Title The Infamous Duchess
Series: Diamonds in the Rough #4
Author: Sophie Barnes
Publisher: Avon
Number of pages: 384
Publication date: March 26th 2019
Series: Diamonds in the Rough #4
Author: Sophie Barnes
Publisher: Avon
Number of pages: 384
Publication date: March 26th 2019
Synopsis:
A woman with a shocking past…
Branded a money-hungry con artist for marrying the elderly Duke of Tremaine days before his death, Viola Cartwright has found refuge in her work at St. Agatha’s Hospital. No one must know the painful reason behind her marriage. She steers clear of attachments—until Henry Lowell, heir to the Viscount Armswell, lands on her operating table after a duel. Charming and wickedly handsome, Lowell is one of London’s most inveterate scoundrels. Yet he may not be all that he appears.
And the man who can promise a future filled with love…
Posing as an unrepentant rake has helped Lowell avoid women pursuing him only for his title. But now that duty has finally called on him to marry, he finds himself entranced by the mysterious, independent-minded Viola. Then her late husband’s son returns from overseas, contesting Viola’s inheritance. Lowell longs to help her and sets out to convince Viola that a strategic union may be the best way to save all she holds dear. But can he also persuade her to take a chance on love…?
Review:
This is a mixed feelings book. I was really liking it in the beginning, but then our hero, Henry Lowell, kept saying something that was annoying me and that I don’t personally like – something like “She’ll be mine no matter what”. And I don’t like that because every time I read that sentence or a similar one, all I could think about was that he didn’t really care about our heroine, Viola, he simply saw her as a prize to be own, no matter what. I wouldn’t be mentioning it if it was something he had said/thought once, but no, he keeps thinking/saying it. He evolves as a character to someone who learns to love and who actually sees Viola as a person and not a prize, but his mind-set doesn’t seem to change, which is one of the reasons why I couldn’t connect as much as I wanted to with this book, hence the rating not going over the 3*.
I really wanted to like Viola – she is a fierce, dedicated woman, a physician, even if she didn’t go to University, and in the beginning of the book she seems so confident, with a bit of sarcasms and wit, but as the book develops, she morphs into someone else, all that strength we saw in the beginning almost disappears… So, I really wanted to like her, but the author made it a bit difficult.
I have to say the best character – “construction” wise, I mean – was probably the villain. We hate him from beginning to end, and he behaves exactly like he should and as we expect him too – with an extra at the end that was perfect. And at that point we see the Viola from the beginning.
So, to be honest, I liked the beginning and the end, and the book isn’t badly written, or anything similar, it just didn’t allow me to connect to the characters enough for me to love them.
The character that most intrigued me and that actually left me wanting to know more was Carl Guthrie, the criminal from St. Giles – now that was someone who I would like to get to know better. Can’t wait to read his book. I’m sure it will be much better than this one.
I received an eARC at no cost from the author, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.
This is a mixed feelings book. I was really liking it in the beginning, but then our hero, Henry Lowell, kept saying something that was annoying me and that I don’t personally like – something like “She’ll be mine no matter what”. And I don’t like that because every time I read that sentence or a similar one, all I could think about was that he didn’t really care about our heroine, Viola, he simply saw her as a prize to be own, no matter what. I wouldn’t be mentioning it if it was something he had said/thought once, but no, he keeps thinking/saying it. He evolves as a character to someone who learns to love and who actually sees Viola as a person and not a prize, but his mind-set doesn’t seem to change, which is one of the reasons why I couldn’t connect as much as I wanted to with this book, hence the rating not going over the 3*.
I really wanted to like Viola – she is a fierce, dedicated woman, a physician, even if she didn’t go to University, and in the beginning of the book she seems so confident, with a bit of sarcasms and wit, but as the book develops, she morphs into someone else, all that strength we saw in the beginning almost disappears… So, I really wanted to like her, but the author made it a bit difficult.
I have to say the best character – “construction” wise, I mean – was probably the villain. We hate him from beginning to end, and he behaves exactly like he should and as we expect him too – with an extra at the end that was perfect. And at that point we see the Viola from the beginning.
So, to be honest, I liked the beginning and the end, and the book isn’t badly written, or anything similar, it just didn’t allow me to connect to the characters enough for me to love them.
The character that most intrigued me and that actually left me wanting to know more was Carl Guthrie, the criminal from St. Giles – now that was someone who I would like to get to know better. Can’t wait to read his book. I’m sure it will be much better than this one.
