AUTHOR: Emma Hart GENRE: NA Romance PAGES: 372 RELEASED: 18 January 2022 SERIES: The Aristocrat Diaries #2 A duke and a writer walk into a bar, and the barman says—never mind. They’re in the library, and they’re not wearing any clothes. Oops. My name is Adelaide Astley, and if there was anything remotely exciting about me to tell you, I would. Sure, my uncle is the Duke of Leicester, and my mother bucked family tradition to marry “below” her and open a hotel, but I’m nothing but an aspiring author with a Tudor era obsession. Oh, and I’m spending the summer tutoring the daughter of the current Duke of Worcester—who happens to be a regular in my highly inappropriate midnight dreams. Thirty-year-old Alexander Winthrop-Bentley is so not my type, but hours of chess games and arguments over Tudor dynasties mean we’re thrown together more often than we should be. And when he shares with me that he needs a date for a charitable event, my mouth betrays me by offering myself up for the evening. How I find myself naked in the library is another matter entirely. Ahem. When the society papers declare us an item, neither of us have the heart to tell our families the truth. Only my twin sister and best friend know the truth, but they both agree we need to keep up the charade, even if only for the summer. But when the end of August comes and my return home beckons, I have to ask myself a question. Is it only his daughter who’s stolen my heart, or has Alexander done the very same thing? This book was kindly sent to me from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. A summer of tutoring could lead to a lifetime of happiness.
Lady Adelaide is spending the summer tutoring Olympia, the daughter of Alexander, the Duke of Worcester, the cousin of her best friend Gabi. She’s always found Alexander attractive, so living in the same house for eight weeks probably isn’t the best way to squash that attraction. But between tutoring Olympia and working on her writing career, there’s not too much time left to swoony over Alex, especially once she starts attending the local cross-stitch group. But as she grows closer to Olympia as she tutors her, she grows closer to Alexander. Alex has kept his focus on running the estate and raising Olympia, who has dyslexia and is currently being assessed for autism, so pursing love hasn’t really been on his radar. But Adelaide’s presence at Bentley Manor has him torn between head and heart. When neither can deny their attraction to one another, they agree on spending her remaining time at Bentley Manor together. But when summer comes to an end and it’s time for Adelaide to return home, she’s torn between following her heart and following her head. I adored the first book in the series and didn’t think Emma could top Gabi & Mile’s story, but she did with Addy and Alex! I honestly didn’t want this story to end – hanging out at Bentley Manor was so fun and these characters were such a joy to spend time with. Addy and Alex are both such great characters, and with Olympia and Alex’s mother Elizabeth thrown into the mix, it’s a super fun read. Between Adelaide pursuing a writing career and Olympia’s autism, it’s clear that Emma pulled a LOT of inspiration from her life, which made the story much more real and relatable. It was so great to see her shine a light on not just autism, but autism in girls – we need more of this type of representation in our novels, and especially romance novels! As I said in my review for Lady Love (aka Love Language), I was bummed that Emma never resolved her opening line about a murder in Arrow Woods, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that the opening of this instalment was another reference to this murder – I’m excited to see how The Accidental Countess starts! This was such a fun read and I’m a little bummed that there’s only one more book left to follow these characters. I’ve really enjoyed Emma diving into the world of the British upper class and really hope Emma continues to explore these sorts of characters. Get around this book and series before the third instalment drops! |
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