The Duke And Miss Denny (Zebra Regency Romance)

I loved the cover of this book........Everytime I needed visualization, I found myself flipping back to the cover to admire this wonderful couple I was reading about. (please read synopsis of the novel on the main page, other reviewers have done an excellent job at it already). I prefer a little more passion in my Romance novels, and although this book did not have enough of it in it, I still enjoyed it with all my heart. The storyline was simple, the details of the Genre an education, and the Dialect was correctly portrayed. You just find yourself wishing this well suited couple the best of luck for the rest of their lives. I have three other unread books by this same author in personal library and because if her writing style, I know what to expect and will read them as soon as I'm in the mood for some excellent very light romance reading.

This book is, as they say, unexceptionable. It's about two people who fall in love, circumventing certain obstacles but mostly coming to terms with their own feelings and trying to find a way of expressing them in a world where their behavior is highly circumscribed. The Duke and Miss Denny behave, throughout, like reasonable, thoughtful, and loving people. There is no adventure to speak of, and nothing spicy, either. The book carries the hero and heroine through a number of standard Victorian settings: garden parties, Almack's, Hyde Park. I thought the ending of the book was superb, perhaps the best possible solution for the two: it is just as sensible, and just as sweet, as everything that came before. There is one thing that bothered me about this book. The duke's attraction to Miss Denny is predicated in a large part on how naturally she behaves towards him, always joking and frank and familiar. It's a contrast to the listless, characterless manners that other debutantes are taught (and exemplified here by the duke's cousins, who are excellent comic relief throughout the book). However, a lot - in fact, probably most - of the duke and Miss Denny's conversation has to do with the fact that he's a duke. Miss Denny is always bringing it up. She is constantly defining his character traits around his title - the ducal things he does, and the ducal advantages he has, and the ducal disadvantages, too. Maybe the idea is that the duke can be honest and talk about his position with her, but I could have wished for a broader range of conversational topics.

I read a reference to this novel at one of the romantic fiction review sites and ordered a secondhand copy to see for myself if it was "up to snuff" as they say! Oh, yes indeed! What a surprise! I love well-written stories with characters who can capture my imagination by virtue of being believeable, a little flawed and possessed of good conversation. A small point: Our heroine is always referred to by the author as "Miss Denny" - a little bit of formality that helped plant the story firmly in Regency soil. Briefly, Miss Judith Denny's sister, Lady Spicer, has married well and is hosting Miss Denny for the season. Miss Denny, being the daughter of a country vicar, is not particularly ambitious. Indeed, her sister's marital problems (excellently portrayed) make her keen to secure the right sort of relationship for herself. And, in the kindest and mildest way, she is keen to facilitate a rapproachement between Lord and Lady Spicer. One night, she meets James, Duke of Ashland. An incredibly wealthy and powerful man, the Duke is nonetheless a man of excellent character: honest and humble and in no way impressed by his own self-worth. Indeed, he shies away from the pomp and ceremony of his position and is very much attracted to the plain spoken, kindly and serene Miss Denny. The conversations between them are a joy to read. There is no real "crisis" in the story; no "alarums and excursions" as Georgette Heyer used to mention. Although Miss Denny hesitates to accept a man whom she views as out of her league, because both of them are honest and direct, they are clearly destined for each other - and they both know it in their hearts. I recommend this highly. Exquistely written with characters who engage and entertain - you feel you would like to know them personally. One reviewer commented that she has read this book many, many times. It's definitely going on my keeper shelf to be enjoyed again and I shall seek out other novels by Joy Reed.

I love this book; I read it over and over and over, a la my Carla Kelly collection, in fact, it appears on my list of romances I have read over 20+ times. One of the reasons I adore it is the juxtaposition of the characters; Judith Denny is a simple, almost plain parson's daughter under the wing of her dashing ton sister, Lady Fanny Spicer, whose staid husband Henry is ignoring her, leading Fanny into an indiscretion with another gentleman, and into giving Judy advice to treat eligible gentlemen very shabbily; hence the Duke of Ashland, a reserved, alarmingly handsom creature with hilariously frail cousins. There's a longer love train on these tracks than at an O'Jay's concert, but Reed makes it all work, and with the elan one expects from one of the best romance writers working in Regencies today. Judith and Ashland are whimsically and winningly drawn, and I hope everyone can be persuaded to read this book.

I was deeply impressed and immersed in this novel from the time I picked it up, and began reading it. The only thing that kept me from giving it 5 stars was the fact that there was about a 40 page span during the middle that slowed down the progress of the plot, and the momentum of the story. Otherwise, it was a delightful read, with a truly lovely heroine, and a dashing, if at sometimes bewildered hero. Overall, a wonderful story about two people falling in love, and about bringing back together two people who don't seem to realize they are still in love. The last is a little sidebar going on during the course of the main characters love story.