Review: Never a Duke

Never a Duke by Grace Burrowes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

But Lady Rosalind had sought him out because his native language was Cockney and his home shire was the stews. 

We first met Ned when he was a boy in Newgate, helping Quinn Wentworth (My One and Only Duke) survive. If you've read the previous six books in the series, you've seen Quinn and the whole Wentworth family adopt Ned, give him the family name, and have him work up to manager at the Wentworth bank. As this is closing out the Rogues to Riches series, about the Wentworth family, I'm not sure new readers would want to jump in here. The family members all make appearances and have their own separate scenes, usually discussing Ned, readers of the series will enjoy this last look at the family but I can see newbies missing a lot of family dynamics and feeling lost or bored. I enjoyed this last look at the Wentworth family growing, healing, and coming together. 

“[...] Is that why you kissed me, because I exchanged some small talk with her and his loathsome lordship?” 

“Because you put her in her place,” Rosalind said, “because you got even with Lindy for me, because I can ask you to escort me, and because you read stories to little girls and pine over their lost affections, and because...” Rosalind fell silent, appalled that tears were threatening. 

The story starts right away with Ned getting a letter from a mysterious woman asking for him to meet in the park. When he shows up, he sees Lady Rosalind Kinwood, an earl's daughter known for being a bit of a termagant in the ton. She claims her lady's maid is missing and she is worried for her. Ned is in the ton's world, he's invited to events but not truly accepted, with his background gossiped about, Rosalind thinks he's the perfect person to help her search for her maid. Right away, from their first meeting, Rosalind and Ned have that delicate reach and retreat, spark, and yearning for what's behind that glimpse of something more relationship that Burrowes' is so good at. This couple is never loud but have that quiet, underneath those words, emotions are burning quality that make them a subtle treat to read. 

As she pulled off her gloves and hauled him closer, her last rational thought was that maybe with Ned Wentworth, she could have more of celebration, and much, much less settling. 

The mystery and search is threaded throughout the story, I liked at how at 14% we get a scene with the missing women, as the investigation goes on they find more lady's maids and companions are missing, so the reader is let in a little more of the mystery. This is not quick paced, the searching for the women might feel a little slow at times as the Wentworth family and Ned go through some growing pains with where adult Ned fits in now and the romance between Rosalind and Ned is given soft, tender time through carriage rides and picnics to grow. Around 50% there is already marriage talk between these two but the search for the women and Rosalind's bad tempered father and brothers work to keep the two apart. 

He kissed her gloved fingers, and some of the bleakness left his eyes. “You are a marvel, Rosalind Kinwood. A blazing, beautiful marvel.” 

You'll feel for Ned when he holds himself a bit apart from the Wentworth family as he can't quite shed the adopted kid feeling and see how Rosalind shares his feelings of feeling apart as she lost her mother young and her father and brothers move from ignoring her, sending her away, using her, and picking on her. I thought the ending, with the reveal and wrap-up of the mystery felt a bit too quick and with the way it was tied with certain characters came off somewhat slapdash. I also felt this with reveals about Ned's family, there were some big emotional moments that were way too rushed and if we're not getting a series spin-off set in Australia, I'll feel even more disappointed in what the point of it all was. Overall, though, I'm so happy Ned got his happily ever after and a heartfelt talk with Quinn that had him more settled in the Wentworth family. This had a kissing scene that made my eyes want to water, a soft vibe with gentle banter and flirting, and a late kidnapping for a touch of danger. I'll miss the Wentworth family but enjoyed this last look at them.

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