Love Letters from a Duke

Elizabeth Boyle's romances always deliver a fun read! The surprise in this book is the twists and turns of intrigues by other characters, that trip up the hero and heroine, as well as, save the day. The events and characters stretch the bounds of miscommunication gone a-muck; for chuckles. The hero and heroine remain determined to let the other stew in their own mistakes, while the reader is in on the joke. The cast of characters, filling out the story, come to life with their own personalities and issues. This is part of a series, since Felicity is the pivot point and author of "The Bachelor Chronicles", so there are references to other stories in the series, but only lightly peppered through the pages. Regency romance readers who want high drama and detailed perfection from that time of "the ton" might want to skip this story. This is a- tripping the light fantastic of historical romance- fun. I personally find that stories that use the regency period, for dramatic impact, as dreadfully trite. Ms. Boyle uses the regency setting of scandals and ruin mainly for hairstyle and dress. "Letters from a Duke" shows Ms. Boyle loves storytelling, loves her characters and loves entertaining her readers. She writes with a style I adore.

I loved this!! It was my first Elizabeth Boyle book and I quickly bought her other ones. This is the first mistaken identity book I've read where I thought the author totally pulled it off. From the second Felicity answers the door in her red woolen socks, I was sucked in. And I stayed there until THE END. I loved the characters. I could so see Felicity's vulnerability under her "I'm going to marry the duke and take care of everyone" facade. This was skillfully done. It's difficult to portray this in a character but Elizabeth Boyle did it splendidly. It wasn't a false bravado that Felicity sported but rather a dogged determination that had a touch of desperation to it. I loved the chemistry between Felicity and Thatcher and can't understand why a couple of people didn't feel that. I not only felt the physical chemistry, but I felt a genuine liking of each for the other, something that doesn't happen in a lot of romances. It was especially amusing that Felicity didn't want to like him and kept trying not to. I had not read any of Boyle's other books, yet I had no problem following this one, so for me I would have to say it definitely was a standalone book. Reading the earlier books later was quite a delight, really. I knew what was in store for Felicity and that made me smile. Yes, the supporting characters were sometimes a little whacky, but honestly, no more whacky than my family members (or yours, probably). And anyway, this is fiction. If I want to read something with no imagination, that doesn't demand any leap of faith, I'll read non-fiction. This story was fast-paced and I never knew what was going to happen next, yet as it happened, it was like, Of course! Why didn't I realize that was coming? I love it when an author surprises me and everything fits perfectly into the story. I laughed out loud several times during this book, and that's important to me. Even if a book has me crying during the dramatic parts, I expect to laugh somewhere along the way, or it's not for me. I loved it. What more can I say except I'll be looking forward to her forthcoming stories.

With her regal bearing, Felicity Langley has been called `Duchess' since she was a child. Barely making it on her monthly allotment of pin-money, Felicity would do whatever she could to ensure her unconventional family and servant's well-being by providing a season for her sister and cousin and by marrying a wealthy duke. Carrying on a lengthy correspondence with the Duke of Hollingsworth, she is on the brink of finally meeting him and sealing their betrothal. What Felicity didn't know was that the man she'd been corresponding with was not Aubrey, the newly titled duke of Hollingsworth, but his match-making and controlling grandfather. Aubrey had thought to escape the controlling tendencies of his grandfather years ago by changing his name and joining the army under the name of Thatcher. As a second son, he never dreamed he would have to assume the title. Returning home and learning of his grandfather's mechanisms to again control his life, Thatcher immediately set out to break the promised betrothal. Alas, when he arrived at the Mayfair mansion, Felicity - set back momentarily by the handsome but scruffy looking fellow at the door - assumed he'd come from the agency sending over a footman. Sparks flew between the two and in a case of mistaken identity, both would be torn. Felicity to give into passion for a mere footman, rather than marrying a wealthy peer to protect and provide for her family; and Aubrey into letting his grandfather control his destiny, or giving into his all consuming passion for Felicity. *** For me, I found this story positively enchanting! Not only does Ms. Boyle write a delectable and fun love story, but populates it with the most engaging set of unforgettable secondary characters that will have you sighing in contentment and laughing out loud at some of their more outrageous predicaments. The author keeps the action level high in this fast-paced and charming romp of Regency England. The author fashioned Felicity as both an engaging and soft-hearted beauty with just a smidgen of larceny in her heart - willing to do whatever needed to be done to protect and provide for her sister and cousin. Taking on the responsibility of providing for her family after her madcap father had either been killed or disappeared (this point was never fully disclosed) Felicity and her sister were left to the mercy of their penny-pinching solicitor. Neither would gain their inheritance until they turned of age (twenty-five). I loved that Boyle managed to insert humor as Felicity provided HER reasoning as to why a male gained his inheritance at twenty-one and the female at twenty-five - and no, I'm not going to tell you and ruin her very logical and humorous explanation. This you'll just have to read for yourself! As for Felicity's reaction and attraction to a mere footman, and a scruffy looking one at that, well let us just say that Boyle is a master at creating believable chemistry between her leads. Aubrey/Thatcher who arrived at

- This is Ms. Boyle's BEST yet! - There are only two things I disliked about "Love Letters From A Duke." 1- As someone else mentioned there characters and background storylines from previous books. The references in "LLFAD" didn't help me recall as much as I felt like I needed to. I almost wanted to go back and read the previous books again before finishing "Love Letters From A Duke" because while I recognized the names I couldn't really recall their storylines or personalities. I read a lot and even though I might really like (or dislike) a book, it's hard for me to remember details much beyond the day I put a book down, much less months or a year later. A few authors have started releasing trilogies one a month consecutively so that you can read them back to back within 3 months. I love this and wish that would become standard. I understand the time needed to research and write a book, but it would be wonderful if there weren't these gaps of waiting a year for the next book when it's a series or trilogy. 2- I dislike the small font and narrow line spacing used in "LLFAD." Aside from that, this was a *wonderful* book and definitely Ms. Boyle's BEST yet! The situation Felicity, her sister Tally, and cousin Pippin are in plus the misunderstanding of Thatcher being taken for a footman instead of the Duke he is was absolutely comical! I smiled (if not outright chuckled) throughout the entire book. =) Someone mentioned there was no "sexual awareness of each other, except... where Felicity yearns to be kissed..." well isn't that the way it is? Stop and think about first dates. It there's attraction, you get that tingly fuzzy feeling anticipating from looks, brief touches, getting close to one another, which just builds and builds the anticipation of "Is he going to kiss me? He is going to kiss me! Oh please kiss me!" And when that first kiss happens by the time you get there, it just makes you want to melt! That first kiss is what everything else builds off of. And Ms. Boyle did an excellent job of describing it. Another thing mentioned by a reviewer was they thought it was "unbelievable that no one told Felicity the truth about Thatcher being the duke." I think this reader must have done a lot of scanning because there were quite a few moments and incidents where someone came close to blurting or telling the truth about Hatcher. The way it was handled or avoided was what added to the wonderful humor of the situation. Thatcher definitely did some dancing and jumping through hoops and it was so very entertaining! Someone also mentioned that Felicity and Thatcher's feelings were never observed in public by someone outside of the family. Well all I can say is they missed one of the best scenes in the book. Ms. Sarah Browne and Lady Gaythorne caught Felicity and Thatcher outside the coffee shop. (That's where the 'hair brush' scene came in.) And this was one of those laugh-put-loud moments that gives you this huge smile because it reaches fruit