I will definitely be going back to read book one of this series but I have to say, having missed that one didn't take away any enjoyment in reading this book before the first one. With that said, there is reference to things that happened in book one as the main characters there are linked to these main characters so I do want to go back to read what happens.

The characters are well developed and the story itself, pulled me in on the first page. I couldn't put this one down and kept turning the pages to see what was going to happen next with Cassandra and Ashmont.

If you're looking for a historical romance that not only has a fun story but interesting characters and of course, the romancy bits, grab this one. I love Loretta Chase's books and this is a great add to her list of books.

Clearly from the title we know that our protagonists don't start out as lovers or even friends. Cassandra is brash, outspoken and doesn't really care for society but she does love her sweet beautiful sister. Her father finds the perfect punishment for her by curtailing her sister's season until Cassandra toes the line.  This gives readers a taste for the deliciousness that is set to unfold for their reading pleasures. 
In comes the drunk and dissolute Duke of Ashmont, who's worked hard to court a bride only to be left at the altar while his best friend elopes with her.  Drunk from drowning his sorrows he wanders out into the road and causes an accident that leaves Cassandra's rig damaged and her groom injured. She demands that Ashmont fix things and get her groom the medical attention and care that he needs. This encounter might become the saving of the drunk and dissolute duke who has forgotten some unforgettable moments from his youth when he championed Cassandra. 
The story turns into a delightful romp where the duke tries to restore Cassandra's reputation by proposing marriage only to have a teapot thrown at his head for his troubles. Determined he works out a point system and really begins to listen to Cassandra and takes the time to figure out what makes her tick. Cassandra of course remembers him well as the boy who first showed her the constellations and came to her rescue when she's bullied. She mourns the loss of the individual that he once was and that is a question the author never answers in her book. 
The story is vintage Ms. Chase and a fun read.

While I enjoyed this story I must admit it did not live up to its wonderful predecessor "A Duke in Shining Armor" for wit and humor. While our heroine was a strong willed woman and our reluctant hero who we had met in the last book they were a hard match which was what they both needed obviously . The wit and intelligence are done very well, the Duke who starts this journey oblivious to what the heroine needs embarks on a journey to improve himself and be worthy of her attentions, all very entertaining. The ending has some unexpected twists and turns and some well played of blackmail and revenge that do not follow any expected path which was a great surprise. All things considered this is a journey of discovering each other and the path was not easy but the ending was near perfect. Still in all fairness almost no historical fiction could live up to comparison with book 1 so take that as you may but this is a great follow-on sequel. Hope we don't have to wait 3 years for the next one.

Ten Things I Hate About the Duke is the second book in the Difficult Dukes series but was terrific as a stand-alone. It caught my attention in the beginning and keep it until I got to the end. The book was full of witty dialogue, a hero needing redemption, and a feisty, opinionated heroine!
Cassandra Pomfret, the eldest daughter of Lord de Griffith, fell in love with Lucius one childhood summer when he rescued her. Her childhood worship of him ended as she grew older and became aware of his outrageous pranks and troublemaking. When Cassandra had her come out, she quickly became known as Medusa, de Griffiths Gorgon, and Cassandra Prophet of Doom with her direct speech and opinions. Now her family was in London so her younger sister Hyacinth could have her come-out, but their father refused to let her participate in the Season while Cassandra remained unmarried. Cassandra had managed to scare all her potential suitors away until Lucius turns her world upside down. An engagement with marriage to follow is the only way Cassandra’s reputation will be saved and will allow her sister to make a good match. Cassandra quickly agrees to a fake engagement with Lucius.
Lucius was known as one of the three Dis-Graces who were known for their libertine ways and troublemaking. Lucius’s fiancé had run off before their wedding started and married his best friend, the Duke of Ripley. After the duel, Lucius tried to get rid of the memories by drinking them away. Instead, he only creates more chaos when he stumbles out of the Green Man Inn and fires his pistol to have some peace. Causing Cassandra’s carriage to crash and her groom to be injured sobered him up quickly. Quietly leaving the village and returning to London Lucius tries to save her reputation, but he was intrigued by her and while he tried to give her time to get over her anger, he couldn’t get her off his mind. So, when he gets a chance to see her again, he can’t resist. When an engagement between them is needed to save her reputation, he didn’t want a fake one and he was determined to make her his.
I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out.

Like many times before, I dove into a new historical romance without reading the previous books in the series. Historical Romance allows you to do that most of the time without punishing you for not reading everything in order. I don't often mind not knowing side characters's stories and I'm glad to say I wasn't lost here either.

Ten things I hate about the duke intrigued me with its title, promising an hate to love romance. I was excited to read their arguments and banter and I wasn't disappointed as the FMC woke him up at the beginning with cold water ahah. However, it wasn't their first meeting as they met when they were younger. I loved that Cassandra had a strong mind and didn't hesitate to speak and act (even though her father disapproved). The problem is that her father will not let her younger sister do all the things young girls do at that time until Cassandra is wed. Comes in the Duke of Ashmont who almost killed his best friend after he stole his bride-to-be...

Overall, this was a pretty entertaining read and I'm curious to see what Loretta Chase has in her backlog! I'm happy to say I enjoyed this historical romance as I didn't really like the last one or the one before that if my memory is correct.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

Guess who fell asleep with her contacts on bc she was up late reading 10 Things I Hate About The Duke?

Me, it was me🙈 but I have no regrets bc it was incredible! It’s been a while since I’ve read a Loretta Chase, and somehow i forgot how *gorgeous* the writing is!!! Like I just wanted to luxuriate in these sentences (tbh i kinda did, there is a truly obscene number of highlights in my book lol)

10 Things I Hate About The Duke is a fantastic riff on Taming of The Shrew, with several reference to my all time ~favorite~ romcom (Patrick Verona is a DREAM omg) peppered in to add a bit of ✨spice✨ Its a classic setup— one “shrewish” (aka: a woman with opinions and a brain) and a rogue who seeks to tame her. Cassandra and Lucien are a fantastic duo😍 their verbal repartee is enchanting, and the chemistry is just as delicious!! I LOVED that he read her favorite book to get to know her better, and the scene where they duel had me dyingggggg omg

I also really loved the supporting cast of characters!! My favorites were Lady Charles & Lord Frederick—their asides debiting the success of Lucious and Cassandra’s relationship were hysterical, and felt very Shakesperian to me🙏🏻

I will say that it took me a while to separate this book from the characters in 10 Things I Hate About You (bc its one of my favorite movies & i know it by heart) but once I did i was able to really sink into this world & enjoy it!

This book was such a treat!! Chase is an incredible author, and her reimagining of the classic shakespearian play was an utter delight💛 this bad boy released tuesday and you definitely should get your hands on a copy! Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for my ARC😊

I confess that I took this book because of the inspiration in Shakespeare's comedy and I didn't regret it.

Cassandra after frighten any man who had the intention of marrying her with her stubborn, defiant and fearless way ends up being forced by her father to choose a suitor, otherwise her younger sister will not be able to continue her Season or find a fiance.

Chaos seems to be the lady's companion and wherever she goes she make a fuss, but this time her path will cross with another even greater confusion driver, the Duke of Ashmont, one of the fearsome Dis-Graces. He is devastated after losing his bride to his best friend, facing him in a duel and after drinking a lot ends up worsening a fight that appears in the bar where he is drowning his sorrows.

Behold, on his way Cassandra appears, he knows that he knows her from somewhere but does not remember where, but little by little he remembers the situations he lived with this crazy woman. Deciding to have a family, he ends up choosing Cassandra who is not at all willing to be the duke's second option. Ah but our anti hero does not give up easily and will do anything to win the heart of this sweet Vixen.

At first, the acid dialogues and the situations in which they both got involved yielded a lot of laughs, but with the progress of the story and with the participation of other characters, the plot followed a more romantic rather than funny path. I really enjoyed seeing the changes taking place in Lucius' behavior and seeing both him and Cassandra having their hearts soften.

4,5/5 stars

Ten Things I Hate About the Duke is the second book in the Dangerous Dukes series, and it begins immediately after the events of A Duke in Shining Armor. The Duke of Ashmont—His Grace with the Angel Face—whom readers last saw [redacted spoiler] has retired to a pub, where he encounters the headstrong Cassandra. Through a series of unfortunate events due entirely to his carelessness, Ashmont puts Cassandra’s already-shaky reputation into even greater peril.

This leads to what is known in modern vernacular to a “come to Jesus” moment for Ashmont, who after being left at the altar in the previous book, has begun to realize that he is a hot mess. He wants to make amends, but Cassandra wants nothing to do with this disastrous duke. Ashmont is persistent—but not in an invasive way—and he’s determined to prove to her that he is more than a party boy scandal-maker.

Loretta Chase is a legend in the genre, and I have adored every single one of her books that I’ve had the pleasure to read. This one is no exception. Everything about Ten Things is almost perfect: plot, characterization, little details—and it would have been enough to have all of those important factors, but what puts Ten Things over the top is Chase’s hilarious authorial voice. I found myself smiling throughout the reading experience, especially the banter between Ashmont and Cassandra.

It’s hard not to root for Ashmont, who was left at the altar in the first book. This was an inevitability because—as I mentioned—he was a hot mess. The incident served as a catalyst for prioritizing Ashmont’s reformation, and Cassandra is the perfect candidate to tame him into respectability.

The best thing about Cassandra is that she doesn’t put up with Ashmont’s sh—nonsense, and she doesn’t let the little fact that he’s a duke get in the way of expressing her displeasure. Her trust is not freely given; she makes him earn every last bit of it.

I would absolutely recommend Ten Things I Hate About the Duke. This is a most excellent sequel, featuring an array of original characters. The book is light in tone, with very little in the way of angst or melodramatics—so it was perfect escape from a most melodramatic year.

I received an ARC of this book from Avon/NetGalley.

Lots of fun in this intelligent, witty romance!

As one can guess from the title, this book freely borrows from Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew with a good bit of Austen's Bennet family as well. I adore Cassandra, a woman born too soon, who knows her own mind and isn't the least bit shy about demonstrating that fact.

A few days after losing his fiancée to his best friend (Book 1), Lucius is deep in his cups when he unwittingly causes an accident with serious consequences for Cassandra and her staff. In a moment of clarity and responsibility, he offers to marry her to fix most of the damage he has caused. It's more complicated than I can convey without spoilers, but suffice it to say that a marriage to the duke would also solve Cassandra's problem with her father. Ah, but nothing worthwhile is ever going to be that easy.

Lucius and Cassandra have everything going for them and everything stacked against them all at the same time. They find their way to a truce of sorts, but when hearts start getting involved it all becomes increasingly complicated. I loved every deliciously witty interaction between these two, especially the way they challenged each other and -- eventually -- brought out the best in each other.

Their HEA was very sweet and satisfying, and the scene with her mother and the woman she's known for forty years was brilliantly satisfying in its own way. I highly recommend this romance to anyone who enjoys historical rom-coms. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

I very much enjoyed Ten Things I Hate About the Duke by Loretta Chase. The writing was excellent, the story line was unique and enjoyable, and the characters were well written. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

London's Society considers Cassandra Pomfret a shrew, a hoyden, a virago, and a gorgon. In other words, she's intelligent and not willing to pretend otherwise for the sake of delicate male sensibilities. She stands up for others, is interested in political reforms that will help the poor, and doesn't suffer fools- at all. This includes the man she once had a childhood crush on, the Duke of Ashmont. She thought he would grow up to be a hero, a man who could accomplish great things to help others. Instead, he doesn't seem to have grown up at all. He and his friends are known for outrageous pranks, drinking, fighting, and doing nothing useful with their lives. When these two meet as adults, will the stars align or things explode?

Cassandra is a great character- a woman who is unapologetically intelligent, fearless, and believes in helping others. She doesn't play Society's games and so Society shuns her, and she's alright with that. She helps the poor, fights with umbrellas (as weapons, not opponents), and is loyal to those she loves. And while she has no use for useless degenerates, she's fair enough to see when someone has potential- like the Duke of Ashmont. He unknowingly broke her heart as a young lady, now she isn't going to just hand it over because he says so. She's confident enough in herself and her worth to make him earn it.

I had trouble warming up to Ashmont, who definitely doesn't come across very well in the beginning. A drunk, a fighter, a man who seems to drown any intellect he has. He doesn't cause trouble maliciously, but he doesn't generally think of others as he goes through life. At first glance, not much of a hero. But he does what so few others are willing to do- he tries to become worthy of the woman he's decided to marry. Leave off the drinking so he can actually think. Try to behave around the Royal family no matter how boring that makes things. And actually listen to the lady he's falling in love with, think about what she says and what is important to her, and discover that it is also important to him. Ashmont doesn't change to become someone he isn't for the sake of a woman, he becomes who he was always meant to be.

Full of humor, lively dialogue, and sparkling wit, Ten Things I Hate About the Duke is a satisfying and fulfilling story and a lovely romance. I will definitely be reading Loretta Chase's other books while waiting for the next book in this series!


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Cassandra Pomfret had just arrived from France. She and her father got into an argument and her sister suggested she go see their former governess. She drove her phaeton toward Putney Heath accompanied by her maid Gosney and Keeffe, her tiger, Keeffe was a famous Champion Jockey and everyone knew of him and his awful accident. He almost died.
Lucius Wilmot Beckingham, Sixth Duke of Ashmont, he that very morning, had been in a duel with his best friend. He was one of three dukes who caused chaos where ever they went. I think they acted like little boys. They wanted what they wanted and could get it because of their rank and money.
Boy, these three dukes were something else, they played pranks and all kinds of mischief. Cassandra had been in love with Ashmont since she was ten. I loved the story and it was well thought out. It was easy to read and very funny in places. The characters were great, they showed all kinds of emotion, so much was going on. They fell into one mess after another. She had gone to her ladies' meeting and the duke helped with a demonstration with an umbrella. It was a very entertaining book and I could read it again. I do recommend this funny but sad tale of some very interesting characters.
I received this ARC from Net Galley and was very happy to review it.

Ten Things I Hate About the Duke is Loretta Chase’s take on The Taming of the Shrew and it is brimming with her trademark wit and her superhuman talent to elicit BIG FEELINGS with just a few brilliantly chosen words.

If you’ve ever listened to the Fated Mates podcast they talk often about the role romance novels play in symbolically dismantling the Patriarchy. This book does this explicitly, in my opinion. You’ve got Lucius, a spoiled, gorgeous, entitled duke who has frolicked and brawled through his life, basking in privilege he doesn’t even recognize. He’s never been told no. But Cassandra…tells him no. And instead of pouting he endeavors to become a better man. To earn her love and respect. Imagine that! How’s that for an HEA…bringing down “The Patriarchy ” and reforming it into something worthy and capable of authentic relationship.

My one gripe about this book is that it seemed to take a while to get this couple together on the page for a prolonged scenes. But once they were I was very, very pleased.

Thank you Avon and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a well-written, entertaining book. Cassandra Pomfret and The Duke of Ashmont have had an unfortunate encounter, damaging her reputation. The book was hard to put down and I didn't want it to come to an end! I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

Ugghhh. I really had a hard time connecting with the characters in this story. I read and loved the first book in this series, this one was so flat. The characters were boring (and I really liked Ashmont in the first book and his lines really stood out in this story). Cassandra was so demeaning. I hate that this story did not garner more one-liners and sympathy for me. I have high hopes that the next book will be amazing.

1833

Miss Hyacinth Pomfret, 18, daughter of Lord deGriffith, has everyone admiring the debutante. Her older sister, Cassandra, 26, has recently returned from the continent where she fled after being involved in a political dispute. Lord deGriffiths is a powerful member of the House of Commons. Today. Cassandra is in the House where she is once again challenging Mr. Titus Owsley, causing pandemonium, and resulting in her father’s ire. He then threatens to disallow Hyacinth her season if Cassandra continues with her ways. In addition, Hyacinth cannot marry until Cassandra has married.

Lucius Wilmot Beckingham, the sixth Duke of Ashmont is a handsome man. His fiancé Lady Olympia Hightower, has just broken off their engagement to marry his best friend, the Duke of Ripley. Lucius is furious and has challenged him to a duel. Awaiting the start of it, Lucius and some of his friends have been drinking heavily and are quite drunk.

Driving to see her old governess is Cassandra, her maid, and her tiger, Keeffe. When Lucius drunkenly fires a pistol, her horses rear up and overturn the carriage. While her maid has some lacerations, Keeffe has some injured ribs. Cassandra is uninjured but quite angry with Lucius! Taking him to an inn closely she gets a doctor for Keeffe who is now running a fever. As he begins to sober up, Lucius realizes how stupid he has been and that he could have killed Ripley.

Lucius realizes that he has lost control of his life and is intent on turning himself around to prove to Cassandra that he is a good man and hopefully she will agree to marry him. Thus starts his venture to make great changes that are not easy for him to do. Poor guy.

This book had a promising plot but I found it to be too intense with the heroine trying to mold the hero into someone else. This is OK up to a point, but I found it grating and emasculating to Lucius. In addition, the length of the book could have been shortened significantly. Not a favorite.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

So how will Ashmont manage to learn who Cassandra has become and woo her into marrying him? How will she overcome the years of watching him drink, rake, and prank his way into notoriety to the degree that he is fairly persona non grata in London polite circles no matter that he’s an unmarried, rich, duke?

It starts with his money and how he truly regrets harming Cassandra’s tiger. His present to Keeffe might be an effort to earn forgiveness but as Cassandra’s sister Hyacinth says, for a duke to seek out a present for a servant that he also knows is something Keeffe will treasure is something that ought to be acknowledged. Ashmont also uses his deadly calm, yet truly frightening, voice to challenge an anonymous wit who calls Cassandra “Scylla.”

When Cassandra calls on Ashmont to help her, he watches her in action. In fact he takes her on as his role is to play a ruffian for her to practice – and show the other ladies – defending herself. He sees a woman who is smart, tough, and different. While there he also gets a book recommendation from one of the other women – women who, Cassandra says “have helped me find a way to do something worthwhile and satisfying with my intelligence and skills.” Ashmont’s eyes are opening and he comes to the realization that his actions which wrecked her carriage have taken so much from Cassandra including curtailing much of the tiny bit of freedom she, as a woman, has.

Cassandra discovers that Ashmont asks for her opinion and then unfortunately she caves to a standard romance heroine action of deciding that she’ll take advantage of the chance to kiss him when she knows she shouldn’t because when else might she get the chance. As romance readers, we know this is usually a mistake and sure enough, it is. To fend off public scandal, Cassandra invokes another romance classic – the faux engagement. Ashmont agrees to her idea to have him eventually break it – after all, it is something he would probably do – but while Cassandra might enjoy his company, she’s determined not to actually marry him. Ashmont, on the other hand, knows he’s got a short window of opportunity to change her mind.

While I generally roll my eyes at the faux engagements, Ashmont takes the time to put his plan in action and actually shows Cassandra that not only can he change, but that he is changing. He also doesn’t do this in big flashy ways but goes for subtle which actually impresses her – and the people dear to her – more. I enjoyed watching him grow and change as well.

But while much of the book focuses on how Ashmont and Cassandra negotiate their relationship, there must be a villain in most books and here there is a snake in the grass who slithers through the plot. I enjoyed watching Cassandra’s mother verbally fence with her. Then of course Cassandra has to do one final thing which is her “boombox moment” as well as being stupendously silly. ::eye roll:: It also could have boomeranged back on her family. I guess the plot needed one final conflict to overcome but for a woman who has been set up and thus far shown to be so intelligent, it was a letdown.

So I cheered to see Ashmont realize and face his shortcomings, then do something about them. Bravo that he also sees that he needs to do more than just charm Cassandra and wear down her resistance to him – he needs to discover who she really is and what is important to her. By the end of the book, he had managed to convince not only Cassandra – and her father – but me as well that he’s a changed man. Cassandra gets the man she always thought and dreamed that Ashmont could be. I just could have done without the tired romance actions that move some of the action along. B

This book is now among my favorites. I've always loved enemies to lovers, and this one delivers whole-heartedly! I can't believe I haven't read the others in the Difficult Dukes Series, but I will as soon as I finish writing this. While it is part of a series, you can still read it as a standalone as I did. The next in the series appears to be Alice and Blackwood's story, which I can't wait to check out.

This is my first Loretta Chase in almost two years. I’ve always enjoyed Chase’s characters, her witty banter, and with this latest story she did not let me down.

Ten Things I Hate About the Duke is the second in the Difficult Dukes series. Now, I’ve rarely met a duke book I didn’t want to read, and this one is no exception. We meet our hero, or should we call him a zero, Lucius the Duke of Ashmont deep into his cups, bruised, battered, and in possession of a pistol. Said pistol is fired, into the air, to quell a fight and then it sends Miss Cassandra Pomfret’s barouche crashing. Injuries ensue and Cassandra is reminded of how the boy she once loved has grown into a useless waste of a perfectly good duke.

Taming of the Shrew meets unrequited love in this delicious story. There is banter, there are hijinks, and there is scandal. Ashmont is the king of pranks after all, and Cassandra is always with one foot forward towards disaster simply because she refuses to follow societies rules. I easily slipped into this tale, watching Ashmont fall for Cassandra. I loved how he didn’t know what to do with himself or how to prove to her that he was worthy of her.

Chase rules at characterization with Ashmont, our pranking duke, who has a brain, but doesn’t always use it. He’s used to letting money or his fists do most of the talking. He’s gorgeous so the women flock to him. When challenged by a woman, in this case Cassandra, he finds himself out maneuvered at every turn. Of course, men love a chase. Ashmont is determined not to give up. As he so aptly put it, in his first marriage proposal.

You’re outrageous. I’m outrageous.

Cassandra is a modern woman caught in a horrible time. She hates societies rules and has no clue on how to be soft-spoken. Instead, she speaks her mind, one society honest horrific word after another. They nickname her Medusa because her phrasing can crumble a man’s resolve. She’s fabulous even when she skewers Ashmont verbally and physically (in a non-lethal way). I really loved this heroine and she’s probably one of my favorites for 2020.

My favorite Cassandra thought is about Ashmont of course.

He was a trap, a walking, talking woman-trap.

Outside of the main characters there is an entire secondary cast that adds to the ambience and conflict, from vindictive mothers to a parliament member betwixted by Cassandra’s beauty. With plenty of external issues, and internal demons the hero and heroine must fight, the love story is a winding, twisting path with a resolution I greatly enjoyed. I think a part of me wanted a little more confrontation between the main characters and the villain, but ultimately, I appreciated the honest, forthcoming way the resolution to the HEA came about.

Overall, this is a fabulous historical from a writer I can typically depend on for excellent stories. Also, I loved how Chase made me wonder if another historical hero of hers was going to get shot. You may ask, did he? I’ll recommend you read the book to find out.

~ Landra

Heat Factor: It’s your medium-low-level histrom sexytimes, and it works well in context
Character Chemistry: The way these two processed their relationship - separately and together - was awesomesauce
Plot: Ten Things I Hate About You but more grown up
Overall: I waited a loooooooooooong time for this book, and it was better than I’d hoped for

In case the title of the book didn’t clue you in (maybe you are much younger than me?), this is a spin on the classic movie Ten Things I Hate About You, which of course is a spin on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. So we’ve got it all: The “shrew”, her sweet younger sister, the distressed father, the nice young man, and the only man who sees the shrew (this being a Ten Things I Hate About You interpretation - Shakespeare’s original relationship being hugely problematic).

That said, Chase’s take is really nice, and not just because Cassandra and Ashmont are older than Young Adult/New Adult. As I read, I was constantly thinking that I really like what Chase is doing with this series of Dukes. If you haven’t already read the first book in this series, I’d encourage you to pop over to my review, because you can see that in this series Chase is playing with a lot of ideas about historical social politics and our interpretation of them as modern readers.

There are two big problems that need to be addressed for this relationship to work:
1. Cassandra fell in love with Ashmont when they were both children, and he never noticed her when they became adults.
2. Ashmont spent his whole adulthood being the most selfish, privileged man in the world, making Cassandra believe (for years) that she’d misplaced her faith in her childhood white knight.

So Ashmont has to do most of the heavy lifting in terms of character growth in this book, which I initially struggled with, but ultimately had to acknowledge was right, and Chase makes the effort to get the reader to that point, too.

You see, Cassandra is not like other girls. I put this up front for the “Ugh, not like other girls!” crowd, because - yes, I agree with you. But also, Ashmont doesn’t characterize her this way, she characterizes herself this way, and if the reader makes the smallest effort, it’s easy to understand why from a social standpoint. Cassandra is an activist, but she’s not the sort of activist who’s going to convince people to join her cause by being conciliating and persuasive. She’s combative and lets her personality hang out without apology, so she’s the activist who’s going to get people’s attention and hopefully make them uncomfortable enough to think about issues, but she’s not going to get much love for doing so. When we are dealing with social pressures - pressures that frankly still exist - to be conciliating with others and patient with the status quo, it’s easy to understand why Cassandra doesn’t see herself represented in the greater world. Bonus points to Chase for not just making her a modern feminist in skirts, too.

Cassandra typically enters into situations with basic consideration for propriety. Because she’s a feminist, but she also understands that she lives in the world she lives in and just because she wants things to be different doesn’t mean she can make them that way. It’s just that when things unexpectedly go sideways for her, she ends up in situations that are unfairly problematic to her reputation. It’s one of these situations that finally makes Ashmont finally see her, but it’s also that situation that puts her in the position of possibly needing to marry Ashmont when she does not respect or trust him after all of his bad behavior.

So let’s talk about Ashmont. The book begins on the heels of Ashmont’s duel with his best friend who “stole” Ashmont’s fiancee on the morning of their wedding. You don’t have to read book 1 to read book 2, but I might argue that doing so makes Ashmont more fully 3-dimensional early on.

I really liked Ashmont’s characterization because he’s the epitome of privilege. He’s young, he’s got oodles of money, he’s a duke. Why on earth would he be motivated to concern himself with things that don’t impact his extraordinarily privileged life? He’s spent his adulthood doing whatever he wants, but he’s not the rakish asshole kind of histrom hero. He’s also not the starchy kind. He’s just a guy with immense privilege doing what he wants: playing pranks on people because he finds it entertaining, getting drunk, having sex, fighting, and wash, rinse, repeat. In fact, he reads something like Freddy, from Georgette Heyer’s Cotillion, except that Freddy is a starchy twit while Ashmont is a self-indulgent one.

Ashmont’s similarities to Freddy are greatest when we consider that he has been constantly underestimated for all of his adulthood. In part this is due to his own behavior and personality. But in fact, there were several instances in the first 40% of this book that I thought that Cassandra was unnecessarily unkind to Ashmont. She publicly mocks him a couple of times (as does one of his best friends...this is a behavior I really don’t like to read), and she also leaves him hanging off a railing. Yes, she pushed him because he tried to prevent her from leaving their conversation by grabbing her arm, but also he could have really actually died falling to the cobblestones from a first floor balcony, and she walks off, leaving him hanging by his knees over the edge. He goes on to lament his bad behavior and foolishness, putting his hands on her when he shouldn’t have, which is true and begins his growth arc, but also...manslaughter is not cute.

There’s no malice in Ashmont at all, he’s just extremely self-absorbed and uncaring of how his actions might impact others. Which comes back to bite him when what he really wants is for Cassandra to marry him. Because he likes her. Chase doesn’t really get into this in Ten Things I Hate About the Duke, but the reason Ashmont wooed the fiancee who jilted him in book 1 is because she was nice to him and nobody’s ever just nice to him. Ergo, both protagonists have the same issue, but from different viewpoints. Ashmont is looking for someone who sees him, who chooses him, and who he can count on because he’s kind of emotionally dumped on and written off, including by the people who care about him. For her part Cassandra is worried that Ashmont isn’t sincere when she’s asking the questions “Do you see me? Do you choose me? and Can I count on you?” And based on everything she knows about him, that’s a totally reasonable worry.

At first I wanted Cassandra to realize that her meanness directed at Ashmont, which was based on information she had obtained from secondary sources, wasn’t necessarily that different from the way that people were unkind to or judgemental of her without knowing her. But Chase didn’t go there. Which turned out to be okay because she did some other cool stuff with the narrative. So what really worked for me in the Ashmont/Cassandra dynamic was Cassandra’s realization that she wanted to believe that Ashmont really did see her and appreciate her, but she logically couldn’t rely on days-old information when looking at it in the context of years of his behavior.

But Ashmont didn’t dwell on that (not that he really understood it at first). It all began when they had a self-defense demonstration at Cassandra’s club and Ashmont fought her. She told him to come at her like a ruffian, so he did, and he wasn’t trying to play her or prove anything to her, he was playing with her. He went into it just like he would have with his friends, and he had a great time. And so did she.

We’d had inklings before, but that interaction and what immediately follows it really begins Ashmont’s journey of self-examination. He realizes that he needs to examine his suppositions and his privilege and to really, honestly hear and see Cassandra - not project his desires on her - if he wants her to be with him. Chase makes Ashmont’s progress easier for the reader to see by including another man who has an interaction with Cassandra early on and becomes infatuated with her, but constantly seeks to change or reform her as he tries to woo her. (And Cassandra is great, because she’s all, “Dude, I have less than no interest in you mansplaining to me.”)

A final thought re: Ashmont. I already mentioned that he’s not your typical “rakish asshole” or “starchy prig” hero. He’s a bit of a buffoon. And I think one thing that this characterization does in his favor is that it allows him to examine everything that’s happening not in terms of tragic events of his past that shaped him, but instead in terms of what’s happening right now and what his choices mean in that context. He knows he has to protect Cassandra’s reputation for social reasons, but everything he decides to do is because he wants a future with Cassandra and he wants to be the man who can actually have that future.

I did worry what would happen if he “relapsed” or if he weren’t morally upright enough for Cassandra on a consistent basis, considering that Ashmont went from not concerning himself with anything at all to getting all kinds of progressively political. But I think it worked because Cassandra did seem to meet him where she was when it came to the point of her deciding what to do with her own future.

So anyway, this was a good read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.