Judith’s review of The Art of Duke Hunting (Royal Entourage #2) by Sophia Nash
The Hangover meets Regency England in RITA Award-winning author jSophia Nash’s wickedly clever and wonderfully sensual Royal Entourage historical romance novels. In The Art of Duke Hunting, the second in her series, the dashing Duke of Norwich–on the morning after a most extravagant royal bachelor party that he simple cannot recall–awakens on board ship and well out to sea…and in the arms of a stranger, an enchanting and most proper lady. The Art of Duke Hunting is funny, sexy, and wonderfully romantic, as fans of Karen Hawkins, Elizabeth Boyle, and Victoria Alexander will most assuredly agree. And unlike the members of the Royal Entourage, you will happily recall every delicious moment of it.
This second novel in the “Royal Entourage” series features characters who are a part of the close inner circle of the Prince Regent of England, a man who lived “high on the hog” and whose excesses are the stuff of historic legend. Unlike many historical romance novels, “Prinny” as he was called is an active character. His close friends have really screwed up this time–a bachelor party for one of the highest ranking dukes was so out of bounds and actually destructive that the unwashed masses in England (as they were often characterized) have finally had their fill. As a means of reclaiming any modicum of his people’s loyalty, Prinny has decreed that his circle are ALL going to be married and being living staid and proper lives with wife and babies and such. Here the Duke of Norwich, best friend to the Duke of Kress (who is a main character in the first novel) has disappeared as far as his chums are concerned. Actually he ended up on a passenger ship bound for the Continent and he is scared spitless. A long held and well-known curse rests on his family and he just knows he is going to die by drowning. Thus he has determined that he will never marry and the line of succession will end with him. Obviously, someone of the female persuasion has a different idea as she has determined that the duke is going to be around for awhile. If that were not the case, we wouldn’t have a story, would we?
This is a truly fun novel and lovers of historical fiction will find lots here that will please. The heroine is a woman of strong will and self-determination. She is a widow and she knows what she wants and it is, first and foremost, her own independence. That is, until she offers “comfort” to the duke while they are caught in a storm that could have easily sunk their ship and ended their lives. Out of this sexual encounter comes the necessity of a marriage–of convenience, to be sure, but a marriage that the duke is determined will never produce an heir. The new duchess is an artist of note and while she wants to proceed with her original plans to tour distant lands and their artistic treasures and museums, she has developed a “connection” or perhaps it is safe to say a sense of affection for her erstwhile husband, even though they have agreed that they will lead separate lives. In this case, that agreement appears to be in trouble.
This is another fine novel from a writer that has given romance lovers some fine novels and this book will not disappoint. The two main characters are people of the kind that we would probably love knowing, in spite of their aristocratic station. They have set goals for their lives, want to live productively rather than while away their days playing, and feel a deep sense of responsibility for the families who depend on them for their livelihood and future prosperity. The duke is a man who also has an artistic bent but it has been ridiculed out of him by a hard and unloving father. Yet he uses his talents to develop a new method of bring fresh water to the citizens of London. In the midst of their strange relationship is the knowledge that the Prince Regent’s popularity is nil and the Duke of Norwich’s marriage is still a well-kept secret–on the command of Prinny himself. So there is political stuff here, romance of a rather strange nature, and two people who have difficulty coming to terms with the situation in which they find themselves.
I give this book a rating of 4 out of 5
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