Book Review: The Duke's Reluctant Bride by Lauren & Devon Royal

Set in the 1600s and revolving around the life of a newly-married couple, this book fits aptly into the genre of "Historical Romance". However, the authors do not limit the story to just that, but have added in delightful elements of suspense, drama, action, feminism, and even a pinch of horror! There are highway robberies, betrayals, disguises, deaths, lovemaking and treasure chests in the same story - so you can guess the expansiveness of the plot.

The narrative is always in third person, but the perspective switches consistently between that of the two protagonists, the husband and the wife. The reader, most often, is aware of details that the spouses have not shared with one another, and this gives way for some nail-biting, palm-itching impatience. Trapped in the body of one, despite knowing the mind of the other, powerless to do anything but to be lead by the story-teller; there is definitely some delight in being such a reader.

The book strikes a beautiful balance between fact and fiction - picking up threads from actual historical incidents that took place in England during the time, the authors have woven them with colourful trinkets of imagination and interesting twists. For example, the treasure chests of King Charles I did drown into the lake in Scotland in 1633, but they were never recovered as you will read in the book. (I will not give away any more details here, lest I spoil the story for you). Most houses mentioned in the book are also inspired from real places, according to one of the authors, and the author's note at the end of the book gives you the references to these inspirations.

Two individuals with ideologies of their own, pushed into a marriage arranged by family, learn to slowly break down barriers and let each other become part of their lives. It's a long, ardent process that involves effort - changing priorities, rewriting preset perceptions and allowing the self to step out of the comfort zone. Despite being set so far back in time, these experiences that the couple go through in the story are still very relevant to newly-weds today. The book also teaches some timeless lessons on placing trust and communication as paramount in every marriage.

Rating: 4/5

Where I found this book: E-book from Amazon Kindle

I am a subscriber of Bookbub, an email service which gives me daily updates on e-books available on discount or for free across websites. The emails are curated specific to my interests - so when I signed up for this service, I selected the genres I would like to receive updates on. Having the option to select as many genres as I liked from the list provided in Bookbub's website, I had selected "Historical Romance" on an experimental basis.

Now, I do prefer real hard-bound/paperback books to e-books, but sometimes purchasing all the books that strike your fancy can leave you feeling the pinch in your pocket. Moreover, if you don't have the space at home to keep all your books organised, then that's a problem too; especially if you are a hoarder like me, who hates to give away things or sell them to thrift stores! And when it's raining outside and you don't want to risk getting your precious book wet, reading an e-book using the kindle app on my phone is the best alternative.