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A review by girlwithhearteyes
Second Duke's the Charm by Kate Bateman
3.25
3.25 stars
I’m a big fan of Kate Bateman’s books (especially the Ruthless Rivals series), so I’m sad to say this one wasn’t for me.
It started off well and there were parts I absolutely loved. The female friendship group was really fun, and the entire set up between Tess and Justin gave me that giddy feeling (they had a steamy anonymous encounter before — surprise! — realising he’s the new Duke who’s avoiding matchmaking mamas and she’s the Dowager Duchess who needs her independence, so marriage between them would be mighty convenient).
Unfortunately the relationship development didn’t quite hit for me, possibly because so much of the story was about Tess and her friends investigating a blackmail case. Because Justin didn’t know about the ladies’ secret investigative agency, the story was also missing that “hero knows the heroine is brilliant and loves her for it” charm that Kate Bateman usually does so well, and sadly the love declaration sequence felt a little clunky.
So… 4.5 stars for the first half of the book, 2.5 stars for the second half of the book. But I will definitely be reading the next book because I think the series has promise and I’m looking forward to Daisy and Ellie’s stories!
I’m a big fan of Kate Bateman’s books (especially the Ruthless Rivals series), so I’m sad to say this one wasn’t for me.
It started off well and there were parts I absolutely loved. The female friendship group was really fun, and the entire set up between Tess and Justin gave me that giddy feeling (they had a steamy anonymous encounter before — surprise! — realising he’s the new Duke who’s avoiding matchmaking mamas and she’s the Dowager Duchess who needs her independence, so marriage between them would be mighty convenient).
Unfortunately the relationship development didn’t quite hit for me, possibly because so much of the story was about Tess and her friends investigating a blackmail case. Because Justin didn’t know about the ladies’ secret investigative agency, the story was also missing that “hero knows the heroine is brilliant and loves her for it” charm that Kate Bateman usually does so well, and sadly the love declaration sequence felt a little clunky.
So… 4.5 stars for the first half of the book, 2.5 stars for the second half of the book. But I will definitely be reading the next book because I think the series has promise and I’m looking forward to Daisy and Ellie’s stories!