By Sophie Jordan, Pub Date Oct 23 2023
5 Stars, 3 🌶️🌶️🌶️ . This was my favorite installment in the Duke Hunt series!
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“A duke with secrets.
Lucian, the newly minted Duke of Penning, has much to prove— to himself, his family and the ton. Craving spotless respectability, he must find an aristocratic wife. Unfortunately, he can’t keep his eyes—and thoughts—off his deliciously distracting housekeeper. Such a dalliance can only mar the facade he’s constructed to protect his sisters’ future from the demons of his past…but this fiery passion is a temptation he cannot resist. While Susanna may not the bride he needs, she is everything he desires.
A woman with a past.
As the housekeeper to one of the grandest estates in England, Susanna Lockhart has worked determinedly to become all that is proper and efficient, and she never steps over the line. Romance is an indulgence for the upper class, not for her—and most especially not with her employer. But every smoldering glance from the surly, handsome duke calls to the long-buried reckless wanton inside Susanna. A love between them can never be, but will Lucian and Susanna risk being together…Even if it starts a scandal…”
My Two Pence:
The Duke Hunt was a great Jordan series. I am a sucker for spicy historical romance, and this entire series was less of the Ton and set in a provincial town. That did not at all detract from the story or time period. If anything, that made it feel far more delicious.
This installment – unfortunately, the final one – was especially tasty and had a healthy dose of my favorite enemies-to-lovers trope. The story is based on the actual duke arriving to the estate and finding a housekeeper that has been employed there for quite a while. The country manor has been under her care since the last (actual) duke was in residence, as is basically the only home she has ever known. Then the two start butting heads with how the house should be run. But at some point, that animosity turns into something far more delicious, and the risks reap their own rewards.
The spice is great and Sophie Jordan is definitely one of my autoread authors. She never sacrifices plot for spice and the tension in her books is absolutely mouth watering. I highly suggest her to anyone, and The Duke Hunt series in their totality as well!
Thank you to Sophie Jordan, Avon Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!
Always Lost in Words 