How To Catch A Duke by Grace Burrowes

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.

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You can buy the book here now. It was published by Piatkus.

For more on the author, you can head to her website, follow her on Instagram, or check out her Goodreads page.