In my review of Never a Duke, the last of the Rogues to Riches series by Grace Burrowes, I mentioned that I went back and reread My One and Only Duke, the first in the series. This is the highest compliment I could give, as I never reread romance novels unless they're by Jane Austen or I've forgotten I read them in the first place. And now, I have gone back and read the book a third time. And with each reading it gets better.
The first time I read this book I thought of it as a run-of-the-mill Regency, with the mix and match characters being a surprise Duke raised in poverty and never expecting to inherit the title (a common trope in Regencies) and a the widowed pregnant daughter of a minister. It didn't particularly stick with me.
On second reading, after following in the rest of the series the adventures and love lives and back stories of the relatives and friends the duke, hero Quinn, I loved My One and Only Duke. Burrowes does a great job of developing how the backgrounds of Quinn and heroine Jane are bound to put them at cross-purposes. I also really enjoyed how this marriage of convenience book starts with the two of them genuinely liking each other, and how their regard becomes love without a lot of "Does he love me back?" The relationship makes sense, and you can't help but to root for them.
The book also masterfully foreshadowed the twists and turns in the later novels, and was an advanced class in characterization. In later novels Quinn appears as the head of the family who is passionate about keeping his relatives safe but is too busy in that pursuit to think about what they actually need. In My One and Only Duke Burrowes shows us this without going into detail, while giving us hints of the trauma each of his siblings experienced and overcomes -- or learns to live with -- throughout the series.
On the third reading -- well, let's just say this book, and this series, has become my comfort read.
See here for my not-so-positive thoughts on other Burrowes books.
Note from Jasmine Gold: As the name of this blog indicates, I write erotica. Check out my dark, dystopian novel about naked sex slaves, Mindgames. Your darkest fantasies, with a phenomenal plot and characters you will come to think of as beloved friends. Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited and in paperback. Or read my book of short stories about hot, consensual sex, The Mature Woman's Guide to Desire, available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.
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