What a Duchess Does by Judith Lynne

Judith Lynne

Author

What a Duchess Does

She's in no position to turn down a duke. They both know it. That doesn't mean the game is over... Selene's mother is deathly ill, and there's little a poor housemaid can do. Working in her cousin's house, grateful for the roof over her head, Selene doesn't dream anymore of a titled marriage. Only a little of falling in love. Nicholas Hayden, the Duke of Talbourne, learned early in life never to show what he wanted. But sad experience, and silence, won't help him conquer his passion for the housemaid he has rescued — a passion that threatens everything he has built for his life. A mother's scheme with a duke as cold as the devil could transform Selene from a housemaid to a duchess in a matter of days. But Selene dares to want a marriage that isn't just for show. If she's going to make a deal with this devil, she has demands of her own.

Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10

Originality: 8 out of 10

Prose: 8 out of 10

Character/Execution: 8 out of 10

Overall: 8.00 out of 10

Assessment:

Plot: Someone is out to harm the new Duchess of Talbourne - beautiful, spirited Selene, whose blindness makes her an especially vulnerable target. Did her Duke marry for love, or for a more sinister reason? Or is her mysterious new husband the only protection Selena has against the forces that would destroy her? The mystery unravels at an even and highly-anticipated pace here.

Prose/Style: What a Duchess Does is a lively, engaging tale, with a well-executed emphasis on wit and banter. Judith Lynne also demonstrates that it is possible to write a genuinely erotic sex scene that sizzles on the page without so much as a hint of coarseness.

Originality: Lynne deftly puts a new spin on the classic Gothic romance trope of the "Cinderella fairy tale, or has the heroine married Bluebeard?" by giving her readers a heroine who is not only lifted out of poverty by the attentions of a nobleman, but who is literally blind to the threats that surround her union. Fresh, funny, and exciting, What a Duchess Does is a superior example of what it is possible for an intelligent, witty writer to achieve within the corseted constraints of the romance genre.

Character Development/Execution: It is a bold choice for the writer of a romance to remove her heroine from physical perfection, as Judith Lynne does in presenting her readers with a heroine who is blind. Like Jane Eyre before her, Selena wins the day because of her intelligence, heart, wit, and her refusal to be treated as a lesser human being by anyone for any reason.

Date Submitted: May 08, 2021

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