Title: At the Duke’s Pleasure
Series: The Byrons of Braebourne bk 3
Author: Tracy Anne Warren
Genre: Historical Fiction
Blurb: All the Byrons are just as “mad, bad, and dangerous to know” as their famous non-relation…but now the time has come for the eldest son to marry…
Edward Byron, Duke of Clybourne, has everything a man in Society needs…except a wife. Duty requires he wed, so he decides that a long-standing arranged marriage will do nicely. He knows his bride is beautiful, biddable and bright enough to run his household and nursery. He expects his betrothed, Lady Claire Marsden, will be thrilled with his decision—unfortunately, she’s not!
Claire has longed for Edward since she was sixteen, but how can he expect her to agree to his proposal when he barely knows her and doesn’t love her? Nothing will convince her to accept a loveless marriage. And so she begins a battle of outrageous resistance, forcing Edward to learn that he must lose his heart in order to win his bride.
All the books I choose are like a yo-yo, first one disappoints me and then the next one makes up for it. I’m still in my “trying something new” phase and even with the disappointments in some books, I’m loving trying new authors. At the Duke’s Pleasure is an awesome read that will have you laughing.
Edward Byron, Duke of Clybourne, has had his life planned out since the day he was born. What school he had to attend, the friends he was to keep and worst of all, what bride he was to take. This was too much for a boy of ten to take and he rebelled (quietly) against having a bride, ten years his junior.
Now Edward is in his early thirty’s and finally saw the wisdom of his father choosing a bride for him, but when he goes to claim his bride, would she have him?
Claire Marsden has always known that she was to marry a Duke and has been excited about the marriage until her heart was broken at the tender age of sixteen. To further add insult to injury, her intended shows up after all these years to finally marry her, what is a girl to do? Well say no of course!
Edward has never had anyone tell him no before, especially not by a woman, but with everyone wanting this union between the two, Claire’s wishes were ignored and it was decided that they will be married, whether they wanted too or not.
Claire not wanting this marriage and knowing that her father will not let her cry off, has come up with a plan to make Edward cry off instead. It sounded like a good plan at the time, but she did not understand how stubborn Edward could be and it was a battle against their wits, to see who will come out on top.
Claire has taken part in a series of unladylike conduct that has earned her the name “Claire the dare” but “Claire the dare” turned into “Claire the naive” when one of her schemes went to far and resulted in her losing her innocence. Would Edward still want her after this…read and find out.
Tracy Anne Warren had me laughing from chapter one when Claire looked into Edward’s face and said that she wish not to wed. I could only imagine what Edward’s face was like, it was hilarious. I loved the lengths that Claire went through to secure her freedom, especially the one where she was playing cards in a seedy club with…
I can’t give away too much now can I! I advice you to read the book, it’ll have you going back for more.
Thoughts: Funny, charming and delightful
Grade: A+
Great review! This sounds like a story I would like.