Wednesday, April 13, 2016

"The Reluctant Duchess" by Roseanna M. White



About this book:

  “Lady Rowena Kinnaird may be the heiress to a Highland earldom, but she has never felt good enough—not for her father, not for the man she thought she’d marry, not for God. But after a shocking attack, she’s willing to be forever an outcast if it means escaping Loch Morar and the men who have jeopardized her life.
  Brice Myerston, the Duke of Nottingham, has suddenly found himself in possession of a rare treasure his enemies are prepared to kill for. While Brice has never been one to shy away from manor-born ladies, the last thing he needs is the distraction of his neighbor, Lady Rowena, who finds herself in a desperate situation. But when the moody Earl of Lochabar tries to trap Brice into marrying Rowena, Brice finds he’s not as opposed to the idea as he expected to be.
  Rowena wanted to escape the Highlands, but she’s reluctant to resort to marrying a notorious flirt just to gain his English home. And when she learns that Brice is mixed up in some kind of questionable business with a stolen treasure, she ’fears she’s about to end up directly in the path of everything she was trying to avoid.”



Series: Book #2 in the “Ladies of the Manor” series. (Review of Book #1, Here!)


Spiritual Content- Many, many prayers; Many talks about God & His will; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Rowena thinks God left her (or never bothered with her) *Spoiler* She truly prays about 100 pages till the end *End of Spoiler*; Brice has a faith & the Lord talks to him; Many, many mentions of prayers; Many mentions of God; Mentions of the Lord talking to Brice; Mentions of a vicar & sermons; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of George Muller; Mentions of miracles;
*Note: Talks about superstitions & the unseen; Many, many mentions of a curse & superstitions; Mentions of a tiger god & ghosts; Mentions of darkness & evil; A couple mentions of witches, devils, & demons; A mention of Medusa & Neptune.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘what the devil’, a ‘why in blazes’, two ‘dash it all’s, four ‘idiot’s, ten forms of ‘stupid’, fourteen forms of ‘blast’; Many mentions of curses (said, not written); Pain & Blood (semi-detailed); Many, many, many mentions of pain, bruises, beatings & abuse (semi-detailed); Mentions of suicide & (Rowena has) suicidal thoughts; Mentions of wounds, blood & gunshots (semi-detailed); Mentions of a murder, killing & almost being strangled (semi-detailed); Mentions of Book #1’s kidnapping, murder & criminals; Mentions of violence & threats; Mentions of drinking, those who have had too much & pubs; Mentions of throwing up; Mentions of gossip; Mentions of hating & wanting someone dead; Mentions of jail; A few mentions of divorce.


Sexual Content- eight hand kisses, a neck kiss, four cheek kisses, a nose kiss, five forehead kisses, four barely-above-not-detailed kisses, four semi-detailed kisses and a detailed kiss; Touches (up to semi-detailed); Nearness & Sitting on a man’s lap (semi-detailed); Snuggling & Noticing a woman’s curves; Noticing & Smelling; Nearly all about when Rowena was attacked/raped (did not happen on the pages, but lots of mentions of it and remembering it. Cuts off before anything major happened; *Spoiler* Rowena is carrying his child from the attack. *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of the man forcing himself on Rowena (barley-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of bleeding, miscarriages & a woman’s monthlies/courses; Many mentions of touches & hints of sexual touches; Many mentions of kissing & kisses; Many mentions of wedding nights, the marriage bed, being physically married & a man physically loving his wife; Many mentions of (and talks about) love, desires, passion & wanting more in the physical side of a marriage; Many mention of affairs, mistresses & illegitimate children; Many mentions of nightmares (and screams) from being forced upon (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of ruined women, honor & reputations; Mentions of the shame from an attack; Mentions of compromises women; Mentions of coming upon a girl who was raped and killed (mentions of screams, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of rumors of a husband being in love with another man’s wife; Mentions of unmarried young adults spending the night alone together (nothing sexual happens, but everyone assumes so); Mentions of married couples sharing a bed; Mentions of a woman who died in childbirth; Mentions of lust; Mentions of flirting & blushes; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of entering the opposite gender’s bed; A few mentions of a wet nurse; A few mention of the circumstances if a rushed wedding (the woman being pregnant); A couple mentions of the business of creating a child (the thoughts are stopped before anything detailed); A mention of marital favors; A mention of the life of celibacy; Wanting to be married in every sense and hints (barely-above-not-detailed); Love, a marriage of convenience, falling in love & the emotions.

-Rowena Kinnaird, age 20
-Brice Myerston
                                P.O.V. switches between them, Lilias, & Stella
                                              Set in 1912
                                                        393 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Like the previous book in this series, “The Lost Heiress”, the cover, spine & back cover are absolutely stunning. Roseanna M. White is a good author who writes this time period well. I really wanted to like this book, I really did. I wish I could give this book at least a two stars for older girls, because by the end, faiths grow, everything works out and the gorgeous cover…and spine…but, I just can’t because of the content. I didn’t dislike Rowena, just all what she was put through. The girl just made me want to hug her and any other girl who has gone through similar stuff. My heart just breaks for girls in that situation. While this book might be healing for young women who have gone through the awfulness that is a rape, it might trigger some memories.
I’m not a Downton Abbey fan at all and maybe since this book is marketed to fans of that show, they would enjoy it more.
There are many mentions of the marriage bed and while the marriage is not consummated on the pages (which I appreciate immensely), I just personally didn’t find this a very pleasurable read.


See y’all on Friday with a new review!


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Bethany House Publishers) for this honest review.

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