The Duke’s Defiant Debutante by Gemma Blackwood
The reclusive Duke of Redhaven is not somebody to be trifled with.
Fortunately, neither is Miss Angelica Stirling.
Lively, clever, and rather too outspoken, Angelica does not have high hopes for her first London Season… not that she particularly cares. Who needs a husband when you have a good book?
When she receives a surprise proposal from Edward Thorne, Duke of Redhaven, it seems too good to be true. And it is.
The Duke is handsome, mysterious, and brooding – and everything Angelica doesn’t want in a husband. Is one of the biggest fortunes in England really worth the trouble?
Edward returns to London after a decade’s self-imposed exile in need of one thing: a bride. But his strategy of proposing to the first agreeable-looking girl he meets backfires spectacularly. Angelica is anything but the docile debutante he took her for.
Before long, Edward is facing a predicament he never imagined. Angelica has run away from London – and she’s taken his heart with her.
- File Name:the-dukes-defiant-debutante-by-gemma-blackwood.epub
- Original Title:The Duke's Defiant Debutante
- Creator:Gemma Blackwood
- Language:en
- Identifier:MOBI-ASIN:B07BNL1TBL
- Date:2018-03-21T18:30:00+00:00
- File Size:377.159 KB
Table of Content
- 1. Contents
- 2. Copyright
- 3. Prologue
- 4. Chapter One
- 5. Chapter Two
- 6. Chapter Three
- 7. Chapter Four
- 8. Chapter Five
- 9. Chapter Six
- 10. Chapter Seven
- 11. Chapter Eight
- 12. Chapter Nine
- 13. Chapter Ten
- 14. Chapter Eleven
- 15. Chapter Twelve
- 16. Chapter Thirteen
- 17. Chapter Fourteen
- 18. Chapter Fifteen
- 19. Chapter Sixteen
- 20. Chapter Seventeen
- 21. Chapter Eighteen
- 22. Chapter Nineteen
- 23. Chapter Twenty
- 24. Chapter Twenty-One
- 25. Chapter Twenty-Two
- 26. Chapter Twenty-Three
- 27. Chapter Twenty-Four
- 28. Chapter Twenty-Five
- 29. Chapter Twenty-Six
- 30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
- 31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
- 32. Epilogue
- 33. Also by Gemma Blackwood
The Duke’s Defiant Debutante was about Miss Angelica Stirling, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Stirling, and His Grace Edward Thorne, the Duke of Redhaven. To say this book had an unusual beginning would be putting it mildly. The prologue opened in a way I've never known any other romance novel to do, and it was such an attention-grabbing opening that I was riveted to the story right out of the starting gate. It was also the first book I can recall that the events of the prologue took place after the events of the first five chapters. Angelica was determined to marry for love or not marry at all. Upon her introduction to Edward, she felt at once that he would never do as a husband for her. While she was attracted to him, his attitude towards her was nothing like what she longed for from someone she would have to spend the rest of her life with. Edward was the exact opposite of the warm, loving, and kind man she had hoped to find. For a man of 35 years of age, Edward seemed to be quite stodgy in character and attitude. He was abrupt, brusque, and totally rude. He had a tendency to appear cold-hearted, uncaring, and unfeeling. Most of this was due to how he had forced himself into a solitary life for ten years that had kept him from building any close relationships with anyone. Determined to marry the first woman he deemed fitting for his wife, he immediately proposed to Angelica after having only just met her and only danced once together, only to be immediately be rejected. Because she rejected his proposal, he then withdrew his offer with the declaration that she was definitely NOT duchess material. Unfortunately for Angelica, her father's greed for a titled daughter made him determined that she marry the Duke, and therefore, a marriage settlement between them was agreed upon, even though she was against it. Not long before the wedding was to take place Angelica learned some distressing news which caused her to vanish, leaving behind only a simple note to her parents. When Edward learned of her disappearance, he lost no time in moving heaven and hell to locate her. The angst, drama, and intrigue of the story were very strong and prominent, even more than the relationship between Edward and Angelica. Chemistry and passion were to be more slow-building than in most romance novels, but they were present. There were moments of humor, though they were few and far between. The intrigue definitely kept the reader's heart pounding, and all the twists and turns snagged the attention enough to never be dull. There was little to no fluff, thankfully. This book definitely earned a five-star rating and a place among the Keeper for the Shelves collection.