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A review by jackiehorne
Her Duke at Daybreak by Wendy LaCapra
3.0
My first story by Wendy LaCapra, which made me want to read her longer work (this is a novella, a RITA nominee). The writing is lush and emotion-packed, but there wasn't really enough plot here to balance and hold up the onslaught of feeling.
The "Mythic Dukes" series focus on three former schoolmates, each of whom took on a Greek myth sobriquet when they were boys. The hero here, the Duke of Ashbey is "Hades" (ha, get it, "Ash"?!) The story is loose take on the Hades/Persephone story, but it's also an exploration of the third side of the real historical Horatio Nelson/Lady Hamilton/Lady Nelson triangle: the abandoned wife.
Our heroine, Alicia, is a stand in for Lady Nelson, who, in the aftermath of her husband's heroic death in battle, is trying to figure out what to do financially with her life, and how to cope with the fact that she's the only one who feels done wrong by England's naval hero. Ash, a loner with a backstory (mad, murderous father; wife who hated him and is now dead), feels he's too flawed for love. But he falls into insta-lust with Alicia, thinking somehow that being with her, even for a short time, will "cleanse" him somehow of his darkness. At first, Alicia rejects his blunt offer, but after being mistakenly sent the letters her husband exchanged with his mistress, she decides to be bad for once in her life.
They have a three-day affair, during which Alicia of course falls for the tormented duke. And he falls for her, but feels he must give her up because he's so tainted he'll ruin her. An unlikely event, and lots of pushing from his two former schoolmates, make Ash realize that he's being a major idiot, and he tries to get Alicia back.
Thumbs up for not making the mistress and child evil others.
The "Mythic Dukes" series focus on three former schoolmates, each of whom took on a Greek myth sobriquet when they were boys. The hero here, the Duke of Ashbey is "Hades" (ha, get it, "Ash"?!) The story is loose take on the Hades/Persephone story, but it's also an exploration of the third side of the real historical Horatio Nelson/Lady Hamilton/Lady Nelson triangle: the abandoned wife.
Our heroine, Alicia, is a stand in for Lady Nelson, who, in the aftermath of her husband's heroic death in battle, is trying to figure out what to do financially with her life, and how to cope with the fact that she's the only one who feels done wrong by England's naval hero. Ash, a loner with a backstory (mad, murderous father; wife who hated him and is now dead), feels he's too flawed for love. But he falls into insta-lust with Alicia, thinking somehow that being with her, even for a short time, will "cleanse" him somehow of his darkness. At first, Alicia rejects his blunt offer, but after being mistakenly sent the letters her husband exchanged with his mistress, she decides to be bad for once in her life.
They have a three-day affair, during which Alicia of course falls for the tormented duke. And he falls for her, but feels he must give her up because he's so tainted he'll ruin her. An unlikely event, and lots of pushing from his two former schoolmates, make Ash realize that he's being a major idiot, and he tries to get Alicia back.
Thumbs up for not making the mistress and child evil others.