Kildare Library Service

Title: The Duke and I

Author: Julia Quinn

Genre: Historical Fiction. Romance. Adult Fiction.

Review by: Chantelle, LCA Intern for Library HQ

Synopsis: Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has concocted a devious plan to keep himself free from the town’s marriage-minded society mothers. 

He shall pretend to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. 

After all, it isn’t as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marr. However there is something about the alluring Miss Bridgerton that sets Simon’s heart beating a bit faster. And as for Daphne, surely the clever debutante will attract some very worthy suitors now that it seems a Duke deems her desirable.

Review: The Duke and I, is part of the Bridgeron series written by Julia Quinn. It is set in the 1800’s when women and men attended balls and matchmaking was the order of the day.  When men dressed respectively in suits and women donned dresses. Men and women weren’t to be alone in a room together and scandals meant an un-married  woman could not even kiss a man without fear that no decent proposal would come their way in the future. 

The Bridgerton series has recently been adapted into a television series and has been receiving a lot of attention, but of course, as always, the books are so much better. 

In the first book to kick off the series, The Duke and I, Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset embark on a most lucrative endeavour.

The Duke has no desire to marry a woman, especially Daphne Bridgerton. He could not give her what she wants and desires. So it’s easier for everyone if he doesn’t have any feelings for her. And at first, this plan seems so simple. 

Daphne Bridgerton needs a husband, but nobody seems to be in a rush to ask for her hand in marriage. So what else was she to do than to devise a plan with The Duke of Hastings? But along the way, in the middle of dance floors and flowers, Daphne begins to lose her heart and it’s not to one of the many swooning fella’s now pining for her hand. No, she’s losing her heart to the Duke of Hastings. A man dead-set on never marrying. 

Can Daphne keep her heart out of the mix? Or will they both walk away heart broken?

Or even less likely, Will there be a happy ending for the both of them?

Follow along the amusing, and at times, emotional book series. There will definitely be a few laughs, a few embarrassing scenes, and quite positively, a tear or two.

If you’d like to read this book you can place a hold on a copy for pickup in any of our libraries by requesting it here or get it now on your BorrowBox.