I found it really hard to finish this book, but I stuck with it. It's full of cliches, annoying characters, absurd plot turns, douchey male characters, douchey male characters who want to have sex with the female protagonist in a way that almost borders on harassment, anachronisms, dialogue inconsistent with the time period, a female American character that may be self-insertion etc. This was Julia Quinn's first regency novel and it's really telling from the style. But true love tends to blossom just when one least expects it, and passion can melt even the most stubborn of hearts. or that he'd be quite so upset when he discovered her true identity. She never dreamed she'd find herself in the arms of a dangerously handsome duke. When she slipped out of her cousins' home, dressed as a kitchen maid, all she wanted was one last taste of anonymity before her debut. But she's a servant, completely unsuitable for a highborn duke-unless, perhaps, she's not quite what she seems.Īmerican heiress Emma Dunster might be surrounded by Englishmen, but that doesn't mean she intends to marry one-even if she has agreed to participate in one London Season. She's everything Alex never thought a woman could be-smart and funny, principled and brave. That is until a redheaded American throws herself in front of a carriage to save his young nephew's life. And two, he has no plans to marry anytime soon.

There are two things everyone knows about Alexander Ridgely.

Julia quinn duke of ashbourne