Louisa gets her first chance with the Roses and very quickly has to come to terms with the very different demands made on her. Whereas Mrs. Rose wants nothing less than the title of duchess for her daughters, the two heiresses have their own ideas of what marriage is about. Then, there is Louisa’s brother and his friends, who hope that she will place them on the wining track to the much-coveted heiresses. Louisa refuses to use her influence to help advance their suit and all the more so where the Duke of Hawkhurst is concerned. She may have a girlish crush on him, but she knows he is the worst kind of rake, one who is responsible for corrupting her brother.

Hawk is much more attracted to the penniless lady than he is to either of her charges. Still, he is desperately in need of money and ready to do what he must for his family name, even if it means forcing an heiress’s hand. His plans to compromise Jenny Rose fall flat when Louisa steps into her place. The impoverished British aristocrats are forced to marry instead.

The first part of the book focuses on Louisa’s and Hawk’s mutual efforts to ignore their attraction to each other; the second shows them making the best of an unexpected situation as they slowly get to know each other. This would be well and good, were it not much too familiar. Heath doesn’t add any new twists to the oft-heard tale of the private virtues of the public rake.

What’s more, the Hawk of the first part of the novel is much more charming than the sullen and guilt-ridden introspect of the second half. His outlandish tales about Jenny Rose’s other suitors teased several grins out of me and went much further in softening me than his woeful family story. He isn’t just wit and banter, however: his truly ungentlemanly behavior where Louisa and the heiress are concerned add some complexities, however unpalatable, to his character.

Louisa is much more honorable and constant, almost predictably so. Of course, it was reassuring to see that she was no more prone to running from her responsibilities after her marriage than she was before, and it was nice to see how her marriage eventually opens her eyes to the real villain (if he may be called that). Nevertheless, her behavior hints less at inner strength and more at a kind of grin- and-bear-it martyrdom. A little less self-sacrifice and a little more self-interest might have made her more note-worthy and credible.

A Duke of Her Own boasts some intriguing secondary characters. I’m sure it won’t be long before the Rose heiresses and heir get their own stories. I’ll be waiting.

--Mary Benn