Goodreads: The Duke of Diamonds (A Lady to Suit #1)
Publisher: Senara Press Ltd
Published: 02 April 2020
Genre: Regency Romance, Historical Fiction

Panda Rating:

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In the coldest flint, there is fire…
Casper Brook, the eighth Duke of Rothwell, has forever spurned frivolous pleasures, his restless emotions remaining buried beneath duty and command.
Yet when a titian-haired minx perches upon his ducal desk and claims to know the whereabouts of his one burning obsession, a game of wits and passion erupts…

Fire ignites from a spark…
Miss Evelyn Pearce possesses naught but a frail young sister and an ebony-black cat. Left destitute by her baronet father’s spendthrift ways, fate and talent hand her the opportunity to seek escape from the dangerous alleys of London town.
The cold Duke of Diamonds holds the key, and all Evelyn must do is resist his not-so-cold kiss…

A dance of flaming desire…
A passion forged on secrets can never be satisfied, but as guises fall and plots unravel, will the duke’s controlled façade shatter to reveal his searching heart within?
Regency romance with warmth and wit. This book contains sensual scenes.

TL;DR: The Duke of Diamonds was such an entertaining and well-written regency romance that 100% made me feel immersed in the setting. I love how the author really incorporated the slang of the times as it made it seem more authentic. The characters had depth and their romance was a sweet slow-burn that was worth the wait when they finally get their HEA. This is a fun start to a new series and I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a historical romance that doesn’t have historical heroes that conduct themselves questionably!

I really liked the author’s writing style and thought that the language and colloquialisms that were used helped to strongly set the historical period. More than that though, the writing was so witty and I found myself laughing out loud a lot more than I anticipated! Our hero is given quite a dry voice that often comes across as humorous because he takes himself so seriously, especially as he says certain things, and it was such great contrast to his character!

Our hero and heroine, Casper and Evelyn, had layers to their personalities and were easily likeable and thus, easy to root for. Evelyn is indebted to a loanshark after she and her sister find themselves on the street when their father passes away and leaves them drowning in debts. She’s a strong-willed heroine who keeps persevering in the face of adversity so that she and her sister can lead a more stable life in the country. Casper became a Duke at 17 when his father passed, and similar to Evelyn’s situation, his father left nothing but debt. Since then he has worked doggedly to bring up his family’s name and standing and in doing so, has developed a less than stellar reputation of being cold-hearted and ruthless to a fault.

These two worked so well together as Evelyn’s feisty personality and unwillingness to back down in the face of Casper’s cold front resulted in some fiery chemistry that only got hotter the more they circled one another. Their sparring was entertaining but I also enjoyed their talk about art as you can tell they’re both quite passionate about it and it brings both of them to live in different ways. Their romance was definitely a slow burn but it was well worth it in the end!

Aside from our H/H, I really liked the side characters that we meet and there were quite a few. The author creates interesting situations for them that you can already start piecing together here and I can’t wait to see them play out in their individual books! I’m really looking forward to Ernest’s romance (which I believe is next) but also Matilda’s—I was so delighted when I saw the direction her story would take (and with the hero mentioned as well)! Hopefully, they’re as entertaining and enjoyable as this one was.

Have you read The Duke of Diamonds or is it on your TBR?

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