Customer Reviews

Secrets of a Duchess (Zebra Debut)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Upon the death of their father, Caroline Armstrong and her sister Emma have arrived in London to live with their grandmother, The Dowager Countess of Glenwood. Emma is enjoying the season tremendously, but Caroline is in dread. She has a secret that keeps her from accepting any marriage offers. She is waiting for a young American from Virginia who left her two years ago to fight in the Civil War. She devises a plan and presents herself to prospective suitors as a dull bluestocking. Her plan is working until she meets Alexander Woodward, The Duke of Woodborough on a moonlit balcony at the Maxwell Ball. They have something in common, as he is also avoiding the marriage mart, particularly marriage with Lord Maxwell's spoiled daughter Madeline. Alex and Caroline form an immediate bond and while captured by the moment, Caroline shares her secret with Alex. Alex asks to seal their bargain with a kiss, which sets off a spark of desire. He is intrigued by the beautiful Caroline and sends flowers the following morning with an invitation to visit. He offers Caroline an interesting proposal; a pretend courtship and engagement in order to avoid any further marriage proposals. Caroline agrees to this proposition, not realizing that Alex's real plan is to court her hoping she will forget the young American. As they enjoy the season, Alex takes his time, not overwhelming Caroline, and soon a deep friendship develops with underlying deep passions pulsating beneath the surface. When Caroline visits the home estate of Alex and meets his mother, Caroline begins to realize that she has slowly been captured by his charms and kisses. Desire and passion builds with Alex revealing to Caroline that he loves her and wants to marry her. While Caroline struggles with her secret, she discovers she has truly fallen in love with Alex. But there is more to the secret that she has not told Alex. Now that she is his wife, will the Secrets of a Duchess be revealed? When the young American suddenly returns and the spoiled, jealous Madeline sees a way to get her revenge, will their love be strong enough to weather the storm? Secrets of a Duchess is beautifully written and captivating. What is most amazing about this story is that with all of the romances ever written, this one seems fresh, making the reader feel like this is the first romance ever read. It is a true delight to read. The prose flows and a feeling of magic is felt with every turn of the page. Kailin O'Riley is destined to be a romance readers favorite and a writer who will not be able to write fast enough for her fans. A truly beautiful book! The best debut of the year!

after reading the synopsis for the plot on the back cover i decided to pick this book up. i'm glad i did as there was a combustible chemistry between the heroine and hero and the author did a great job of writing the intimate scenes. in the end though, the story warrants a 3.5 rating because of weaknesses in the characterization and plot.

caroline armstrong is a 21 year old daughter to a recently deceased university instructor who is rescued from having to work as a governess by her grandmother who just so happens to be a wealthy dowager countess in london. caroline and her sister are wisked away to london where they are cleaned up and given all the lessons they need for their ultimate debut during the season. caroline, having been surrounded by books and academia all of her life, is intelligent and learned, a definite oddity in a sea of debutantes more concerned with finding a husband than knowing french.

and caroline has a secret. she already loves an american who is back in his homeland fighting in the war between the states. because of this secret (and others later revealed) she won't entertain marriage to anyone, regardless of what her grandmother desires. she decides to pretend she's an uninteresting bluestocking to fend off male attention (after all, she IS beautiful...)

it's during her very first ball she meets alex, duke of woodborough, on a moonlit balcony they've both escaped to in order to avoid the unwanted attention inside the ballroom. after discovering they both have no desire to be married a bargain is struck to assist each other with the upcoming season. the bargain is sealed with a kiss which blows them both away.

the next time they see each other, alex convinces caroline to fake a courtship so she won't have the unwanted male attention and he won't have to deal with the women throwing themselves at him for his title. by this time though alex has decided in his mind he wants to marry caroline for real but he knows he has to convince caroline she loves him and not her american soldier.

the author basically glazes over the next few months of their association, talking about how much caroline and alex have in common but not really showing the reader this through meaningful interaction. i mean, alex says he appreciates caroline's intelligence but i really hate when months are just mentioned and then the next time we see the hero and heroine they're headed to one of his family's estates so she can meet his mother. as the reader i didn't get to share in the dialogue and moments proving they were truly compatible in every way that wasn't sexual. this is more of a personal peeve of mine as i enjoy watching the development of a relationship from beginning to the end of the story with no time unaccounted for.

there are a number of plot twists here, one of which i really didn't see coming so i give the author credit for it. on the other hand, i thought caroline's refusal to share her burden with alex even after he'd proven to her he loved her and was devoted to her to be EXTREMELY frustrating. in other words, if you don't like the big misunderstanding thrown in and causing all kinds of suffering when all the heroine had to do was tell what was up in the beginning, you'll be frustrated too. the longer she kept her secret the more contrived it felt.

and alex was almost unbelievable in his perfection. he's handsome, rich, loves the smart girl, and is forgiving of caroline even when as the reader i said to myself "you should hold caroline accountable for REAL". overall though, he was an appealing hero and his love for caroline and devotion to her was inspiring.

as i said before, the chemistry between caroline and alex was awesome and o'riley did a good job depicting the intimate scenes and building the sexual tension between the hero and heroine.

in the end the story is graded lower because of caroline's obstinance regarding her 'secret(s)', her disregard of the possible repercussions as a result of them, the lack of significant suffering in the wake of alex's almost instant forgiveness for her actions, and the significant gaps in time the author chose to glaze over at what i thought were crucial moments of the story.

regardless of those shortcomings, i'll be checking out her next book. i mean, i finished it in one day, so at the very least it was engrossing if not completely satisfying.

When their father dies, Caroline Armstrong and her sister, Emma, quickly find themselves living with their grandmother in London. They had lived in genteel poverity with their father, so while suddenly finding themselves thrust into husband hunting during the London Season might seem like a great thing to Emma, it definitely wasn't what Caroline wanted. She had promised her heart to her American sweetheart who had returned home to fight in America's Civil War. She's determined not to let herself be forced into husband hunting and contrives to make herself as unattractive and unsociable as possible. Alexander Woodard, Duke of Woodborough, was also hiding out from an unwanted attention. Alex knew that if he didn't come up with something soon he could quite possibly find himself leg shackled the one woman he was sure he didn't want. So when he comes across Caroline on a secluded balcony he thinks he's found the solution to both their problems. They have a pretend engagement. The more time he spends with Caroline the more determined he becomes to make sure their pretend engagement ends up in a real marriage. But when Caroline's sweetheart shows up the secret she's kept hidden comes out. Can Alex and Caroline find away around the possible scandal?

Secrets of a Duchess is a stellar debut for Kaitin O'Riley. I literally read this book in one sitting! I can't remember the last time I was so impressed by a first time historical author! Strikingly emotional and sensually satisfying. Secrets of a Duchess is just plain great reading! Historical romance lovers will want keep a close eye on Kaitin O'Riley!

Melissa
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

A wonderful debut. Caroline Armstrong has her secrets, and those secrets won't allow her to ever be able to build her life again and get married. Alexander Woodward, Duke of Woodborough, is tired of the mindless chits and their scheming mamas, who want to capture him in their net.

Alexander and Caroline meet on the terrace, in a party. They're both alone and find themselves getting acquainted and a friendship blooms between them. After confiding in each other with some of their secrets, Alexander requests to seal their secrets with a kiss.

Later that night, Caroline is shocked to learn that Alexander is a duke. She had kissed a duke! And the next morning Alexander shows up at her auntie's house, where she lives and he has a proposition for her. Since both of them do not wish to get married, they would pretend to be betrothed until the season is over, then they could break it up. In this way both Caroline and Alexander would be free during the season, and would be able to avoid all the head aches of match making. Caroline hesitantly agrees.

Only what Caroline doesn't know is that the duke has other ulterior plans, and that his courting of her is no act at all, for he truly wishes to marry her at the end of the season. And he will do all in his power to win her trust and woo her so that she'd accept his offer and marry him.

This is a fantastic read, once I started I couldn't put it down. Alexander's love for Caroline was true, deep and just all around wonderful. And her love for him as she fights against her doubts and the secrets which come back to haunt her later in the book. And just when I thought that I had figured out her secrets, a twist was revealed towards the end of the book that took me by complete surprise. I really didn't see that coming!

A delightful romantic read! (And yes Alexander had a mistress, but he directly broke up with her once he started pursuing Caroline. If he hadn't broken up with his mistress the rating for this book would have gone down, and it wouldn't have been a keeper for me. But Alexander was always faithful to Caroline, even when she thought that his courting was just an act). A great hero, and a great heroine (although I felt that she should have trusted Alexander completely, sooner).

A chance encounter forever changes the lives of two intriguing strangers in this winning story from new author Kaitlin O'Riley. Caroline Armstrong and Alexander Woodward are, for different reasons, trying to avoid the marriage mart. Alex is sick of the husband-hunting debs and their mothers, and Caroline is adamantly opposed to marriage. They meet by accident when hiding out on the balcony of a ballroom, and there is an instant connection between them. They share an impassioned conversation and a passionate kiss.

Caroline does not realize Alex is a duke, so he knows that her attraction to him is genuine. He visits her the next day and proposes a pretend engagement to get their respective families off their backs. Alex truly wants to marry Caroline, but he is afraid of scaring her away if she guesses his real feelings. He suspects she is hiding someone or something from him, and wants time to learn her secrets and win her over. Caroline hesitantly agrees to the charade, and so their journey begins.

This storyline may sound familiar, but don't be deceived - there is so much more going on than first appears and each scene steadily drew me in. The dialogue between Caroline and Alex is frank and refreshing, with some decidedly serious undertones and a good buildup of romance. The couple is immensely likeable, and it was easy to root for them even when things seemed rather hopeless. There is a surprise twist towards the end - one that really "makes" the story and allows the characters to shine. Ms. O'Riley's writing style could use a bit more sophistication, particularly with respect to the love scenes, but this did not take away from my enjoyment of the story. Very nicely done.

Secrets of a Duchess by Kaitlin O'Riley is the first novel by this author -what a great find. Alexander and Caroline decided to pretend to be falling in love so everyone will leave them alone during the 'season'. I was half way through the book and felt I had the story all figured out but I was delight I was wrong... A great buy and a great book !

I typically don't bother with an online review if the book doesn't have five stars or if it is so awful and disappointing that I have to let everyone not to get it. This one is a must to all those tried and true Regency lovers. This one is lovely - and a great debut for this new author. I will be keeping an eye out for her next books - that is for sure.

This story is fresh and lovely. The charachters endearing and the plots and sub plots in the book well written, acted out and "the secret" kept until the end. For all of you that are looking for a great book to read - that is different and has a great story line - you will not be able to put down - this one is it. I really loved the relationship between the hero and heroine... I think you will too. Enjoy.

4 stars all the way!

Now, I'm VERY picky when it comes to romance novels. I have no love for silly non-romances and horrible plot twists. BUT Secrets of the Duchess is NONE of those things.

Alexander is a Duke/hero you will fall all over. Alex isn't interested in marriage at the moment and then he meets Caroline Armstong and in her finds Caroline is his kindred spirit not wanting marriage either. He guesses that she is still pining for a lost sweetheart and proposes that they pretend to court to keep both their families off their back. The romance between these two is LOVELY. It starts as a wonderful friendship with Alex finding a woman whom he can talk to in intelligent conversation and a woman who is unlike all the fashion crazy and vapid socialites of the society. But Caroline is still hesitant on her growing feelings for her new best friend. Still pining away for her "beloved" Stephen.

Alex, lays in on the line. He tells her he loves her and proposes. You don't read romance novel men being so candid with their feelings. He's so open and honest you can't help but love him. He challenges her to forget about Stephen who left her to return to America and fight in the Civil War on the unpopular Confederate side and who has since not written so most likely dead. Caroline gives in and agrees. While planning their wedding and eventually marrying she grows to LOVE Alex more than the youthful feelings she felt for Stephen.

Then Stephen comes back of course...

NOW, I understand critics of this story BUT I understand this time period. Women were treated horribly! A woman having sex is considered a wanton whore and cast out. While a man can have mistresses and illegitimate children and it's no big deal. Caroline believed a lie her love told her just to get her into bed. I understand her omitting what all happened that day 2 years before. She SHOULD have told Alex the whole truth but I also understand that they both were under the assumption that after a year and a half, Stephen was most likely dead. So in Caroline's mind, telling him the whole truth isn't important since she believes him dead.

A secondary plot involves the hilarious villain Madeline Maxwell. Madeline who always thought she was going to marry Alex and told everyone in London. When that doesn't happen she saves her own face and quickly marries another and blames Caroline for her misfortune in being married to a man who only wants her for her body. The lengths she goes through to get back at Caroline is a TRIP. Funny ridiculous but funny nonetheless

As far as romance novels go, give this one a chance. Remember the time period when you read Caroline's secret actions and you WILL love this book.

I don't want to give anything away but I hate it when the hero/heroine spoils a story by pulling an unbelievable and bone-headed stunt. That is the case here. The book had such promise, the first 1/2 to 2/3 of it was a great story that, alone, could have been the whole book. In all that time, the reader is led to believe that the heroine is very intelligent and level headed, until you find out what she pulled. That was so unrealistic to me that I stopped reading it.

I can't believe this was the authors first book. It had a great story line with several twist throughout the book. I will definitely buy her next book.

Lori3