The Duke by Kerrigan Byrne | Spoiler Book Review

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Hello to my very first disappointing read in 2017! I thought it was quite unfortunate that I finished reading this disappointment this morning!

I mean, am I reading the wrong book? Isn’t Imogen supposed to be a SPY?! I feel so betrayed! I also thought the timeline to be off. They met 1 year ago, the Duke is now injured, he had to heal, he went to America, and other places and the entire thing took 3 years from the start of their meeting! This was 1876 mind you, and I don’t think that the physicians, no matter how “advanced” they are could have the Duke up and running in a few weeks! I mean, he just lost A HAND and almost died of septicemia, for heaven’s sake. Now I’m not sure how potent the antibiotics of that time were, but I’m pretty sure it would have taken months for him to be cured. Much less go traipsing about America and going to different countries looking for Ginny and mountain climbing on his prosthetic hand? Travel back then took weeks, if not months! To say I am upset doesn’t cover it. I absolutely LOVED The Hunter and I thought The Highwayman and The Highlander were okay, but this one left me speechless. In a bad way.

The other thing that infuriated me about The Duke, was in fact, THE DUKE! He was pretty much unlikeable, in my opinion. If you know me, I absolutely adore alpha heroes with a lot of baggage but Collin just did not endear me to him at all. Not to mention that scene in the library which was pretty horrible, if you as me.

I understand his motives. He was tortured for almost a year and his only source of escape were thoughts of Ginny and their one night stand. It is understandable to say that he wanted to find her which became his obsession, but when he actually found her, well, I didn’t agree with what he did immediately after.

Books Like The Duke

I love main characters with disabilities and I also adore characters who are nurses (because I am one!). Here are a few books recs.

• Yours Until Dawn – I read this book years ago and it is about a hero is blind. The romance here is superb and I wasn’t expecting the twist at the end.
• Star Keeper – I also read this years ago in college and this features a heroine who was a nurse during the revolutionary war. She inadvertently cares for the enemy who was masquerading as a Tory and falls for him.
• The Secrets of Mia Danvers is one of the best historical romances featuring a blind heroine! The awesome thing about this book is that it has a mystery surrounding a death that Mia, the blind lady witnessed. Also, Jack the Ripper themes here are amazing!

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Here’s the thing, I know the Historical Romance genre has factual and historical inconsistencies, but I do draw the line when it is glaringly obvious.

Are you okay when authors commit blatant historical and factual inconsistencies?