Cover Image: The Runaway Duchess

The Runaway Duchess

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Member Reviews

I loved Lowell's first book "The Duke Undone" and was really looking forward to the "Runaway Duchess." Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. Probably because I spent a good 50% of this book hating the female lead, Lavinia Yardley.

She's a spoiled, "mean girl" who gets married off to a lecherous old duke to save her family financially (and it couldn't have happened to a nicer chit!) I didn't like the way she treated people, how she talked to Neal (her love interest), how she lied to him and his family, what a snob she was, how dumb she was, her slutty past with George (maybe if that was left out and she was a virgin marrying a lecherous old man she would have been immediately a more sympathetic and likeable leading lady). I hated how quickly Neal seemed to forgive her and how she treated him like a boy toy toward the end, I just felt he deserved so much better than her.

Neal Tramayne, botanist and sweetheart, is the reason I even finished reading this book. He was the character I rooted for to get a happy ending. Eventually Lavinia does redeem herself, but not until the very last gasps of the novel, long after you're past caring.

I think readers might give up on this one by the 40% mark, because Lavinia doesn't get likeable fast enough. It moves a little slow as you're waiting for her lies to be revealed. There are two steamy outdoor sex scenes if you do push through and Anthony and Lucy from "The Duke Undone" have some cameos in the second half.

I think I would have rather read about the real Muriel Pendrake's adventures and romances. Now there's a heroine!

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Review will be posted on Forever Young Adult blog on 2/2/22.

First Impressions: Clashing Colors

The solid purple paper-doll outlines aren’t my favorite and feel like they inserted some random clipart over the pastel background, but…at least it isn’t a cutesy cartoon like everything else lately?

What’s Your Type?

Relationships based on mistaken identity
Falling in love with the guy AND his family
Small British towns
Heroines with character growth
Affable, understanding heroes
Dating Profile

Lavinia Yardley has been utterly disgraced. The upstanding father she thought she had turned out to be nothing but a embezzling, despicable fraud, and now that he’s been goaled their family is destitute. Her mother pushes her towards the Duke of Cranbrook, a thoroughly odious goat of an old man, in order to reinstate their status in society. But Lavinia, a woman who has grown up getting everything she has ever desired, cannot stomach the thought of him touching her.

Neal Traymayne is a botanist—but, like, a sexy kind that goes on dangerous expeditions to places like South America to bring back new species of plants to Varnham Nurseries, the place he works and now (reluctantly) owns. He’s decided that instead of dalliances with people like society women who are utterly wrong for him, it’s time to settle down with someone sensible, who also loves plants and has his sense of adventure. Enter: widowed and famed plant hunter, Muriel Pendrake, his correspondence partner for the last six months.

Meet Cute: A Case Of Mistaken Identity

The day after her wedding, Lavinia and her new, yucky, old duke are on the train to his country estate, when she bumps into Neal at a station stop in Cornwall. Neal mistakes her for Muriel, whom he’s there to pick up so he can escort her on a tour of the Cornish moors and all the fascinating plants it contains. Sensing a way out, Lavinia goes along with Neal’s error, pretending to be Muriel, and lets him whisk her away from a life of handsy husbands and homemade Viagra.

The Lean: Opposites Attract

From While You Were Sleeping, Bill Pullman explains attraction to Sandra Bullock
Obviously nothing significant in their relationship should move forward while Neal thinks Lavinia is this famed plant hunter he plans to propose to, but thankfully the deception doesn’t last long enough for feelings to get too hurt. Lavinia had a dalliance with a hot young duke a few years back and had always expected she would marry him until he drowned, so she’s not some blushing innocent. Common-born Neal is very close to his family and admired his parents’ relationship built on like-mindedness, so he’s looking for the same kind of work/love partnership. But Lavinia, coming from a high-society perspective, definitely has a different set of ideals, and their clashes of class make for some fun arguments. They’re both forced to confront their preconceived notions surrounding class, status, and what a “good” relationship looks like, so that, by the time they get together, there is a mutual respect on an even playing field.

Dirty Talk

Lowell writes what feels like classy spice. The sex scenes are R-rated but not overly explicit in a way that sometimes feels out of place with the rest of the “historical” sounding writing. The emphasis is on the relationship building with a side-helping of smut, which is my personal sweet spot. And since this is a very nature-themed book, I think it will come as no surprise that at some point the characters get busy out on a bed of moss in the wilderness:

“You do like it,” he said, watching her.

“Maybe too much.” She gasped as he curled his finger. “What if I can’t control how I…”

[…]

“If you become completely wild, like a forest creature, or like a pirate queen who takes her pleasure without apology and gives no quarter…”

He pushed her onto her back and loomed over her, so his shadow quenched the light.

“God, I want it.” He almost groaned with the words. “I want to make you come and come apart and forget every goddamn thing but the feel of my mouth.”

Ms. Perky’s Prize for Purplest Prose

Teacher types on laptop while talking to student
Typing a romance novel on a computer screen
Generally the writing is straight up and easy to devour. But Lowell couldn’t help herself and put in a few flowery—literally—descriptions during the same sexy scene from above that made me laugh:

His touch made her open up like a crocus. He wanted to open her wider, to taste each ridge and fold, parting the lavender-rose of her, heavy with dew.

Like, a bit ew, but that is, I promise, the worst of it. This is also from Neal the plant-lover’s perspective before we switch to Lavinia’s, and her musings have a different tone. I appreciate when authors take those differing personalities and viewpoints into account instead of making their characters sound samey.

We Need To Talk: 1000 Yellow Daisies

Friends, I loved this book. It got to me at just the right time when I needed two characters who were really great. Neal is an excellent hero in that he’s genuinely a good and understanding person with livable flaws (he’s an adventure-hound and, as Lavinia tells him, snobby, which he finds endlessly amusing). Lavinia and her fall from grace began in the first book of this “series” (which you do not need to read to enjoy this story), and she’s very much the vain villain character. But, oh, how she grows up and learns to be a more thoughtful and kind person! And her growth isn’t centered on Neal goading her to be good, but because of her circumstances forcing her to examine what her life actually was like and what she thought she wanted back then to what she’s seeing differently now.

I loved Lavinia’s interactions with Neal’s intellectually-driven family and her longing for their close-knit bonds, especially given how shitty her own parents turn out to be. One of the main characters falling in love the other’s family and that conversely helping them become closer—it’s one of my favorite tropes. (We need a name for this! Does it fall under “found family”?)

I liked The Duke Undone a lot and gave it five stars on Goodreads, but I actually think I like The Runaway Duchess even more! Lowell’s settings still feel real and researched, and there’s plenty of balance between the fluffy and the serious. I remarked in my review of Undone that it got a bit melodramatic at the end, and that some of the discussions on alcoholism felt too heavy for a “romance”, but thankfully, in this book, the scale of the drama felt appropriate to the stakes.

It’s a “small” thing, but I’m grateful Lowell didn’t make us witness any scenes of Lavinia being forced or threatened to be intimate with her creepy husband for shock value. It would’ve been too much and unnecessary.

Was It Good For You? So, So Good

Johnny swings Baby around while they dance from Dirty Dancing.
That is a resounding yes! Joanna Lowell will undeniably be an auto-read for me in the future.

FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from Berkley Books. I received neither money nor peanut butter cups in exchange for this review. The Runaway Duchess is available now.

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I was lucky to be gifted an eARC of this book to review. I was able to read the book in this series last year, and really enjoyed my time with it. When I found out there was a sequel, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. This is a great historical romance story with mistaken identity shenanigans and the steamy tension I was looking for

This follows Livinia after the events of the first book. She has been disgraced and is looking for a way out of the terrible marriage she had to get into due to her circumstances. When a young man named Neal, a budding botanist, mistakes her for a renowned botanist she sees it as her chance to escape.

Just like the first one, I’m note sure how historically accurate this story and world really is.However, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story and the characters. This was such a fun read, but I’m not sure it’s crazy memorable. If you’re looking for a good travel-like historical romance to break up some tougher books, then this book is perfect for that.

Overall, all the normal things that one would expect from a historical romance were there and I really enjoyed every second of it. Waters is definitely an author I am going to be keeping my eye out for.

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Heartwarming Victorian romance of a ‘mean’ girl of the ton!

Lavina Yardley, once the unlikeable yet reigning belle of the ballroom, has been brought low. That blow forces her to reevaluate her life. The woman they called Perfection is now:
Forced by the incarceration of her rogue father currently residing in Holloway Prison.
Forced by the loss of the rake who touted marriage, evinced seduction and managed to die.
Forced by the pleas and machinations of her mother to marry a pig of a man—a sexually repulsive overweight old duke
Now cut off from Society, removed from her home and living in a less salubrious hotel, what were the alternatives for Lavina? Governess…Shopgirl…Parlourmaid? Lavina chooses Duchess to the gross Duke of Weston.
And then, enroute to the Duke’s country home, after the wedding ceremony, Lavina walks across the rail tracks, and hidden from view, meets Neal Traymayne, an intrepid plant hunter, who mistakes her for a fellow botanist. Lo and behold, Lavina, boldly and desperately, assumes the identity of Mrs Muriel Pendrake.
And ‘just like that’ Lavina discovers her worth, her true grit, as she steps out across the Cornish moors.
Oh sure, this make believe pirate captain that Lavina sees herself as has setbacks, but she sails through them—until she can’t. Until the true Muriel and Lavina’s past catches up with her.
I was uttterly captivated by Lavina, her struggles to find her own voice and where she belongs. Not what she wants to do but who she really is.

A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

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The Runaway Duchess is the second book in the Duke Undone series. We met Lavinia Yardley in the first book of the series. She was engaged to Anthony Philby, Duke of Weston, who was the brother of the man she really loved, George. When George died, and Lavinia's father stole from the Weston family, shame was brought upon her family and she became an outcast in society. When the only choice left for Lavinia is to marry Peter, the Duke of Cranbrook, she reluctantly agrees. Cranbrook is a nasty, old goat that makes Lavinia ill just looking at him. While on their way to their honeymoon, Lavinia sees the chance at running away from Cranbrook and decides to take it. So what if the nice, common man she met, Neal Traymayne thinks she is Muriel Pendrake, a fame botanist. As Neal and "Muriel" get to know each other, they both are smitten. The more time these two spend together, the deeper these feelings become. Just when it seems as though Neal has found a woman he wants to be his bride, secrets start coming out. Once Neal and Lavinia are truthful with each other, sparks really start to fly. Everything is going wonderfully until Lavinia's past comes back in. Just when it looks like all is lost, Lavinia finds just what she was hoping for and finally gets a happy ending.

This historical romance story was ok. I loved the first book in the series but I really had a hard time getting into the first half of the book. At times the scientific stuff seemed too wordy. But then there were times that I just loved Lavinia and Neal together. Both of these characters tended to either do what others expected of them, or they ran away from their problems. I really did enjoy their happy ending though.

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The Runaway Duchess is book 2 in the Duke Undone series but for the life of me I couldn't remember too much about Lavinia so I had to go back and skim. I think you could read this book as a standalone although there are parts of this book that do refer back to characters / situations from book 1. Nothing too big but just calling it out.

Lavinia is our main character and she is facing a situation she never thought she would need to worry about. Marriage to an old Lord to save her mother. I was definitely feeling for Lavinia at the beginning of this book regardless of any feelings I had toward her in book 1. She is basically sacrificed to a creepy old guy in marriage so that her mother can keep living the lifestyle she is used to and I really disliked her mother for this. With that said, Lavinia goes through with the wedding but immediately realizes she can't (and doesn't want to) be married to this man. When she finds herself at a train station separated from her new husband, she happens across a man who appears to be the solution she was looking for...all she needs to do is pretend to be someone else.

Neal Traymayne is a plant hunter and has been running a nursery for a while now. He has plans though to settle down with a like minded women and he thinks Muriel Pendrake is that women...even though he has never met her. When he crosses paths with Lavinia and mistakenly thinks she is Muriel, Lavinia jumps at this chance. Neal just can't figure out why she seems so different from her letters.

I found this story interesting and to be honest, I wasn't sure how Lavinia was going to pull this off but she did...for a little while. I enjoyed how the relationship built and when Neal eventually figured things out, he was a little vindictive (rightfully so) but he still showed some compassion for Lavinia and the situation she was in.

In the end, I enjoyed this story. There were times early on that I felt the story dragged a little bit but I have to admit that once Neal figured things out, the story picked up and I found myself turning the pages to see how this was going to work out. If you liked book 1 of this series, consider picking this one up too!

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I had high hopes for this book and, I admit it, that hope was hitched to the author endorsement by Eloisa James on the cover.

Unfortunately this storyline fell flat for me.

My issue lies in the characters themselves. I found our hero to be rather dull and we didn’t learn much about him outside of his obsessive work with plants. Lavinia was … she was Lavinia. She was spoiled and didn’t seem (in my opinion) to have much character growth that took her out of that unlikable trait.

The length of time that the intentional lie of her identity went on for was off putting. How could this have been improved? If he was clued in early on and they together carried out the sham as they’d caught feelings and were trying to work it out? Maybe that would have felt less uncomfortable?

I do appreciate the opportunity to be an early reader of this title. I will mark it as read on goodreads but will not be sharing an in depth review outside of NetGalley.

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⭐️⭐️1/2

I had high hopes for The Runaway Duchess; however, I was disappointed. I'm not too fond of both Neal and Lavinia and had difficulty warming to them. Neal seemed one-dimensional at times, and Lavinia was spoiled and vapid. The character’s personalities developed more past the fifty percent mark; for me, it was too late. Neal and Lavinia did have believable chemistry. The second half of the book was more interesting yet I still couldn’t get past disliking Lavinia and her choices. I also felt the novel could have been shorter and conveyed the same message. By the end the characters did redeemed themselves and there was a happily-ever-after. Unfortunately ,this book was not for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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This book was the fun and sweet I needed after a couple heavier reads. It had everything I could want in a regency romance! There was alternating POVs. There was a debutante with some sass, fire, and a great character arc that had me rooting for her at the end. There was the sweet and unsuspecting male lead, that had a little nerd in him that made me smile. There was commentary on the position of women at the time. I loved the contrast of the leading mans family from the leading lady's. The difference in society raising and the freedom that came with not being in society, the times where they overlapped and the judgements from both sides.

I would recommend this read to all lovers of regency romance!

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***ARC Provided by the Publisher via NetGalley***

DNF at 16%

Maybe this one gets better, but I am just not interested in staying around to find out.

Lavinia is awful. She's spoiled and I get it, she's in a tough spot, but she's awful.

I find myself thinking, while I'm reading, that her perfect match is the old, awful, lecherous Duke she married at the beginning.

I don't really care what happens to her, or if she ends up happy.

I'm unable to recommend this title.

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Lavinia sees a chance to escape her loathsome husband when she's mistaken for the botanist Muriel Pendrake by Neal Tremayne, also a botanist. Forced by economic circumstance to marry, she's been unhappy (miserable) and this chance encounter is, if nothing else, an opportunity to experience something else for a while. Except she falls for Neal, who is a bit mystified about the fact that the woman he expected to work with seems, well, uninformed and unprepared to walk around Cornwall. They meld, though, and Lavinia is for the first time in a long time, happy- until the real Muriel shows up. So what wiki Lavinia do? No spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a sprightly and entertaining romance of opposites who definitely attract.

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Fleeing from her loathsome husband, a desperate Society beauty takes on the identity of a botanist and finds a surprising connection to the scientific young man who unwittingly provided for her escape.

Lowell made a bold choice to cast one of her previous book's villains as her heroine--but it payed off! She matches her deeply flawed heroine with a seemingly perfect hero, only to subvert our expectations for both and somehow make us love them more. With this book, Lowell proves that the acclaim her debut earned was not a fluke. She is a new star in the historical romance genre.

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This is a really cute story. I think the writing is well done, but the pace felt very slow throughout. It’s a good, slow-burn historical romance.

I really liked Neal and Lavinia separately as characters. I wanted to love their relationship. Some of the buildup for the relationship felt like it was too unrealistic for me. The amount of red flags Neal skipped over before he finally realized the truth. I was really excited for Lavinia’s ending though.

I genuinely enjoyed all the little bits I learned about botany. It seems like the author did a lot of research for that aspect.

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Thank you for an advanced copy of this book. I really appreciate it!

Genre: Historical Romance
Pub Date: January 18, 2022
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really did not enjoy the first book in this series (The Duke Undone), so I went into The Runaway Duchess with a bit of trepidation. I'm happy to say this book improves on the series in many ways!

First off, the characters in this story are much more likable than the first iteration. Lavinia in particular has her moments of entitlement and unnecessary disdain for the world around her, but I thought her character development was really well done. She grows a lot in this story, and despite her bad attitude in several parts, I really rooted for her by the end. Neal is a likable character from the beginning, and I thought he was a nice match for Lavinia. The chemistry between them was well written and executed, and overall, I liked them!

Second, the story really flows in this book. I felt like the plot was cohesive and well-structured, especially compared to the first book (which had a lot of choppy, disjointed elements). The storyline was nicely done, and I appreciated the author's efforts to maintain a good story.

Ultimately, though, this story really pales in comparison to other historical romances I've read, and that is why I rated it three stars. The character development, while better than the first book, still lags behind other well-known historical romance writers (like Harper St. George and Evie Dunmore) as does the plot development. I think this is a good story if you are looking for a historical fiction to pass the time or just like the genre a lot, though, and I would still recommend it to fans of the genre.

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This was a hard book to get into due to finding myself not liking or connecting in anyway to the main heroine. I really loved Neal and wish that I could have found myself enjoying Lavinia more. The lies and how she didn't even try to blend in, and anger and crying to get what she wanted just turned me off.

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I hate to quit books that I'm supposed to be reviewing, but I DNF at 21%. I did not like the main character, and I just wasn't interested in reading more. I really enjoyed The Duke Undone, so I hate that this didn't work for me.

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Joanna Lowell writes more complex and less rompish historical romances. I enjoyed The Duke Undone and this is the second in the series. Lavinia Yardley has been bred to attract someone of the ton. As her family circumstances are reduced her mother pushes her into a marriage to an elderly Duke thinking it will solve all the family’s problems. While on route to the ducal estate Lavinia gets mistaken for a famous botanist named Muriel Pendrake and ends up larking around Cornwall with Neal Tramayne looking for plant specimens, He thinks Muriels love of plants would make her an ideal marriage partner.

I got a little weary of the intentional dishonesty between the two main characters. It fits the plot but isn’t a great start to a relationship. Also there is the fact that she is actually married (although not consummated) to a Duke. I think I enjoyed the first book more because the side plot dealt with art, which I love, and not plants which I don’t care about. It really takes to the last pages fo the book to see how everything is going to work out. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publsihing Group for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Well. It’s official! I have found my new favorite author. I read this whole book in one sitting, and loved every word. The romance was lovely, the writing spectacular. Highly recommend!

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Joanna Lowell has done it again with her achingly beautiful prose and fully vibrant characters. I loved The Duke Undone so so much last year, so my expectations were high for Lowell's next book. I'm thrilled to say I may have loved it even more! I read a lot of historical romance and love so many different authors for so many different reasons, but I'm not sure anyone comes close to Joanna when it comes to the sheer beauty and understated whimsy of her sentences. Especially when you contrast it with the very real struggles her characters face. She had me in tears many times over Lavinia's plight. Interminably lonely in a world that seeks to punish her for her father's sins, you really feel for her as a character almost immediately. This is especially impressive given that she is not a very sympathetic character in the previous book. Joanna's author's note goes on to explain that she herself did not desire to write about her, but once she dipped her toes into Lavinia's story, she became impossible to ignore. And Neal is a wonderful hero, perfectly suited to Lavinia, even if their romance began as a lie. I really cherish Joanna's books, and cannot wait to see what comes next!

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3.5 stars. While the premise seems a bit far fetched, I love a story where there is a lot of growth for the characters. This was my second Joanna Lowell read, and I'm sure I will read more!

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