Customer Reviews

The Lost Duke of Wyndham

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

Highwayman Jack Audley chooses the wrong carriage to rob one faithful night. The occupant is the dowager duchess of Wyndham and quickly she comes to the conclusion that Jack is her grandson. Jack looks (even masked), acts and sounds so much like her beloved dead son that Jack simply must be his son. And once she has him in her clutches the dowager will do everything in her power to prove that Jack is the legitimate Duke of Wyndham. Grace, a long suffering companion of five years, is shocked by the turn of events. And even more so when she realizes that the more time she spends with the charming rogue the more she's falling in love with him. Even if he seems a bit smitten with her -Dukes, if he proves to be, do not marry lowly companions.

A mixed review. Although I liked The Lost Duke of Wyndham in general, I found it to be an average book. Jack is a very lovable hero but perhaps too charming for me. I really enjoyed his quick wit and his delightful verbal sparing -up to a point. It got to be a bit too much by the middle of the book. Just went over the top IMHO. It seemed (to me anyway) that Jack was rarely serious perhaps when he should have been. I can take a joke as well as anyone, and I did find his antics very amusing most of the time -but still....I don't know perhaps I was looking for some strong emotions from a character who is light-hearted/carefree to the core.

And Grace seemed to be a bit underdeveloped as a character. I still don't really know who she is. I felt like I was missing a puzzle piece in her makeup while reading the book. A totally unremarkable heroine. Not unlikeable, mind you, but just....there.

So while the book is entertaining while reading it, I didn't find anything particularly exciting about it. The ending was extremely predictable as well. I was also disappointed by the lack of sexual tension and love scenes -there didn't seem to be enough sparks between these two. I felt like a great scene began and then just fizzled out in the end. Not very satisfying. But the one bright light in the book is the secondary characters, especially the stiff and proper Thomas (the Duke). He did capture my interest and I will be getting his book Mr. Cavendish, I Presume (Two Dukes of Wyndham, Book 2). .

In comparison to Quinn's other books, Jack is most similar I think to Colin of the Bridgerton series. So if anyone loved that book (Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgerton Series, Book 4)) they may like this one. Of all of Quinn's books my favorite will remain When He Was Wicked (Bridgerton Family Series). I prefer broodier and more emotional hero's. But if you like charming hero's then you might want to check this one out.

Oh, yeah, because Quinn's name is on it. I forgot. Because it's really that bad. It's so bad you begin to wonder if a writer like Quinn wrote it, or she had it ghost-written by a 15 year old. So, here's my frank and honest review, even though I know I'm going to get a score "unhelpful" checks from all Quinn fans. (Honestly, I am a Quinn fan, as well. That's why I'm so frustrated and angry right now.)

I'm going to say this upfront: I cannot abide "love at first smell/touch/sight" books. So, in my case, there was definitely a bias against the primary romance. But I could have even overlooked that if Quinn had displayed her talent for creating complex characters and situations that are real conflicts.

However, Quinn fails to do this. For a woman who has written over a dozen books, this read like it was her first attempt at a novel. The main characters were barely sketched, she makes the rookie mistake of "telling" rather than "showing", and I found the entire main conflict of the novel (the very premise) to be rather absurd and made each of the primary characters guilty of the "To Stupid to Live syndrome".

~ Spoilers In Review ~

First of all, the very fact that Grace falls in lust with a highway man & thinks there's absolutely nothing wrong with it really made me question her judgment. It was marvelous for her that the guy ended up being a Duke... but, good God, what was she thinking to start out with? And speaking of him being a highwayman. Apparently, that wasn't a big deal... but, yet, he had a problem with giving up that lifestyle to become a Duke.

Secondly, I guess Jack was charming? Because Quinn told us that every other paragraph or so (either Jack was thinking it, telling people he was, or Grace was thinking it, or other characters were calling him that....). Frankly, though, he never made one comment or did anything that was remotely charming. He was, in fact, rather annoying. There he was, a thief, and he was about to strip a very decent man of his title and whole identity. And all he could do was joke and make cracks towards everyone & we're supposed to cheer for him (and the romance) because he keeps glancing over at Grace because he just knows that she'll get the humor if no one else does. And Grace, like a good little heroine, is the only one who is able to "get" him - rather than thinking he's a jerk, like Amelia (rightfully so) does.

Third, I hated, hated, hated that the only parts that were remotely interesting were the Thomas/Amelia parts. Quinn tried to keep the focus on Grace/Jack in this novel and so she formatted it so that Thomas/Amelia are very secondary characters - so secondary, in fact, that we're not even allowed to hear Amelia explain a scene between her and Thomas at a pivotal moment in the novel. Instead of having Amelia tell Grace what happened (in a rather more interesting novel/story taking place off stage) we are instead treated to the self-absorbed musings of Grace, who is completely tuning out Amelia while the girl is trying to talk to Grace about her own issues. Yeah, I think we all want a friend like Grace. Even if I wasn't pre-disposed to dislike Grace for falling in love with a highwayman at first sight, this made me just want to throttle her. I was yelling at the book, "Dear God, listen to the woman! She has a more interesting story to tell, anyway!" But, unfortunately, Quinn would prefer that we wait until October (or is November) to get to know the better characters.

Fourth, the "climax" is absurd and it takes way too long to get there. OK, yeah, he's the Duke. Well, that was obvious from the beginning because he's (1) older than Thomas and (2) clearly, he wasn't lying about being legitimate. So why take about 200 pages to get that point? We spend much of the novel talking about him possibly being the Duke. (Boring, repetitive, conversations) and then it takes about 20 pages to resolve the issue post "revelation". Most of which is in epilogue form and, quite neatly and stupidly, addresses every concern that Grace/Jack had for about 200 pages. Well, that's just great. I would rather have seen him deal with being the Duke at about page 50, and read 150 pages of him learning how to be one, while wooing Grace at the same time. Rather than having it backward: 200 pages with him talking about potentially being the Duke & then told that it all worked at the end.

Lastly, why was Grace turning him down. To paraphrase Elizabeth Bennett: He's a gentleman, she's a gentleman's daughter, so - in that - they are equal. She, however, thinks that she's not good enough for the guy because *gasp* he's a Duke. Well, sheesh, he was also thief. Did you think of that, Grace? That he used to rob people and would have continued doing so, if the Duchess didn't kidnap him???? But, I guess, being in love with a man who has no morals is okay. It's the whole being in love with a man who has a title that screwed up. But, it's all okay in the end because Amelia (again, the girl I really wanted to read about) points out that it'll be about 2 weeks of gossip & then folks will move on. And, of course, brainless Grace goes, "Oh yeah... I guess I'll be a Duchess then. If you twist my arm and all that." No, seriously, here's a woman who has been virtually a slave to the Dowager Duchess for about 5 years. Plus, she's all alone in the world and has no money to her name. And, she's lonely and unhappy. So along comes this guy who is madly in love with her, great looking, the sex is good and - oh, well, look at that - he's also about to become one of the richest and most powerful men in England. And so what is our girl to do? Clearly, she has to reject his marriage proposal. Because, yeah, she's that bright.

~ End Spoilers ~

Anyway, I could go on about this... how the book is poorly written. (Way.too.many.short.sentences.) I could write even more about how superficially the two main characters are written and how it reads like every generic (and poorly written) romance novel I've ever read. But I think you get the picture.

Bottom Line: Don't go by the brand name. Go buy a different book by a new author. Because Quinn has clearly forgotten how to write and is coasting on her name. It's like Eloisa James all over again!!!

Other reviewers have done an excellent job picking over the details of the plot, whether things were or were not surprising. I will attempt to write this without any spoilers for those of you trying to decide whether to purchase this book, and let me start by saying that if you are a Julia Quinn fan in general, you may very well find yourself disappointed.

Why? Because in so many of her other books Ms. Quinn does a wonderful job creating a character that we happen to know if charming because he simply IS that way. In this book, if you were to look only at sentences that are either uttered by our protagonist, Jack, or which describe his actions, I'm afraid you'll find very few examples of anything that truly IS charming. Oh, to be sure, some of Ms. Quinn's previous characters (such as my ABSOLUTE favorite, Colin Bridgerton, in book 4 of the Bridgerton series), are repeatedly described as being charming, but they also ACT the part. You can see why everyone says that about them. In addition, Jack lacks the depth of character that suggests he can be self-deprecating--a key ingredient, I think, to a good hero of a romance novel.

Then there is the issue of his "brooding". Or lack there-of. I think in general Ms. Quinn tends to create male characters who spend too much time brooding over some miserable point in their past (or expected future--like Anthony Bridgerton). But that's acceptable, because it really shapes the characters and their actions. In this case, it's like a separate and unrelated story line that never impacts Jack's interest in Grace or any potential relationship between them.

Grace is, well, nothing really. She may very well be the most personality-less (sorry) character of Ms. Quinn's novels to date.

As for the dowager Duchess, I longed for greater depth to her personality, though I will say no more here, lest I spoil something in the novel.

Finally, not to be crass, but I enjoy a good sex scene in a romance novel--and I'll happily substitute lots of good sexual tension. This novel lacked both.

I wanted to at least like this book. I have liked every one of Ms. Quinn's novels, though of all of them, I enjoyed On the Way to the Wedding, the last of the Bridgerton novels, the least, I think; I DID like the Miranda Cheever book). But on just about every count the book disappointed me greatly.

Several other reviewers mentioned that it was still an enjoyable read, and I suppose I agree--I would certainly give it 2 stars for being mildly entertaining (though I've never been able to put a Julia Quinn novel down in the middle so easily).

I give the book 3 stars because I have great hope for the second book in the series, as Thomas IS a very interesting character (a secondary character in this book who is, I believe, the protagonist of the next). Thomas's fiancee in this book, Amelia, also looks to be a much more exciting character than she might have seemed at first. I think one of Ms. Quinn's greatest strengths is using characters that we've met in other novels in new novels (be it a "series" or not). Colin Bridgerton, for example, may very well be more attractive and charming precisely becasue we knew him before and again after in other novels. So here's hoping this will lead to bigger and better characters!

I pre-ordered this book because I have enjoyed Julia Quinn's previous works very much (not only the Bridgerton series, but her other titles as well). I was therefore surprised to find myself through the first one hundred pages of this book and realizing that I really wasn't very interested in what was happening. The reader is constantly being told how funny and charming the hero, Jack is. The problem is, having the heroine, Grace, choke back laughter at everything he says doesn't make him funny. It comes across as a cue from the author saying, "Jack is being outrageous and funny here" and I found myself thinking, "No, he's really not." I found both Grace and Jack to be rather flat and bland, which surprised me to no end. I could overlook the amazing coincidences and overreaching situations that brought the character's lives together if they weren't so ...well...dull. In past Quinn novels, no matter how outlandish the situations were, the reader really didn't care because the characters were lively, sarcastic, witty, and not only fun, but funny as well. With "Lost Duke", it was as though Ms. Quinn was trying so hard to not make Grace a clone of Daphne, Penelope, Kate, or any of her other heroines that she didn't really give Grace a definable personality of her own (ditto for Jack).

And the duchess didn't help. I get that her character was supposed to be the epitome of demanding and self-centered, but to me, she was just hateful. Some of her conclusions and opinions made little or no sense (ie: "You just robbed me at masked gunpoint, but I know by the shape of your chin, and the sound of your voice that you must be my long lost grandson I didn't even know existed.") Her ridiculous opinions and over blown behavior was a lazy way to progress the plot.

I finished the book. The actions of some of the characters were a little too far over the top and contrived for me (again, this would have made no difference to me if the characters hadn't been so flat). The finale was incredibly cutesy and sugary sweet. I can't say that this book made me decide never to read Julia Quinn again. I will soldier on and read Thomas and Amelia's story. Past secondary characters of Quinn's have been interesting enough that the reader wanted to know what happened to them (Colin and Penelope, anyone?), but I would be lying if I didn't admit that I have the tiniest bit of doubt about this continuing story. Frankly, Thomas was one of the most interesting things about "The Lost Duke of Wyndham" which is a little disturbing since he is not the main character. I didn't, however, find Amelia all that compelling. I am hopeful that it works out.

Overall, I'd say I am still a Julia Quinn fan. I just found this title disappointing.

I love Julia Quinn and had been waiting for this book to come out forever and in my excitement read it in all one sitting. Overall I wasn't impressed by this latest book.

It all starts with Grace Eversleigh being stuck as the companion of the overbearing Duchess of Wyndham when her life is suddenly changed by an interlude with a highwayman. This introduces the charming Jack Audley who, though he appears as a highwayman, is actually the long lost grandson of the duchess Grace is a companion to. The Duchess is insistent that her grandson is the legitimate duke (she has no liking for the current duke, her other grandson) and the antics that ensue are quite predictable.

I found myself liking the character of Grace, but also wishing she had be written with a little bit more depth. I didn't feel the emotion in this book as I have in other Julia Quinn books. Jack is said to be charming so many times that I found myself becoming sick of the adjective. Overall I didn't really think the characters really got to know each other all that well before declaring their love. I'm hoping that the next tale of Thomas and Amelia (secondary characters in the book) will be much more endearing than this one.

If you want to read a good Julia Quinn book I would recommend "The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheaver" or pretty much all of her Brigerton family series.

Has Julia Quinn just completely lost her touch? I was in love with the earlier books (i.e. Brighter than the Sun, Minx and early Bridgertons) but with the last 3-4 books the writing has just gone completely down hill and I find myself constantly thinking how disappointed I am and how I've wasted money. This last book I had really high hopes for, thinking that she must have felt forced to write the final Bridgerton's and this would be a great fresh start for her. But sadly, this is by far the worst book she's written. It took me three days to get through it and I usually devour a book in a single sitting. The writing isn't fresh and full of laugh-out-loud humor as it used to be. It just drones on and on. Nothing charming. Nothing funny. Nothing even remotely interesting. The romance aspect was ridiculously unbelievable. I was bored to tears and frustration.

For many years, Julia Quinn was my all time favorite romance author, but I have finally reached the point where I can say I would never buy another of her books again. Its a sad day.

This is my first ever review. I read my first romance two years ago in desperation and found it quelled my nightmares, so I've been reading them ever since. With over two hundred titles now devoured if I were to make a Top 10 list of my favorites, #1 would be "Romancing Mister Bridgerton". With that said, you can imagine how I feel to have to give 1-star to a Julia Quinn book, but that's exactly what I must do.

After loving all the Bridgerton's (except the last) I was stunned and disappointed to find The Lost Duke of Wyndham to be nothing more than paste-by-the-numbers romantic boilerplate. The plot of a charming highwayman falling for a companion and then having the highwayman turn out to a duke sounded intriguing, but the main characters in this story are little more than underdeveloped cardboard cutouts. The supporting characters are one dimensional as well and the only emotion they invoke is irritation.

This is so far below the standard I expect from the marvelous Ms. Quinn it's hard to fathom that she didn't just let her summer intern write it and stick her name on the front. Disappointment is not a strong enough word.

Unlike other JQ readers, I loved The Diary of Miranda Cheever, yet, still anticipated this new Romance from Julia Quinn, as this was truly the first "real" novel since the uneven, yet successful Bridgerton Series.

Miranda was originally written in the past and she pulled it out after she realized this book, The Lost Duke of Wyndham, would need to have a sequel. Thus my expectatations were doubled. So good that it needs TWO books to tell the compelling story? Wow! I could not wait!!

I was sadly disappointed.

Although I usually devour a Romance in a few days, and a Julia Quinn Novel in a matter of hours....I found myself finding dragging through this novel as one would read the NY Court Rules or other such droll prose.

The premise is that an Irish Highwayman is in fact the Duke of Wyndham. If Jack is truly the Duke, the lives of four other people are charged forever.

Jack is too good looking and way too charming to capture my heart-not that there is anything wrong with too good looking and too charming..but he doesn't seem to have much more to recommend himself. Due to a "tragedy" he has gone into the rather unsavory business of being a highwayman.

Granted, we read he is a sort of Regency Robin Hood, but there is nothing in his book that really explains why he would do this or the people he really "helped" out. One does not become a Robin Hood unless there is a motivating reason--and nothing in his past--in this book reveals this.

This just feels very...unnatural.

Jack lacks substance. And frankly, talking about him being charming is totally different than BEING charming. He did not charm me into falling for him. And we know that JQ can pull off charming--Colin Bridgerton is Charming! Yet, our heroine is charmed. Then again, judging Grace's pathetic existence, it was not going to take a lot to sweep her off of her feet in the first place.

As for Grace. Poor poor pitiful Grace. She is the poor but beautiful and ridiculously patient woman who has to live with her lot. Her fate is to sacrifice her heart for some pretty unbearable people. She suffers in silence. (unlike me, who cannot bear to continue to be silent about reading about her, thus typing this rather loud review.) It is hard to have sympathy or relate to a woman like this. Yes, her lot is horrible. But must we be so bored by this? Yes, everyone pities her.

But does Julia not know, Pity is not an aphrodisiac???

True to Grace's purgatory, we are stuck in a Herculian type of task of reading a book that should eventually have some action. But no. Instead,
this a book of dialog and thoughts. Not a heck of a lot of movement. He says, she says. Then the waves of thoughts: he is instantly in love with her and she "feels" him, even after being robbed at gunpoint--Feels romantically towards him. He has a troubled past. She had parents who always dreamed of traveling but never did. She likes a room in the house. When he goes there, he thinks of her there. We are not even tempted to hope that they meet because there is so little chemistry between them.

So Essentially, Blah blah blah. Super dull.

And then her harsh reality of working for the Dowager is repeated over and over again.

Enter the infamous dowager. I know she was realistically written. She is as haughty as they come...and I know Jane Austin had characters like this in her novels, but she was way too prominent in this novel.

She is cruel. She is heartless. She isn't just heartless, she is very tedious. And You just didn't want to read anymore. Grace's existance is painfully boring. And reading about it is far worse.


And then we encounter Thomas and Ameilia. The present Duke, Thomas weaves in and out, mysteriously changing and morphing to the end.

Out of no where he does some strange things such as look slovenly and once he even kisses Grace (where Julia, thankfully does not give us the melodrama of Jack secretly witnessing this..there is one meager plus) but I felt like we were missing a BIG chunk of the story. And why the mystery about her friendship with Thomas? She mentions him all of the time...and as we KNOW Jack is the hero..SO WHY HAVE ANY MYSTERY??? I just feel like JQ just was too lazy to let us know what this relationship was like--or the editors too greedy in wanting us to purchase Mr. Cavedish to get this story.

And Amelia, the future Duchess, is really rather non-descript then all of a sudden, she stands up to her father remarkably well out of nowhere. Again..because we are missing essential elements of this story.


I suspect that once Mr. Cavandish arrives at the bookstores, we will have the whole story. But what irks me is that this is really half of a book. And a boring half at that. What should be a romp of heady emotions--who is Duke? Can he be Duke? What about the current Duke? And who will marry whom?????!!!is basicly milque toast. Boring and without any substance.

And as someone else here has written, why wasn't there an editor who stopped her from writing one and potentially two, bad books, when this could have been a winner as one novel. ???

I was at the used book store and already found several copies...so it is not just me-although I have to wonder if her friends and editors are writing the "Quinn Is Back on her Game" reviews? ???

Julia Quinn is a very good writer and storyteller. That said this is not one of her finer efforts. So, why the 4 stars? Because Amazon does not have decimal places (really should be a 3.5995 - old Olympic gymnastic scoring) and this is a far better book than most of her peers can write.

I enjoyed the book, but could very easily set it aside to get on with my life. Not my typical experience with one of Ms. Quinn's books. The characters were strong - maybe too strong in the case of the Dowager Duchess. I think it would have been far better to tilt her a bit more in the direction of Lady Dansbury rather than Cruella DeVille. The main female character, Grace, was smart, nice, kind etc., but a tish bit bland. The main male character, Jack, was impishly charming, but felt a bit "one note". I know he had dark spots in his past, he just did not come across as particularly complex on the page. (Unlike some of her best male leads - Colin, Michael or Benedict.)

The plot was interesting (despicable dowager Duchess discovers a dubious, but more desirable, Duke) but the pace of the book was herky jerky - moved in fits and starts which did not suit either the storyline or the characters.

So all in all, interesting but flawed book which I am sure will be improved upon in Book 2 - "Mr. Canvendish, I Presume."

Although JQ is one of my favorite authors, I was disappointed in this book. I felt that both Grace & Jack could have been compelling characters, but that their issues were glossed over. (Maybe JQ worried that they would seem too much like Simon Basset and Sophie Bridgerton.) I wasn't able to understand what they saw in each other, so the chemistry didn't work for me. I also found the plot to be too predictable. I was much more interested in the "secondary" characters, and have high expectations for the next book.