awesome and enchanting book, From the begining I was hooked which I may say is not difficult with Ms Burrows books and I am never ever dissapointed.
I won't give spoilers but will say this there are many ups and downs on this fantastic rollercoaster and a whole range of intense emotions to be shared with our hero heroin and those they love the very most.
I must admit to getting teary eyed a few times mes, enraged at others at timed wanted to go on an ogre hunt for a couple of individuals who needed faceplanting im a pacifist i promise.
This amazing book has everything you could want and i highly recommend it to all who love regency romance.
Thank you for writing it dear lady x “Men did not fall in love with girls like her at first sight.
She was too plain and dull and boring, ”
Sofia Underwood may be a Dukes Granddaughter, but as the daughter of a soldier and his Portuguese wife, she feels that she doesnt fit in amongst society, until a chance meeting with Oliver, Duke of Theakstone, sees her as something of a kindred spirit, and sets about getting to know her better in this entertaining story for Annie Burrows.
What sets this book apart is that Oliver has recently discovered that he is a father, and, following the death of the girls mother, Livvy is now living with him, although her existence is not a known fact amongst the ladies with designs on being the new Duchess of Theakston.
Indeed, in looking at potential candidates for a bride, Olivers main concern is if they will be a suitable mother to Livvy, and this is where Sofia really comes in to her own.
The fact that Sofia is unaware of Olivers identity when she first meets him makes for a memorable opening to the story, and his subsequent visits to her home show just how much of an impression she makes on Oliver from the outset.
Invited to a week long house party or job interview as Sofia considers it, the reader is taken on an entertaining journey as the women compete for Olivers affections in the hope of a proposal.
The backstabbing and bickering amongst the ladies leads to some amusing moments, and the idea of competing for Olivers hand is made all the more enjoyable as we see Sofia not pushing an agenda, inadvertently meeting Livvy, and slowly breaking down the barriers Oliver has put around himself with regard to relationships.
This is a well written book, and the descriptions of both Oliver and Sofias struggles in life, and their somewhat difficult upbringings are well explained in a sympathetic manner which gives the two a connection to each other, and makes the reader believe that a happy ending is possible for them.
The fact that Livvy is very much involved in the final chapters is a clever plot device as the book heads to its conclusion, and, also, special mention should be given to Sofias dog, Snowball, who steals the show on more than one occasion.
All in all, and enjoyable story with likeable characters, and plenty of amusing and romantic moments,
Thanks to MampB for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review,
.Stars
Sofia Underwood is an orphan who lives with her Uncle Ned amp Aunt Agnes, she had been ill the previous winter so the family have rented a house by the sea so as to aid Sofias recuperation.
Whilst there they visit a firework display for the celebration of Napoleon's exile to Elba but things go wrong amp the fireworks explode, panic ensues, Sofia is almost knocked out amp stumbles into some bushes from where she sees a woman whose dress has caught fire.
Sofia rushes to her aid amp is helped by two servants, Only they aren't servants but an Earl amp a Duke, Oliver, Duke of Theakstone is immediately attracted to Sofia both physically amp even more so for her compassion.
Oliver needs a duchess but who will accept his secret illegitimate child Olivia Hes invited several eligible ladies to his estate to assess their suitability amp includes the infuriating beauty Miss Sofia Underwood.
I found this to be a fun read amp it often had me laughing out loud, I should have disliked Oliver for being a pompous ass but strangely I really liked him as around Sofia he was a bumbling fool.
Sofia is charming, gracious amp very kind hearted but lacks self esteem, Snowball amp Livvy steal the book amp also help Oliver amp Sofia to find each other amp to fall in love.
Both Oliver amp Sofia had difficult childhoods amp it was touching especially when Oliver spoke about his, There were a couple of unanswered questions, was it sabotage at the firework display amp what did Oliver say to Septimus
An easy reading book that kept my interest all the way through which I found to be quite a captivating read.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read To put it simply, . . this story becomes THE BACHELOR: REGENCY EDITION, . . like, halfway through the book it got so stupendously awesome, especially having Sofia be thrust into the mix of young women arriving at Duke of Theakstone's palatial estate and home.
. . or Oliver if you will,
I LOVED the opening scene, I watched a French show on Netflix called "BONFIRE OF DESTINY" aboutwomen and how their lives shifted and changed amid the aftermath of the Paris Charity Bazaar Fire in, where hundreds of aristocratic women and children
lost their lives or were severely injured.
That was fresh in my mind when Burrows told readers in her Author's Note that she based this off a real event people randomly celebrating Napoleon's defeat in France.
. . where people didn't fathom how flammable firework displays could be and well, . . yeah, it is quite a harrowing opening and stuck with me throughout the book, especially since it showed us how great a heroine Sofia is, through and through.
As she runs, after getting up from almost being trampled by the rush of bystanders escaping the grassy open area.
. . she finds herself spotting a woman engulfed in flames from the skirt of her dress, As she spedruns toward her, she cannot help but see that two men, in white shirts and black pants are coming from another direction she immediately recalls those are waiters from the earlier meal she had.
Sofia is instantly taking off her own clothes to douse this poor woman and finds herself being yelled at by one of the two men who came to the rescue as well.
This is Oliver, And he is a Grumpy McGrumperton, which I adored, Plus he was constantly confounded by how Sofia could twist him around, He had rules and morals to follow, but one minute around her and he was all confused and agitated.
It was lovely to witness, Burrows described his frustrations so well, I chuckled deeply whenever he would yell at himself for forgetting something when Sofia left the room,
Oliver sends Amelia on her way, . . she had been elbowed by a gentleman in the rush to exit so she has a severe black eye and her clothes are quite dirty and bedraggled, plus she is without a jackettype thing since she had given it to the woman on fire.
She returns home to an Aunt and Uncle, . . who I like to call "suffering" Aunt amp Uncle, Thing is they're new in town, having brought their niece, Sofia, here so she can recover and recoup by the sea.
Sofia has had some terrible bouts with infections and serious illness to the point where they thought her neardeath at times.
This Aunt amp Uncle are, uh, . . her guardians, but they're kind of parenting her without really appreciating who she genuinely is, Her Aunt is the sister of her dear father, a Captain, who married a Portuguese woman of the Catholic faith.
This was kind of an unwanted situation, so Sofia has been treated as lowerclass pretty much her whole entire life, after losing first her mother than her beloved father.
Sofia had come to live with her Aunt, who had married this Uncle who is said to have been beneath the Aunt's class standing.
The Uncle is kind of wishywashy about how much he cares about Sofia, He doesn't think of her as HIS niece, just the family of his wife,
Oliver learns he has new tenants on his lands Sofia's Aunt amp Uncle, so he also learns who Sofia is and wishes to visit her, make sure she is all right from the night of the fire and also relay to her some info about that woman they saved that night.
Almost immediately, Oliver is stricken by Sofia's plight with her guardians, He feels like they treat her deplorably or at least they give off these signals of impropriety, Oliver cannot help but want to keep Sofia in his sights, so over the course of several days/weeks, he will come calling on Sofia to take her out in his carriage.
Mainly to talk privately with her which he will always accidentally do the wrong thing with her and forget what his intentions were.
Like she will confuse and confound him to the point where he never manages to talk to her about what he had intended, letting her go and berating himself for being a nincompoop.
Sofia is already being pursued by a gentleman, except she had just overheard days ago, the fact that Jack, this man she once thought loved her to pieces and she was falling for him, too.
. . well, she overheard him talking privately with a friend about what he REALLY thought about her, how he was going to smother her with love to get married to her so he could get her money and then basically abandon her to a house and possibly sneak off to cheat with mistresses.
So, yeah, not a decent fellow, one would think, And this is a man her Aunt amp Uncle were pushing her towards at parties to eventually marry.
Sofia is used to be treated deplorably by the ton like a byblow, She often feels like she is treated like an unwanted charge, especially by her Aunt amp Uncle,
Oliver NEEDs a wife because he has a child from a mistress who he only learned about several months ago.
Everyone will have their own ideas about why Oliver needs to marry NOW, but he will only reveal the truth to Sofia.
Oliver sends an invite to Sofia, for her Aunt amp Uncle as well, to come to his house, Theakstone.
He is going to have a weeklong houseparty of several young ladies and their families, as well,
This is when it becomes THE BACHELOR, because once Sofia arrives, . . then the other young ladies show up, . . it becomes a fight and a battle for Oliver's attention and his private times, which he will often arrange.
Sometimes he will focus too heavily on Sofia, but then, . make her think he has no interest when he turns his attention toward other females, who to her look like the better, proper wife candidates.
Also, when it's not like an episode of THE BACHELOR, it's Sofia wandering around Oliver's grounds, wishing she were NOT there, but doing her own thing.
Sofia has a mixedbreed Poodle, who when it was a puppy it looked like an actual "snowball", so that is what it is called.
Snowball has been trained by Sofia to behave, but no one trusts her, so her faithful companion has been locked up and imprisoned in Oliver's kennels.
So she will often run off to walk her dog, plowing through the woods, She even manages to do a bit of maturing while she is there, which she didn't expect to do.
I liked the private moments watching Sofia come into her own on Oliver's estate, especially since she got to run into Livvy.
. . Oliver's hoyden daughter, who has been raised in secret since she has been living with her father, It's a new relationship for both and both of them are stumbling and making mistakes, Livvy thinks her father hates her, . . she is, after all, The Duke's Mistake, . . as Livvy tells Sofia her Governess Mrs, Starchypants hehehe so cute has termed her,
When Oliver is out horseback riding with one of the other ladies, he spots Sofia under a tree, but he can "see" the tiny dangling legs of his daughter on a branch above Sofia.
Oliver will allow the lady to go off with another rider they were using as a chaperon, and when he has privacy with Sofia, he will question her to such an extreme he almost assumes she will confess about Livvy.
Instead, Sofia protects Livvy FROM HIM, . . and this gives him a genuine idea that Sofia is a great prospect for a wife because she cares for Livvy as an individual.
It isn't too long before Oliver makes an actual proposal, . . thinking a small conversation they had together was an outright admission of love for him, Love isn't important but eh, . . he is so adamant that Sofia is THE ONE, He doesn't seem to want to budge, He offers herdays of refuge to lament and think about her answer, It's really just the rest of the weeklong houseparty, so, yeah, . . but it puts Sofia in a sudden tailspin, With so many conflicting reasons for Oliver to marry, . . having seen all those better women who were "proper" wives for a Duke, . . it's tough for Sofia to make a decision except she cannot bear to let any of those ladies have him because it makes her jealous.
And she really liked it when he kissed her, . . how he made her feel safe in his strong arms as he held her,
Sofia will have a small confrontation with one of the young ladies and accidentally falls into the nearby lake, off a dock.
It was an extremely hot day and Sofia had been wanting to swim, so, . . she deep dives and swims underwater, But Oliver sees everything before and after Sofia's fall, . . and he thinks or assumes she is drowning, He becomes THE, literal, HERO and throws off heavy clothes to dive in and save Sofia, Except he quickly learns she was all right all along, . . but in order for propriety, . . he wants her to pretend to be a damsel in distress, . . it's an adorable scene. It really kind of woke Oliver up to look at his own feelings for Sofia, especially since he had already told her he never wanted to marry for love because he didn't believe in it.
Because of Sofia's past bouts with sickness and infection, it is best if she remains in her rooms and rest, relaxes, and stays warm.
Really she enjoys it because she doesn't have to see the women, but she does worry about Snowball.
Withinhrs, Livvy comes to Sofia's room bringing Snowball, . . and the two center off in a nice pseudomother amp daughter discussion, Especially Sofia telling Livvy that her father doesn't hate her, which Livvy can't have faith in until he can show it or say it.
For some reason, onebyone, Sofia is getting one visitor to her room after another, First is was her Aunt, . . then Livvy w/Snowball then her Aunt again so Livvy amp Snowball hid, . . and then the Doctor who cleared Sofia for dinner, that night, . . and then, lastly, and most important, . . Oliver who rushes into Sofia's bedroom, after loudly knocking, . . and he confesses ALL everything from one end of truth to the other, Even the fact that her fall into the water knocked some sense into him and his cold heart he LOVES HER.
Livvy and Snowball are hiding, once more, But this time Sofia wants Oliver to confess truths for LIVVY's ears alone, . . so it means peeling back those highly vulnerable layers to his own childhood, . . when he was treated like a gutter rat by his own family, . . his own father given to a foster family, but returned atto Theakstone, . . Oliver has never felt WANTED, . . so he hates hearing about people who get treated like scum just because of their birth, . . he only learned of Livvy months ago, because Livvy's mother had kept her secret for years, She had died but then allowed the troupe of actors she lived with to raise Livvy, and when they ran out of money to care for her, they figured she'd be better served to live with her father.
. . and so it's a really great scene, right from the moment Oliver enters the room, . . because it's at times comical, . . and heartfelt to gutwrenching and then such a healing moment between Oliver and Livvy, . . well, Olivia, really
And the story ends right at that moment, . . Sofia wanting to bang those two stubborn people's heads together, so she gathers them both in her own arms to hug them both close to her.
. . really and truly a genuine happy ending, Especially since we know that Oliver and Sofia are on their way to go downstairs for dinner, . . where they will announce their engagement and Sofia will take her rightful place seated next to Oliver at his dinner table.
.
Enjoy A Duke In Need Of A Wife Conveyed By Annie Burrows Listed As Softcover
Annie Burrows