Review ‘The Duke Is But A Dream’ by Anna Bennett

Author: Anna Bennett

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Page Count: 320

ISBN: 1250199484

Goodreads Rating: 3.86

Once upon a time three young ladies vowed to record their first London seasons…and to fill in the gaps of their finishing school educations. Thus began The Debutante Diaries—and London will never be the same…   HE’S COME TO HER RESCUE   Miss Lily Hartley is the anonymous mastermind behind the ton’s latest obsession: The Debutante’s Revenge, a titillating advice column for ladies on the marriage mart. To keep her identity secret, Lily delivers her columns disguised as a chimney sweep—which is all well and good, until she unwittingly lands in the middle of an ugly tavern brawl. Fortunately, the devastatingly handsome Duke of Stonebridge sweeps in to rescue her.Unfortunately, Lily’s dressed as a boy—and holding rather incriminating evidence linking her to the scandalous column. Drat.   SHE’S LOST HER MEMORY   When Eric Nash, Duke of Stonebridge, sees a helpless lad receive a nasty blow to the head, he’s outraged. But when he discovers there’s a beautiful woman hiding beneath the chimney sweep’s cap, he’s positively stunned. Nash would happily escort her home, but she’s forgotten her name—leaving him little choice but to take her in himself until he can locate her family. But the closer he gets to finding them, the more he doesn’t want to let her go.   WILL THEY FIND LOVE?   Lily’s trying to figure out exactly who she is…in more ways than one. With so much at stake—her column, her reputation, and even her heart—she needs a plan, and she needs it fast. Before Nash finds her family. Before he learns who she is. Before they fall totally, completely, and utterly inconveniently in love.  

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I’ve been a big fan of Historical Romance novels for a while now. But it had been a while since I got a Historical Romance novel in my TBR list. So when I was approached to read and review ‘The Duke Is But A Dream’ I almost immediately said yes. Although this book is the second one in the Debutante Diaries series, it can be read as a standalone.

In ‘The Duke Is But A Dream’ we meet Lily. Lily is the anonymous author of a advice column for young ladies. One evening, Lily finds herself in a lot of trouble and when she accidentally bumps her head she wakes up the next morning not knowing who she is or what happened. The only thing she knows is she really loves watching the handsome duke Nash, who is sitting next to her and apparently saved her life. Nash is determined to help the beautiful Lily figure out who she is. But in the mean time he hopes to spend more time with her.

From the moment I started reading this book I definitely enjoyed it. It had been a while since I read a historical romance novel, and I loved reading about the historical household and the beautiful gowns in this story. But most of all I loved getting to know the main characters Lily and Nash. Lily was this strong woman, who lost herself but never lost hope. I admired her character and her personality. Nash was this ‘angry’ guy who told himself he would never love someone besides his sister. But he really was a good guy and he had so much love in him. I just loved these two characters.

The romance between Lily and Nash was very fun to read about. But it also went a little to fast for my taste. The thing I love most about historical romance novels is the way there is always a long workup to the first kiss etc. In this book it all happened a little fast. Nothing that made me lose interest in the story, but I just think it didn’t fit the genre all that much. There just was a lot in this book that didn’t really fit the etiquette of the time this book was supposedly set. For example the fact that Lily was able to travel alone with Nash without having a chaperone.

But overall I enjoyed the story. I loved the characters and the overall storyline. It was fun to read and made me want to keep on reading till the very last page. I would definitely love to read more books in this series.

Anna Bennett started swiping romances from her mom’s bookshelf as a teenager and decided historicals (with their balls, dukes, and gowns) were the best. So, when she had the chance to spend a semester in London she packed her bags—and promptly fell in love with the city, its history, and its pubs. She dreamed of writing romance, but somehow ended up a software analyst instead. Fortunately, a few years and a few careers later, Anna found her way back to writing the stories she loves and won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® for Regency Historical Romance. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three children, who try valiantly not to roll their eyes whenever she quotes Jane Austen. Her weaknesses include reality TV, cute shoes, and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. For more information about Anna, please visit her website. Or visit her on Twitter and Facebook.

Maureen Bakker

Maureen is a mom, wife, nurse, and Ravenclaw living in the Netherlands. She spends her days juggling mom-life, reading, blogging, planning date nights with her husband and working as a nurse. Maureen also is a big Anglophile, loves cooking, Gilmore Girls, Bridgerton and Harry Potter.. Always!  Facebook | Instagram