Tracy’s review of How to Marry a Duke
Tristan, the Duke of Shelbourne is a man with a mission: find a wife he can tolerate as long as they both shall live. Love is not necessary–nor desired. But how to choose among a dizzying array of wealthy-yet-witless candidates? Hire London’s infamously prim and proper matchmaker. Then pretend she’s not the most captivating woman he’s ever met…
Helping a devilish Duke create a contest to pick his perfect mate is the kind of challenge Tessa Mansfield relishes. Her methods may be scandalous, but she’s determined to find the notorious bachelor more than a wife–she’ll bring him true love. Yet when Tessa watches the women vie for the Duke’s affections, she longs to win his heart herself. And after a stolen kiss confirms Tristan’s desire, Tessa knows she has broken a matchmaker’s number one rule: never fall in love with the groom.
The Duke of Shelbourne, on more or less of a whim, decides that matchmaker Tessa Mansfield shall find him a bride. He’s ready to get married and with all the girls in London fawning all over him he can’t seem to make heads or tails of who will qualify to be good enough for his bride. He’s made a list of what he’s looking for in a bride and he’s not going to make exceptions.
For Tessa this is the chance of a lifetime. She’s one of the richest women in England, although she doesn’t flaunt her wealth, and she never takes payment to find a match. She really wants to find love for all of the women that London tends to overlook. She agrees to help find the Duke a match as she thinks it will help get her name out to all of the men and women who need to find love. But the Duke doesn’t want love, he just wants a bride to further the Shelbourne line and not let the title fall back into the hands of the Crown.
What Tessa comes up with is a historical version of The Bachelor. She couldn’t find any one woman who fit Shelbourne’s idea of the perfect bride in one woman so she chose many who had at least some. She came up with 24 women who would be eliminated or given invitations week by week. Shelbourne is more than a little pissed at the spectacle that Tessa has created but decides he’s got nothing to lose. The problem is that while he’s speaking to the “contestants” and doing a little “speedy courting” he’s thinking the whole time of Tessa. How can he focus on finding a good bride for himself when he can’t stop thinking about the matchmaker?
When I first started this book I was a little irked. I couldn’t believe that the author had done a historical version of The Bachelor! I decided to read on and keep an open mind. Next thing I know Tessa’s got the Duke doing a little speed dating. Arg! It was almost too much! However, I’d liked what I’d read so far (not including the contest and speed dating) so I powered on. Well I’m happy to say I’m so glad that I did. How to Marry a Duke ended up being a really good book. Yes, there was a contest going on but the story really focused on Tessa and Tristan’s budding relationship. The tension between the two was really great at times and by the time the two ended up kissing it was pretty explosive.
Tristan was portrayed as a rake, but if he was, he was a pretty mild one, I think. Yes, he’d had affairs with widows but he’d really kept things on the down low in order to avoid scandal. I think his supposed rakishness came from him not being completely circumspect while at parties and speaking with former lovers – I guess in those days that was scandalous enough. But I really liked him. He seemed to me to be a man with a good heart. He loved his family dearly, even though he didn’t understand his mother at all. He did have issues with his dead father and was determined to be nothing like him but after hearing about his father I didn’t blame him at all.
There was yet another part of the story that included Tessa’s past. Tessa’s past was the basis for her decision to remain independent and not marry. Unfortunately the past had reared its ugly head in the form of a former beau that Tessa wanted nothing to do with. The problem I had with this part of the story was really that it wasn’t until almost the end of the book that we found out what the big secret was – and we found out when Tristan did. I wasn’t any happier than Tristan when I found out but for a different reason all together. I understood that it was meant to be suspenseful and keep you reading but I found it a bit annoying.
So I’ve told you my niggles but overall the book was pretty darned good. On top of what I’ve mentioned the story also had some wonderful secondary characters. The Duke mother, his friend Hawk and Tristan’s sister Julianne were all lovely supporting characters and made the book that much better. I think if you’re looking for a fun historical but one that has some great romantic elements this would be a good book for you.
Rating: 4.25 out of 5
You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place
This book is available from Forever. You can buy it here
Mansfield Tessa is beautiful spirit, independent, rich in its own right, and determined not to marry than deep secrets of her past could cause a major scandal. However, when the Duke suddenly asked him to help him find a wife, she agreed, despite the risks. This possibility would be useful to continue his career as a matchmaker, a service that is free only to see their pleasure when the couple found their true love.