For Love of the Duke

The Heart of a Duke Book 1
Christi Caldwell
Christi Caldwell Publications, 2014
Kindle ed, 309 pages, also paperback and audible
Genre(s) Historical Romance
Source Author’s Newsletter

Other books in this series: #0.5 In Need of a Duke, #2 More Than a Duke, #3 The Love of a Rogue, #4 Loved by a Duke, #5 To Love a Lord, #6 The Heart of a Scoundrel, #7 To Wed His Christmas Lady, #8 To Trust a Rogue, #9 The Lure of a Rake, #10 To Woo a Widow, #11 To Redeem a Rake, #12 One Winter With a Baron, #13 To Enchant a Wicked Duke

Synopsis:
After the tragic death of his wife, Jasper, the 8th Duke of Bainbridge buried himself away in the dark cold walls of his home, Castle Blackwood. When he’s coaxed out of his self-imposed exile to attend the amusements of the Frost Fair, his life is irrevocably changed by his fateful meeting with Lady Katherine Adamson.

With her tight brown ringlets and silly white-ruffled gowns, Lady Katherine Adamson has found her dance card empty for two Seasons. After her father’s passing, Katherine learned the unreliability of men and is determined to depend on no one, except herself. Until she meets Jasper…

In a desperate bid to avoid a match arranged by her family, Katherine makes the Duke of Bainbridge a shocking proposition—one that he accepts.

Only, as Katherine begins to love Jasper, she finds the arrangement agreed upon is not enough. And Jasper is left to decide if protecting his heart is more important than fighting for Katherine’s love.

About the Author:
USA TODAY Bestselling author CHRISTI CALDWELL blames Judith McNaught’s “Whitney, My Love!” for luring her into the world of historical romance. While sitting in her graduate school apartment at the University of Connecticut, Christi decided to set aside her notes and pick up her laptop to try her hand at romance. She believes the most perfect heroes and heroines have imperfections, and she rather enjoys torturing them before crafting them a well deserved happily ever after!

Christi makes her home in southern Connecticut where she spends her time writing her own enchanting historical romances, chasing around her feisty seven-year-old son and caring for her twin princesses in training!

My Disclaimer:
I was provided a free copy of this book for joining the author’s newsletter. I am providing an honest review for which I am receiving no compensation of any kind. All opinions are fully my own.
~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review

My Review: ✭✭✭✭
I don’t know about you, but I started out with historical romances, and they have remained my favorite genre to this day. If this first book in the series is what the rest of them are like, I have twelve more to read, because this is just like the classic historical romances I cut my teeth on. A heroine with a head on her shoulders. A handsome hero with his own set of problems. And friends and family interference to complicate things.

I’m not saying that this blew me out of the water because that would mean that it would have five stars up there and there are only four. It is a typical storyline with typical characters…but I cried! There was something in the way Ms. Caldwell wrote of Katherine’s love, of his letting her go and the pain in it. OMG, yes, I was in tears. So poignant. I would have liked more at the ending, but it was neatly tied up. That seems to be the style currently.

Up there at the top of the page is a list of the rest of the thirteen books in this series, which I must now add to my poor overburdened TBR list. But what fun! I’ll cry, and laugh and fall in love another dozen times! Christi Caldwell has delivered up a baker’s dozen of great reading, what’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. Historical romance is a fast read because they have a certain formula and style. But they are such a comfort to the reader for that familiarity. When you pick up a new historical romance, you know what you have in your hands. And don’t we love it!