'Seducing The Duchess' by Ashley March -[ARC]Review-

   A brilliant debut, with a wonderful plot line and plenty of sinfully satisfying characters. ‘Seducing The Duchess’ is a wonderful story filled with all the longing, deception, and forgiveness (and of course, romance) a book reader could ever ask for.

   Philip Burgess has his ducal mask screwed on tight and nothing could break through his iron-hard veneer of superiority. That is, nothing except the “Gambling, Carousing, and Flirting” of his wife and duchess, Charlotte. Their marriage was founded on a lie, and after years of trying to get back at her husband and convince him to petition for divorce, Charlotte finally gets his acquiescence.

   Or so she thinks! The Duke of Rutherford has finally seen the error of his ways and has no intention of giving up his Duchess. Now, Philip will commence with the seduction of a lifetime that he hopes will win back the woman he loves before she’s lost to him for good.

[Read an excerpt: here]

   “What in the world...!? The Duke of Rutherford kidnapped his own wife?” A conversation that probably graced ever fashionable drawing room the morning after Philip Burgess barged into a popular gaming hell, bodily removed his duchess off the lap of a gentleman, and into his carriage bound for the country.

   Charlotte Burgess held no illusions about her aristocratically perfect husband. He told her in no uncertain term, the morning after they consummated their marriage, that he wedded her out of revenge. Charlotte’s brother Ethan had stolen Phillip’s fiancée and as a result the best friends turned enemies, and young Charlotte was placed squarely in the middle of a deceitful bid for vengeance.

   Charlotte loved Philip with everything she had, and once her world came crashing back down to reality, she decided she’d never be manipulated and controlled ever again. She wanted a divorce- didn’t give a damn about scandal or propriety- and had been increasingly goading Philip into submission for three years with her scandalous behavior. He claimed to love her once, and she wouldn’t make the mistake of believing it of him a second time.

   The lack of communication between husband and wife has firmly sealed the complex duke in a box with definite & harsh labels, and his duchess can’t see how contrite he really is. Philip realizes he loves Charlotte something fierce and will do anything to have her. He goes about an elaborate plan to do some goading of his own and get back on solid footing with his wife. The sequence of events that take place and the unfamiliar positions it leaves our troubled couple in are enough to make the freeing of his beautiful Charlotte a painful necessity. But Philip is about to learn that sometimes, the best way to seduce a reluctant heart is by letting it go and praying like hell that it finds its way back to you. 

Rating: 4 Read Roses

My Favorite Part of the Book: Is hard to choose! There were many wonderful parts to this book that really worked and warmed my heart (or sent me into a fit of giggles). I particularly loved the beginning of the novel and the kidnapping of Charlotte. The scene was very well written and exceedingly suspenseful. You see into Philip’s head and can’t help but wait on bated breath to find out what happens next!

   This book was a hit in my opinion. It was very well written and exceedingly suspenseful right from the beginning. Every bone in your body screams to know what’s going on and once you get to the last sentence of the first chapter, you know this will be a book you’re going to fall in love with! I am not overly fond of when a book play a little too hard to get, and I definitely would have liked to see more movement forward in the Burgess' relationship, instead of the renewed determination to fight off the inevitable (they do grow, but the hostility is a bit lengthy). Philip’s blind desperation and obsession to have Charlotte back, and the lengths he went to see that happen, grew a bit round about. You may catch yourself screaming at the pages, “Tell her you dammit love her, already. Everything will start to work out if you’re upfront!” You’ll want to shake some sense into Philip and also cuddle him beneath your bosoms because his vulnerability (especially towards the end of the book) is so very palpable. Charlotte also agitated me at times, but she also became one of my favorite characters. The repartee is fabulous and the story just melts off the page like butter in a frying pan. You’re going to want to hop on this read immediately and join the March express to more wonderful novels just like this one. I can’t wait to see what the author has in store for us next!

[A special thanks to the author

for sending the ARC for review]

*Want more March? Yea, me too. Expect her next book, Romancing The Countess, to be out in Fall 2011 (tentative). And make sure you periodically check her fab website (http://ashleymarch.com) / Check out My Interview with Ashley March about 'Seducing The Duchess' and more: here