I received the next two books following Vicious Kings in the Dark Elite trilogy by Eva Ashwood, but I wasn’t in the mood to read them yet. I hope that I am wrong, in that they will be equally as poorly written as the first book, but I wasn’t ready to find out just yet. I went to the existing pile of historical romance novels in the house and I took another one of Bertrice Small’s stand alone novels, The Duchess. Like A Moment In Time, I had never read this one either, and once again I now wonder why I never had.
This novel takes place at the very end of the 18th century in England as it follows Allegra, a young woman who has no great name but is outrageously wealthy, as she sets off to find a husband. She is very practical and forward, which she needs to be considering she knows that any man who shows interest in having her for a wife will only truly be interested because of her riches. Allegra lets everyone close to her know that she is fully aware of what any prospective suitor is really after, and it isn’t love, and she accepts this fact. She meets her perfect match in Quinton, a man with the exact opposite problem faced by Allegra, a man who comes from a very distinguished and important family but who has hardly any money left to his name. He doesn’t want to marry at all, and he certainly is not looking for love, he is just looking to save his family’s name and estate. The two meet and agree to marry because they both get exactly what they want out of the arrangement, status and wealth, and they like each other well enough, but they make no promises of love.
It’s a good book with a happy ending and not too much conflict. I enjoyed the happy ending after all of the turmoil and sadness I experienced after reading Ms. Small’s last book. If you love a good love story, you’ll definitely enjoy this one.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 