The Duchess War by Courtney Milan

Miss Minerva Lane lives her life quietly and recedes to the shadows, keeping the attention away from her.  When she was a child being the center of attention ended very badly for her and it has scarred her for life, physically and emotionally.  Now the Duke of Clermont catches her hiding from a would be suitor and Robert is instantly intrigued by this woman who is quiet yet leaves a mark with her clever remarks.  As Minnie starts to piece together Robert's involvement in a possible workers movement she finds new layers of him and in turn, he starts to peel back the shell that Minnie has so carefully constructed around herself.  But when Robert's brother suddenly becomes accountable for all of Robert's actions, how can Robert help him while protecting Minnie and not revealing all her secrets?

Now, I will start off by saying I am a total Courtney Milan fangirl and I (im)patiently await each new release of hers and the wait for The Duchess War was worth it!  It is so well crafted and written in a way that you just savor each word and you are sad when it is over.  Minnie is determined to keep her scandalous past in the past and she portrays herself as a quiet, mousy type woman but Robert makes her start to hope again, to want to be her true clever, interesting self.  Robert is a refreshing duke.  He refuses to be like his father, cold and expecting everything handed to him just because he is a duke but in the process, his father pushed his mother away (since she controlled the purse strings) so Robert currently has a very strained relationship with her and all he wants is a family to love him.  In the process to prove he is nothing like his father, he tries to right all his wrongs and if that means treating the workers in the factories more fairly and letting them know through handbills, than so be it.  He expects so little for himself that he can not believe that Minnie could ever forgive him for his actions after her previous betrayal.  Together they make a complex yet beautifully simple couple that fit together perfectly.  The ending is sure to tug on your heart strings and I just loved it.  And even though I don't like a lot of history in my romance books, the workers movement information was threaded in in a way that did not overwhelm the story for me and it provided a nice backdrop.  Overall a beautiful, heart breaking romance with humor, love and forgiveness written by one of the finest historical romance authors.  Just lovely.  5 stars

eARC provided by the author, thank you!

The Brothers Sinister series

 
                                     Dec 2012                                2013