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A review by joanav
Would I Lie to the Duke by Eva Leigh
4.0
Review originally published at Romancing Romances.
I received an eARC at no cost from the publisher, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.
3.75*
Would I Lie To The Duke is a book I had a hard time describing how it made me feel, for a very simple reason: I hate liars. [I like the fake relationship trope because both characters are aware and in on it]. And yet, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, with the exception of the moments I was reminded that Jess was lying, because she had several opportunities to tell the truth.
But let's start at the beginning. Jess's family is in trouble and they might lose their livelihood, which is why she became a companion and is searching for people who will sell her family's soap in London, as well as invest in their factory.
Cue the Bazaar. A place where wealthy people look for their next profitable investments. It would be a dream to be able to present her project there.
After being rejected by Bond Street vendors, Jess meets (at a distance) the also investor and savvy Duke of Rotherby, Noel. And luck has it, he is one of the Bazaar's investors.
So, when Jess decides to try her luck, he is there, and she presents herself as a Lady, even though she is truly a commoner, a farm girl as she describes herself.
She continues her lie during the whole Bazaar, and her acquaintance with Noel, even when he tells her he feels so happy with her because she doesn't lie, and she doesn't want anything from him. She had several opportunities to tell him the truth. Not necessarily to the Bazaar people, but to him at least. And she abandons him after he pretty much pours his heart out. I was heartbroken for Noel.
In the end, I enjoyed the book, but ended up with the feeling that maybe they shouldn't be together. Jess had her reasons to lie, but that still could have changed as they got to know each other.
I was always disappointed with Jess when she failed to tell him the truth. I think he would have understood (as he did in the end) but suffered less if she had been honest. And I believe he would have helped her, if only she had asked. My favourite part (with the exception of the very sexy, very steamy sex scenes) was when Jess' siblings told her she didn't need to be doing all of that on her own. I think she really needed that bucket of cold water to take her down from the mind-set of "I'm essential, nothing will work without me". Because that's the feeling I got when she said to herself, she was doing it for family, they needed her, who would take care of them? But they were all grown ups. So.... there was a lot of lack of communication that could have helped so much.
I did like Noel quite a bit, as well as his friends. He was intelligent, business savvy, he cared about his tenants. Yes, he used to be quite a rake, but he never forgot his responsibilities. He admired other smart minds, no matter their gender. And he had a crooked smile, who can resist that?
I'm sure that when you read this, you'll think I didn't really enjoy the book, but that's a lie. Even with its problems, I laughed out loud several times as I was reading it, I loved the sexy moments, I really enjoyed a business/inventions background to the story, and I did like at least one of the main characters, which was enough to get me through the book with me cheering for Noel the whole time.
Steamy, great hero, and it left me curious about the other men in the Union of Rakes circle.
I received an eARC at no cost from the publisher, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.
3.75*
Would I Lie To The Duke is a book I had a hard time describing how it made me feel, for a very simple reason: I hate liars. [I like the fake relationship trope because both characters are aware and in on it]. And yet, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, with the exception of the moments I was reminded that Jess was lying, because she had several opportunities to tell the truth.
But let's start at the beginning. Jess's family is in trouble and they might lose their livelihood, which is why she became a companion and is searching for people who will sell her family's soap in London, as well as invest in their factory.
Cue the Bazaar. A place where wealthy people look for their next profitable investments. It would be a dream to be able to present her project there.
After being rejected by Bond Street vendors, Jess meets (at a distance) the also investor and savvy Duke of Rotherby, Noel. And luck has it, he is one of the Bazaar's investors.
So, when Jess decides to try her luck, he is there, and she presents herself as a Lady, even though she is truly a commoner, a farm girl as she describes herself.
She continues her lie during the whole Bazaar, and her acquaintance with Noel, even when he tells her he feels so happy with her because she doesn't lie, and she doesn't want anything from him. She had several opportunities to tell him the truth. Not necessarily to the Bazaar people, but to him at least. And she abandons him after he pretty much pours his heart out. I was heartbroken for Noel.
In the end, I enjoyed the book, but ended up with the feeling that maybe they shouldn't be together. Jess had her reasons to lie, but that still could have changed as they got to know each other.
I was always disappointed with Jess when she failed to tell him the truth. I think he would have understood (as he did in the end) but suffered less if she had been honest. And I believe he would have helped her, if only she had asked. My favourite part (with the exception of the very sexy, very steamy sex scenes) was when Jess' siblings told her she didn't need to be doing all of that on her own. I think she really needed that bucket of cold water to take her down from the mind-set of "I'm essential, nothing will work without me". Because that's the feeling I got when she said to herself, she was doing it for family, they needed her, who would take care of them? But they were all grown ups. So.... there was a lot of lack of communication that could have helped so much.
I did like Noel quite a bit, as well as his friends. He was intelligent, business savvy, he cared about his tenants. Yes, he used to be quite a rake, but he never forgot his responsibilities. He admired other smart minds, no matter their gender. And he had a crooked smile, who can resist that?
I'm sure that when you read this, you'll think I didn't really enjoy the book, but that's a lie. Even with its problems, I laughed out loud several times as I was reading it, I loved the sexy moments, I really enjoyed a business/inventions background to the story, and I did like at least one of the main characters, which was enough to get me through the book with me cheering for Noel the whole time.
Steamy, great hero, and it left me curious about the other men in the Union of Rakes circle.