How To Catch A Duke by Grace Burrowes

Book Review Oct 06, 2022

My review

3/5 stars

This book looked like it was going to be right up my alley when I spotted it on the shelf in my local bookshop. It visually appealed to every reading bone in my body - I'm a sucker for Regency romances.

Sadly, it didn't hold my attention the way I expected it to. It was a strong start, the opening line was killer (literally), but after that things really slowed down and the language became overly complicated at times.

Abigail was a no-nonsense heroine, which I normally adore, and I did like her story, but something about her character just didn't click for me. After a bit of searching my brain, I'm still not sure I'm able to put my finger on why. Despite that, I found her chemistry with Stephen to be really well-written and their banter was very amusing.

I enjoyed how the book ended, but I felt that the book could have been significantly shorter and bought the reader to the same conclusion with no real loss of meaningful content. It was a nice enough read, but it didn't leave a mark with me as books of this genre normally do.

Book blurb

'I have come to ask you to kill me, my lord.'

Miss Abigail Abbott desperately needs to disappear - permanently - and the only person she trusts to help her do that is Lord Stephen Wentworth, heir to the Duke of Walden. Stephen is brilliant, charming, and - when he needs to be - absolutely ruthless. So ruthless that he proposes marriage instead of 'murder' to keep Abigail safe.

Stephen was smitten the instant his sister introduced him to Abigail, a woman with the dignity and determination of a duchess and the courage of a lioness. When she accepts his courtship of convenience, he also discovers she kisses like a wish come true. For Abigail, their arrangement is a sham to escape her dangerous enemies. For Stephen, it's his one chance to share a lifetime with the lady of his dreams - if only he can convince her his love is real.