Review: What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long.

Posted February 14, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

Publisher: Avon, Harper Collins


Rowena’s review of What I Did for a Duke (Pennyroyal Green Series, Book 5) by Julie Anne Long.

Hero: Alexander Moncrieffe
Heroine: Genevieve Eversea

For years, he’s been an object of fear, fascination . . . and fantasy. But of all the wicked rumors that shadow the formidable Alexander Moncrieffe, Duke of Falconbridge, the ton knows one thing for certain: only fools dare cross him. And when Ian Eversea does just that, Moncrieffe knows the perfect revenge: he’ll seduce Ian’s innocent sister, Genevieve—the only Eversea as yet untouched by scandal. First he’ll capture her heart . . . and then he’ll break it.
But everything about Genevieve is unexpected: the passion simmering beneath her cool control, the sharp wit tempered by gentleness . . . And though Genevieve has heard the whispers about the duke’s dark past, and knows she trifles with him at her peril, one incendiary kiss tempts her deeper into a world of extraordinary sensuality. Until Genevieve is faced with a fateful choice . . . is there anything she won’t do for a duke?

What a delightful read this book turned out to be. I expected to enjoy this book but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. This book follows the hero as he’s out for revenge against Ian Eversea. Ian Eversea did him a disservice and Alex is just the kind of man that would relish exacting revenge on Ian and before Ian knows what’s what, Alex is attending a house party at Ian’s family home and is paying special attention to his younger sister, Genevieve.

Genevieve on the other hand is suffering from a broken heart because the guy that she’s loved all of her life, her best friend, plans to propose to their other friend Millicent and Genevieve is hiding her broken heart behind smiles and false happiness because well, I don’t know why, just that she is. Not wanting to deal with the insufferable duke that has taken an interest in her. She has no clue why this duke is paying extra attention to her because she’s not the kind of girl that would garner such attention and she finds herself growing closer to him with each of their awkward conversations.

The story follows Alex and Genevieve on their way to their happy ending and I enjoyed watching their romance bloom so much. The dialogue between them at first was so awkward but the more time they spent with each other, the better their conversations got. I fell in love with Alex more and more with each passing day spent on Eversea land and I was so anxious for them to get together already.

I adored getting to know Genevieve. She was such a delightful heroine, one that loved and was loved in return. There was a scene between her and Ian where she’s having a bit of fun at his expense and I laughed out loud because of it. She was smart, she was strong and Alex was perfect for her. Her reaction to finding out about Rosemont and Harry? The names she called Alex? I loved it!

Then there was Alex. Oh how I adored getting to know this dark hero. He’s lost so much and everyone was so right at the same time that they were so wrong about him. He was so much fun to get to know and watching him grow fond of Genevieve, the words he said to her, the way that he was with her…I ate it all up! I loved it, every single bit of it. It was this guy who had me tearing up a time or two while reading this book and man I loved him so! He was seriously the bomb!

I think my favorite part of the book was watching Alex and Genevieve together. Venus and Mars. Watching them joke around with each other, battle wits against each other. It was all so much fun and fans of historical romances and fans of Long’s work will definitely fall in love with this story and the characters as well. It was all done so well and I’m so sad that it’s over for me. I wish I had read this one a bit slower because I would have prolonged my enjoyment of it.

Would I recommend this book? Heck yes!

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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