Roseanna M. White: The Reluctant Duchess

By Kelly Bridgewater

A Riveting Edwardian Series Set among Britain's High Society

Lady Rowena Kinnaird may be the heiress to a Highland earldom, but she has never felt good enough--not for her father, not for the man she thought she'd marry, not for God. But after a shocking attack, she's willing to be forever an outcast if it means escaping Loch Morar.

Brice Myerston, the Duke of Nottingham, has found himself in possession of a rare treasure his enemies are prepared to kill for. While Brice has never been one to shy away from manor-born ladies, the last thing he needs is the distraction of Lady Rowena, who finds herself in a desperate situation. But when Rowena's father tries to trap Brice into marrying his daughter, Brice makes a surprising decision.

Rowena wanted to escape the Highlands, but she's reluctant to marry a notorious flirt. And when she learns that Brice is mixed up in questionable business with a stolen treasure, she fears she's about to end up directly in the path of everything she was trying to avoid.

My Thoughts:

From Amazon

Historical fiction has been growing on me. I find some writers like Sarah Sundin, Julie Lessman, and Lorna Seilstad absolutely wonderful writers. I LOVE their historical fiction, so I have been branching out and trying to find other writers who write in the same style.  I have tried a hand at reading The Lost Heiress, which is the first book in the Ladies of the Manor series by Roseanna M. White. It was an okay book, but the second book, The Reluctant Duchess, was again an okay book.

White really knows how to draw me into the setting and the time period. Her research into the late nineteenth century shines across the page. I really feel like I'm traveling with Rowena as she enters a new, scary world with her surprise husband Brice.

The Reluctant Duchess is a completely predictable story that has a little bit of mystery in it. Not enough for my taste, but there is a mystery that surrounds around red jewels that started in the book The Lost Heiress. I wished there would have been more to go. As for the current plot, I flipped and passed a number of pages because I had a hard time staying involved in the plot. The story dragged for a long time and then picks up toward the end where we come across the exciting aspect with the jewels.

As for Rowena, she was a major weakly to me. I understand she had some abuse issues she had to overcome, but she just didn't seem like the type of heroine that I wanted to spend 400 pages traveling with. She really annoyed me. Brice, however, was a likeable hero. He was polite and respected the space that Rowena needed. He didn't push her or make her uncomfortable.

Roseanna M. White's The Reluctant Duchess will wrap you in the setting and the attention to detail, but the heroine and the plot did not grip my attention as much as I wanted it to. While some fans of historical fiction will enjoy this novel, I had a hard time staying focused or being motivated to keep reading.

I received a complimentary copy of The Reluctant Duchess from Bethany House Publishers and the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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What are some of your favorite historical fiction writers? Why do you like them so much?