The Duke Next Door is the 2nd in Bradley's Heiress Brides trilogy. I haven't read the other two, but after reading this one I want to. The series features three granddaughters of a man who leaves his fortune to the first of them to marry a Duke.
Deirdre Cantor proposes to Calder Marbrook, who is in line to become a Duke, after her cousin jilts him. He is a widower who is known by the popular press as "The Beast of Brookhaven." He accepts the proposal, to his own surprise, and most of the book takes place after they are married which is an intriguing change.
They get off to a bad start when they arrive at his home after the wedding and she finds he has a daughter he hasn't told her about. She has an evil stepmother and is afraid of being a stepmother herself. I had a problem with Calder springing this on her and of her reacting like she did, but I adored the little girl, Meggie. She has a foul mouth and a love of trouble.
Deirdre has quite a job ahead of her because she has to make her husband fall in love with her, as she has been with him secretly for years, and develop a relationship with her stepdaughter who idolizes her mother. Unknown to Meggie, her mother died on the way to meet her lover, and Calder feels all women are untrustworthy because of his experience. Calder is absolutely horrible when it comes to communicating with Deirdre and he knows it but doesn't know how to fix it.
I enjoyed the interplay between Deirdre and Calder very much. I especially liked the way Deirdre never backed down. I did feel sorry for Calder because I think he was outmatched by both his wife and his daughter. The ending of the book is very exciting, with suspense, tears and a good dose of humor.
I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys English historicals and I'll rate it 8.0 out of 10.
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