No Ordinary Duchess is book 3 in the Greycourt series by Elizabeth Hoyt, but it may be read as a standalone novel.
Elspeth is the younger sister of Julian’s former friend, a man he betrayed years ago when his own sister was killed. Now, Julian and his family are being tormented by his uncle, the Duke, and Julian is desperate to find a way to reduce his uncle’s power over the family. Elspeth is looking for a diary that she believes will put the group of women she was raised with on the right track.
For the most part I enjoyed No Ordinary Duchess. Julian and Elspeth seemed to fit the opposites attract trope, and it was interesting to see their relationship develop throughout the story.
What didn’t work for me was the dom/sub trope. I really can’t put my finger on why it didn’t appeal to me in this book. All I can say is that for some reason it felt forced, like the characters really didn’t fit the parts they were playing. I don’t know how else to explain it.
I also felt that the assassination plots were poorly executed. The one against Elspeth especially seemed superfluous to the storyline. It seemed to come out of nowhere, with no explanation as to why someone was sent to kill Elspeth, and then it was suddenly wrapped up neatly with the death of her assassin.
I was very much looking forward to Julian having his revenge on his uncle, so I found the ending a bit of a disappointment, even though the uncle got what was coming to him.
All in all, I thought this book was just okay, but I am interested in the backstory between Julian, his friends, and the death of his sister so I’ll probably go back and read the other books in this series.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
No Ordinary Duchess releases on December 10 2024.
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