Ten Things I Hate About the Duke
Ratings9
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings9
Average rating4.1
USA Today bestselling author Loretta Chase continues her Difficult Dukes series with this delightful spin on Shakespeare's classic, The Taming of the Shrew. This time, who’s taming whom… Cassandra Pomfret holds strong opinions she isn’t shy about voicing. But her extremely plain speaking has caused an uproar, and her exasperated father, hoping a husband will rein her in, has ruled that her beloved sister can’t marry until Cassandra does. Now, thanks to a certain wild-living nobleman, the last shreds of Cassandra’s reputation are about to disintegrate, taking her sister’s future and her family’s good name along with them. The Duke of Ashmont’s looks make women swoon. His character flaws are beyond counting. He’s lost a perfectly good bride through his own carelessness. He nearly killed one of his two best friends. Still, troublemaker that he is, he knows that damaging a lady’s good name isn’t sporting. The only way to right the wrong is to marry her…and hope she doesn’t smother him in his sleep on their wedding night.
Series
1 primary bookDifficult Dukes is a 1-book series first released in 2020 with contributions by Loretta Chase.
Reviews with the most likes.
Really enjoyed this, but I think I would've benefited from at least skimming the first book in the series before starting this one - I read it, but it was right when it came out a couple of years ago, and this one starts right after the events of that book, so it took me a second to get back up to speed and remember who everyone was. The blurb says this is a retelling of Taming of the Shrew, and ... it sort of is, but not really? There's an outspoken woman and someone who wants to court her younger, less combative sister, but there's no taming to speak of (and no payments or anything like in Ten Things I Hate About You). There's growth and change on both sides here, but most of the journey is the duke realizing what a jerk/asshole/etc he's been (and that he has a problem with alcohol) and deciding to finally grow the hell up. I wasn't a real fan of him in the beginning - he doesn't come off well in the first book and his stupid prank almost gets someone killed at first, but I thought the character development was done well and believably. Cassandra and Hyacinth are delights from the beginning, as is their mother. I thought the villain's motive was a little undercooked, but I didn't really mind, since the resolution is done so well. I don't think it'll happen in this series, but I'm gonna need Hyacinth to get a book of her own at some point as well.
