The Duke and I by Julia Quinn is a historical romance set during the Regency.
I picked up The Duke and I because I love historical romances and I learned that this series is going to be made into a Netflix series sometime soon. How exciting! I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book but I absolutely loved it. I could not put it down and ended up finishing it in a few days.
Simon Basset is a duke with a troublesome family past. His father was never around. In fact, his father hated him and acted as if he had no son. His mother died during childbirth so he never knew her, and to add to his struggles, Simon had a stutter in his speech since he was a young boy. Now, as an adult, he has worked hard to overcome his stutter and prove himself to be a man. However, his hate and spite for his father still drives him and he vows never to get married so that the title of duke will go to some distant cousin.
Daphne Bridgerton, on the other hand, has had a very lively and happy childhood. She is one of eight children but she's eager to get married and start a family of her own now. Daphne is out in society but it seems like the men of London only see her as a sister.
Daphne is having trouble finding a husband and Simon, as an eligible bachelor and duke, wants nothing more than to be left alone. He doesn't want the young women and mothers trying for his attention and marriage. So Simon and Daphne make a plan. They will pretend to court each other so that the men will see Daphne in a new light and so that the women would leave Simon alone.
Of course, they never expected to actually fall in love. Things become more complicated as Simon is a good friend of Daphne's oldest brother, Anthony.
I loved the witty dialogue between Simon and Daphne. And I loved seeing them fall for each other all while maintaining the charade that they were faking interest in each other. It really felt like the two characters connected to each other and truly fell in love.
Of course, they were attracted to each other in the beginning but the love wasn't instant. They desired each other from the start but as they began their fake courtship, they got to know each other more and fall in love.
Daphne's three older brothers had to make matters more complicated, of course. Especially Anthony who, despite know Simon and Daphne's plan, was not happy that his friend was dating his sister. Anthony knew the reputation Simon had from their college days and the last thing he wanted was to see Daphne hurt.
There is one scene near the end of the book that quite a few reviewers are not happy about. And I understand why. Please be aware that the next section of the review contains spoilers.
After Simon and Daphne get married, Daphne learns that the Duke can have children he just vowed never to be a father because of the way his father treated him. He refuses to have children out of spite. Daphne, who wants children, is upset by this and the couple argue. One night Simon heads out to drink and returns home drunk. Daphne and him have sex while he is still intoxicated and she does not allow him to pull out. You can see where this is going.
The fact that Daphne takes advantage of her husband in his drunken state and tries to get pregnant is a bit of a problem to put it one way. There’s dubious consent going on in this scene.
Despite this, I do not feel like it ruined the story. For one thing, it is obvious that the story was going in a direction where Simon would come to realize he needed to let go of his spite for his father. I also do not feel like this was entirely out of place given the time period. Earlier in the book we have Simon being somewhat possessive over his wife, reminding her that she is his.
Despite me not feeling like this scene completely ruined the story, it was still disappointing. There was no need for Daphne to go in that direction as Simon would have eventually come to realize that he needed to let go of his hate for his father in order to be happy and in order to make Daphne, his wife, happy.
It’s not that Simon necessarily did not want children, but he was so blinded by his hatred for his father that he never actually considered what he wanted.
I’m glad that Daphne’s plan did not work out and the couple were able to decide to have children together like adults. I’m happy that’s the direction the story went in.
At the end of the day, Julia Quinn is just wonderful at telling and writing a story. I've already decided to pick up the next two books in the series and I'll probably complete the entire series to be honest.
Comments
Post a Comment