This Duchess of Mine takes place in London in 1784. It is part of the Desperate Duchesses series. It's one of the best historicals I've read this year and could be used as a textbook on what a historical can be.
Jemma, the Duchess of Beaumont, fled to Paris nine years ago after she found her new husband having sex with his mistress. She is now back home to do her duty and produce a heir. Jemma sets out to seduce Elijah and make him fall in love with her. That's just one aspect of the book, though, there is much more.
In addition to the beautiful love story, there are some fascinating historical elements that are essential to the plot and are not what you'd expect. I don't want to give too much away, but the treatment of prisoners was appalling and the treatment of the illegitimate offspring of the nobility was not much better. I also really enjoyed learning a bit about medical research of the period.
The character of the Duke of Villiers provided some welcome lighter moments amid some serious subjects. I was glad to find that his story is told in A Duke of Her Own, which has just been published.
The novel has a lot of suspense because it turns out that Elijah is not well. This adds intensity to the romance, because Jemma and Elijah never know which day will be their last together. The love scenes were well done and unusual, one taking place during a chess game.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes English historicals and I'll rate it 9.0 out of 10.
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