Quick note: The cover image says Fortune Favors the Duke is a book in "The Cambridge Brothers" series and Goodreads says it's the first in "The Cambridge Brotherhood" series. Since the hero of this book attended Cambridge and his only brother has passed away, I think "Brotherhood" is likely the correct name of the series and that's why I chose to put it in the title line. Hope that's correct.
Catherine Greatheart and the new Duke of Wesley have something in common: the loss of his brother and her fiancé, the former Duke. Six months have passed and the loss still stings. The new duke, Quinton, misses his brother and is not thrilled that he has been thrust into the management of an estate when he was perfectly happy working as a professor at Cambridge. Catherine actually loved her fiancé in a time when one is more likely to make a match based on money than love and is tired of the pity but not entirely ready to resume her social life.
When Catherine's grandmother insists that the time has come for Catherine to return to society, she does so reluctantly and is surprised to find friendship offered by Quinton. Meanwhile, Catherine's grandmother and the woman who would have been her mother-in-law have become close and would like to see Quinton and Catherine become a couple. But, when Catherine and Quinton begin to realize that their friendship has grown into something bigger, they must take care. Society may frown upon the new duke taking the place of the former and think Catherine a money-grubbing social climber.
After disaster strikes and Catherine is no longer allowed to run her grandmother's estate, what will happen? There's definitely something fishy about the fellow who has been named the trustee for the estate and the bitter old woman he has named as Catherine's companion and chaperone. If Quinton marries Catherine, will he be betraying his brother's memory?
Neither recommended or not recommended - I liked Fortune Favors the Duke but . . . there are several buts, actually. There were a few historical anachronisms that bugged me ("And so it begins," a very modern phrase, for example, and women were always swatting the men — in a time period when people barely touched). I was also skeptical that Catherine would be considered a social climber or made a pariah if she married Quinton. Social climbing was pretty much the modus operandi of young women in Regency England, after all, and matchmaking seldom about love. However, in spite of these things, Fortune Favors the Duke is a sweet story, I loved the relationship between Catherine and her grandmother, and I found the building affection between Quinton and Catherine believable and lovely. So, I liked the story and I'm glad I read it, although it's not a favorite.
My thanks to Sourcebooks for the review copy!
And, a further note: This is my very last recently requested review copy (I do have plenty I didn't get to in a timely manner). Last week I received an email saying an unsolicited ARC is on its way to me and that's fine. I will be happy to read and review any unsolicited books that arrive, providing they appeal to me. The goal is to read almost exclusively off my shelves. A few exceptions will be nice, actually. And, apparently, I'm still fine with reviewing so I'll carry on, although we'll just have to see how much I feel like writing about future reads.
I've just finally printed out my list of 2021 Reads and am working on narrowing down my favorites for a Year in Review post, so that's still forthcoming and I'm thinking that I may try to continue the blog but maybe mix things up a bit and write beyond just book reviews. I have, for example, a few books I want to donate but I'd like to keep the marked quotes so I may occasionally do quote posts. Anyway, it's all up in the air and just call me flighty. I'll figure things out but I'm very much looking forward to some changes, this year.
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