The Duchess Games
Alyxandra Harvey
Historical Regency
Sometimes you have to break the rules to find your happily ever after.
The stern and proper Callum Winter, Duke of Tremaine, must marry. At least according to his mother.
Enter: The Duchess Games where ladies are invited to display their accomplishments in dancing, music and all social graces.
Caitriona Sparrow just wants to steal the duke’s signet ring to get her smuggling operation running and save the village from ruin. Options are scarce for a thirty-one-year-old spinster, her two younger siblings, four dogs, a cranky goat, and a one-eyed fox.
She might not have any pretty accomplishments, but she can sing sea shanties and debone a haddock in minutes. But between pianofortes and watercolors, Caitriona is shocked to discover that Callum remembers her from that passionate summer long ago and she has never forgotten him.
Cat might not be duchess material—but she’s the perfect woman to save Callum…and their happily ever after.
The only problem is that she has to betray him first.
Uncaged Review: This is such a fun book, I read this quickly as I couldn’t put it down for long. I laughed so many times in this one and the cast of characters are well thought out. Caitriona is a fisherman’s daughter living in a poor village, and has nothing to do with society. She smuggles brandy and lace to help feed the village. Now she needs to steal the Duke’s signet ring to help get the smuggling business going, and to do that she finagles her way for her sister to compete in the Duchess Games, a contest of sorts set up by the Duke’s mother to try to marry him off and produce an heir with the potential debutantes. Callum, the new Duke, is put out by the silly games, but when Cat shows up, he remembers a passionate summer they shared years ago….and the woman that stole his heart.
This is a fun book, filled with laughter and animals and even a bit of danger. Even though Cat and her sister Viola were not born to be a Duchess, Callum will have a bit of trouble remembering that. The supporting cast is fun, even the backstabbing contestants. The ending was a little too fast, but this is a fun book and doesn’t disappoint. This is a first book for me by this author, and it definitely won’t be a last.
Reviewed by Cyrene
5 Stars
