The Lost Duke of Wyndham (Two Dukes of Wyndham, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Julia Quinn (Author)
Key Phrases: dowager hissed, blue silk bedroom, robbing coaches, Miss Eversleigh, Lady Amelia, Duke of Wyndham (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Quinn (The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever) embarks on a new series with Grace Eversleigh, companion to the dowager duchess of Wyndham, unwillingly helping the dowager kidnap a highwayman. The dowager believes Jack Audley, a former Army Captain, to be her grandson, the son of her long-deceased favorite son. But the current Duke of Wyndham, Thomas Cavendish, Jack's ostensible cousin, learns that he could be disposed of a title if it is proven that Jack's parents were married in Ireland before their untimely deaths. Jack attempts to overcome his tortured past with a quick smile and easy wit, and sparks between Jack and Grace result in a number of sizzling scenes that are made more powerful by the intensity of emotions involved. In her strongest effort to date, Quinn delivers complex, multifaceted characters who come vividly to life. (May)
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Review
"All of the signature elements that delight Quinn’s legions of dedicated readers—her wit, wonderfully entertaining characters, and sensual love story—are neatly in place in the first of a pair of delicious historical romances." -- Booklist

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060876107
• ISBN-13: 978-0060876104
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,707 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 1 in The Two Dukes of Wyndham Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

185 of 205 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How Did This Get Published?!?!? , June 5, 2008

By	BookWorm - See all my reviews

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!!!

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too charming, May 29, 2008

By	Misuzmama (New York, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Next time, Ms. Quinn, please show, don't tell., June 6, 2008

By	DCSenators (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

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!