That's not how inheritance works at that level!!! I couldn't keep reading after that point. It just isn't how it works at all

This was a rehash of Pride and prejudice.
The strong character of Mary like Elizabeth, the structure of the family with all the sisters, the painful mother etc makes it all cringe worth. There are too many chance encounters and the descriptions and dialogue setting the scene are poor.
I would not recommend this book to anyone.

I was drawn to this book by the cover (I know, never judge a book and all that, but I just can't help it sometimes!) and the summary. I also like reading new authors and possibly adding a new favorite to my list. This was the author's debut book, and while it was not quite what I expected, it was still a decent and entertaining read. It had a Pride and Prejudice feel to it, and I always enjoy reading any Austenesque stories. Each author has there own style and way of interpreting this genre, and I can respect that. This book certainly had a lot of potential and some great themes within it. I think if some of those themes were built on more, the story would have flowed much better. Maybe a little less dialogue and more descriptive text would have helped to picture and feel the story more and would have gone a long way in helping the storyline flow a bit more smoothly. I think in order to really enjoy a book, it's important to get a good sense of the character's emotions and feelings, and that was a bit difficult to grasp here. Overall, the story had really good potential, and with the next book, I think including more details and descriptions will go a long way. All that being said, I am thankful to have had the opportunity to read this book. I would love to see how the author develops her talents in the next one.

I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Mary and the Duke by Daisy Chapman

When Mary first met Captain Dylan Cravendish sparks flew as she did not think very highly of him and his reputation. Unaware he was now the new Duke Cravendish. Mary is one of the two unmarried daughters of Mr &Mrs Barker though at that point she has no desire to marry and is quite happy to be unmarried and responsible for her own destiny.

An easy quick read following the journey of Mary and the Duke unfold.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Mary and the Duke sees third sister, Miss Mary Barker, overcome her feelings on marriage, and fall for the last person she expected, the new Duke Cravendish, Dylan. Mary knows he was a rogue and a scoundrel before unexpectedly becoming duke, and she wants nothing to do with him on principle. But chance encounters, again and again, and the urging of their family’s make them soon realise they are made for each other.

I have so many thoughts about this book, and none of them good. I love historical romances, and was drawn to the synopsis of this one, but it was just plain bad. Honestly, it’s a cheap and badly done rip off of Pride and Prejudice. I mean, the main character is Mary, third of 5 siblings (who are called Elizabeth, Jane, Kathleen, and Linda), and she has an overbearing mother. She also happens to love playing the piano, but is really good at it, compared to Mary Bennet.

And then there’s the way the characters address each other. Mary is always called Miss Mary, but as the eldest unmarried daughter, she should be Miss Barker. Then there’s Dylan too. He’s called Duke Cravendish all the time. Not duke of, but duke. There’s never any your grace’s, sir, anything. And for an author who says she loves historical fiction, I’d expect more. The dialogue is bad, and there’s hardly any descriptions. I don’t know what anyone looks like, or what the town is like, everything is spoken, and everyone’s name is repeated again and again. I know this is a debut, but it’s got to have even edited or proof read before publication? It reads like something I’d expect one of my secondary school students would write, as one of their first pieces. Not something ready for publication. I think if I hadn’t known it was less than 200 pages, I’d have DNFed it, but I just wanted to get to the end and clear it from my review list. Definitely not something I’d ever recommend, nor will I read from this author again.

Mary and the Duke was a debut novel. I’m giving it a 2.5 star because it felt very rushed. There was a lot of potential here. The author had great themes and could of added more. More development. I do think that this author has a chance at being a good writer.
Thanks Matador via NetGalley.

This one was not for me. I just couldn’t connect with the main characters and did not care for the writing. I think the plot had promise and I really appreciate the opportunity to review. Thank you netgalley and publisher for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

I've read a zillion such novels but this is a new author to me. And wow! Now I'm going to have to purchase all of her books to read! But great H/h especially H. And great, HOT sex scenes. We LIKE steamy scenes. If you want "sweet" there are plenty of those on amazon--find one you like and use the related books section to find more. But if you want steamy, well, start here! Well done, author!

I had a hard time getting into the story of Mary and the Duke. Could not connect with the main characters and the book just fell flat for me. It was an okay read.

This story had a lot of potential but it seems to me that it actually never took off. I decided to read this book because it had some negative reviews and since I’m an advocate of never judging, I wanted to understand the reason of these bad reviews. Firstly I must say that the story could have been written in a linear way but all I read was a sequence of dialogues that often were inexplicable. Chapters were useless because this story jumped from one topic to another, giving me a sense of loss. Both characters were really dull and without character despite the blurb depicting the contrary. I’m giving a 2 star because if the author gave more depth with the story, it could have been a nice read. I’m very sorry for this negative review but I’m giving my only honest opinion.

Loved the cover and hoped the story would be equally compelling. Unfortunately, it was stymied by poorly developed characters, clumsy dialogue, and a slap-dash narrative. I will not be publishing this review anywhere but here.

The author, in her acknowledgements, expressed delight in becoming published. My hope is that she can continue writing, this time mentored by a group of seasoned writers as well as an astute editor. Best of luck.

Miss Mary Barker is expected to marry by the end of the season, but Mary has other plans. When she meets ‘Captain’ Dylan Cravendish, she is quite upfront about her opinion of him whilst he is quite taken by her.
I must admit that I liked the idea of this book yet found it quite difficult to get into. It is filled with a lot of dialogue, yet I still didn’t get a sense of what Mary or Dylan looked like nor any other character if the book. It did make me appreciate all the books that I have read before and the importance of establishing the characters and their surroundings. I did tend to skim this book in order to get a sense of where the book was going but in all honesty, the best thing about the book, was the lovely cover.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is a poorly executed story. From the first paragraph we are told information that is repeated almost straight away. There is a dubious plot around inheritance - I'm not sure that a title of 'Duke' can be willed, I thought it had to be inherited from father to son ir returned to the crown. There is also the condition that Dylan can only retain the title if he marries within a year. This second part of the will just seems completely lost and pointless as it has no bearing on the story- neither does the part of the title of Duke being willed in the first place.

So this is the story of Dylan Cravendish, he might be a pirate or might just own a ship, we never really find out. He inherits the title of Duke... I don't know if he is the Duke of Cravendish or the Duke of somewhere else as it seemed to me that Cavendish is his surname. He meets Mary and they have lots of dialogue with no real substance. Its clear this is going to be their story (as there is no one else) but there is just no spark between them. The nature of the inheritance and Dylan's past seemed like they should be important but come to nothing.

The style of this book is really odd. Its almost all just dialogue. There is no context, no setting, no description of anyone or anything. There is no notion of the inner dialogue going on, nothing to indicate anything important about the personalities involved. It almost reads like a screen play without direction. Its a case of this happened, then that happened, then something else happened. Sometimes significant amounts of time seemed to pass between the end of one sentence and the start of the next so it was difficult to keep up with what was going on. There is huge overuse of Christian names when speaking which makes the dialogue feel very forced and unrealistic. It irritated me that the Duke was referred to as Duke Cravendish throughout when surely he should have been referenced as 'his/your grace' or the Duke of somewhere. The dialogue between the characters is flat. Mary just seemed rude to me. I didn't like her but I don't know anything about her other than she plays the piano well. I don't know what she looks like or how tall she is, what kind of family she is from. At times there is mention of the need for chaperones, at other times this is completely ignored.

There are also lots of Pride and Prejudice references in here - 5 daughters with a pushy mother. The daughters are Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Kathleen and Linda.

Overall, I really struggled with this. From the first page I knew this wasn't for me but felt obligated to finish it as it was an ARC from Netgalley. I think fans of histical fiction will find this wanting. The manners, the dialogue,the lack of propriety and all round lack of detail make this a poor read.

I have issues with this book before it goes to print.

There may be a 'good' story written in here, but there is absolutely no context or indication of who is talking.

When I first began the book, depending on where the focus was - the Duke or 'Mary'. Almost every bit of dialogue that involved someone talking to said character had someone addressing the main character with their first name. It was crazy on how many times I counted the word 'Mary' in a single paragraph of dialogue... and then another paragraph.

Then, when the Duke and Mary meet for the first time, you have no idea that the Duke is a womanizer and flirts with women like crazy, but he apparently does. He and his companion stumble upon Mary in the library of his aunt's home.

Also, on to of context, you have no idea how the main characters look or their ages.

I received a copy of the ebook from NetGalley and this is my freely given review.

I really wanted to like this story; the blurb sounded appealing, I love historical romances, especially from the Regency and Victoria eras, both steamy and clean, and I was hoping to find a new author to enjoy. Unfortunately this did not fulfil those wishes.

Some immediate questions came to mind within a couple of pages of the start. How can the recently deceased Duke bypass his brother so easily with the title, with no real good reason or effort. Especially as he seemed like he could have been deemed not in his right mind, and said brother could have contested the will or otherwise prevented the nephew inheriting the title.

Titular inheritance was by right of primogeniture at the time was it not? Unless good reason was provided to bypass an elder born son, such as illegitimacy, madness, or some other incapacity at the time. Also the rule of not marrying in a year doesn't jibe as being right either - at least not for the inheritance of a title - personal wealth and property yes, but not the title of being the Duke.

There was lots of dialogue, but without context or set up. The majority of the story read almost like a script. Lots of dialogue as pure quotes, but with no background, and nothing to set the scene, which renders it less interesting to me, and at times confusing. There is a lot lacking in context, demonstration of emotion, detail of action, environment, etc. At the 25% point of the novel, I still don't know any real descriptive details. Is he tall, or short? Is she fair or dark? Is the town small or large? Are the Barkers local gentry, or commoners? Does she wear glasses, have dimples, curls, pock marks, a limp from childhood Polio, does he have a widows peak, missing an eye and has a hook for his right hand, and a peg leg from his days on board a ship? We have no real characteristics given about the characters at all throughout the novel. The writing does not foster any imagery or give any reason to connect to the characters.

It was also hard to determine at times who was addressing whom, in a larger group when it was just a series of quotes. Some of the quotes were rather silly too. Such as the Duke (Duke Cravendish, in case you weren't reminded several times in a page) being offended by Mary calling him a scoundrel and a rake. Well considering they met when he was having a dalliance with another young woman, thinking they were alone in the library, during a ball, one can see clearly where Mary got that idea, so his offense at her speech about that is either hypocritical, ignorant, or sarcastic. Hard to tell, as details about inward thoughts or emotional cues are seldom written. Not until chapter 11 is there mention of expression; a blush to the face, a scowl.

Use of Duke Cravendish, rather than Duke of Cravendish, no use of Your Grace, or His Grace seemed jarring. Several pages has "Duke Cravendish" multiple times, in addressing him, referring to him, and in first person. A bit awkward. It could have been broken up more... call him the Duke, His Grace, Cravendish, Dylan... him... that guy... just to break up the repetition a bit (seriously, I counted, page 22 had "Duke Cravendish" at least 14 times - tell me that's not a bit much?). Maybe I am quibbling, but after several pages of this, it became quite annoying.

This is a story that is long on speeches and quotes, but very short on detail, background, and context to give greater depth of story. The story felt very choppy, and disjointed throughout, and at times there is no indication that one scenario is ending, and a new one starting, until you realize you are reading the dialogue of different characters. They just jump into speech, with no segues - no "Aunt Beatrice entered through the French doors leading from the rose garden, and gave a brief curtsy to the Duke before addressing him," or any other sort of lead up. I am quite disappointed in it, as there was potential for a good story, but felt that, as a debut, whoever was editing could have given the author more guidance on the writing itself. A story cannot be told as mostly a series of quotes, or only in dialogue. Even in a radio show, some details are given about atmosphere, tension, or even the background through noise and music, so the audience gets a feel of what is happening, and develops some mental sense of what is happening other than what is being said. Dialogue can be gems, but what sets the gems off and makes them wearable as jewelry are the settings and connections.

That is why I am giving this a 1 out of 5. Maybe up to a 1.5, but that is because there seems to be more development of atmosphere and background (not much) in the later third of the book. There was the potential of a start of a good story here, but it was not finished and polished as it should have been.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was completely different to the usual regency romances. The characters were intriguing and interesting especially Mary and the Duke. There was a story that you could believe in and l am looking forward to reading more books by this new talented author.

.I liked this book very much, I think it was beautifully eritrei, The brilliance of The dialogues sense you back to The book to Who ch The author Inspired. I can’t tell anymore : no spoilers!