Status Updates From The Duke Gets Desperate (Si...

Let’s bring coals to Newcastle.
“Suck my tits. “. Frivolous and unnecessary prurience. I am glad I am done.

As I am about to finish, at nearly 7 AM, (this insomnia is getting very old), the following sentence clinched my disapprobation:
“Take it. “Space he granted as he thrust up into her. “Take all of me. “ she moved with abandoned…

And the footman, Otis reveals that the Duchess was never involved with Alfred. Rather, she was uncomfortable. It was his imagination-unrequited love-that might have been her death

It was Alfred. But, surprise, it was also the housekeeper Mrs. Shaw.

“I’ve never had a best friend like you. Your quim wants to be friends.“
This is the kind of sentence that leaves the author in a second tier of writers that do not have an eloquence of language. But as I’ve noted before, who am I to criticize someone that is actually written a history romance.

The reason this title is so closely annotated is that it is not a page turner. Too many distractions with the language. But on this page, we are focused again on Alfred the painter, who has many debts. So as the TV detective Monk would say, “I’ve solved the case. “

And then the author comes back with a fairly poetic sentiment: “every time they made love, she gave him a part of her soul. “

“Now it’s time for frisky business. “
It is sentences like this that put me off this book regularly, yet I’m still reading. Overall, the the trope is interesting, but the narrative interferes approaching almost demeaning the reader.

But twist expected. Still curious about the theft of Lycugus cups, though Alfred seems to be the villain of the piece. The falling beam. The death of Deena in a possible fit of passion for spurning him? We shall see you soon.

The accompanying soundtrack to much of this book is the Eagles song ‘ lying eyes.’ and now at 90% of the narrative, the heroine is about to depart. Unsatisfactory.

Half the deck is on the table. The distance caused by lack of disclosure over ownership of the castle is in play. Raya tells the truth, directly and immediately. Strickland tells her he loves her, and she replies honestly, despite her delusion that she does not belong there, that he is using her as a whore. Bothersome obstacles.

“And that made Raya suspicious. “
Thinking on this as a Semite, Palestinians, Jews, and Arabs, and possibly many more ethnic groups, have histories of being very cautious, for good reason. Whether the author made this observation or it was just part of the plot, nonetheless, it does give the reader pause.

The publication date of this title is 2023, the year before October 7, 2024 when Hamas, unprovoked, slaughtered more than 1600 Jewish women, children, men infants, and which the Israelis retaliated killing over 60,000 Palestinians.
That Arabian culture and customs, or Palestinian, as in preparing musakhan, does provide the reader with some edifying content to balance out the prurient.

“In my heart, you are already my wife. “
The scale tips in favor of the author

Naseeb. In Arabic, it means fate. The reader must weigh the satisfaction of learning Arabic words with the vulgarity that accompanies.

“My beautiful Arab queen. “

An artifact seduction. Strickland undressed. Raya and adorned her with his gold treasures. The miscommunication of his friend’s sister Frances, (in love with Strickland) to teach her how to go on had distanced, their newfound intimacy. Finally on the same page?

Strickland retreats when he feels she doesn’t trust him when she actually has a fear of heights. Their business arrangements are signed, but a letter from her brother puts the marriage in jeopardy. It has been obvious from the get-go that they’re bickering is a language of seduction.
Like Lucy and Desi

He: “I cannot wait to eat a great deal more than that.”
She: “I do not know what that means and I am certain that I am better off that way. “
Sigh, I apparently have become, in my old age, a definite prude. Even in my memories, I cannot remember all my lovers. That was then, this is now.

The constant reference to tits is very distressing, as is the other vulgarities which are unnecessary and point to a lack of vocabulary

“Passion apparently has a mind of its own. “
So now they are arguing, what is new, about marriage. Auntie has found our heroine passed out from cider on Strickland‘s bed. She feels he just wants the castle. To be continued.

Fighting all day and fucking all night wasn’t the worst future. That about sums up the level of discourse. And now we come to the forced marriage.

Mrs. Assab, auntie Majida, comic relief, and a barrage of Arabic words that need to be looked up. But this is one of the charms of the narrative.

Raya found Strickland‘s Apartments very cozy. “Like being wrapped in your arms”. she was very forward but remember she was an American woman. She didn’t stand on ceremony.

A very glaring error is that while a Duke can end an entail, It must be with the agreement of the heir. The younger Strickland definitely was against this.

The narrative introduces points of significant historical interest such as diminishing revenues from the English great Estates due to grain prices falling as the American West begins to be farmed-owing to reach of railroads. A bit jarring as the dialogue is just above plebeian.

That is bolder not older

She is much older than he is, in character as an American woman, and he as an English Duke confined by strict protocols. Don’t stop, we must stop.

And here the Anglo Arab and the Englishman are seen to have significant attractions, earlier hints now confirmed. Still verbally battling one another, their insulting repartée as incipient seduction

A blizzard of Arabic words give a breadth to the narrative that is belied by further reading, which reveals a very modern, boring and sometimes vulgar dialogue with no nod to historic perspective.