*CJ*'s Reviews > The Duke Is Mine

** spoiler alert ** "This Duke is Mine" is the story of Olivia and Quin.

A burnt by marriage-widowed hero whose mother wants him to marry again (being an expert and the multiple author of a "how to become a lady" books), while his primary interest is Science and Math.

A heroine chosen to be matched to a slow witted fiance because she has round figure and child bearing hips

A shitty family who SO desperately want to be a part of the dukedom that they coach their child for the same, and coerce her to seduce her fiance PRE-MARITALLY so she can get preggo- even making her follow a guide "The Mirror of Compliments" and remind her then and again of her duty to marry her betrothed, who is described in so many words as:
-Dim-witted
-FF, or foolish fiancé
-HH or half-wit husband
-BB or brainless betrothed
-MM or mindless marito or mindless mari
-brains more scrambled than an egg custard
-brainpower of a gnat
-having potato-shaped nose and pendulous lower lip
ETC ETC

The MOST cringy part of the book was the detailed, almost copulation scene between our mean h and OM- I mean. EW. I dont like to read about OM's privates.

Anyways, so the heroine's sister is to be engaged to the hero (Duke of Sconce) while the heroine is betrothed to the OM (Marquess of Montsurrey, Rupert or R).

The heroine Olivia (O) and her sister Georgiana (G) go to our hero Duke, Quin's house where his mother is choosing a bride for him. As soon as the h and H meet, sparks fly while both know they are completely inappropriate for one another- they cant resist their kisses- to remind you- G likes Q, and O is engaged to R.

One thing I found weird was that though Q found G perfect for him, he liked the heroine because he appreciated her luscious assets and big bosom/buttocks. The book then proceeds to them heavily kissing while cheating on both their almost fiances'- until they get G's approval and caught by his mother. Soon they decide they are perfect for each other and will fight obstacles to bang and marry. Then there is mother drama, fiance returning from war drama, rescue drama, confession drama- and thank god after that the book FINALLY ends.

After reading this cringefest, the only person I felt sorry for was Rupert. He most likely suffered from HII due to lack of oxygen during birth, was MR/autistic with love for his dog Lucy, and got mocked/berated by everyone.

Secondly, I get that the author wanted to show the H's love for curves, but to mock G was just petty.
Finally, I come to the positive points.

I can say is that the book does try to redeem itself in the last half, has good lovemaking and a gorgeous cover- and I adored adored the epilogue. But the first half, the plot, the mocking left a bad taste in my mouth.

SWE/Unsafe
2/5