A Duke Changes Everything: The Duke's Den

Nicholas “Nick” Lyon is wealthy, he’s part-owner of posh London gambling club, but he had to crawl his way from the gutter to get there. He never wanted to hear about his heartless father again, but his brother’s death changes Nick’s circumstances now that he has become the Duke of Tremayne. He doesn’t care for the title or the Enderly estate, and it’s in this frame of mind that he leaves for Sussex. Thomasina “Mina” Thorne has taken over the stewardship of the Enderly estate after her father died, but the Duke doesn’t know that the steward is a woman. Life had gone on as usual but when the new Duke arrives, he tells her he wants to make changes; considerable changes. Will Mina still be able to live in the only place she’s ever called home? With A DUKE CHANGES EVERYTHING, Christy Carlyle launches her brand new Duke’s Den series set in Victorian England. Ms. Carlyle always remains faithful to the era with her characters: Mina does a man’s job but not out of defiance; it somehow landed in her lap. She’s good at being a steward, she likes it, and she’s been accepted by the staff, and half-heartedly by some of the villagers. Nick is one angry dude when his life is upended; he is not unpleasant, but he certainly is not happy about being a duke and revisiting the estate where there are old ghosts he never wanted to revisit. The attraction between Mina and Nick is there from the beginning, but can anything come out of it when they do not see eye to eye? Oh how I loved how the romance progressed! Nothing was rushed, and it was believable every step of the way; the attraction was real, but circumstances made acting on it difficult. The descriptions are crisp and colourful: I could picture everything clearly, and that parapet walk made me dizzy – but it was the setting for a most lovely scene. I love Christy Carlyle’s light touch, and A DUKE CHANGES EVERYTHING does not merely consist of a series of vignettes showcasing a romance, but a whole, complex world in which we are invited. The story has a rather gothic feel, especially where Enderly Castle and Nick’s past are concerned, and mostly with the tower, where unspeakable things once happened. I felt though that there was a dearth of details in some places, and the timeline left me a tad confused at times. I was pleased to see the inclusion of historical characters, even if very briefly; it provided a real authentic touch. There are some wonderful secondary characters: Emma, a maid; Wilder, Enderly’s butler; Nick’s business partners: Aidan Iverson, and especially Rhys Forester, Marquess of Huntley, whose story I cannot wait to read; he is quite intriguing and entertaining.

A fan of Carlyle’s writing and her ability to present characters and situations that are layered and often nuanced, I was excited to read this new series. Set in the Victorian era, fear not readers – this isn’t a story laden with balls and the rigidity of the London season, nor is it filled with secondary characters full of tittle-tattle and drama that seeks to come between our couple. No, these two characters are strong-willed, likeable and easy to relate to, who have personal as well as ‘obligatory’ issues to work through in their history. It’s clear, nearly from the start, that most of the conflicts will be more of a style and approach issue, than with any actual distance between them. Nick is a man who left the trappings and cruelty of his home behind him and has made a name (and a fortune) for himself in London, owning one of the most notorious gambling clubs in town with his two friends Aidan and Rhys. He’s never actually considered the estate, happy to leave it and his elder and very cruel brother behind to deal with it. But, now his brother is dead, the title of Duke of Tremayne is his, as is all of the associated lands, obligations and memories. Most think him cold and calculating, but underneath the façade is a world of hurt, and all of it lies within his past. It doesn’t help that many are taken back by his appearance and rigidly held posture: a scar marring his face and his unusual eyes are a source of difference that only serves to fix him as an outsider, even with his friends. Heading to Enderly to settle (read dispose of) the newly inherited estate, he encounters a young woman up a tree – unusual enough, and made more so by her dress – in breeches and completely comfortably so, and utterly undaunted by the man from who many quake at the knees at first encounter. Thomasina Thorne, or Mina for short, is a lifelong resident at Enderly with her father being the estate’s manager. She’s bright and adventurous, and while her father sought to ‘curb’ her more outspoken ways, he also provided her with the skills, knowledge and example of how to run the estate. A job she’s been doing since his death, and quite well. Dedicated to the estate and it’s people, the mere thought that Nick would seeks to sell off the estate’s assets and thus throw many people into tumult is not something she will allow to happen. And though there is a curiosity that sparks between these two, the attraction takes a slower development, as both start to see the secrets and depths within the other, and Nick’s bad taste for the estate because of his past there slowly starts to unravel as his affections for and the connection with Mina deepens. From the first, Nick is unusual, and his willingness to see Mina as an equal, despite their positions and her being a woman only helps to endear him more to readers, and while Mina can, admittedly, be much like a dog with a bone when wanting to get her way, they managed to work through and listen to one another as they came together to change their own life journeys, together. A lovely start to a new series with plenty of scope to continue both with Nick and Mina and on to his partners in London. I received a paperback copy of the title from the publisher via Avon Addicts for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

A Duke Changes Everything by Christy Carlyle Dukes Den #1 Nicholas Lyon is a made-man in spite of being born to a wealthy home. His father was a sadistic manipulative evil man that Nick and his mother finally managed to get away from but their lives were not easy and it became necessary for Nick to live by his wits to survive – and – that he did and then some. As the co-owner of a gambling den in London he works hard and earns much money. He has the say over who he will extend loans to and has tried to put his childhood behind him. When he learns that he has inherited the title of Duke after both his father and older brother die he is not interested at all in taking up the reins of the dukedom. Mina Thorne took over as manager of the Tremayne estate she does her best to keep things going in spite of the previous two dukes not doing well by the house or its tenants. She is hopeful that the new duke will be a breath of fresh air. In some ways he is and yet in other ways he is not. As the two get to know one another things do change and what a delight the relationship was to watch as the two changed and grew and become a couple/partnership. I won’t say much more but will say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the second book when it comes out! Thank you to Edelweiss Above the Treeline and Harper Collins for the ARC – This is my honest review. 4-5 Stars