Series Name: Greycourt #3
“Private libraries were extraordinary, Lady Elspeth de Moray mused. To have an entire room filled with books – in one’s own house – seemed quite fantastical. If she had a library, she would never leave. She’d eat, sleep, and daydream surrounded by stories and be completely happy.”
No Ordinary Duchess is a wild romp filled with assassins, evil uncles and missing books.
Cold and brooding, Julian Greycourt, the heir to the Windemere dukedom, has always known that his uncle the duke was responsible for his mother’s death. Now he’s determined to exact revenge against his uncle—if he can find the proof. But Julian hides a secret so explosive it will destroy him if it’s ever revealed, and the duke is watching. The last thing he needs is a distractingly sensual woman whose very presence threatens to destroy his plans.
Sunny and cheerful, Lady Elspeth de Moray doesn’t know why her brother and Julian fell out all those years ago, but she can’t let the autocratic man get in the way of her mission: to retrieve an ancient family text that she believes is in one of the Windemere libraries. Locating the tome, however, proves trickier than she anticipated, and at each turn, she’s thrown together with the maddingly mysterious Julian. And the temptation to give in to her family’s greatest enemy grows stronger with each intriguing encounter…
Elizabeth Hoyt is a fan favourite for a reason. Her books tend to be a little wacky, filled with fun plot points and fantastic sexy times. No Ordinary Duchess does not disappoint. There’s a lot to love here including feuding families, a lot of angst and pining, and a cold hero who really just wants to love and be loved.
Julian is the eldest Greycourt and knows his role well. He’s also hiding a couple of big secrets that are slowly eating him alive but his focus is to protect his family from his wicked and abusive uncle who currently holds everyone’s lives in his hands. He keeps himself aloof and separate from fun and love because it ensures that his uncle doesn’t have more power over him.
Elspeth has a lot of family trauma and her own secrets, including a mysterious circle of women and possibly assassins after her. Elspeth and Julian are looking for books that promise to help free them from some of their secrets and end up at Julian’s estate together. Alone. Elspeth may be naive and inexperienced, but it doesn’t stop her from going after what she wants: the mysterious book, and Julian.
God, the angst and pinning in this book is terrific. There’s a ton of action, which I’ll get into shortly, but there’s a terrific amount of shared page time for Julian and Elspeth. I love a hero who needs to be loved but is terrified to show it. Julian is exactly that kind of hero. He has some sub/dom kinks which are lightly and somehow respectfully explored on the page and is part of the dynamic of Elspeth and Julian’s relationship. Their relationship is not an enemy to lover, although the synopsis may sound like it, rather it’s a bit more of a forbidden relationship where both have their reason for thinking nothing can ever come of it. Due to inclement weather, they get trapped in Julian’s estate for a few days alone and the mix of book hunting, sweet domestic moments and sexy longing was enough to drive me crazy with happiness. Elspeth and Julian truly find each other in this book. What they love about each other is what they individually think of as their flaws: Julian’s love to be submissive (which was truly offensive in regency England as a sign of male weakness) and Elspeth’s extraordinary intelligence as well as unfashionable curves. The two of them better each other both emotionally and physically and it’s such a delight to watch them banter and learn to trust themselves with each other.
There’s a lot of plot happening in this book. The adventure never, ever stops. I do wish perhaps there was a little less plot and a little bit more reaction and explanation, but it does make for a fun and very fast read. I think my only complaint is how quickly the end of the book wraps up. Without giving any spoilers, there’s a character who gets their just dessert and I really wish more had happened so we could watch them suffer.
All in all this is a great book. Although it’s part of a series, it can also be read out of order as enough of the backstory is filled in. Elizabeth Hoyt doesn’t disappoint!
Thank you to Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
