When You Wish Upon a Duke
Isabella Bradford


ISBN-10:
0345527291
ISBN-13: 978-0345527295
Publisher: Random House
Line: Ballantine
Release Date: Jul 31, 2012
Pages: 320
Retail Price: 7.99



Genre: Historical
Heat Level: Hot
Rating:

Raised in the Dorset countryside, Lady Charlotte Wylder doesn’t care one bit about well-bred decorum. The dark-haired, blue-eyed beauty would rather ride a horse than attend a stuffy ball. So when Charlotte learns that she is to leave immediately for London to wed the Duke of Marchbourne, a perfect model of aristocratic propriety, she is less than enchanted with her arranged marriage.

But to her delight, their first encounters are brazenly flirtatious, and their wedding night burns with passion. March’s broad shoulders and dark countenance make Charlotte want to rip every button off his waistcoast. She may even be falling in love with her new husband. Yet whenever their desire boils over, March reluctantly pushes Charlotte away. Will past secrets and present misunderstandings mire their marriage in scandal, or serve to strengthen a bond that is destined to last a lifetime?

 

Review

Bradford left me conflicted…

I enjoyed the characters:  the stiff and bent on propriety Duke of Marchbourne and the tom boy, not-so-proper Lady Charlotte Wylder. These two are opposites, under the experience of lust at first sight. Charlotte doesn’t really have a grasp on what she’s feeling; only that she enjoys being close to Marchbourne. The duke seems to be down for a good romp in the sheets, with the belief that his soon-to-be wife will fall in line with everything he wants once the wedding ceremony is complete.

Honestly, I wanted more. I thought long and hard about what more was and I wanted to see a bit more of ending to the story and a little less predictability. Bradford doesn’t really surprise me, and the wrap up to March and Charlotte’s story is a bit anti-climactic.

We start off with Charlotte being thrust back in to society after being away from the ton since childhood. She’s betrothed to the duke and perfectly happy with the arrangement, at least once she finds out he’s handsome. I expected to see Charlotte struggle amidst the ton, but she has an easy time of things without too many difficulties. In fact it’s very fairy-tale- esque, versus the true nature of the gossips. But because she was marrying one of the most ethical, moral dukes in the whole of England I let things slide.

The Duke always has people questioning is ability to be a model citizen and not end up like his debauched father, wine, whoring, and dining his way through life. So determined is March to be better than his father he doesn’t believe a passionate relationship with his wife is proper, and Charlotte is not okay with March’s philosophy. This part of the story, and March’s strong desire to avoid the power of lust was probably the most interesting. I enjoyed this struggle, and March is extremely stubborn. The internal battle’s he faces are probably the most powerful conflicts of the story as well. One of my favorite scenes is where March is describing his idea of a perfect wedding day, and his is anything but.

He’d envisioned his wedding night as a memorable occasion, one that he and his bride could reminisce fondly about for the rest of their lives… a quiet supper in the dining room for the two of them. They would sit by the windows and look at the park by moonlight. He had, in short, in all his careful planning, completely overlooked the fact that he hadn’t married and icy, idealized duchess. Instead he had we Charlotte, his Charlotte, the one lady in the world who had the charming power to both beguile and befuddle him to an astonishing degree.
I love how March is such a prude. He really believes that everything is fond admiration, and solemn embraces. To find him compelled to passions beyond what he expected was something fun to read about in the male perspective.

Overall, this was a more character driven story. There’s a plot, but the heroine faces little challenge or obstruction. As a reader I couldn’t relate to Charlotte and I expected something completely different. March is the most enjoyable character, a different type of Duke that I didn’t expect. I need more conflict, more challenges, and higher stakes. The romance was there, but plot and heroine seemed contrived.

Reviewed by Landra


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