Freya de Moray is a woman with a mission. As a member of the Wise Women, she is tasked with putting an end to a bill that is about to pass that will basically make it open season on anyone believed to be a witch. In order to achieve her goal, Freya has been living under an assumed identity as a chaperone. Things are going almost according to plan until an old friend of the family turned enemy, the Duke of Harlowe, shows up at the same house party she's attending. Freya will just have to kill two birds with one stone.

Christopher Renshaw, the Duke of Harlowe, is only at the party to retrieve the letters his blackmailer is holding. It is there that he encounters a woman he knows, but cannot place. Harlowe is captivated by her, but it is obvious that Freya cannot stand him. Still, something about her is familiar and Harlowe can't let it go. When Harlowe learns her true identity and the dangerous circumstances that she is in, he only wants to protect her. Showing Freya that he is not the villain she believes him to be is going to take a whole lot of faith and trust on her part.

Author Elizabeth Hoyt's first installment in THE GREYCOURT series is sure to be a hit. Who doesn't love a good story about a man redeemed?! Harlowe has secrets, but so does Freya. They have so many obstacles to overcome, but desire is not one of them. Despite their dislike of one another, the attraction is undeniable. Learning to open up to one another and trust is a whole new struggle. Love for Harlowe and Freya will not come easy, but when it does, both of them can start the process of healing. NOT THE DUKE'S DARLING will keep you up late at night.

I did not like this book as much as I hoped I would. I felt that the plot was just too busy for my taste and there was too much telling and not enough showing.

4.5 stars
Not The Duke’s Darling is the first book in Elizabeth Hoyt’s exciting new Greycourt Series.

Freya de Moray was not who she was portraying herself to be. She was a Wise Woman who was on a mission. Pretending to be a Lady’s companion was a vital part of her plan. Witch-hunting in England had been outlawed for some time, but a particular aristocrat was pushing to bring the practice back. Freya’s mission was to make sure that he didn’t succeed. She was also seeking revenge for her brother’s ruined life. Freya became excited when she spotted the Duke of Harlowe. Her plan was coming together perfectly.

Christopher Renshaw, the Duke of Harlowe was back in London after spending years in India. At the age of eighteen, Christopher had been sent away for disgracing the family name. But, since inheriting the Dukedom, Christopher’s lofty status had been reinstated. Normally the duke was not one to mingle, but since his blackmailer was demanding his presence at Lady Lovejoy’s house party, Christopher went. It was at this party, where he came across Freya; the most intelligent, infuriating, and beautiful woman he’d ever met. He wanted to get to know her. The problem was, however, that Freya, wanted nothing to do with him. In fact, she acted as if she hated him.

Not The Duke’s Darling is a wonderful start to Elizabeth Hoyt’s new series. I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline, the dialogue, and the characters.

Thank you, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley, for my advanced review copy.

Elizabeth Hoyt is a master storyteller and her historical romances are some of the best in the business. So it came as no surprise to me that this book was fabulous! I was taken back to a time I never thought I would be able to experience and was able to live vicariously through the characters. I cannot wait to see what else Elizabeth does with the series. I am so excited to continue on!

Full review to be published online in late December.

NOT THE DUKE’S DARLING is the first book in Elizabeth Hoyt’s new “Greycourt” series. This was well written as always with a Hoyt book, and the last part was enjoyable; but I just didn’t find myself gripped by the storyline. It was a bit simplistic, I was not overly engaged with either of the leads, and the story was often rambling and with too many vaguely drawn subplots.

I got confused with all the names. Sometimes it was the character’s first name, other times the family name. Add to that the titles and the fake names, and I was often lost as to which character was which.

NOT THE DUKE’S DARLING was a good book; but not quite the great read I’ve come to expect from Hoyt.

The Story in a Nutshell: After her family was disgraced by a terrible tragedy, Freya de Moray found a life as a member of the secret order of Wise Women and as a chaperone living under an assumed name. But when one of the men she blames for the destruction of her family shows up at a house party she’s attending, she begins planning her revenge. Christopher Renshaw, the Duke of Harlowe is haunted by memories of his past and when a reminder of that past appears with revenge on her mind, he realizes he can’t hide from his troubles forever. Especially once he realizes Freya is in danger and he wants more than just forgiveness from her.




Overall reaction to the book? As the first book in a new series, Not the Duke’s Darling has a pretty big job, it has to set up the entire series while still giving readers a solid romance. So how does Not the Duke’s Darling hold up?


Pretty dang well even with the few issues I had. For starters there is quite the character dump in the first quarter of the book. There are 3 separate families involved in what is referred to as The Greycourt Tragedy, there are the Greycourts themselves who were 5 but only 4 survived, the Renshaws who only had Christopher, and the de Morays who along with Freya are 5 grown children. That’s quite a bit right there even though all 10 don’t actually appear in this book. But then you toss in a rather large number of supporting characters into a house party and suddenly my head was spinning trying to keep track of who is who and how they are connected to Freya and/or Christopher. It was a lot to unload on a reader in a series starter. I think that with the involvement of the three families that the inclusion of a country house party full of active guests was a bit over the top. Personally I would have liked less supporting characters but with Elizabeth Hoyt you never know if a “background” character will one day appear as a leading character in a future book. I hope there was a reason for so many characters running about in this book.


But if you can just hang on a bit through all the character introductions, what follows is a carefully constructed plot that while independent, also contributes to a far grander story about friendship, betrayal, and loss.


Christopher Renshaw, the duke of Harlowe is a troubled hero, who suffers from not only his part in the Greycourt tragedy but from his experiences in India. He wasn’t a hardened man which came as a surprise to me given his past. He was the opposite, he had a caring heart and the determination to protect and help anyone who needed it. This gave him a vulnerability that made him both likable and relatable. Of course, it helped that he not only had a “common” dog but loved his dog. I will never tire of a man who loves his dog.


Freya though, she was the most interesting character in the whole book to me. She was a woman operating as a spy for an organization being hunted by the opposition. She lead an exciting life for a woman of her time! She had skills that helped her with her sometimes dangerous tasks but she was also a quick thinker, bold, and educated. However, because she was so used to doing things her own way and was holding on to her hatred of the Renshaws and Greycourts I found Freya to be proud and a tad arrogant at times. Her flaw was in her belief that she didn’t need help from Christopher or any man and that not even good men were worth her time or respect.


She didn’t see that the way she looked at men was almost the same way she accused them of looking at women. For such an independent and intelligent woman I found that she wasn’t very fair towards men nor did she consider that there were good men out there, men like Christopher and that a healthy relationship required give and take from BOTH parties. I loved that she was capable of surviving in a very male dominated world and that she wasn’t prone to swooning or hysterics but that did make way for her to be foolishly proud. However, I will not judge her too harshly for her pride and arrogance since both traits are commonly found and overlooked in the heroes of romance. It was different though to encounter a heroine with these traits and it gave her relationship with Christopher a different feel.


This might seem strange but I felt that the bitter antagonism and verbal sparring between Christopher and Freya added to the sexual tension. In a word, it was H-O-T. That’s not an easy thing to do and Hoyt managed to tread the line between lust and loathing very well. Later, through their conversations, I felt both characters started to see each other differently instead of found something to admire and care for in one another.


I am so excited about this new series by one of my all time favorite authors, even with the character dump in the beginning, Not the Duke’s Darling was a great starter book and I am wholly invested in seeing how the now adult characters handle being forced to go back to that day that their lives were shattered as children. It’s an Elizabeth Hoyt series so it won’t be an easy journey for anyone involved and it is sure to involve quite a few surprises along the way.


Click It or Skip It? Click it!!! Christopher and Freya are characters worth knowing and their pasts promise one heck of a series.



* Review will go up on the blog on Dec. 18

While this isn't Maiden Lane (which I loved, loved, loved), I still enormously enjoyed the start of Hoyt's new series. Hoyt manages again to create some simply awesome heroines and heroes. Freya is definitely not the typical female from 1760 London nor is Christopher the typical Duke.

It's always a treat to get to read a new book by Hoyt and it blew me away to realize that it was almost 500 pages long.(One of the things I love and hate about the Kindle is not getting a true feel of the length of a book. I always feel kind of shocked and sad when I realize the story has ended.) It was a weekend read for me that seemed to speed by much, much to fast. Presumably, I slept and ate this weekend (I don't recall) but obviously I must have had the Kindle attached to my hand most of the time as I did finish it so quickly. I love Hoyt's details of life from both the upper class point of view and the staff's. It's rather like getting a Downton Abbey moment with Hoyt's particular recipe for suspense and romance blended to produce a meal that is totally satisfying and filling.

One additional note that I just must add, if you haven't read the Maiden Lane series, it is now complete. Picking up this series for a binge read would be so awesome and I almost hate (nah, not really) I've already read it all cause I never reread a series. Just not enough time to indulge in rereading no matter how great it was.