The story would have been nice - murder and intrigues all over the place. But.In the beginning it was quite nice. Then somehow everything got lost - until they found their first clue or accomplished anything half of the book had past and well... it got boring. You could think that they are both intelligent people, but somehow they only stumbled across things along the way and didn't THINK about anything. Each of their accomplishments were by accident and not because they put the pieces together. It took Lucas more than half of the book to think about giving her ( I have forgotten her name) the letters from his brother. Even though he knew that she was an expert in language and decoding! Than. The love story. Okay, so Miss-I-have-forgotten-her-name was hurt by her last fiance. Well, I understand being vary after this experience. However: this was dragged out. No, this was more than dragged out. This was unbelievable, and not in a good way. I stopped reading and it takes a lot for me to stop reading a book. Two stars, because the beginning and the idea was good. And I liked the Ugly Ducklings. But that's about it. If I'm not mistaken, this should be Manda Collins's debut novel and while the book shows some flaws, I see some great potential here as the writing is elegant, the dialogues are witty with sometimes hints of sheer humour and the plot feels interesting and refreshing. The love story between Lucas, the Duke of Winterson, and Miss Cecily Hurston, a "bluestocking-turned-fashion-plate", is really sweet. In this case, is the heroine, still suffering from having been jilted three years before, who is more reluctant in admitting her love for the hero who, instead, tries to demonstrate his feelings by joining Cecily in her quest for the truth about an unfortunate archeological expedition in which her father was involved and which caused the disappearence of his secretary, who happens to be the hero's brother too. The denoument of the mystery from the 2\3 of the book on is well constructed and is able to provide some badly needed action. Where I found the novel more lacking is in the chemistry between Lucas and Cecily. The first love making occurs too early in the story to provide enough sexual tension as any romance novel should show and the heroine behaves with a great deal of inconsistency: she states that she doesn't want to suffer for love ever again in her life, but then she's willing to share a sexual affair with the hero having met him just few days before (in 1800-something) and then she accepts his proposal without batting an eyelash, sure to be able not to fall in love with him by shutting him out of her life during the day, but letting him in her bed at night once in a while (?!).Again, the author's skill in writing is very promising, but I think Ms Collins should work a little bit harder on the historical setting, on the heroine's characterization and the dynamics of the leading couple's falling in love needs to be better and more deeply fleshed out. That said, this remains an enjoyable, if average-fare, romance and Ms Collins appears to be a brand new author well worth a try and I'm more than willing to look for her next efforts.
What do You think about How To Dance With A Duke (2012)?
The mystery and romance is in perfect balance. Truly enjoyed this book.
—Aakarsh
