Until he meets Astrid Honeywell. And a giant pig. And a crooked castle in the middle of Yorkshire.
Astrid Honeywell, staunch bluestocking, has struggled for years to keep her family together by running the estate and family brewery after her father's death. She is not about to let the tyrannical Duke of Montford steal away all she has worked for because of some antiquated contract between their families. So when the priggish Duke comes to call, she does everything in her power—including setting the family pig on him—to drive him away.
She didn't expect him to be so... well, infuriatingly attractive. Every time he scowls at her, she has the most improper desire to kiss him—and a whole lot more.
Montford can't decide whether to strangle Astrid or seduce her. The one thing he knows for a fact is that he must resist his powerful attraction for her at all costs. He has a very proper, very demure fiancée waiting for him back in London, after all. But when Astrid is kidnapped by a disgruntled suitor and whisked off to Gretna Green, Montford will do anything to get her back.
Will these two drive each other to Bedlam... or can they make it to the altar without killing each other?
Comment: I got interested in this book because it would feature a different class couple and I do confess I like stories with this trope, especially when the hero is more powerful or richer and how authors can make the relationship work in a balanced way. Yes, maybe I need to dream with Cinderella situations in my books, but why not since reality is so unfair anyway.
This story begins with proper and somewhat rigid duke of Montford traveling to one of his estates to personally check on a situation that has become rather shady. He hopes to arrive, solve the problem and go back to his well working routines. However, when he arrives at the estate that, through certain agreements done in the past, is the location where the famous Honeywell ale is done, all he finds is chaos and a decaying castle while the surrounding tenants prosper. He meets Astrid Honeywell who, after her father's death, has assumed the reins of the business but the duke hopes to solve the situation quickly.
The problem is that miss Honeywell isn't a demure, easily swain young woman but instead someone he can't help but be fascinated and attracted to. In fact, being around her makes him change his personal rules so much he quickly sees himself doing things he never imagined. But with such different personalities, can they find common ground to be happy?
Being a fan of historicals and, like I said, of different classes tropes, I was quite eager to read and enjoy this book. I imagined a sweet but challenging acceptance of mutual appreciation while the protagonists finally accepted they are a good couple but my hopes of a situation like this happening were quickly gone because this book is meant to be a comedy.
I like comedies like everyone else but in movies or series. It's so much easier to show on a screen the situation that makes one laugh but in books I must say this is harder for me to like or understand.
If a book is supposed to be funny and it isn't (as always, it depends on the perception/taste of who's reading) then I usually feel like I'm missing something and I did feel this sometimes with this book. I think the better tactic would be to not center the whole plot on comedy but instead insert scenes or situations here and there and the fun parts would have more impact, in my opinion.
Regarding this book in general, I found the constant attempt to present funny and comedy situations to be more often silly than cleverly engendered.
The main characters, the duke and Astrid had interesting common traits but honestly, I just think most of it was forced on the reader because they were attracted to each other but not really suitable. However, since they had opposite personalities (she is bubbly and determined and sometimes a little too inconsiderate of her surroundings and he is proper and used to have his rules being met and his orders fulfilled) it almost looked like we had to see how perfect they were to one another, how they complemented themselves: she would give him laughter and amusing moments and he would be a rock for her financial and social needs while "bringing her back to earth" when needed.
I can understand the tactic and the author did try many scenes where they would be confronted with their flaws but I was not convinced they were that understandable of each other's more serious traits and personal space.
Of course there were genuinely funny situations and very interesting romantic details and sentences while we see the main relationship develop. The writing wasn't always consistent and I cringed when the villain was introduced and how some characters so easily changed from what we were told they were supposed to be like.
From this book alone, I don't think I could appreciate or endure much more of this author's style. There were some serious moments and dialogues here and there but they were so rare and without a good follow up (like when Astrid's sister Alice explains her reasons for being unmarried yet despite wanting to have a family) that I think this was a fail. If a book is only filled with comedy it can be very easily perceived as too silly and I confess there were moments I felt that.
All things considered, this had interesting elements, a few good situations, it did get me curious on how the characters would evolve but it took me longer than what I anticipated to finish and by not being that eager to read, I could easily do other things instead. It was a good experience to have a little idea of this author's style but I didn't get convinced I should try another.
Grade: 5/10
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