Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare

 

My last read of 2020 was another guilty pleasure pick and the final book in my little romance-reading streak. Romancing the Duke is the first book in Tessa Dare's Castles Ever After series, a set of  four historical romance novels in which each of the protagonists either own, inherit, or marry into a castle. I know. It's a cheesy concept. It does appeal to my love of fairytales though, so I make no apologies for my choices.

The plot of the novel follows Izzy Goodnight, a young woman who has recently fallen on hard times. Her father, a celebrated author, passed away suddenly without leaving a current will. His money and property were passed off to the next male heir in his line, a cousin who promptly disinherited Izzy. Her only glimmer of hope is a mysterious inheritance left to her by her godfather, which she is traveling to acquire as the story begins. When she arrives to the location specified in the letter the solicitor sent to her, she is surprised to discover that the bequest isn't money, as she was expecting, but a gigantic castle. There's only one problem--there's already a duke living in it.

Ransom Vane, the Duke of Rothbury, recently returned to this castle after sustaining a serious injury that robbed him of his vision. Bitter and determined to shut the world out, he's isolated himself within the walls of what has always been his family's property. When Izzy arrives to claim ownership, he is certain that there must be some sort of mistake. He agrees to let her stay until it can be proven that he is still the rightful owner of the property. As they begin to investigate though, they uncover some suspicious financial activities in Ransom's papers that he knows nothing about. It appears that someone is embezzling money from him, and Izzy is just the partner he needs to figure out who. As they begin to work together to get to the bottom of it, they find themselves falling for each other. However, both are hurting and are hesitant to risk being vulnerable. They both must decide whether to open their hearts to the possibility of love and remain in the castle together, or solve the mystery and go their separate ways.

This was another fun bit of fluff, and I did enjoy it. It's a typical historical fiction romance, full of classic tropes and steamy love scenes. The book doesn't really do anything different with the genre, but it does the basics well and it is comforting in its familiarity. It's a safe and sexy read when you're in the mood for a romance. I liked Izzy's character and I thought the backstory about her father being a famous author was interesting. She manages to achieve a lot from being kind and helpful to others, which I always like to see in a protagonist. Ransom was fine as well, although I didn't end up liking him as much as the men from the Girl Meets Duke books. I thought his backstory was a little thin and his personality didn't stand out in my mind. Even so, he was inoffensive and didn't impact my overall enjoyment of the book.

I don't have much to say beyond that. This was a really fun read and perfect for my current mood. Overall, I enjoyed Tessa Dare's Girl Meets Duke series a bit more, but there was nothing wrong with this one. I can definitely see myself picking up more books in the Castles Ever After series next time I'm in the mood for some guilty pleasure reading.

Challenge Tally

Total Books Read in 2020: 91