Friday, November 28, 2014

The Earl's Defiant Wallflower (The Dukes of War #1) by Erica Ridley

Grace Halton's mother is sick and in need of medical attention so Grace goes to England to claim her dowry from her grandparents.  She plans to return to America and take care of her mother once she gets the dowry.  However, her grandparents have told her they will only release the money to her husband.  And, because she is an American and her grandparent's money carries the taint of (gasp) trade, she is being given the cut direct by English Society.  (Even her lady's maid her grandmother assigned to her disappears as soon as they hit the door to a ball.)  The only men she is attracting are the rakes and men without a good reputation.

Lord Oliver York has returned to England from war.  His father had never intended for Oliver to inherit the earldom so he meticulously plotted to bankrupt the estate because he thought Oliver was going to die in the war.  Now, Oliver needs a wealthy heiress to salvage his estate.

Oliver sees Grace across a crowded ballroom and immediately seeks a dance.  This leads to a surge in Grace's popularity and there is the possibility of  potential suitor until Oliver spoils it.

This is technically the first in the Dukes of War series about four friends who left for war and only three of them returned.  I thoroughly enjoyed .5 and found this one just as well written and enjoyable.  Even the secondary characters had had depth and were thought out.  (Mr. Downing needs a HEA too!)  I kept hoping that Grace's grandparents would redeem themselves (the didn't believe their daughter was sick and were quite mean to Grace) and they did in the end.  (I will admit that I wanted to smack the maid that ditched Grace at every society function instead of doing her job.)   I enjoyed this book so much, that I will be buying it when it is released.

I know that there are only four books in this series.  PLEASE, PLEASE have a 4.5 for the Duke of Ravenwood and Sarah Fairfax.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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