Historical Romance Book Club discussion

Discussion thread for the third BOTM for April 2024. Please remember to use the spoiler tags when necessary! (Please see 'some html is ok' for instructions.)


The Duke Who Didn't by Courtney Milan

Join us in reading this HR that features the theme BIPOC. Happy reading!

Synopsis:

Miss Chloe Fong has plans for her life, lists for her days, and absolutely no time for nonsense. Three years ago, she told her childhood sweetheart that he could talk to her once he planned to be serious. He disappeared that very night.

Except now he’s back. Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing, has returned to the tiny village he once visited with the hope of wooing Chloe. In his defense, it took him years of attempting to be serious to realize that the endeavor was incompatible with his personality.

All he has to do is convince Chloe to make room for a mischievous trickster in her life, then disclose that in all the years they’ve known each other, he’s failed to mention his real name, his title… and the minor fact that he owns her entire village.

Only one thing can go wrong: Everything

Is anyone reading this one? It has mixed reviews. I have downloaded a kindle sample to try. I'm interested to hear some opinions on the book. Sounds as if it is different from Milan's previous books.

Hoopla has the audio book, so I plan to listen.

I have started this one Jan. Only one chapter in and I am not sure about it. I have put it aside for the moment.

I have not joined in a discussion for a while. I like the look of this book, the fact that there is a Chinese influence and the author is part Chinese and curious how this works in the Victorian era.

I started listening today. I finished the first chapter and started the second. Mary Jane Wells is an entertaining narrator, and I am enjoying thus far. I love Jeremy's internal dialogue. He acts self-confident and jokes with Chloe's snarkiness, yet he cannot tell her how he feels. With how slowly I listen to audio books, it will likely take me the rest of the month, about three weeks.

I finished chapter 2 today. Still enjoying it.

I tried the sample and I'm a bit lukewarm. I think I'll give this one a miss.

The audio book is pretty good - probably because of the narrator. As expected, it is taking me a long time; but I've listened to a couple more chapters. I love the internal dialogue and find Jeremy both amusing and earnest. I like a man who knows what he wants.

I'm over halfway. Hoping I can finish in 5 days.

I am not going to finish this month, but I am loving this audio book!

I finished and loved it - ended up rating it 5 stars. The narration was great! It was light and fun and funny. Both H and h had good character. The Chinese touches were nice.

Mariana wrote: "I finished and loved it - ended up rating it 5 stars. The narration was great! It was light and fun and funny. Both H and h had good character. The Chinese touches were nice."

Glad you enjoyed, Mariana. Perhaps I'll have another look at it some time.

I'm willing to give to another try too

The audio book is available on Hoopla if you have access.