The Hidden Duchess: A Regency Romance (Spinsters of the North Book 1)

So many twists and turns! But unexpected ones! Things you never saw coming! I loved how everything was so unpredictable! This is not just another cheesy love story! This book is good!!!

The author has some skills, and the plot had potential, but this is mostly a boring story told from the perspective of a boring character. I give it 3-stars because it started out somewhat strong. But as soon as I realized that I would only experience what should have been a riveting story through only the eyes, ears and mind of a woman “imprisoned” in a Mayfair townhouse, I knew I was destined for disappointment.The heroine is supposed to be some force of nature, but she is rendered impotent throughout most of the book. Anything interesting that happens is taking place outside the townhouse and therefore outside the reader’s knowledge. It is hard to fathom an author’s choice to choose a limited POV in a mystery plot like this much less a romance where nothing happens except a kiss or two. In fact, the villain of the story has the most “passionate” interludes with the heroine in my opinion.And there are many plot elements that don’t add up. Furthermore, the characters are basically all horrible or disappointing people. I liked the Duke until he admits at the end - in what was a declaration of love - that it was good the heroine turned out to be a lady because even if he had married a maid, he could never have had children with her and sullied the family line. Good grief. While this might be “historically accurate”, it’s not romantic in the least.There is no real intimacy between the hero and heroine, which is not technically necessary in a romance novel, but it takes exquisite writing and character development to pull it off successfully. This is not that book.Bottom line. Read on KU, but if it costs you extra, you will likely be cross.

Overall the story was good. I wish it wasn’t one sided I would have loved to get the dukes side of the story and his thoughts. It was written well enough that you get a sense of what he’s thinking but it would be better to have been in his head more. There were no hot and heavy love scene’s and that’s my favorite part of a historical romance! They just shared some kisses. There was a lot of extra fluff that didn’t add to the story that I ended up skimming through some of it.

The storyline was something I had not read before, and was reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, but not so close to it that I was distracted by the comparison.However, I was distracted by the many errors in grammar, punctuation, and strange sentence structure. More so because the author's bio says she was an AP English teacher. In the epilogue there were "less" of something when it should have been "fewer". At another point, when talking about a horse, it was referred to as a "stead". I think it should've been "steed". There was reference to falling leaves "dimming the gray day", but shouldn't they have brightened it? Falling leaves are typically bright in color. Unless there were so many that they actually blocked the day light. 🤷🏼‍♀️ A few paragraphs later the falling snow was discussed, and then a short time later we were back to falling leaves.Am I being too picky? Perhaps. But when I have to reread a sentence several times to try and get the meaning because there are no commas to be had in the run-on sentence, or because it doesn't coincide with something I read a couple of pages previously, it takes my enjoyment away from the book.All that being said, I still might read another book of hers. The characters were interesting, and though it was somewhat predictable on who was good and who was bad, there were many events that were not so obvious. I read it over the course of about 3 days, so I would say it's worth reading. Just beware that if you are a stickler for a well edited book, you will be disappointed in this one.As a side note, if the author reads these reviews, I would be happy to be a beta reader on subsequent books. As long as she's okay with me being fairly picky about mistakes. 😁

This story had so many twist and turns that kept you on the edge of your seat. I love a well written story that keeps your interest throughout the whole story. Now on to book two for Marilee’s story.

I have not given a 5 star rating in a long time. My tastes have slowly changed. I find these days a well written story and not all the wild sex scenes are more my pace. So many romance writers just can’t resist the bunny rabbit soft porn. I usually don’t mind to much but recently it is so graphic and as if they think you can’t fall in love without the characters doing it in a broom closet or some such. I find myself jumping through a lot of the bunny rabbit scenes especially when the characters have no wills and have not totally discovered each others true character all the way. This one was perfect. You can see the character grow in their affections and while they get to know each other, we get to learn who they are. A few minor typos not worth mentioning really. One or two phrases that were a bit modern, but the count on those things were very small and inconsequential. Lots of action and mystery, although I suspected some of the bad guys. In the end there were more than I thought and it dawned on me I was not so clever as I should have guessed some more. But it’s hard to see when you are busy reading like a mad woman because you can’t put it down. I love a book that makes me want to know what will happen next. I hope this wasn’t a fluke and thatI have found a new author. There are still many historical romance writers books in my keeper library that have border line soft porn. I think most readers want it to an extent and good writers need to sell their books to make money, so I get it. My preferences don’t keep me from enjoying good authors. This one doesn’t have it and it still hits 5 stars for me all the way.

A heartwarming well written story with great realistic characters and plot. Enjoyed reading this authors work she brought the scenes to life can't wait to read the next book in series.

Forced into marriage to a thoroughly despicable earl, who is older than her father, Caroline is horrified and, also, disappointed by her father's acquiescence. How could he do this to her? The elderly earl has lost one son, at war, and despises his 'spare'. He wants another heir. However, there are murders and Caroline and her lady's maid Merilee are kidnapped. They are split up and forced to work, with trafficked servants, until they can be held up for ransom. The earl's handsome 'spare' takes a fancy to the new, pretty maid, in his house. Caroline can't reveal that she is really his step-mother, as she is told that Merilee will die if she tries to escape. Both are working under assumed names and the earl's family, who have never met her, think that she is dead. The earl's heir, surprisingly, reappears - alive but disfigured by battle scars. His betrothed, who had waited 5yrs to marry him, is horrified by his appearance and shocked by his reappearance. Someone seems to be trying to kill off the earl's line. Can Caroline escape, solve the mystery, see the villains brought to justice, be reunited with Merilee AND find love and happiness? A thoroughly enjoyable story.

This is an author I havnt read before but will certainly read a lot more of, gripping story without relying on chapters of porn still a hot read with well rounded characters, I couldn’t put it down

Really enjoyable read loved the two main characters well written could hardly put it down can't wait to read more from this author

i could not put it down

This was a good story but spoiled by the proof reading.