A Duke to Remember (A Season for Scandal Book 2) Kindle Edition

The first thing that struck me about this book was the jarring juxtaposition of modern idioms in a story set in the early 19th century: "You're full of it, Noah Lawson"... "Perhaps, if it's not too much of a hassle, you might stop by and let my mother know I've arrived back in town"... and [my favorite] "I'll channel my inner Robin Hood." Please.As for characterization, why was everyone at Chegarre & Associates positively oozing sexiness, deadliness and cold-blooded sangfroid? This stereotype has been overworked -- to death -- in the genre, and Ms. Bowen's reliance on it to describe a number of her characters got really old, really fast.As for plot, its implausibility bugged me like a pebble in a shoe. Noah was considered defective and treated as insane as a child. He was committed to Bedlam when he was 10, where he was chained, beaten, and kept in the dark etc. etc. He escaped as an adolescent and lived in the streets, where he had to kill merely to survive. He had no formal education. As an adult he hid away in a rural backwater, avoiding cities and even coaching inns. How can we believe that within a few short weeks of being discovered by Elise he's living in London, speech impediment free, hobnobbing with the upper crust and behaving with ducal arrogance? I know this is romantic fiction, but come on.As for the romance, Elise's heart is supposed to be shattering into a million pieces because she has to leave Noah. I didn't find their relationship to date sufficiently compelling to support this heartbreaking devastation. And WHY does Elise have to leave Noah anyway? If Chegarre & Associates are masters at creating identities and controlling any situation which may arise, why not just create a background for Elise as some type of aristo who is suitable for marriage to a duke?I admit that I read A Duke to Remember right after reading Duke of Pleasure and rereading The Serpent Prince, both of which are pretty hard acts to follow. I found A Duke to Remember certainly readable, but I would never reread it, and I'm not sure I would read another book by this author.

I decided on four stars for this fifth book by Ms. Bowen, the second book in her second series, but I need to explain this rating.The things I loved most in this story are Ms. Bowen’s writing style and the fact that her heroines are the furthest from simpering misses imaginable. That’s what is keeping me reading her stories, and what has kept me flipping the pages of this book. Her writing style is crisp, fresh, to the point, with an incredible skill at making apt comparisons (the one where she used the dog Square was superb) and neatly tying up all loose ends in the end. The heroine in this book, Elise, knows who she is in life, she has a job, is good at her job, and never doubts her worth not even for a second. So no angsty ‘Will he love me, does he love me, what does he think of me’ scenes for this heroine, not even at the dark moment all romances have: she knows she has let the love of her life go, but doesn’t cry tears about it, she just does what needs to be done and goes on with her life. Such a refreshment after all those heroines burdened with loads of self-doubt at every corner. Another skill of Ms. Bowen is her sex scenes. I didn’t realize how tired I had become about the scenes where the experienced hero slowly initiates a virgin heroine, and the heroine always loves every first step. Ms. Bowen’s heroines aren’t virgins, and she never excuses her heroines for that fact, and neither do they in their contact with the men. And it makes for refreshing reading, lol. In a sense, the heroines of Ms. Bowen’s stories are the alpha, and it’s the heroes that need saving, although they are not simpering misses either.What I like less about Ms. Bowen’s stories, is the suspense part. It’s what I would call soft-suspense (soft porn is an expression, so why not soft suspense?) in the sense that there’s a clear-cut villain, it’s not very hard to find out the mystery, and the resolution is swift and (almost too) easy. But since it’s secondary to the romance, I don’t mind that much: characters need to be doing something while they fall in love, so why not solve a murder, or free an innocent from Bedlam.What I utterly disliked in this particular story, and which actively required me to suspense my disbelief, especially in the first chapter, is the fact that everybody went along with the disguises of Elise. I know women dressing up as men is a popular trope, and I can see it working if the woman pretends to be a boy and is seen only at a glance, but I just do not believe a woman in the early 19th century could pretend to be a doctor and be accepted by others. Okay, a word in favor for Ms. Bowen’s plotting: the heroine in question is an actress (her other part time job) and her role as doctor came with glowing references from other doctors, making it at least partially believable that even if people were in doubt, the assurance of other peers would at least ask for some form of suspension of disbelief on their part. I mean, I see movies where women pretend to be men, and even with all the make-up available nowadays, it’s still noticeable. And then imagine the same with the limited resources of the 19th century. The dressing up occurs at some other point in the story as well, but if this is a pet peeve of yours, try to make it past the first chapter and roll your eyes as much as you want… after that, a beautiful story follows.Another thing that bothered me was the utter perfection of the characters. They were either perfectly good (although bad things had happened to them in their past) or perfectly evil (although the villain from the first book in this series is starting to become a human in this book. The heroine is an excellent actress, a very good tracker and entirely accurate with a rifle… Not a fault in sight. It makes for a very sure of herself heroine, which I like, but some mistake on her part would have been nice. And the mistake of falling for her client… well, that I didn’t count as a mistake.How, might you wonder, did I, after all that is wrong with this story, still arrive at the 4 stars? It’s because the positives to me outweighed to negatives. I really liked the romance. I really liked how the hero and heroine got to know each other, how the hero transformed himself into his true worth, how she helped him get there and how the romance was resolved. I really did. Really! (lol). So I decided to place less value on the (eye-rolling) suspense part of it all. Let’s face it, is the eye-rolling required for dressing up as a man really that much different from the eye-rolling required when a wealthy and powerful Duke suddenly finds himself falling for an on the shelve, moneyless, and not even beautiful spinster at first glance so many other stories are based upon?And if you have never read a story by Ms. Bowen, are interested but have a pet peeve about women disguising themselves as men: just try another of her books. Those might have women wearing breeches (a lot easier when riding a horse) but as far as I can remember, none of them have the amount of dressing-up as this book.

This is the second novel in Kelly Bowen’s latest Season of Scandal series and, although I have not read the first book, I don’t think this adversely affected my enjoyment of A Duke to Remember. It definitely made me want to read the other books in the series.The whole idea of Chegarre & Associates, a firm who provide effective solutions to scandals involving members of the ton, struck me as being original and I love the fact that two of the three partners in the business are women who do not conform to the normal roles expected of them.Strong, confident, perceptive and smart, Elise once served as a tracker for the British Army and is handy with both a knife and a gun, proficiencies she demonstrates later in the book. Her part-time work as an actress enables her to adopt different disguises, useful in her work for Chegarre & Associates, whether she is posing as a moustached, bespectacled doctor or an exotic, masked French countess. Elise has been playing so many roles in her job and in the theatre that she doesn’t really know who she is anymore and I think this insecurity gives her an element of vulnerability making her seem more human.Between this job and her work as a part-time actress at the Theatre Royal, she barely recognized herself anymore at any given moment. Every day brought a new role and a new deception to play out.I can understand Noah’s feelings towards his parents He can never forgive the two people who should have loved and cared for him, but chose to abandon him to a hellish existence because he wasn’t perfect (the official blurb is very misleading because he did not leave the glamour of London society). I admire the way he reinvented himself and found a measure of happiness as a simple farmer and never wants to return to the world he was born into.“I do not have a responsibility to anything,” he growled. “Not to my father, not to my mother. Not to Ashland’s piles of properties and strings of titles and coffers of money.”Noah is kind, intelligent and sensitive and I could see how much he cares for and is protective of his sister Abigail, who had always championed and defended him. Their reunion scene really tugged at my heartstrings. In contrast, his years on the streets of London have taught him how to take care of himself and that street fighter comes into his own when danger threatens Elise.I just loved everything about the romance – the heated attraction between them; the witty dialogue (I love how they steal each other’s lines); Noah’s tendency to blush; the way my heart gave a little flip when Noah gives Elise the rose; the raw, passionate love scene; the heartbreak and the joy. Ms Bowen writes with an emotional intensity which pulled me into the story and refused to let go. A melding of hearts and souls – I think this quote perfectly describes the connection between Elise and Noah. I love how Elise makes Noah believe that he can be anything he wants to be and gives him the strength and courage to take up his true position in society.She believed in him. Even knowing everything that she did, she believed in him. More than he had ever believed in himself.I love how Noah sees the real Elise.“I see you, Elise DeVries. No matter what clothes you might wear or what mask you might assume, I see your courageous heart and I see your beautiful mind. I see your compassion and your hope, your resilience and your strength. If you do not know who you are, know that I do.”I found so many of the secondary characters intriguing, among them:Elise’s brother Alex who is a partner in Chegarre & Associates but also owns one of the most exclusive gaming hells in London frequented by some of the most influential and infamous members of the ton. These elite gamblers not only part with their money but also their secrets. (his book, Between the Devil and the Duke, is already on my must-read list).Ivory Moore, founder of Chegarre & Associates, and her husband, the Duke of Alderidge (I bought their book, Duke of My Heart as soon as I had finished reading this one), who cleverly assist in establishing Noah’s credentials as the true Duke of Ashland. I love the scene at the solicitors where Noah and the duke pretend to be old friends – by the time the scene ended, they had me believing every word!The mysterious King, described as a man as dangerous and as unpredictable as a pit viper. We learn some intriguing details about him during the course of the story including his connection to Noah, all of which made me hope the Ms Bowen has a book in the pipeline for him.Francis Ellery is a self-serving villain through and through…a liar, a cheat and a gambler with heavy debts, who will stop at nothing to steal the Ashland title and wealth.I like the warm-hearted Mrs Pritchard, Noah’s housekeeper, and I have a soft spot for animals in romances. Noah has a dog called Square and if you are thinking that’s a strange name for a dog, then you will have to read the book to discover why he’s so called.MY VERDICT: This is a wonderful blend of an engaging story, well-drawn characters and delicious sexual tension. Highly recommended.

I’m a huge fan of Ms Bowens books and this one is thankfully unencumbered with a dreadful title as so many of her books are.This is an excellent story that as usual covers some important issues while managing to be a lovely romance.The treatment of those who were differently abled was horrifying in the 19th century and that is the backdrop to this tale of a missing Duke and how he is found and faces up to his responsibilities .I wish Me Bowen did Epilogues as, if I'm being picky, they would round of a story like this so well.

I think I'm in love with him. It was such a good plot with a gorgeous romance. Their histories were fantastic and all the characters simply brilliant. I can't wait to read the next one.

Once you start reading this book, you cant put it down. Another brilliant story, great characters and plots. Highly recommend

Loved everything about this book Kelly Bowen writes wonderful story lines have enjoyed reading all this series cannot choose between them look forward to reading more books by this author.