The Duke's Heart

Loved the Characters, But the Plot... This is a proper novel-length story. So many authors write novellas these days that it is a surprise to actually read a novel. I was particularly delighted to see that the author featured a couple who is middle-aged, him approaching his 50th birthday and her a little younger. That's not often done in contemporary romance in general and certainly not in Regency romance. The author created excellent characters in the hero and heroine as well as secondary characters like her brother, her young niece, and his heir presumptive cousin. As I never re-read a books description before I start reading a book to review, when I first started the book, I thought the story might be about Teddy, the heir, and I was highly amused at his first scene where he's pretending to be the duke’s footman because he's not comfortable yet with the idea of being his heir. By the way, I thought Teddy was a great character, and I hope the author writes his romance. I wasn't quite sure about the hero at first as he seemed a little lightweight to carry a novel, seemingly bored with life and a little shallow at times. He became much more interesting when the heroine came on the scene. They had been teenage lovers who separated, she marrying another man and going to live in Ireland for the last 30 years. While I liked the characters, I didn't think the author did much interesting with them for too long of a time. She set up some potentially interesting subplots, like bringing the niece up to scratch enough to enter society and the marriage mart and watching Teddy become more comfortable in his role as heir presumptive. Even the mad scientist brother could have had an interesting, potentially comic subplot. I actually think novel-length romances need one or two of these, especially if the couple doesn't really get together much until later in the book, as happened in this case. I read this book over the course of several days, and I find myself not remembering what happened early on because it wasn't that interesting. Things improved when the couple decided to rekindle their former flame, but even that felt like it came together too easily. The impediments keeping them apart seemed too small, especially if they just discussed options more. So while I love the characters, the plot and subplot(s) needed work to make this a fully satisfying novel. I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

Heather Boyd has a wonderful writing style that really captures the readers imagination. This is actually my first book by this author and I am so glad that I found her. I love the fact that the hero and heroine were older, and much more mature. Their second chance story as well written and delightful. I found the characters to be quite wonderful, good and kind people. Kitty and Sinclair are complex characters who had been in love 30 years ago but were separated by misunderstandings and an unscrupulous person. The secondary characters were quite charming, Kitty’s brother Percy, her niece, her friend Willa and Teddy, Sinclair’s heir presumptive, adding to the story. The dialogue is well done with lots of humor and wit. The story flowed smoothly and was well written. There’s intrigue and a bit of mystery in this engaging story. I think the author did a wonderful job of showing the characters as befitting their age and maturity. It was clear to both Kitty and Sinclair, once they saw each other again that the love they shared was still there. This is a beautiful romance and love story is was a joy to read. Thank you so much Heather for this Beautiful story of love and romance. I absolutely loved Teddy and look forward to his story.

I found this 2nd chance story to be entertaining. Kitty and Sinclair (The Duke of Exeter) knew each other as children and fell in love without a care for society’s strictures. Sinclair was wealthy and expected to marry well; whereas Kitty was from a poor/humble background and a companion to Sinclair’s twin sister. His sister was a horrible person and the reason that both Sinclair and Kitty were parted from each other for 30 years. Sinclair never married and Kitty never returned after leaving and marrying another. It took awhile before the two of them had an open, honest conversation about what truly happened all those years ago. It makes for a good story, but the fact that these two were parted and never stopped loving each other for all those years; yet don’t seem to have any anger towards the person who caused them pain irks me... apparently book people are much better than me. For anyone who likes mature characters and 2nd chances, this is the story to read. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.