A Duke in Disguise

A Duke in Disguise (2019) Cat Sebastian (Regency Imposters)

Set in England in 1817

Ash (John Ashby) spent years as a child being bounced from home to home until he was apprenticed to an engraver who all but saved his life.

All Ash knew was what Roger had told him: at some point in his early childhood he was sent out to be fostered and had in due course been sent away by a succession of families who considered harboring an epileptic to be either a bad omen, a public embarrassment, or simply not worth the remnants of the funds Ash had initially been left with. Ultimately he had been sent to a charity school.

It was through his mentor that he met the Plums–especially Verity Plum, who Ash has loved for years. But Verity will never marry, and Ash refuses to sire a bastard, so they are left pretending they don’t have an attraction.

I quite enjoyed the historical bits, including the printing of sedition and pornography, but the story did little for me. Although Verity and Ash have seemingly been in love for years, I just didn’t feel the attraction between them–both characters fell flat for me. And with the title, it was obvious was going to happen to Ash when he went to see Lady Caroline, so there wasn’t much suspense there.

The part that should have been interesting to me–the trial–was strangely unexciting.

But mostly I was disconcerted by the solution to the issue of Robert. Robert was all but a cardboard cut-out of a bad guy, existing solely to force Ash to accept his inheritance. And the duke wasn’t much better, caring nothing for what went on in his home–I didn’t understand why he initially wouldn’t recognize Ash, and then why he bothered to.

And Verity’s brother? I was mostly ok with him until he decided to take his apprentice with him when he went off to cause trouble. It’s one thing to place yourself in danger, but it’s something else entirely to have someone who is dependent upon you go with you. It’s fine to want to be a martyr, but not fine to take your apprentice down with you.

So… no. I wasn’t much impressed by this story.

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Rating: 5/10

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