THE DREADFUL DUKE

Author: Barbara Hazard ISBN: 9780709084617 5/2008 HISTORICAL Publisher: ROBERT HALE LTD.
Time Period: Regency, 1813

There seemed no reason why Lady Juliet Manchester should not be wed. She was beautiful, well born, witty, charming and intelligent. But this Juliet allowed no male to play Romeo to her. For reasons that she kept very much to herself, she vowed that no man would ever have her as a woman or as a wife. The Duke of Severn was a gentleman who had known neither denial nor defeat. His slightest wishes were others' commands and society's most ravishing belles were his for the asking. It was unthinkable that Juliet could long resist his advances or refuse his proposal. But when this iron-willed lord attempted to storm the defences of this unyielding lady, the unthinkable did happen.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

There are two things you should read about in the THE DREADFUL DUKE within the first few chapters: William Fairhaven, the Duke of Severn, is possibly the worst parent you will ever have read about in any other Regency romance, and secondly, the leading lady, Lady Juliet Manchester, is thirty-one years old. Both, from my experiences reading the genre, are quite unusual.

The Duke of Severn, after receiving a letter from his man of business regarding his twin daughters being complete hoydens at the age of thirteen, takes himself off to his principal seat in Devon with righteous indignations. Never mind that he hasn't seen them more than a dozen times in their young lives, nor took much interest in them when he did see them. The Severn family name must be upheld! (If you do not grow weary of hearing about the family name by the tenth time it is mentioned, you have far more patience then I or his daughters do.) Lady Juliet Manchester befriends the charming, vivacious girls and is appalled at Severn's entire attitude towards how to 'bring them to heel'.

A typical Regency set up for love, you would say. I had liked the prequel to this, THE SINGULAR MISS CARRINGTON, set five years earlier, with the Duke chasing after the title character but ultimately losing her (else why would we have this book?), and it had escaped my attention then that he was such a neglectful parent. That is what I disliked about this book—barely any mention is made of his three older sons (except for the one who pops up with a problem only his father, the Duke, can set straight).

Lady Juliet's Aunt Elizabeth is wonderful, however—a blunt, no-nonsense lady who doesn't let anything trouble her pursuits. Openly admitting she was glad she wasn't born pretty like her sisters but had brains, her views on what a real marriage should be like and her aggressive maneuverings to get her niece to marry, caused me to absolutely adore her.

I do recommend that you read this book, and its prequel, THE SINGULAR MISS CARRINGTON, as well as the sequel THE TURNABOUT TWINS (about when his daughters make their debut), as all three are connected merely by the presence of the Duke and are thoroughly enjoyable on their own merits as well.

Alex Cenni