I started to read this book, thought, "I don't think I like this", put it down and when I picked it up again, I was right. I didn't like it. Here's why:
1. This story takes place over two days. I was halfway through the book and it was the same day as the book started. Basically, Penelope goes to a former courtesan, Sophia Dalby, to get her to help land a duke. Sophia has had some previous luck getting couples together. Penelope wants a duke and she's determined to get him. Not so much, the person, but the title. So she goes to see Sophia, visits the eventual hero, goes back to Sophia's, stays an inordinate amount of time, goes to a ball, and falls madly in lust with the hero. In two days. That really stretches the believability quotient quite a bit.
2. I didn't like Penelope. She was strident, had no sense of humor, and I couldn't see why Iveston, our hero, would want to bother with her. Penelope seemed like a bad-tempered, spoiled little girl and I don't think she ever redeemed herself.
3. The hero was sort of so-so. He was blond which isn't a favorite of mine and he was portrayed as something of an odd character. He was better during the kissing scenes, of which there were two, and I believe that pretty much constituted the romance in the book.
4. Did you ever watch the end-credits of a movie and wonder at the number of people it took to make that movie? That was how I felt about this book. There were so many people in this book, I couldn't keep track. There were children, brothers, nephews, in-laws, people who were related somehow, people who weren't related, lovers, hopeful lovers. It went on and on to the detriment of the main romance in the book.
This book was, in my opinion, not good. The leads were unlikable, the timeline too short, and the characters too many. I'm sorry I wasted my money on this one. There was no dazzling here.
