it wouldn’t have had the slightest impact on the story. With or without those particular scenes, the book was still very well written. For those who enjoy easily read and immensely enjoyed HR books with a slight twist as within this UNLIKELY DUCHESS series, I highly recommend giving Ms. Drake a shot at compatibility.

Kindle version provided by NetGalley/St. Martin’s in exchange for an honest review.