Name a more iconic duo than a duke and a bluestocking.
That’s what we’re getting in Emily Sullivan’s latest historical romance, Duchess Material [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM]. Phoebe is from a family with money, but she wants to do some good in the world. She’s left her family behind for the most part and is now a teacher for women in a rough part of London in the 1890s. When one of her students disappears, she takes it upon herself to investigate and lands in police custody. The only thing she can think of to save herself is to drop the name of her childhood friend, Will, who happens to be a duke now.
He also happens to be her childhood crush that she never really got over. Seeing him again after several years brings a lot of those feelings back. On Will’s side of things, he’s trying to find a duchess and is surprised to find he doesn’t mind when Phoebe distracts him from this quest. The quest to find the missing student quickly takes over and shows him things about his fancy duke life that he didn’t know.
One of my favorite aspects of Duchess Material is that it works through an aspect of the time period that you don’t often see. It feels so fresh for the genre to get glimpses into prostitution and what crap women went through in order to be on their own.
Overall, this is a spicy and fun ride. I don’t know what it is about romances in 1800’s UK with a mystery subplot that I love so much, but it’s basically crack. This one did not disappoint and I’m definitely looking forward to Phoebe’s sister Alex getting a story next.
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