Customer Reviews

An Unlikely Duchess

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a romp of a story by Mary Balogh, with quirky dialogue and cute characters. Young, impulsive Josephine Middleton has been unofficially betrothed to the Duke of Mitford by their grandfathers. She is unable to protest to her father's and grandfather's joy of the match, but handsome Mr. Porterhouse, who is visiting on a neighboring country estate, frightens her to panic with lies about how haughty and cold and rakish the duke is. Her panic escalates until the day before the duke's arrival, when she determines to run to her Aunt Winifred, whom she is certain will support her against her grandfather. Mr. Porterhouse persuades her to let him escort her, since it is only a one-day drive, but he sabotages the axle of his carriage and strands Jo in the Crown and Anchor Inn, 10 miles from Aunt Winifred's. Realizing his intentions to force her to marry him, Jo gives him the rough side of her tongue until he uses his strength to try to ravish her. But her screams bring help in the form of Mr. Paul Villiers, lodged in the room next door, who plants Mr. Porterhouse a facer right before Jo smashes a bowl over her would-be suitor's head.

But Mr. Villiers is really the Duke of Mitford, travelling incognito at an attempt at "adventure" before he embarks on staid married life. Raised as the heir and inheriting the Dukedom at a young age, Paul feels the weight of duty and has never done an improper or indecorous thing in his entire life, except for this one harmless jaunt as he travels to his betroth's house to formally ask for her hand. Jo instantly trusts the plain, kindly Mr. Villiers, who agrees to escort her to her aunt's house in the morning. Since no one at the inn knows who either of them are, he figures that a young woman alone in an inn room for one night will not harm her reputation...until Jo spies her FATHER lumbering up the stairs and esconces herself in Paul's room to prevent being caught. Trapped in the same room that night, Paul wonders how his life suddenly got so complicated...

For Jo's father has gone off in pursuit of his daugher to her Aunt Winifred's. But meanwhile, Jo's younger brother realizes that Jo probably eloped with Mr. Porterhouse, who had suddenly disappeared the same day Jo did. Determined to set off after her to Gretna, his sister insists on accompanying him but slows him down when she gets carriage sickness...

Meanwhile, Jo realizes that Mr. Porterhouse, who had removed himself from the inn after being so abused, had stolen her jewel case, with her mother's and grandmother's jewels. Raging mad, she determines to set off after him, reluctantly escorted by Paul, who is beginning to wonder if he is touched in the head. But naturally, he cannot simply abandon the girl to her wild chase... Poor Paul! So proper all his life, finding out the truth of his very improper betrothed, yet digging himself deeper into deception the longer he finds he cannot tear himself away from this maddening woman...

Throw in Paul's friend Sir Thomas and a beefy groom eager to pummel Mr. Porterhouse's face in, and you have a farce of characters running around each other with quite funny results. Mary Balogh has proven she can write in all genres of fiction, from tragedy to comedy.

Since I tend to like tragedies and dramas better than comedies, I can't say I enjoyed this book to the full, but it is excellent writing and consistent, solid characterization. If you have a better sense of the ridiculous, I am sure you will enjoy this book.

I came here ready to write a detailed and complimentary review of this book - only to find that the reviewer below has already said everything which I would have said. I don't dissent from one word of her review. I'll just add that if you're a fan of Balogh, as I am, and you occasionally like a change from her beautifully angsty and introspective romances, you'll enjoy this one thoroughly.

Josephine and Paul make a delightful couple, falling in love at the same time as they continue to squabble and tell each other off. He tells himself that she is so completely unsuited to being a duchess and that he's appalled at the knowledge that her madcap escapades, and his own stupidity in going along with them, means that he's going to be tied to her for life. Josephine thinks, at times, that Paul is no better than any other man, always wanting women to obey him without question - but then he is so nice and so kind and he has saved her not only from the evil Mr Porterhouse, but also from the lecherous and horrid Duke of Mitford, who is waiting at her father's home to force her to marry him.

Throughout this caper, we can sense Paul falling more and more deeply in love, and at the same time wondering how on earth he will ever be able to confess his true identity. As every day goes by, and as every opportunity is missed, surely Josephine's reaction will be worse?

A delight of a book, even if it won't be re-read as frequently as Balogh's heartwrenching novels.

wmr-uk

I'm chipping in because the most recent reviewer couldn't believe how silly the heroine, Josephine, was to run off.

Unlike most of Mary Balogh's later Regencies where there are deep psychological issues and serious themes, An Unlikely Duchess is pure comedy. Josephine does silly things because she is a 'stereotypical' innocent who believes in justice, true love and other such positive things but has no experience with evil, lying, or bad consequences and thus does not understand that incomprehensible rules exist for a reason.

Josephine puts up with the idea of an arranged marriage because of her good nature but is willing to believe that a man she hasn't met might be haughty, a womanizer, etc and decides to run off to her aunt's house rather than endure lectures on why she should get married. She has no qualms about driving off with the Villain Mr. Porterhouse but then again has no hesitation in attempting to preserve her virtue from him.

The Duke of Mitford, on the other hand, has plenty of qualms about breaking the most inconsequential rules. He's perfectly happy to have his life completely run by others in order to avoid whatever might happen if he strays from the straight and narrow. His one concession to individuality is to travel incognito rather than as a Duke, which is how he can introduce himself to Josephine as Mr Villiers after he rescues her from the Villain.

The hero & heroine both get to experience life from the other side as they bounce along dealing with each other's approach to life - for starters she puts up with needing a man's help as she chases along after her stolen jewelry, and he choses to help a woman in distress rather than extracting himself from further embarrasing situations. In the end, she will learn the consequences of jumping to conclusions and he will enjoy the benefits of making your own decisions.

I have read this book about four times and will do so again. It is so much fun to read and will have you laughing out loud. I love the hero and heroine and wanted the story to never end.
I enjoy regency novels, unlike present day novels where there is too much bad language and too many macho women.
Mary Balogh is a fabulous writer! Everyone will enjoy this story.

I admire greatly Balogh. But not everyone can write a farse or write humor. This story was silly and stupid. It was a waste of time and I hated this story.

Great book, in keeping with Mary Balogh's wonderful writing style.
Completely loved the novel.

I enjoyed this book because there were some great comic touches. Yes...the heroine was very ditsy but I loved the Duke. It's not a keeper for me, but none the less, an enjoyable read for a winter's evening.

The plot of the story isn't bad but the heroine makes you want to throw the book out a window. She's so stupid by the middle of the book you want to stop reading just so you can get away from her stupidity, not to mention that she's so full of herself. At points in the book events occur and have nothing to do with her, but she gets all flustered thinking it has to be about her and you just want to slap some sense into her, hence the throwing out the window. If you like Mary Balogh I suggest reading a different title by her, this one has to be one of the worst!!!!

ok, this book wasn't that bad, just kind of boring. I was able to read the whole thing. But that's not saying much, I read anything. It was just a little bit boring. But maybe that's just the mood that I am in. It was an interesting concept for a book, I just think that maybe she spent too much time describing scenery and such and not enough time developing her characters.

How tedious I thought this book was, and I usually like Mary Balogh's Signet Regencies. The heroine should have been slapped for her silliness in running off in the first place. Everything that other reviewers found "enchanting" and "funny", just escaped me -- I found it all silly and drawn out to the nth degree. I much, much prefer Mary B. in her serious vein, such as "The Temporary Wife", than this drivel.