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140th out of 261 books
—
326 voters
The Inconvenient Duchess (The Radwells #1)
by
Christine Merrill (Goodreads Author)
"Dear Cici and Father," "I have come to Devon and married a duke. And I'm more tired and hungry than I have ever been in my life. Please let me come home."
Compromised and wedded on the same day, Lady Miranda was fast finding married life not to her taste. A decaying manor and a secretive husband were hardly the stuff of girlish dreams. Yet every time she looked at dark, br...more
Compromised and wedded on the same day, Lady Miranda was fast finding married life not to her taste. A decaying manor and a secretive husband were hardly the stuff of girlish dreams. Yet every time she looked at dark, br...more
Mass Market Paperback, 297 pages
Published
October 1st 2006
by Harlequin Books
(first published January 1st 2006)
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What a bunch of party poopers. That, or I am completely out of touch. Having suffered through a few prize Regency romance stinkers recently, this was thoroughly entertaining from the get go. The dialogue is terrific, witty, and well-differentiated. The descriptions vivid and clear. Even the minor characters are given concise, hilarious treatment. The story is deftly told by a talented author. Very entertaining.
A droll, dry-humored, deeply cynical TDH hero and a wonderful, intelligent if water-l...more
A droll, dry-humored, deeply cynical TDH hero and a wonderful, intelligent if water-l...more
I got this free from Amazon.
Thanks to my mother, I am a sucker for Harlequin books. This one did not disappoint me. Merrill did a great job in creating great characters. Miranda, the female lead was the best. Usually the male lead is the favorite (duh) but she was such a great person. Funny and strong she had what it took to take over a household.
At first I thought there were words being misspelled but then I recognized the author must be from the UK. LOL
I thought the story was creative. It was...more
Thanks to my mother, I am a sucker for Harlequin books. This one did not disappoint me. Merrill did a great job in creating great characters. Miranda, the female lead was the best. Usually the male lead is the favorite (duh) but she was such a great person. Funny and strong she had what it took to take over a household.
At first I thought there were words being misspelled but then I recognized the author must be from the UK. LOL
I thought the story was creative. It was...more
It was a good read. The story's a bit darling. I liked the characters. I found their personalities quite unique. The story's about two strangers who had unpleasant pasts, gotten into forced marriage, and they're hoping to find contentment, happiness and love in each other through their marriage.
Marcus is a true people person despite his brooding. He's actually really nice and kind. He's a keeper and quite an excellent lover. Miranda is just so innocent and serene that made to my liking. Men like...more
Marcus is a true people person despite his brooding. He's actually really nice and kind. He's a keeper and quite an excellent lover. Miranda is just so innocent and serene that made to my liking. Men like...more
Feb 19, 2012
Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Regency romance readers
Shelves:
owned-copy,
harlequin-historicals,
historical-romance,
shotgun-marriage,
evil-sibling-or-relative,
cold-or-forbidding-hero,
grumpy-surly-brooding-hero,
widower,
bad-first-marriage,
2012-harlequin-silhouette-challenge,
tortured-hero,
yearly-reading-challenge,
2012-sky-s-the-limit-club,
family,
love-comes-softly,
regency,
sigh-worthy-hero,
heroine-i-liked
When you marry a person, you marry their family, bad and good. Both Miranda and Marcus take their share of family baggage into their marriage. Miranda's family is not good ton at all, with some quite shocking scandal in their background, and Marcus' family is full of ugly secrets and betrayal. Honestly, this book has some dark aspects to it. Marcus' brother was a real piece of work. He starts trying to destroy Marcus and Miranda's marriage from the beginning, and Miranda is naive to his schemes,...more
When Miranda Grey shows up on his doorstep, soaked by the rain, with a letter indicating an invitation from the late Dowager Duchess, Marcus Radwell, Duke of Haughleigh cannot turn her away. Since the vicar and his wife had met her on her way, and due to a death bed promise to his mother to consider the marriage, he was obliged to marry her to save her reputation. I usually enjoy a marriage of convenience story, and this one was entertaining. I liked Miranda, brought down by circumstances but ne...more
I would have given it 2.5 stars.
The Inconvenient Duchess by Christine Merrill tells a classic problem of two individuals who are tricked into marriage. This tale is a Harlequin Historical. It is currently free on Kindle.
Miranda finds herself wet and dripping on the doorstep of her future husband. Even though she’d been born a lady, the family’s fall from respectability, has her scrubbing floor and clearing gardens. A family friend through a series of letters with an old friend manages to concoc...more
The Inconvenient Duchess by Christine Merrill tells a classic problem of two individuals who are tricked into marriage. This tale is a Harlequin Historical. It is currently free on Kindle.
Miranda finds herself wet and dripping on the doorstep of her future husband. Even though she’d been born a lady, the family’s fall from respectability, has her scrubbing floor and clearing gardens. A family friend through a series of letters with an old friend manages to concoc...more
This is what I would consider to be "junk food" for the brain. You know it isn't good for you, it doesn't take look to consume and yet you read it anyway.
It wasn't a bad little read. It took me roughly 3 hours to read, it was a delight to go into, since my last read was a monster of a fantasy book. The characters were nicely done, not superbly done, but nicely. There was a lot of bantering back and forth. Way too much apologizing...every page it seemed someone was saying sorry... it was annoyin...more
It wasn't a bad little read. It took me roughly 3 hours to read, it was a delight to go into, since my last read was a monster of a fantasy book. The characters were nicely done, not superbly done, but nicely. There was a lot of bantering back and forth. Way too much apologizing...every page it seemed someone was saying sorry... it was annoyin...more
An Inconvenient Duchess by Christine Merrill - I enjoyed this historical romance. Miranda and Marcus' relationship had a believable evolution from strangers married in haste to couple in love. I liked that they're both honorable people. Miranda especially, a lady come down in station but with a dignity and a strong sense of self. I like the fact that despite being a grump, Marcus has a sweet and very romantic side. I know this is part of the setting but I really bristled whenever Miranda kept em...more
Miranda is gently born but after her father gambles their money away, she works as a maid. The woman who raised her fears that she's growing up too pretty, and so blackmails an old schoolfriend into inviting her as a guest to the ducal house. Because Miranda arrives late in the evening, without a maid, her reputation is compromised. The duke feels constrained to marry her, but leaves the next day to investigate her claims to gentility. Miranda is left in a dusty old mansion with the duke's scape...more
A charming read about two stubborn people falling in love after a hurried marriage marred by the fact that there are multiple sexually-based physical altercations (not rape) against the female protagonist, and a series of rapes in the background of a secondary character. There is, currently, a growing discussion about how much realism should be in books meant as escapism. I am firmly on the side of "as little as possible." There are plenty of books that handle the topics of sexually-based assaul...more
Got this as a free PDF download from Harlequin a bit over a month ago. One of the joys in my life is error-spotting. So I read this in neuNotes on the iPad and carefully noted each OCR error as it appeared, almost one every chapter, and early on in the chapter. By cataloguing them I rendered them unable to annoy the crap out of me - I just marked and moved on.
OCR issues aside I enjoyed this book a lot. It's not too jarringly anachronistic and the characters have a bit of depth and backbone. It i...more
OCR issues aside I enjoyed this book a lot. It's not too jarringly anachronistic and the characters have a bit of depth and backbone. It i...more
This is the new free read at tryharlequin.com , and it wasn't bad at all. I really liked the hero, who had been heartbroken and betrayed 10 years ago, and was so gruff and bitter and angry, but was a very kind and romantic soul under all that. He was really rather sweet. I also liked the heroine who was a take-charge no nonsense kind of woman, who was a bit naive, but didn't fall for the hero at first sight.
I didn't like the villainness of the villain though. St. John, the brother of the hero, w...more
I didn't like the villainness of the villain though. St. John, the brother of the hero, w...more
Perfect strangers are forced by circumstance to marry after knowing each other for only a day in this fine debut novel by Christine Merrill. Lady Miranda Grey arrives at the doorstep of Marcus, Duke of Haughleigh, within weeks of his mother's death. It seems that his mother felt guilty about her treatment of Miranda's guardian when they were both younger. As reparation, she had arranged to introduce the impoverished Miranda to Marcus as a potential wife. Marcus, who has been widowed for ten year...more
Speed review: I loved this.
The more I read of this, the more I was surprised this was published under a Harlequin line. If you're expecting a sweet regency with a cliched misunderstanding for the plot, you're in for a ride. This is a dark, sensual, forceful read and I had a tremendously hard time putting it down. The characters have secrets, all of them, and are so intertwined that at times you almost want to give the author thunderous applause at how deftly she wove this story together.
Miranda...more
The more I read of this, the more I was surprised this was published under a Harlequin line. If you're expecting a sweet regency with a cliched misunderstanding for the plot, you're in for a ride. This is a dark, sensual, forceful read and I had a tremendously hard time putting it down. The characters have secrets, all of them, and are so intertwined that at times you almost want to give the author thunderous applause at how deftly she wove this story together.
Miranda...more
I wanted to give this book a better rating, but i felt so many contradictions, from not being able to put it down, to wanting to hurl it across the room, that i had to settle for 3 stars. I loved the author's style, it is light, but very descriptive, it got me involved with the characters, which were all too flawed and human. There is where my problem with this book lies: for the first time while reading this type of book i felt conflicted, i loved the hero, he was wonderful underneath the gruff...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Pretty decent Regency Romance.
Marcus is a duke whose wife died in childbirth 10 years ago. His mother is dying and tells him that she is trying to right past wrongs (she wasn't a nice person) , and there is a girl she wants him to meet.
Miranda shows up without a chaperone (she can't afford one) in town asking for directions to the duke's house. The dowager duchess has died though and this leaves everyone in a very awkward position. Marcus proposes against his will to save her reputation.
After m...more
Marcus is a duke whose wife died in childbirth 10 years ago. His mother is dying and tells him that she is trying to right past wrongs (she wasn't a nice person) , and there is a girl she wants him to meet.
Miranda shows up without a chaperone (she can't afford one) in town asking for directions to the duke's house. The dowager duchess has died though and this leaves everyone in a very awkward position. Marcus proposes against his will to save her reputation.
After m...more
Starving and destitute, Lady Miranda is forced to visit the decrepit and crumbling manor of Marcus, a heartbroken lord that has lived on his own for the past 10 years. Arriving late at night with no escort, Marcus is forced to marry Miranda in order to save her honor.
Being from a questionable background, Marcus immediately leaves Miranda at home to inquire into her background, and he discovers some startling information about her. Meanwhile, back at the manor, Miranda has taken charge of the ho...more
Being from a questionable background, Marcus immediately leaves Miranda at home to inquire into her background, and he discovers some startling information about her. Meanwhile, back at the manor, Miranda has taken charge of the ho...more
This was a freebie over at Harlequin. It was a PDF, though, and on my Nook, it meant lines broken at odd spots which made for a less-than-smooth reading. The story was pretty good, though —a plot I haven't seen in the genre, so there was a lot of novelty for me. The heroine pretty much surrendered her own fate to circumstances and the social pressure of narrow-minded townsfolk and somehow came out the winner, so she must be the most incredibly lucky of all heroines; in the beginning, it seems sh...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I like books that make me feel things other than gushy mushy love. This one was great for that. This one got me so angry at one point that I wanted to throw my Kindle across the room. It's wasn't anger at the writer or the writing style, but at a character! I wanted to throttle her! It's a good thing the hero in this tale has a mostly level head (well, at least he is able to think things through properly AFTER he loses his temper and he isn't afraid to apologize).
I went through this book super...more
I went through this book super...more
Oct 15, 2012
Stacy S.
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
historical lovers
Shelves:
harlequin
After the constant barrage of erotica being stuffed down my throat by the social media, people, etc., until I was sick of it, 'The Inconvenient Duchess' was such a refreshing respite from it all. I read this 309 book in less than two days. By the time I got to the last sentence, I was disappointed it was over. Brilliant story, Mrs. Merrill.
Marcus Haughleigh, the Duke, was being conned--forced really--to marry before his mother, the dowager, passed away. Of course, Marcus didn't buy this ploy of...more
Marcus Haughleigh, the Duke, was being conned--forced really--to marry before his mother, the dowager, passed away. Of course, Marcus didn't buy this ploy of...more
3 1/2 stars - I downloaded this ebook for Free. I’m not a, “I start reading a book and have to finish it,” type of reader. I can stop anywhere, and I do. One paragraph, a couple of pages, a couple of chapters, half way through the book – so I go through a lot of books (especially a lot of free ones I put on my Kindle) without reviewing them because I think it might not be fair to review something I didn’t finish. But here I am, finally with a finished book to review.
I think "The Inconvenient Du...more
I think "The Inconvenient Du...more
This was a free book from Amazon. As a huge fan of Downton Abbey, I was excited to read this book. It had a dowager, duke, duchess, valets and footmen. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had witty banter and I enjoyed reading how the Duke's and Duchess's relationship developed. The main female character, Miranda, was my favorite. I love how she would stand up to the Duke, Marcus, when he was being cross. Although I do not have a problem with the ending, I wish we found out a little more about the Duke...more
NOTE: This is round two of my crash-course in Romance. This is my "historical" example... we'll see if it's as fun as the last, or if I'll simply be laughing at the ridiculousness...
HAVING READ THE NOVEL: So, now that it's been finished, I was most surprised by how different this was from the last romance novel. I guess it goes to show how ignorant most folks are when it comes to these things and why so many THINK they can write them, but instead churn out some horrible drivel that simply has "T...more
HAVING READ THE NOVEL: So, now that it's been finished, I was most surprised by how different this was from the last romance novel. I guess it goes to show how ignorant most folks are when it comes to these things and why so many THINK they can write them, but instead churn out some horrible drivel that simply has "T...more
This book was not a particularly swoon-worthly romance but I really loved that the characters actually talked to each other. So often the "deep dark secret" thing gets dragged out far past believability. I liked that once they started trusting each other, they actually *trusted* each other. They told their secrets. They asked for help. They worked together. GASP! How novel. How unfortunately rare. I also enjoyed that even though she loved his kisses, she was also turned on and thrilled by other...more
This is not a book without problems, but I ended up enjoying the hero/herione's characters and relationship enough that it definitely warrants a 3 - 3.5 star rating.
This is more along the lines of the marriage of convenience/forced marriage story I'm looking for (no instalove!), but I wish the majority of the first half of the book hadn't involved the hero and heroine in completely different places while the heroine bonded with his lying villain brother. There were fewer rough spots in the secon...more
This is more along the lines of the marriage of convenience/forced marriage story I'm looking for (no instalove!), but I wish the majority of the first half of the book hadn't involved the hero and heroine in completely different places while the heroine bonded with his lying villain brother. There were fewer rough spots in the secon...more
Immediately I was drawn to this story by the book description. The desperation and loneliness portrayed in just that first sentence made me want to read this story quickly. Unfortunately, I don’t know if the rest of the story lived up to that feeling. There was a secondary story/plot line that included the Duke’s brother that kind of turned me off. I felt that the new duchess went maybe one step too far than I would have liked. I really did enjoy the parts of the story that brought Miranda and M...more
Plenty of time to read now that I am on break and all of my grading is absolutely done until the New Year! Plus I seem to wake up hours before anyone else- we didn't even open Christmas presents until 11:30am yesterday! So I had time to get most of the way through this book and then finished it about 1am this morning when we got home and I only had 20 or so pages left to read! I thought by looking at the cover that it might have a Christmas theme but really it covered most of a year in a house....more
I got this from free Amazon kindle.Initially I hesitated to read this because I wasn't sure whether it would be interesting as it is an historical Romance book. After thinking too much I gave up and started to read to see whether its cool or not.
To my surprise I was hooked on from the start to the end , wanting to know so much ,what happens now etc... I like the characters Miranda and Marcus . I love all such moments between them and almost laughed when Miranda criticized his attitude and his Ma...more
To my surprise I was hooked on from the start to the end , wanting to know so much ,what happens now etc... I like the characters Miranda and Marcus . I love all such moments between them and almost laughed when Miranda criticized his attitude and his Ma...more
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Christine Merrill has wanted to be an author for as long as she can remember. But one thing stood in her way: touch typing.
Six weeks spent on an IBM Selectric in her Sophomore year of high school proved that she would never be able to produce one readable page of manuscript, much less several hundred.
Twenty years passed, and she found ways to pass the time: marrying her high school sweetheart; hav...more
More about Christine Merrill...
Six weeks spent on an IBM Selectric in her Sophomore year of high school proved that she would never be able to produce one readable page of manuscript, much less several hundred.
Twenty years passed, and she found ways to pass the time: marrying her high school sweetheart; hav...more
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Dec 26, 2012 10:48am
I'll give that a try. I did like her writing a lot.
Dec 26, 2012 12:48pm