Along Came a Duke

Starred review from April 16, 2012
Boyle (Mad About the Duke) launches the Rhymes with Love Regency series with this delightful Cinderella story. The duke of Preston is the worst sort of rake, ruining young men with reckless wagers and seducing innocent misses during parties. Tabitha Timmons is an orphan who lives with her aunt and uncle and works her fingers to the bone as a scullery maid. A sensible girl who speaks her mind, she immediately pegs Preston as a ne’er-do-well. It takes a late-night dinner and an impromptu dancing lesson for her to sense hints of Prince Charming. Tabitha may be naive about many things, but she is resourceful and practical when it comes to saving herself from greedy relatives interested in her inheritance. Preston is amazingly obtuse about his feelings, but endearing in his efforts to make Tabitha happy. Readers will cheer them all the way to happily-ever-after. Agent: Karen Solem, Spencerhill Associates.

Starred review from June 1, 2012
The Kempton Curse has nothing to do with Tabitha Timmons' lack of a husband; Tabitha simply chooses not to marry. Of course, meeting an incredibly annoyingalbeit sinfully sexyman like Christopher Seldon, the Duke of Preston, only reinforces Tabitha's belief that she is better off a spinster for life than leg-shackled to an infamous rogue like him. However, everything changes when Tabitha receives word that her uncle Winston has died and left her his immense estate. The problem is that Tabitha will only inherit Winston's fortune if she is married by her twenty-fifth birthday, which is less than a month away. Fortunately, Winston planned for this contingency by not only bequeathing Tabitha his money but also a husband: Mr. Reginald Barkworth. When Tabitha finally meets her fiance, she discovers that perfectly proper Reginald is everything the incorrigibly rakish Duke of Preston is not. Which should please Tabitha to no end, shouldn't it? As Boyle launches her new Rhymes with Love series, she deftly combines eminently likable protagonists, a delightfully quirky cast of secondary characters, and a captivating plot that strikes the perfect balance between wit and sensuality to create a near-perfect romance that also cleverly celebrates the power of female friendship.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)