Customer Reviews

The Duchess

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book was a great read! It has interesting twists I didn't expect. Vellie has a secret he is loath to share and then he falls in love--how much better can it get?

I like all of Jude Deveraux's book (well, almost all). This book starts off interesting, and there is alot of background info. that shows that JD really did her research on the time period, and the dynamics of an heiress - duke relationship. The characters are really funny, and the story has a lot of twists and turns which certainly held my interest.

However, the main drawback of the story to me was this - Trevalyn, while certainly a most interesting character, has many flaws which I find hard to forgive, the main one being that, at the same time that he is becoming close to Clare, he is leading her to believe that he has other relationships at the same time. I've read through the book, and I never heard him deny it. How can he expect Clare to declare herself to him unconditionally when he doesn't make a single move to reassure her? Not only that, he seems to go out of his way to point out to her that he is not capable of a monogamous relationship. And even at the end of the novel, he never bothers reassuring Clare on that point. I have a problem with the hero of a romance novel acting that way.

I am surprised that no previous reviewer mentioned this, as Trevalyn actually said he might find it hard to stay in a monogamous realtionship - that really spoiled the book for me.

I am also surprised at the relatively high ratings this book received, with some of her newer books, which in my opinion are actually better, getting lower ratings.

This is a book you will love or hate.

Positives: Great characters. Vellie is certainly not your every day hero. He is entirely too self confident, frequently insensitive, and too egotistical. However, if you can get past all of that and the fact that he cannot stop bragging of his sexual adventures, chances are you might love him as much as I did. Probably my favorite hero ever - very different and I just adore him. Claire is also fun - I found her love of Scottland refreshing and interesting. The Scottish guy, whose name escapes me, was a treasure, I adored his scenes!!!

Negatives: Well, there are a few. If I did not love characters as much as I do, chances are I would not be too crazy about the book. 1. The ending chapter was terribly disappointing to me. I don't want to give it up for anyone, but I expected much more than the one sentence Claire and Vellie got. Even that sentence was a huge disappointment. 2. The plot - not very well developed in regards to Vellie's mother. Not developed at all, I should say. 3. I honestly expected more from the sex scenes due to the way Vellie was portrayed. They were good, especially the first time they kissed, that was amazing... but I expected more from the other ones.

Overall, I will always love this book. I wish, however, the author would take time to rewrite it and address some of the issues above!

I enjoyed this book and have read it over and over again. Claire is so real and Trevelyan is a character that jumps from the page. He is not your typical "romantic" hero. The scene where he admits to Claire he loves her is one I can hear spoken in real life. I can close my eyes and imagine that this conversation has been uttered between countless "real" couples. Ahhhhh, it is so refreshing and touching.

The one theme that touched me deeply was the discussion of loneliness. So many time the heros and heroines of romantic fiction have so much going for them BEFORE they meet the "one" that it is hard to relate to. This novel is not that way. Everyone can relate to the universal theme of loneliness. Sure there are Scots, castles, murder plots, etc. but deep down this is a story of two lonely people finding eachother.

Wonderful wonderful wonderful

I've read lots of Jude Deveraux works and her Montgomery-Taggert Saga is my favorite of all of her works. I've enjoyed most of her books and this isn't an exception. THE DUCHESS is a decent and entertaining read, no doubt. The characters are very likable and interesting, even the secondary ones. Though I confess Trevelyan isn't a strong and appealing MONTGOMERY as I expected him to be, but still likable nonetheless. Trevelyan and Claire's personality are different from my usual read. They are both scholarly and are not overly handsome or beautiful. It's their interest in books and adventure that drawned them together. Their love story was alright to me, passionate but not as challenging. In my opinion, they need more of a worthy rift for me to find their relationship exciting. I loved Brat, younger sister of Claire and wished her relationship with her sister was more profound. It's touchy how she pretends not to care for Claire. I really love their sis-to-sis relationship and was hoping for a heart warming confession between the two. Brat is indeed a hearty character and is worthy of her own book. I was a bit disappointed on who she married in the end, I feel she deserves a stronger character. The plot have a bit of everything in it -mystery, adventure, humor, romance, suspense and a bit of action twist... though I am afraid to say that the mystery, suspense and romance needed a bit of polishing. I was also expecting a big bang in the end or a grand finale but it seems like the story ended a bit too soon and sadly, a bit too lacking. I wanted more confrontation and scenes with Eugenia. The children versus their evil mother scene would have been an interesting read. But no, she seems to simply just disappear too easily. That wasn't convincing enough for me. If Eugenia is indeed as hateful and evil as she was portrayed, wouldn't she fight till the end? She worked too hard and too long to just simply give up and move out. And let's say, she did got tired and decided to give up, I sure would have love to read what she has to say, wouldn't you? A hearty apology or a retribution is what I was expecting and got none. Like I said, it was just all too easy and came out as lacking towards the end.... Even on the Epilogue, Jude Deveraux mentioned most of the characters with their beautiful family but seemed to have forgotten to mentioned Trevelyans and Claires marriage or offsprings. She mentioned their books, their travels and their adventure but what about their love, marriage and offsprings?

Well, overall, this book isn't bad. It has its moment of humor and passion. Entertaining most of the time but not Jude Deveraux's best work. Far from it!

I read this book for the first time several years ago. Any time I am looking for a good read, I find myself looking for this book. Its is light and engaging and I could not put it down the first time I read it and still have trouble putting it down once I have started rereading it.
I am writing this review because I am annoyed by some of the negative comments about this book. I think they are unfounded. We are not talking about an earth shattering biography or an epic tale. It is what it is, a Romance Novel.
The plot is interesting and the characters are lovable.
I have read many different novels with all types of writing styles and I must say that this is one of my favorite books for this particular category of writing. I Highly Recommend it!

I have read several of Jude's books in the past, and I have probably read this one almost half a dozen times. I really like it. It is a good romance book with some sultry parts to it. It is one of my favorite books to read. I believe another top one of Jude's of mine was "A Knight In Shining Armor."

Although this book was interesting enough for me to read until the end and kept me up at night to finish, it wasn't as entirely absorbing or heartfelt as some of her other books, such as Knight in Shining Armor.

The characters were colorful and interesting, although at times I found myself to be annoyed with Claire for being so closed minded about Nyssa's religion, and also for thinking she "should" love Harry when in fact its quite obvious she had a better and more open relationship with Trevelyan. I don't know, Claire wasn't the best character to me.. I didn't tend to Trevelyan was the typical male romantic hero: tall, dark, mysterious, a man who "gets all the ladies" but then gives them all up for his one "true love."

For the most part, the plot was interesting enough, it was entertaining, however, it wasn't as funny, and the chemistry between them wasn't as passionate as it could have been. Deveraux has the potential to do so much better, but its obvious this isn't her best work.

The ending was an utter disappointment. I was hoping for some closure, and I expected some kinda "thing" to happen to the old bag duchess. Instead, I get stuck with a hastily put together reunion and an even hastier epilogue. It left a lot of questions unanswered.

I would reccommend this book if you're bored... it's not a boring book, its just a bit more bland than other books I've read. The plot kind of keeps you going, but you end up waiting for some big, emotional scene where you cry your eyes out... and it never happens. For books like those, i definitely and highly reccomend McNaught. But this isn't a review about her, is it? Oh well, this book has its good and bad points... take it or leave it, I guess.

I liked this book because while the reader knows everyone's secrets, the characters don't. There are a few surprises, and Jude's usual top-class romance and mystery. The lead female is eager, but not obnoxious, and the lead male is elusive but not arrogant. I read this for the first time many years ago and I liked it just as well this time. There was no "villian," only the characters' own mental obstacles. The book ends with an epilogue-type situation so you know what happened to everyone, which I like.

This story really held my interest for about 3/4 of the way and then it fell flat! It has an interesting plot and an intriguing male "hero" who is not the typical gorgeous macho-man, but a unique and charismatic character.

Claire is wise beyond her years because she has two irresponsible parents who have blown $20 million inherited from her grandfather, an honorable American businessman. Having inherited some of her grandfather's business acumen and compassion toward others, it is her goal to make sure her parents do not waste her share of the remaining $10 million. In order to do so, she must marry a gentleman that her parents approve of. This takes the family to Scotland where Claire is courted by Harry, a very handsome "catch" who is supposedly the duke of McArran. Claire and her family visit the McArran estate, an old, partly delapidated castle, where they meet all sorts of odd and unfriendly residents. Harry thinks he has "won" Claire and her inheritance, so he goes off to hunt and ride horses and basically ignores Claire. Bored and restless, Claire explores the old part of the castle where she meets Trevelyan. At first she thinks he is an old and feeble man and has no idea that he is the rightful duke of McArran, as well as a famous explorer/author. Their relationship blossoms and Claire and Trevelyan are perfectly matched in their quest for knowledge, adventure, love of whiskey, etc. She realizes that he is younger and more handsome than her first impression. Unbeknownst to her, he also leads a double life as her favorite explorer/author. There is a lot of mystery and deception about Trevelyan which is a large part of the story. Needless to say, Claire and Trevelyan fall in love (after the requisite amount of anger and angst!). There is a very good love scene, but the reader wishes for more.

There are some sidetracks in this book that do not inhance the story (one which I thought was ridiculous was the character of Nyssa, an exotic beauty who must commit suicide due to the customs of her tribe.) As I stated earlier, the last 1/4 of this book is weak and should be rewritten. Trevelyan is such an unusual and interesting character. I was really rooting for him to rush in and swoop up Claire in his arms and declare his undying love for her, etc. The ending becomes boring and then rushed ... it just isn't very satisfying.

I have read some very good books by Jude Deveraux and this one had some great possiblities because it was different from the typical 19th century romance. Unfortunately, the ending and even the epilogue left me perplexed and disappointed.