Tracy’s review of The Duchess Diaries (Bridal Pleasures #3) by Jillian Hunter
As headmistress of the Scarfield Academy for Young Ladies, Miss Charlotte Boscastle is tasked with keeping her charges free from notoriety. But when Charlotte’s diary goes missing, she can’t imagine having her most intimate secrets fall into the wrong hands.
Although the confessions in the diary he found spark his interest, the Duke of Wynfield has every intention of returning the journal. But when Gideon’s encounter with Charlotte takes on an unexpectedly passionate nature, his indiscretion causes a scandal that only marriage can cure…
Charlotte has been writing diaries since she could actually pick up a quill. She started writing things. that happen in her life and in those of the Boscastle family which were quite entertaining. She soon discovered that her own life as a schoolmistress of the Scarfield Academy was quite staid and she wanted a little excitement. Since she had first seen the Duke of Wynfield she had been completely infatuated with him. In reality she had only seen him a handful of times but in her diary the pair were having a wild and intimate affair.
The head of a rival academy wants to bring Scarfield down. Miss Clipstone pays someone to steal the diary so that she can spread its content far and wide bringing scandal to Scarfield and Charlotte. Charlotte is devastated when she finds the diary gone and enlists her friend and now family member, Harriet, to help her retrieve it. They actually break into the Duke’s house since Harriet had left the diary in his coach accidentally. The Duke comes home unexpectedly and catches Charlotte – leaving them alone together and in a compromising situation. Charlotte’s family who is on a treasure hunt knocks on the Duke’s door and finds the pair together…can you hear the wedding bells ring?
The Duke, Gideon, isn’t thrilled to be getting married again – it was definitely not in his plans but he wants Charlotte in a fierce way. He finds himself wanting to see her more and more and finding that he’s quite happy when he’s with her.
For Charlotte it is a dream come true. The man she’s been dreaming about will be hers and she’s beside herself with happiness. If they could only get her diary back and find out who wanted it in the first place everything would be wonderful.
This was a very sweet story. I loved that Charlotte was getting her fairy tale – and finally marrying her prince charming. I’m always a sucker for a HEA.
While the story was sweet and quite sexy in parts it seemed to be missing something. It was a light airy read but it didn’t have a fabulous love story or even a incredible depth of character that I’ve seen in past Hunter books. The relationship with Gideon and Charlotte was cute and I liked both characters but we only got to see bits and pieces into Gideon. Because there was so much going on in the story with the diary and jumping from couple to couple I didn’t feel like I truly knew the main characters. There was also a bit of a story between an investigator by the name of Sir Daniel and a brothel owner named Miss Watson but that didn’t really pan out either. Maybe it will in future books, IDK.
The book was an entertaining read and if you like Jillian Hunter I’m sure it will entertain you.
Rating: 3.25 out of 5
You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place
This book is available from Signet Select. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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