The Duchess Hunt by Lorraine Heath is book two in a series I am already in love with. After reading Scoundrel of My Heart, I was dying to see Kingsland (also known as King or Hugh) get together with his efficient secretary Penelope Pettypeace. This book more than lived up to my high expectations.
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The summary, from Amazon:
One of Amazon’s Best Romances for October 2021
New York Times bestselling author Lorraine Heath continues her Once Upon a Dukedom series with this lush love story of a duke who discovers what he desires in a wife may not be what he needs…
Hugh Brinsley-Norton, the Duke of Kingsland, is in need of a duchess. However, restoring the dukedom—left in ruins by his father—to its former glory demands all his time, with little room for sentiment. He places an advert encouraging the single ladies of the ton to write why they should be the one chosen, and leaves it to his efficient secretary to select his future wife.
If there exists a more unpleasant task in the world than deciding who is to marry the man you love, Penelope Pettypeace certainly can’t imagine what it might be. Still, she is determined to find the perfect bride for her clueless, yet ruthlessly charming employer.
But when an anonymous note threatens to reveal truths best hidden, Kingsland has no choice but to confront the danger with Penelope at his side. Beguiled by the strong-willed, courageous beauty, he realizes he’s willing to risk everything, including his heart, to keep her safe within his arms. Could it be the duchess he’s hunting for has been in front of him all along?
Buy The Duchess Hunt here.
And don’t miss Book 1 in the series, Scoundrel of My Heart. Read my review here.
The Duke of Kingsland is in want of a wife, and his only requirement is that she is quiet. Last season, he put out an ad, encouraging women to reply if they wanted to marry him, and the result was disastrous when his potential betrothed fell for and married someone else. This year, he’s enlisted he help of Pettypeace, his longtime secretary, to put out the ad again, read the responses, and choose his bride.
Penelope Pettypeace has been the Duke of Kingsland’s secretary for years and has loved him almost as long. She knows selecting a wife for him will be painful and might lead to the end of her employment with him as a result. The potential pain only increases when Kingsland begins to look at her in a new light and the passion between them grows. But their statuses and plans for their lives aren’t the only things necessitating that this is a temporary affair. King has a secret, and so does Penelope.
Simply wow. This book starts off as a slow burn, and burn it did. I was rooting for these two to just kiss already from page one. Once they did, they couldn’t stop, and it was a pleasure to read. While the secrets were a little convoluted and I wasn’t pleased with Kingsland’s initial reaction to Penelope’s, ultimately these two loved one another to be supportive and make it work. I was swept up in this emotional story about two smart, efficient people who thought they knew what they wanted in life only for them to have their plans turned upside down by love. Besides, there’s something about thinking of these characters by their last names for most of the book that just does something for me. This was a true 5 star read for me.
Find out more about how I rate books here.
The Duchess Hunt by Lorraine Heath
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Simply *wow* – I truly loved this one and everything about it. After Scoundrel, I was so excited to see these two together, and Heath did not disappoint.
Book Club Questions
- Explain the relationship dynamic between Kingsland and Pettypeace.
- Should these two have shared their secrets with one another earlier? What might the outcome have been if they did?
- How does this relationship change the two main characters?
@daily.manifestationx forever obsessed with historical romance #booktok #BbStyleFearlessly #romancebooks #romancebooktok #MACChallengeAccepted #GetTheWChallenge #book ♬ original sound – Marissa
