No Ordinary Duchess
Author: Elizabeth Hoyt
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: C+
What I’m Talking About:
After a mediocre start, I ended up enjoying No Ordinary Duchess. The first half is slow and parts are bothersome. I was annoyed with how Elspeth has no regard for her own safety, and she takes a couple TSTL actions. Elspeth is obsessed with finding a Wise Women diary; however, the author never makes the reasons for her obsession clear other than “it will make things better,” which prevented buy-in for me. Additionally, the story seems overly complicated at times, with many moving parts. Finally, Julian is written as dark and broody, but really, he’s just thinking poorly about himself, and the reader has no examples to understand his self-loathing. Then finally, I almost DNF’d the book when Elspeth blatantly betrays Julian.
However, just after this happens, the pair started to click for me. Their forced proximity and lack of chaperones allows Elspeth to explore her desires. She has no need for societal norms and rules, having grown up as a Wise Woman, she is curious and blunt. She finds Julian’s sexual needs to match her own, and they discover true satisfaction together. I enjoyed their banter and openness, especially his willingness to trust and his hope in the relationship.
While I don’t think the author ever makes a strong case for Elspeth’s need to find the diary, and the assassination plot was a flimsy reason for conflict, I did enjoy the conflict created by Julian’s evil uncle and how his strong personality molded much of who Julian has become.
There is still much left unfinished with regards to the Wise Women, which was a strong selling point of the series when it started but now feels like an unsatisfactory side story.
The four-year span between the release of the previous book and the current title may have contributed to my confusion and mediocre feelings of the Wise Women plot line. I plan to continue following this series, however, I hope that we don’t have to wait so long for the next title.
My Rating: C+
Jen
About the Book:
Cold and brooding, Julian Greycourt, the heir to the Windemere dukedom, has always known that his uncle the duke was responsible for his mother’s death. Now he’s determined to exact revenge against his uncle—if he can find the proof. But Julian hides a secret so explosive it will destroy him if it’s ever revealed, and the duke is watching. The last thing he needs is a distractingly sensual woman whose very presence threatens to destroy his plans.
Sunny and cheerful, Lady Elspeth de Moray doesn’t know why her brother and Julian fell out all those years ago, but she can’t let the autocratic man get in the way of her mission: to retrieve an ancient family text that she believes is in one of the Windemere libraries. Locating the tome, however, proves trickier than she anticipated, and at each turn, she’s thrown together with the maddingly mysterious Julian. And the temptation to give in to her family’s greatest enemy grows stronger with each intriguing encounter…
Release Date: December 10, 2024
Publisher: Forever Publishing
Series: Greycourt #3
Genre: Historical Romance
Format(s): paperback (352 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: Publisher/NetGalley
Purchase Info:
Amazon
Reviews in the Series:
Not the Duke’s Darling by Elizabeth Hoyt (Greycourt #1)
When A Rogue Meets His Match by Elizabeth Hoyt (Greycourt #2)