The Forgiven Duke (Forgotten Castles #2)
Author: Jamie Carie
Publisher: B&H Bookes
Published Date: July 2012
Paperback/Kindle/Nook; 320 pages
Genre: Historical Romance/Adventure
ISBN# 978-1433673238
Reviewed by: Shanda
FTC FYI: received a digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Summary
Tethered by her impulsive promise to marry Lord John Lemon – the path of least resistance – Alexandria Featherstone sets off toward Iceland in search of her parents with a leaden heart. A glimpse of her guardian, the Duke of St. Easton – the path less traveled by – on Dublin’s shore still haunts her.
Will he come after her? Will he drag her back to London, quelling her mission to rescue her treasure-seeking parents, or might he decide to throw caution to the wind and choose Foy Pour Devoir: “Faith for Duty,” the St. Easton motto. The Featherstone motto Valens et Volens: “Willing and Able,” beats in her heart and thrums through her veins. She will find her parents and find their love, no matter the cost.
The powerful yet wing-clipped Duke of St. Easton has never known the challenge that has become his life since hearing his ward’s name. Alexandria Featherstone will be the life or the death of him. Only time and God’s plan will reveal just how much this man can endure for the prize of love.
Review
A few weeks ago I reviewed the first book in this series, The Guardian Duke. The Forgiven Duke picks up right where the first book leaves off in the story.
Alexandria is determined to find her parents by any means necessary, or so she thinks. It isn’t long before she begins to doubt whether she can go through with marrying John Lemon, not when the memory of the look in the Duke’s eyes as she sailed away keeps coming back to haunt her. Then she finds John going through her letters and reading personal information about her wealth. She gets upset with John but he manages to convince her he was just curious about her relationship with the Duke.
This is where I had an issue. In the first book, John is the one that takes Alexandria to the bank to get a credit against her fortune in the name of the Duke so she can continue on her quest. She clearly states that the Duke is in charge of her large fortune and estate, so John must already be aware of it. Unless he thinks she was making it up just to get credit in the Duke’s name, but John never mentions that he doubts it or doesn’t believe her completely. I may be misunderstanding something here, but I even went back to the first book and reread the scene. I don’t know if it was fixed before final printing though, as I have an uncorrected galley.
The adventure picks up when the Duke wants to buy a boat and hire a crew to follow Alexandria to Iceland but is kidnapped instead. As she and her group travel through the towns and landscape of Iceland, the clues Alexandria finds give her hope that she is getting closer to finding her parents. The reader is introduced to more interesting side characters. There is an incident when Alexandria first reaches Iceland that sets up for something later in the book, but to me it felt contrived. Alexandria gets her first real break from a very interesting character on the island.
For those of you who are wondering if the Duke and Alexandria actually come face to face in this book, I can assure you they do. It isn’t until 70% of the way through the book, but they do meet in a romantic and dramatic rescue, followed by something drastic that changes everything. With all of the action and suspense that builds up to the Duke and Alexandria finding each other, the remainder of the book is considerably less intense. The author still manages to end the book in a way that makes the reader want to pick up the next book immediately.
The third book, A Duke’s Promise, was released in early September and concludes the series. If you are one who likes historical romantic adventure stories, then you will most likely enjoy this series by author Jamie Carie.
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