The Reading Spot

The Runaway Duke by Julie Anne Long

This was a great book. It is a Regency Historical. And I loved the characters. The hero was honorable but had human faults and was not overbearing like most historical heroes you see. The heroine was strong but not stubborn in that everything had to be done her way. She had spirit and wasn't helpless but knew when to back off and just watch because she was out of her league. I love action/suspense romances but so many of the heroines irritate me because they have to do it their way and have to be up front and part of the fighting when they have no experience with it. (If they are trained then it is another story) But so many historical heroines always rush off to do it their way when a good plan many times has already been made. Okay I will get off my soapbox now. This was a great book, it was Ms. Long's debut and I am headed out to find the rest of her books (I think she just released her fourth or fifth book.).

In the story Roarke Blackburne heir to the Duke of Treymore is mixed up with another soldier and pronounced dead. Roarke returns to England under a different name and finally gets to get out from his father's thumb and be free. He changes his name to Connor Riordon and gets a job as a groom for Sir Henry. Sir Henry's youngest daughter, Rebecca, becomes fast friends with Connor. Five years pass and Rebecca gets into a compromising position with Tony, Baron of Edgewood. Sir Henry announces that they will marry and Rebecca resolves herself to it. As the wedding approaches, Rebecca makes her misgivings known to Connor. Connor cannot turn down a damsel in distress and knows that a marriage to Edgewood would kill Rebecca's spirit, so he devises a way to get Rebecca away before the wedding. Now that there away, will Connor tell Rebecca his secret?