⭐ 3.75 ⭐

The Taming of the Shrew in a regency romance?
Yes, please!

Cassandra Pomfret is very outspoken about things she believes in. The Duke of Ashmont has more flaws than Cassandra can count. When his actions inadvertently destroys her carriage and nearly costs her driver his life, she has no trouble ordering him around and telling him off to the best of her ability despite the fact that he's a Duke. Despite all his flaws, when the two are caught in a compromising situation, he knows he's going to have to marry her, if she doesn't kill him first.

Cassandra is a character ahead of her time. She spends her days arguing with people in parliament, fighting for women's rights, and teaching women to fight would be attackers. She's outspoken, smart and witty, and I adored her. The banter between the two main characters was wildly entertaining and made this book a pleasure to read (and reread).

I highly recommend this one if you enjoy retellings, strong female regency characters, witty banter, or strong male characters who have to put in the work to win the girl.

Good but too much of a slow burn for me. The banter is as always excellent. Chase's prose is gorgeous and her character development is always done well. This lacked an emotional payoff for me. But it's an overall good read

Hello

Apologies for the late notice, but I have decided not to review this title. While I am certain it's obvious by now, I wanted to also clear this off NetGalley, so it's not showing as open for either of us.

Thanks,
Laura

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: Yes! It’s lovely, especially the second half.
Perspective: Third person from both the heroine and hero’s perspective (more heavy in the heroine’s, I think)

Should I read in order?
It’s not truly necessary for this one – but the heroine from book 1 is the fiance of this book’s hero that left him at the alter. There’s some mentions of them, but I think if you wanted to read out of order, you would be okay knowing that small tidbit.

Basic plot:
Cassandra’s father decrees her sister a cannot marry until she does, hoping to tame her bluestocking tendencies. But soon after, Cassandra has an unfortunate encounter with the infamous Duke of Ashmont that compromises her.

Give this a try if you want:
- Late Georgian time period (1833)
- Childhood friends, though hero has been oblivious to heroine
- Compromised (ruined) heroine
- Slow burn with a bit of unrequited love feel (heroine has loved hero from afar until he repeatedly disappointed)
- Lower steam – only 2 full scenes and they are on the lighter side
- Lots of humor and wit, which really picks up in the second half
- A unique hero – he comes off as a bit of a fool (the heroine is the one with the brains and he readily admits it) and he really had a strong character arc showing his growth to be worthy of the heroine.

Ages:
- Heroine is 26, hero 28

My thoughts:
Soooo this book totally took me by surprise! I found to be such a gem.

I’ll admit the beginning was a bit of a struggle – to me there felt to be a lot of time in the heroine’s head and I was wanting the plot and characters to have more dialogue and move forward a bit faster than they were. And the hero, Ashmont, is made to be a totally unlikable idiot. But once they are established, I was just having so much fun with them!

I found this book so funny, in just the best ways. Witty one liners, banter, family dynamics all came into play but the absolute best part was Ashmont. He was so unique! He has made major mistakes in his life. Too many to count and he doesn’t really seem to care – his former fiance would rather have escaped out the window and run away with his best friend than marry him (check out book 1 if you’re curious! I also enjoyed that one – review here: A Duke in Shining Armor ) He is known as ‘his disgrace’ instead of his grace and it’s well earned. And his first encounter with Cassandra just reinforces that he is a hot mess.

But, Cassandra makes him realize what a fool he is being. And makes him want to pull his life together for her. He has something to live for, something to care about. He is reformed, or trying at least, and it was just really wonderful seeing a hero put in the work, the hard work, REPEATEDLY to win her. And I found myself falling for him. I just couldn’t help it!

I loved Cassandra too – she is quite independent, with strong beliefs and feelings, but I also adored how much she cared about her family and how all of their relationships worked together. A side note – I adored her parent’s relationship and how her mother came to her rescue towards the end of the book was really heart warming. I really loved her whole family.

I am so glad to have read this book. My heart is still warm and happy days later after finishing Cassanda and Ashmont’s story. So I mark it as 4 stars because it was a bit low on the tension and I did struggle in the beginning a bit to get into it but overall it was extremely enjoyable.

I’m a huge fan of Loretta Chase! And this book is another great one! I thought Cassandra was a great character and I really enjoyed reading about her. A must read!

This was a very fun retelling of The Taming of the Shrew set in the Regency era! This novel is full of romance and humor! All the characters were charming, and it had a happily ever after! Thus, I recommend this fans of both Shakespeare and Regency romances!

This story took too long to pick up. The first few chapters were steeply spent in setting up the plot with little ability to make a connection to the reader. I felt as if I had to force myself to keep going. The sex scenes were short and boring and the heroine seemed to be unrelatable. I was very disappointed by this book.

Was a great read from beginning to end. Really enjoyed this journey. Action packed, sexy, emotionally thrilling adventure filled with engaging charters, witty dialog, heart racing twists and thrilling passion

Loretta Chase is always a must read for me as one of my all-time favorite authors. She writes good heroines...but her heroes are to die for! This was a refreshing take on Taming of the Shrew. Ms. Chase has that mixture of heat, laughter & sass down to a science.

It’s Loretta Chase, what isn’t to love about her books. LC is an instant buy for me and this book wasn’t any different. I love when a heroine is outspoken and gets into trouble because of her opinions. Cassandra is forced into marriage to the Duke and sparks fly. The question is who tamed who?

Loretta Chase has created a chaos-driven, wild and passionate book that fires on all cylinders! I love the characters, the plot and the pace was perfect! I loved this book and cannot wait to read more from this author. Highly recommend this book to everyone!!!

Cassandra has a frank way of speaking that leads her into trouble. Her father wants to marry her off but won't let her sister marry until Cassandra secures a husband. Lucius Beckingham is a gorgeous man and a duke but is an immature disaster. Crossing paths with Cassandra will lead the two into marriage to save her reputation and family. Lucius wasn't a likeable hero and Cassandra was too good for him.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley and leaving a review.

After awhile away from reading due to personal issues I finally got around to reading this book. It was given to me in exchange for honest review from Netaglley.

The heroine (Cassandra) is not one to bow down to the ton. She has a brain and uses it to her father’s distress. The Hero (Lucius) is a drunk and a prankster. These two things combine to bring our mcs together again. I say again because when heroine was young she worshipped hero until he did so many drunken stupid things she could no longer excuse his behavior. When they meet again it is when heroine is out doing her own thing and hero stumbles drunk into courtyard shooting in air to stop barroom fight that has bled into streets. The heroine, her maid and her most treasured employee happen by in time for shots to scare her horse. No one but Keefe (her treasured employee) is badly hurt. This leads to her having to except help from hero even though she hates him. From there after returning to London things got more interesting for me as hero started to grow and help heroine in order to convince her to marry him. At first it was to avoid scandal but then he truly started to care for her and that’s when I became more invested. I really liked that although her father didn’t agree with her outspokenness and did try things to curtail it that this wasn’t a book where she didn’t have her family’s live and support. They all came together when it was needed. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a heroine who speaks her mind and doesn’t immediately fall for the hero just because he happens to be a Duke.

This is a lovely retelling of The Taming of the Shrew that does not diminish either of the protagonists’ strengths as they fall in love with each other. Cassandra Pomfret is what one might consider a feminist activist, though she never uses those words to describe herself. She is not well liked for this reason. Ashmont, the duke in this story, is like many of Chase’s previous love interests–a man used to doing whatever he likes, but slowly realizing that isn’t the way to live his life. Both Cassandra and Ashmont have loving family and friends, which was great to see. My only quibble with this book, and it is tiny, is that the villains felt unequal to Cassandra and Ashmont.

Cassandra is from a politically active and wealthy family, but she is uninterested in being the power behind the throne as it were. She is vocal about her dislike for bills that would have a negative effect on the working class, which does not earn her the respect of her social circle. She is also interested in helping women learn how to protect themselves physically, at least. Cassandra lives in a time where it was hard for women to own their own property after marrying, let alone be openly involved in politics. However, Cassandra isn’t bothered by how much her social circle dislikes her on her own behalf, rather, this bothers her because it carries over to her family, particularly her younger sister who wants to marry. On that note, Cassandra is close with her sister and on good terms with her mother, but has a complicated relationship with her father. This plays out in the initial conflict that starts out the story. Last, but not least, Cassandra does not have any patience for Ashmont’s nonsense, for many reasons. The most obvious one is that Ashmont is a man used to money fixing his problems.

Ashmont is not a terrible person–he is not abusive or anything like that. He is a bit thoughtless. He and his friends are well-known in this world for playing pranks that have made them oddly fascinating to the peerage. When Cassandra and Ashmont first meet in this book, Ashmont has just experienced something humiliating and a bit traumatic, and he is desperately trying to forget about it. Over the course of the book, through his interactions with Cassandra, he becomes more thoughtful and self-aware. This was only believable because even while he was trying to forget the terrible thing he just experienced at the beginning of the book, we got to see him acknowledge, even if obliquely, that it was bad and he was partly responsible for it. If it weren’t for these glimpses, his transformation would have been less believable for me.

We also get to see Cassandra and Ashmont interact with their friends and family. Ashmont has a clever uncle who helps him navigate his feelings for Cassandra and how to keep those feelings from having a negative impact on Cassandra (this isn’t because he is being a stalker, but because the social circles they move in would be unkind to Cassandra.) He also has a kind of aunt/maternal figure, who plays a similar role for Cassandra. Cassandra has her younger sister, her best friend, and the other women in a club who share similar interests with Cassandra. It was interesting to watch the interactions between Cassandra and her family and friends soften her towards Ashmont, not in a creepy way, but in a gaining-a-new-perspective way. Ashmont goes through a similar process.

As I said earlier, my only quibble with this book was that I felt that the villains did not match up to Cassandra and Ashmont. We know who the villains are fairly early on in this book, but their motives seem slightly silly when compared to what Cassandra and Ashmont believe and learn. Which is silly, because if this year has taught me anything, it is that motives do not have to be world-changing for them to result in something awful.

If you enjoy a good historical romance loosely retelling Shakespeare, I recommend this book.

Grade: A-

Recommended Read!

I admit to a little bit of trepidation when it came to starting this book. What could Loretta Chase do to redeem the Duke of Ashmont and make him even remotely presentable as the hero of a romance novel? I think our heroine Cassandra Pomfret best explains the issues with Ashmont whilst giving him a firm scolding:

“You’ve had every advantage: power, rank, money, looks, not mention your gender. What have you done with them? What have you accomplished, besides dissipation and destruction?”

Ashmont is the kind of person you’d expect to emerge from an upbringing of wealth and privilege without any responsibility or sense of duty to those around him. He isn’t cruel, which opens the door to redemption, but he is thoughtless, reckless, entitled and has a temper. He’s a grown man with the mindset of a teenager.

The Duke of Ashmont didn’t mend things. He broke them. All the world believed it, and the world wasn’t wrong.

Then we have Cassandra, our outspoken, intelligent heroine who those in society like to call the Gorgon. She is passionate and proactive about women’s rights and poverty and isn’t shy about voicing her political opinions. She has a complete disgust for Ashmont, which is only solidified when his drunken stupidity causes a scandal that would leave him unscathed due to his gender and position, but completely ruin her and her family. Only, the incident has a completely unexpected outcome: Ashmont is completely besotted by the warrior female who looks at him with such loathing.

It’s hard to see how a romance can emerge when you have so little respect for the hero. Which, is why Loretta Chase is such a master of her trade, as by the end of this book I was dying for their HEA. Chase has created a fantastic book full of humour, intelligence and excellent witty banter. Not to mention the building chemistry between Cassandra and Ashmont.

What I really enjoyed about this book was Ashmont’s journey as he begins to take a look at not only his own life, but in an effort to win over Cassandra, also begins to see the struggles of those around him. He gradually begins to care and not just as a ploy to gain Cassandra’s favour. When you get to this turning point, Ashmont starts to become much more viable as a hero. It also helped that he always admired Cassandra’s strength and is infuriated by the way she is treated by others in the aristocracy. I am not a fan of jerk heroes and I am pretty unforgiving, but there was something about the way that Ashmont started to see his life with more clarity and then try and change it that resonated with me.

I’ve spoken a lot about Ashmont, but it is Cassandra who I admired most in this book. I love a strong heroine and there was a steely resolve and intelligence to Cassandra that had me adoring her from the start. Frankly, Ashmont is lucky she gave him a chance.

I really adored this book, it managed to be laugh out loud funny, heart warming and thoughtful all at once.

A typical Loretta Chase historical romance - which means original characters who don't fit the mold and humor spread well along the story. Lucius and Cassandra are lively opponents in this battle of love that historical readers will enjoy!

I am a big fan of Romance books and I found this one to be a very enjoyable read. I will be looking for more books from this author.

Even an average book by Loretta Chase is a joy. Book 2 in her Difficult Dukes series features the notorious, drunken groom who was left at the altar in A Duke in Shining Armor. Though it’s mostly about ego, the Duke of Ashmont is still smarting from his best friend winning his former fiancée’s heart. So he’s gone on a bender and literally crashes into his love interest. He’s an over privileged and unserious lout of a hero who sets his sights on a very serious, politically aware proto-feminist girl. The arc of the story mostly involves the hero’s moral improvement and education to eventually make him worthy of this woman. .Along with that he takes an interest in his responsibilities in the House of Lords. For me the one odd note was the very casual way the text discusses abolition in passing compared to the more substantive treatment of poverty and child labor. Apart from that jarring note, the writing is witty and smart and this was good if not quite as good as the first book.

Overall I recommend this book.
Liked the witty character of Cassandra
Didnt care for the how the story was written (maybe it was the unformatted e-book version that did it?) but the inner monologue with sometimes one word or sentence to a line was tire some to read through.
Also so wished it had been titled something different because automatically, my mind started making comparisons to the movie and Shakespeare play which I like both but it was hard to keep from comparing and thinking this was just a rip-off of those.
However, it is not.
Ms. Chase has brilliantly weaved a story line and what she adds to it is so much more. Do not compare, just read this for what it is- a charming story about love once walls are taken down around our hearts.
I received an ARC in exchange for my review

I went into this with not a little trepidation. I loved the first so much, and it was my first Loretta Chase. So how could I not be let down by the second? Reader, I wasn't.

To start with, Cassandra is steadfast in her beliefs, but still willing to change as she learns more. But even as she holds firm to those beliefs, she questions herself and provides answers—as we should all do in life.

Lucius is wonderful throughout. I trusted the author to do him justice, but I know it must have been an ordeal to undertake the writing of his character after the way he acted in the first book. When he realizes his faults and what the wrong choices are, he reverses. He corrects them so as never to make them again. As the story progresses, he strives to improve himself to become worthy of Cassandra's respect, trust, and love.

I thought I could have done without the scheming of Mr. Owlsey and Lady Bartham, but, as I read on, I changed my mind. It was necessary, not only to show how starkly different Ashmont is from Owsley, but also to allow the women of the story some very important agency. Lady Bartham is a villain here with her half-witted male accomplice, Cassandra does not cower but instead does the sensible thing we so often wish to see from our heroines, and her mother is the one to save the day. As Wollstonecraft outlined in her famous text, a man and wife should be friends who help each other, and that is exactly what Cassandra and Lucius become throughout the story.

For all that and the masterful handling of the characters and story, I must give the book five shining stars.