When a Duke Loves a Woman by Lorraine Heath | Review

Publisher: Avon
Release Date: August 21, 2018 (out now!)
Source of my copy: publisher
Series: Sins for All Seasons #2
My rating:

Synopsis
Gillie Trewlove knows what a stranger's kindness can mean, having been abandoned on a doorstep as a baby and raised by the woman who found her there. So, when suddenly faced with a soul in need at her door—or the alleyway by her tavern—Gillie doesn't hesitate. But he's no infant. He's a grievously injured, distractingly handsome gentleman who doesn't belong in Whitechapel, much less recuperating in Gillie's bed.

Being left at the altar is humiliating; being rescued from thugs by a woman—albeit a brave and beautiful one—is the pièce de résistance to the Duke of Thornley's extraordinarily bad day. After nursing him back from the brink, Gillie agrees to help him comb London's darker corners for his wayward bride. But every moment together is edged with desire and has Thorne rethinking his choice of wife. Yet Gillie knows the aristocracy would never accept a duchess born in sin. Thorne, however, is determined to prove to her that no obstacle is insurmountable when a duke loves a woman.

I was dying to read When a Duke Loves a Woman after I read Beyond Scandal and Desire last year and I listed it as one of my most anticipated releases of the year. When I finally got my hands on it, I read it right away expecting to devour it but it actually took me several days to finish.

As I was reading When a Duke Loves a Woman I was prepared to rant about how slow the pacing was. The book opened with Thorne getting attacked and mugged by three men behind Gillie's tavern, and Gillie coming just in time to chase away the men. She brought Thorne up to her apartment and nursed him back to health. This was the first 100 pages, and it took me several days to read these pages because I'd put it down and didn't feel motivated to pick it up again.

BUT!

But, I powered through. Once I got over that hump and got into the groove of the story I found myself reading one of the most rewarding historical romances I've read in a while.

When a Duke Loves a Woman is not as exciting as Beyond Scandal and Desire where in that book the plot was building up to a big twisty reveal and you're getting all this history on baby farming. In When a Duke Loves a Woman, we get a solid, no frills historical romance--there were no big reveals or splashy twists involving the main couple nor a secondary plot involving a mystery. Instead we get a slow burn romance between two people from different social classes--a working woman who had always hid her femaleness to avoid male attention and a duke who was expected to marry for wealth rather than love.

I found myself falling for our main couple, Gillie and Thorne. They're both really good people and I wanted the best for them. After Gillie rescued Thorne, she ended up agreeing to help him find his runaway bride-to-be, and they both found themselves enjoying each other's company with Thorne trying to find all the excuses to spend more time with Gillie. It was lovely watching their relationship slowly grow and love blossomed. And my heart hurt for them when they had to say goodbye because their time together had expired.

Gillie and Thorne's romance was built on time spent together, on respect; in quiet moments and conversations; learning about each other and opening up by sharing stories about their pasts; in small gestures like Thorne helping put up chairs in Gillie's tavern after closing; Thorne's kindness toward Robin, an orphan Gillie took in--I found all this totally refreshing. Most of their time together was spent in Gillie's world, but when Thorne invited her into his he totally had her back and was proud of her for holding her own with his mother and some of the guest who were rude and insulting.

I could go on and on about how much I love this couple and their slow burn romance. But, suffice to say When a Duke Loves a Woman is a winner and I highly recommend it!