I’m really delighted today to share my review of The Night She Met The Duke by Sarah Mallory. Published today (27th April) by Mills & Boon/Harlequin Historical, it’s now available for kindle and in paperback via Amazon in the UK and US, and also through the publishers’ websites. My thanks to the author for providing an e-copy to allow me to write an early review.
Regular readers will know that I’ve recently re-found my love for historical fiction – but, for some reason I’m unable to explain, I’ve always felt that Georgian and Regency fiction wasn’t for me. Maybe I can put it down to my failure to engage with Georgette Heyer’s books when I tried them in my teens: or it might be the covers that put me off – although, I must say, this one is rather gorgeous – or the slightly over-excited blurbs that their publishers tend to produce to accompany them. A few years ago, Sarah suggested I should give one a try – it was a re-release of her 1983 book, Autumn Bride, written under the name of Melinda Hammond (also available as part of the Four Regency Seasons anthology if you fancy giving it a try – four romances for just £2.99, also available via Kindle Unlimited). And I have to say that I absolutely loved it – you’ll find my review again here. Although Sarah has been a fairly regular guest on the blog with her newer releases, contemporary romance did rather take over again – but when she asked if I’d like to read her latest, I was quite excited to give her lovely writing another try…
Who is her mysterious midnight visitor?
The Duke!
Hearing herself described as ‘a lady as dull as her name’ is the final straw in Prudence Clifford’s disastrous Season, so she decides to stay with her aunt in Bath. But Pru’s new life is anything but dull when one night she finds an uninvited, devastatingly handsome duke at her kitchen table! Pru knows she will never forget the emotional connection they shared. But it’s their unexpected reunion three months later which will prove truly unforgettable…
Prudence Clifford drew me into this book’s unfamiliar world from the very beginning – she’s a quite wonderfully drawn character. At twenty-five, she’s rather given up on the idea of marriage – especially having overheard herself described by a potential suitor as “dull as her name”, although she always knew she failed to shine in a crowd – and, having nursed her brother until his untimely death following a riding accident, she’s more than happy to move to Bath as companion to her Aunt Minerva, involving herself in charitable works and escaping into the Gothic novels she so enjoys.
But, one night, she hears a noise in the kitchen – and finds a stranger sitting at the table, dishevelled and inebriated. He turns out to be Garrick Chauntry, Duke of Hartland – she feeds him, listens to his account of his life, and, when he leaves, never expects their paths to cross again. But, of course, they do – in London for the summer, for the celebrations accompanying the 1814 visit of the allied sovereigns and the defeat of Napoleon, their lives again become entangled. He’s ostracised by society – scandal surrounding his youthful departure from England, suspicion surrounding the time he spent in France – but Pru believes in him, and risks her reputation by setting about uncovering the true story.
I entirely loved this book, and for so many reasons. The backdrop of the state visit and all the celebrations is just perfectly done – the formal occasions they attend (her aunt’s friend, who they’re staying with, has connections in the diplomatic service), the balls and receptions, but also all the street celebrations making London even more vibrant and exciting. The descriptions are quite superb, the whole atmosphere wonderfully recreated, drawing you into the story’s world. Then there’s the relationship between Pru and Garrick – he really doesn’t want a woman defending his honour, but she’s equally determined to defy convention, and sparks frequently fly between them. And I must say that their developing romance was everything I could have possibly wanted it to be – fraught with issues, not least their differing positions in society, but with a degree of heat and passion that I totally believed in and thoroughly enjoyed.
But there’s a great deal more to this book than the setting and the romance – it’s also an entirely gripping story, laced with intrigue and villainy, lots of threat and danger, the pages turning ever faster. The women are particularly well developed, strong and feisty – Pru herself of course, but also those who (sometimes unexpectedly) support her. But the male characters are very strong too – Garrick himself (my goodness, he’s certainly worth risking your reputation for!), but there’s also a particularly dastardly and very real villain, and a faithful friend in Lord John who was perhaps one of my favourites of the many more minor characters. And the writing? Well, it’s just fantastic – the very best story-telling, with a consistent pace that kept me on the edge of my seat, only enhanced by my belief in the wonderful relationship between the two main characters.
I know I’ve said it before – and perhaps that was because of the author’s writing too – but I think I can safely say that I’m a total convert to the world of Regency fiction, and certainly plan to read more. And if it’s a world you’d like to experience too, I’d very much recommend you try this book – I loved every moment!
Meet the author
I write under the names of Melinda Hammond and Sarah Mallory: I am a proud patron of the Lancashire Authors Association and a long-time member of the Romantic Novelists Association.
I have been telling stories for as long as I can remember – many of them born of frustration when I was stuck in a classroom longing to be rescued! I love anything romantic, whether it is a grand opera or a beautiful painting. It doesn’t necessarily have to be happy, as long as it is inspiring.
I was born in Bristol and grew up on Barton Hill, an area of small terraced houses built in the nineteenth century between the mills and the railway. I think my love of adventure stories is due to the fact that I grew up with three older brothers and lived in a street full of boys! My love of history and the English language was fostered at grammar school, where I soon discovered the delights of Georgian and Regency fiction, first of all with the works of Jane Austen and then Georgette Heyer.
I left school at sixteen to work in companies as varied as stockbrokers, marine engineers, biscuit manufacturers and even a quarrying company, but I never lost my love of history, and when I wasn’t reading and researching the Georgian and Regency period I was writing stories about it.
When I was at home with my first child, I decided to try my hand at writing seriously, and my first historical novel, Fortune’s Lady, was published by Robert Hale in 1980. I have now published more than twenty novels, over a dozen of them as Melinda Hammond, winning the Reviewers Choice award in 2005 from Singletitles.com for Dance for a Diamond and the Historical Novel Society’s Editors Choice in 2006 for Gentlemen in Question. Writing as Sarah Mallory for Harlequin Mills & Boon, The Earl’s Runaway Bride won a coveted CataNetwork Reviewers Choice award for 2010 and I have won the the RNA’s RoNA Rose Award in 2012 and 2013.
After many years living on the West Yorkshire moors, I have now moved to the remote Scottish Highlands. The new house overlooks the sea, where the stunning scenery inspires me to write even more!
Such a lovely story.
Isn’t it just, Liz – and, thanks to Linda I’m now making plans to create more space for Regency fiction on my reading list.