I wanted more! The Duke Buys a Bride by Sophie Jordan [ARC Review]

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Don’t want to read the whole review?  Click to jump to the Skinny Review.

The Duke Buys His Bride was an interesting read for me, but it honestly didn’t blow me away. Unfortunately, I have been reading a lot of contemporary romances in the last few months and I am just not loving historical romance at the moment. THE HORROR, I know!

The Duke Buys a Bride is a forced proximity-love between social classes romance and it is unique in a way that it involves a wife auction. Alyse was wed when her father died when she was really young to an older widower with children. This marriage was done to protect her when her father passed away and in exchange, she would basically cook, clean, and raise the children while not actually being a wife in truth. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Alyse, her fake husband wanted to marry again and they devised a plan to sell her at auction to nullify their marriage (this used to be a real thing, people!). The upside, Alyse’s childhood friend was going to purchase her and she would live happily ever after!

Unfortunately, this didn’t come to pass and her childhood friend didn’t show up. Unbeknownst to her, the Duke of Autenberry, looking and smelling like a stinky bearded vagabond, was in attendance and on impulse bought her without really knowing the consequences. The meat of the story happens after this point, with Marcus & Alyse traveling to Scotland together.

As I’ve said, I have a love/hate relationship with the close proximity trope and didn’t really connect with the Duke of Autenberry. In fact, I was pretty pissed at him because he acted like a freaking spoiled 5-year-old by leaving London in a huff after he discovered his best friend and stepmother’s relationship in The Scandal of It All.

While I liked the relationship build-up and character development, I was left wanting more. Like the whole book really felt like a novella and I was left hugely disappointed by the time I finished the book.

I was left wanting.

I think the saving grace of this book is the fact that there is a teaser for the next book – Clara’s book. But other than that, I was left wanting. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE Sophie Jordan! In fact, her contemporaries are one of my favorite books and I have been rereading her contemporaries multiple times this year alone! But to be honest, Sophie’s historicals have always been a hit and miss for me.

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affiliate links below

While the Duke was Sleeping | The Scandal of it All

Do you like the close proximity romance trope? What book do you recommend that I can try?