Julia Quinn: Mr. Cavendish, I Presume

Mr. Cavendish, I Presume: B
Amelia Willoughby & Thomas Cavendish

Amelia Willoughby has been engaged to the Duke of Wyndham for as long as she can remember. Literally. A mere six months old when the contracts were signed, she has spent the rest of her life waiting. And waiting. And waiting . . . for Thomas Cavendish, the oh-so-lofty duke, to finally get around to marrying her. But as she watches him from afar, she has a sneaking suspicion that he never thinks about her at all . . .

It's true. He doesn't. Thomas rather likes having a fiancée—all the better to keep the husband-hunters at bay—and he does intend to marry her . . . eventually. But just when he begins to realize that his bride might be something more than convenient, Thomas's world is rocked by the arrival of his long-lost cousin, who may or may not be the true Duke of Wyndham. And if Thomas is not the duke, then he's not engaged to Amelia. Which is the cruelest joke of all, because this arrogant and illustrious duke has made the mistake of falling in love . . . with his own fiancée! (amazon)

This highly anticipated novel from Julia Quinn satisfied, buuuuuut it could have been better.

I know, I'm a brat. (I almost said the other 'b' word. By 'other b word' I meant boob. LOL.) I whine about how the book takes forever to be released, how I have to wait at the library, how I want to read it RIGHT NOW, and then.. I read it and am cavalier about it.

What can I say?
I'm high maintenance.

Anyway, I don't think I loved this novel as much because it was taking in the same time as the first novel was. I knew this. But in all honesty, I read that novel months ago (okay, maybe one. I have notoriously awful memory.) and I couldn't really remember the specifics of what was happening.

So when sly glances were cast from Grace to Thomas to Jack to Amelia, I couldn't remember why. Why was Grace looking so flustered again? Did she kiss Jack? Did she have some special moment with Thomas? What what what?

And knowing that something was happening that had been explained before but being unable to remember what it was just sucked.

Also, there wasn't the element of surprise... not that I was expecting it, but at the same time, the book wasn't filled with newness as all new novels do. It was a little more disappointing than I would have assumed.

However, Thomas proved to be a very loyal hero.
And Amelia? Nothing spectacular. Something like, she's unique and somewhat witty and ...uh... she's pretty and hm, very cordial and...

I liked the scene where Thomas and Amelia were truly able to connect with each other (in the atlas room! Aw.)

I can't seem to remember why I can't really remember the ending/ epilogue of the story, so I'm thinking it didn't make a huge impression on me, other than the expected sighs of "aw, they got together!"

So. Read this. It's cute - I think. I don't remember crying tears of boredom.
But, as with most other Julia Quinn novels, it's-a nothing too extraordinary.

PS, atrocious cover. Slightly better than The Lost Duke of Wyndham but that's not saying much because the raptor-esque model on the cover frightened the heeby jeeby out of me.

Laura Lee Guhrke: The Wicked Ways of a Duke

The Wicked Ways of a Duke: B

Prudence Bosworth & Rhys de Winter, Duke of St. Cyres
Sequel to And Then He Kissed Her

Prudence is a poor seamstress, working hard to earn her living. She sees Rhys, is attracted to his good looks and starts to idolize him when she witnesses him acting “honorable” and “gentlemanly.” She doesn’t listen to society’s rumors of Rhys actually being a rake…

Things take a turn for the better and overnight, Prudence becomes an heiress – her father, the cad who ran off when she was a child, had actually gone to America and was the founder of the famous Abernathy department stores. She’s rich – in that her annual allowance is a million pounds per year! (Think back to when prices were a lot cheaper PLUS the fact that the current conversion rate is almost two dollars to the pound! I imagine, in today’s terms, she’d be making well over 10 million a year…)

Rhys, the Duke of St. Cyres, is in a pitiful state. He’s beyond poor. He’s dirt poor. However, it is a solution that can be quickly remedied: marry wealthy. To his wonderful surprise, the cute seamstress that caught his eye has grown into an overnight sensation.

He goes about manipulating and playing Prudence like a well-tuned piano and convinces her to marry him. Rhys is beyond surprised when he feels himself starting to fall in love with Prudence.

There is a catch to Prudence’s inheritance: she must marry within a year, with her prospective fiancé approved by the Board of Male Members handling her finances. The entire ton is aware of these rules and when Prudence announces her decision to marry Rhys, people warn her about his rakish ways.

But, as expected, the truth comes out. Prudence feels betrayed and she calls off the wedding. She stands up to her scumbagish cousins – the ones who ignored her for years, making her work long hours to survive and ones that magically reappeared after finding out she was rich. She chooses to donate her inheritance to charity.

I won’t go into too much detail but magically, everything gets solved and everyone is happy in the end. (Sorry, have I said too much?)

The firs half of the book is an absolute bore. I put it down and almost didn’t pick it back up; I only finished it because it was the book selection for my book club. The second half of the book redeems the lackluster first half and the ending is nice. Enjoyable read…except for the fact that the British sure liked to name females after strange character traits: this is like the seventh Prudence I’ve read about. (And there apparently were a million girls named Patience, Faith, Hope, Grace, and all those nice things that girls have deep inside them…)

I liked that Guhrke really went out of way to make Rhys a really huge asshole. But we all know that he loves her (deep down) and his actions at the end of the book are wonderful. A bit cheesy, but wonderful.

Worth reading for fun.

A word of caution! The cover art for this book is absolutely hideous. I want to rip it off and shred it into tiny pieces.