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mediaevalmusereads · 3 months

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The Duke Who Didn't. By Courtney Milan. 2020.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Series: Wedgeford Trials #1

Summary: Miss Chloe Fong has plans for her life, lists for her days, and absolutely no time for nonsense. Three years ago, she told her childhood sweetheart that he could talk to her once he planned to be serious. He disappeared that very night.

Except now he’s back. Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing, has returned to the tiny village he once visited with the hope of wooing Chloe. In his defense, it took him years of attempting to be serious to realize that the endeavor was incompatible with his personality.

All he has to do is convince Chloe to make room for a mischievous trickster in her life, then disclose that in all the years they’ve known each other, he’s failed to mention his real name, his title… and the minor fact that he owns her entire village.

Only one thing can go wrong: Everything.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: graphic sexual content, microaggressions

OVERVIEW: I was so excited when I saw this book at my local bookstore. I love Courtney Milan's work, and I was excited to get my hands on a hard copy of The Duke Who Didn't. It was wonderful to read more from Milan - and even more wonderful to read a historical romance that centered East Asian (particularly Chinese) characters. While there are little things here and there that I could nitpick, I found this book to be overall very charming, so it gets 4.5 stars from me.

WRITING: I don't think I have anything to say about Milan's prose that I haven't already said before. I love the way Milan makes her writing seem so effortless; it's quick, it's descriptive, it's full of emotion, and it balances showing and telling well. It's also full of heartfelt speeches that I've come to associate with her stories, and it had a tendency to grip my heart at the most unexpected times.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Chloe Fong, the daughter of a Chinese immigrant living in a small village in 19th century Kent, as she helps her father start a commercial business selling sauce. Chloe plans to sell jars of sauce during the Wedgeford Trials - an annual event that draws visitors from all over the UK. If everything goes according to plan, her father's sauce will become popular enough that they can have a more comfortable income. The trouble is that the sudden appearance of Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing after a 3 year absence threatens to throw a wrench in Chloe's plans, especially since the two have a powerful attraction to one another.

I really loved the story of Chloe and her father trying to get their sauce business off the ground. Not only did it show the two working together and butting heads in ways that clearly betrayed their affection for one another, but it also provided a nice commentary on what it meant to be "from" a place.

And perhaps this is an easy thing to like, but: I did appreciate the fact that this was a historical romance that focused on non-white characters. The genre is overrun with white characters, and though things are changing, I feel like anything I read by Milan (or various others like Beverly Jenkins or Alyssa Cole) is a breath of fresh air.

CHARACTERS: Chloe, our heroine, is easy to like and root for because of her dedication to her father and his business. Chloe is stubborn and determined but also over-works herself and refuses to accept help; these qualities make her relatable without making her perfect, and I liked that her arc involved learning to accept help.

Jeremy, our hero, is also easy to like because of his teasing and laid-back manner. I enjoyed the way he pestered Chloe without being mean-spirited and I liked that is arc involved not only learning to be "serious" ("earnest" might be more accurate?), but also accepting that maybe what's best for him can't be found in white British society.

Chloe's father is an effective supporting character in that he challenges both Chloe and Jeremy to grow. I liked that he and Chloe shared some of the same faults (overworking and refusing to accept help) while also having clear affection for one another. Descriptions of his cooking skills also made my mouth water on more than one occasion, and I laughed whenever he made his food overly spicy in order to mess with Jeremy.

Most other supporting characters are only minimally involved in the story, so a thorough analysis isn't really necessary. All of them served their purpose, so I didn't really feel like any were dead weight or distracted from the story.

TL;DR: The Duke Who Didn't is a delightful, heartfelt romance that really shines when showcasing the father-daughter relationship and the contrast between the two protagonists' personalities. If you're a fan of historical romance but are getting tired of Regencies about rich white people, you might want to give this one a try.

ROMANCE: Chloe and Jeremy's relationship was fun to read about in part because the character personalities contrasted nicely. Chloe is a planner and is always making to-do lists while Jeremy is more laid back and impulsive. Despite this difference, they played off each other well, and I liked that their disagreements were good-natured while also challenged each other to think and grow.

I also very much liked how their arc involved supporting one another. Jeremy fills an emotional need in Chloe's life by helping her learn to share her burdens, while Chloe helps Jeremy feel worthy after being rejected by a lot of people for being half Chinese. Their individual arcs and growth as a couple complemented each other well, so on the whole, the romance was very emotionally satisfying.

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ash-and-books · 1 year

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Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb: Miss Chloe Fong has plans for her life, lists for her days, and absolutely no time for nonsense. Three years ago, she told her childhood sweetheart that he could talk to her once he planned to be serious. He disappeared that very night. Except now he’s back. Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing, has returned to the tiny village he once visited with the hope of wooing Chloe. In his defense, it took him years of attempting to be serious to realize that the endeavor was incompatible with his personality. All he has to do is convince Chloe to make room for a mischievous trickster in her life, then disclose that in all the years they’ve known each other, he’s failed to mention his real name, his title… and the minor fact that he owns her entire village. Only one thing can go wrong: Everything.

Review:

She loves making list and he wants to be the only thing on her list. Chloe Fong has her life planned out, she lives by her lists, and has no time for nonsense... except for the one tiny exception of her childhood sweetheart, Jeremy Wentworth. Chloe’s life is dedicated to helping her father get revenge against the people who ruined him and working on creating the sauce to reclaim the recipe that was stolen from him. Her only distraction comes in the form of her handsome and charming childhood sweetheart, Jeremy, who is wealthy and comes and goes as he pleases... except after three years gone she’s ready to give up on him, but Jeremy has other plans. Jeremy is hiding a secret, he is actually the Duke of Lansing and he actually owns the village that Chloe and everyone else lives in. Jeremy has returned after three years and has only one goal: to woo and marry Chloe. He’s been hopelessly in love with her since he was 14 but has never had the courage to tell her who he truly is because he fears she’ll hate him and he wants nothing more than make her happy and he knows that she won’t really want to be a Duchess... so he’s ready to do anything to convince her there is room in her life for him. Chloe makes him a bit tongue tied and he kind of loses all reasoning when she’s around, so instead of going through with his perfect plans to woe her he ends up asking her to write him up a list for his perfect future wife... a list he hopes will get her to realize that is describing her and only her. Can Chloe trust Jeremy to finally stay and can Jeremy finally reveal who he is to Chloe without losing her? This was a hilarious and super sweet romance read! I can’t even begin to say just how adorable of a simp Jeremy was for Chloe and how adorable they are together. Jeremy really said: I support everything Chloe wants and will do anything for her. Also the family love between Chloe and her dad was so precious. Seriously this was a fantastic and amazing read!

#book #book review #bookislife #historical romance review

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maddie-grove · 3 years

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Little Book Review: The Duke Who Didn't

Author: Courtney Milan.

Publication Date: 2020.

Genre: Historical romance (late Victorian).

Premise: Jeremy Wentworth, the half-Chinese Duke of Lansing, has enjoyed his yearly excursions to the remote village of Wedgeford, which has a quirky annual tradition of a community-wide scavenger hunt. It's a relief to have fun and be around people who can relate to him--Wedgeford has a substantial Chinese population and is diverse in general--plus he has a big crush on the efficient Chloe Fong. The only problem? He's never told Chloe, or anyone else in the village, that he's a duke and actually owns the land. Will Chloe be mad at him when he spills the beans? Even if she isn't, will she ever consent to marry a dude with such a complicated deal? And doesn't she have enough to do, between the annual games and her own painful family secrets and her attempts to launch her chef father's sauce?

*SPOILERS BELOW*

Thoughts: I think many romance fans have a complicated relationship with the Big Secret. On one hand, it can produce delicious drama and angst, eventually leading up to a cathartic scene where one of the protagonists tearfully confesses that they can't read/had an affair with their sister-in-law/were imprisoned in an oubliette. On the other hand, the reader may feel bored and irritated. "Oh my God," the reader might say, "just tell her that you're afraid of bees. It's causing so much trouble that you won't say that you're afraid of bees." If the plot involves one protagonist getting angry with the other protagonist for concealing the truth once it comes out, the reader might feel annoyed with both protagonists. "He had compelling reasons to not tell you about how he was tricked into joining a cult," the reader might grouse. "It's not all about you, Isabella!"

So, I get why Milan subverts that trope in the way she does. Far from being angry, Chloe and the rest of the villagers reveal that they knew Jeremy's identity, and just figured that he didn't feel like talking about his background (a common preference in Wedgeford). This is nice, certainly. It speaks well of Chloe and the villagers that they respect people's privacy so thoroughly, and I wasn't looking forward to a plot point that would inevitably leave me feeling annoyed with Jeremy, irritated with Chloe, and/or guilty for my feelings towards either or both characters. Still...Milan devotes a lot of space to Jeremy angsting over his secrets, only to reveal that his secrets were never an issue. It feels like a waste, given that (a) it draws attention away from the development of the romance (since I was waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole time) and (b) Jeremy had more interesting things to worry about, like his relationship with his well-meaning but racist aunt. It also sets up a dilemma: either Jeremy rightly believed that it was wrong to conceal his identity even though he was mistaken about its consequences (in which case he needs to make amends), or Jeremy wrongly believed that he owed this information to the people of Wedgeford (in which case Jeremy seems to believe that he isn't allowed boundaries, which is an emotional issue that should be addressed). To treat the whole thing as a comedic twist is a disservice to his character.

The novel is stronger on Chloe's end. The logistics of her quest to market her dad's "brown sauce" are the most engaging part of the novel, and her unearthing of family secrets is moving and involves some interesting elements of Chinese history. Like Jeremy, Chloe labors under a misapprehension that makes her feel bad about herself, but it's more naturally incorporated into the story and taken more seriously. Overall, their romance is sweet--I just wish it'd been given more room to breathe.

Hot Goodreads Take: "Just can’t read something so inaccurate. No evidence of Chinese dukes or peers. DNF," states one genius. They should hang out with the reviewer of The Plot Against America who knows that Charles Lindbergh was never president.

#little book review #the duke who didn't #courtney milan #romance novels #i feel like if you're going to be like that #you shouldn't be interested in books about fictional dukes at all #i'm pretty sure we know who all the dukes in england were #going back to william the conqueror

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rockislandadultreads · 3 years

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Joyful Asian-Centered Stories: book recommendations

The Duke Who Didn't by Courtney Milan

Miss Chloe Fong has plans for her life, lists for her days, and absolutely no time for nonsense. Three years ago, she told her childhood sweetheart that he could talk to her once he planned to be serious. He disappeared that very night. Except now he’s back. Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing, has returned to the tiny village he once visited with the hope of wooing Chloe. In his defense, it took him years of attempting to be serious to realize that the endeavor was incompatible with his personality. All he has to do is convince Chloe to make room for a mischievous trickster in her life, then disclose that in all the years they’ve known each other, he’s failed to mention his real name, his title… and the minor fact that he owns her entire village. Only one thing can go wrong: Everything.

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She's tasked with saving her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case. With the cops treating her like she's the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila's left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block…

Tikka Chance on Me by Suleikha Snyder

He's the bad-boy biker. She's the good girl working in her family's Indian restaurant. On the surface, nothing about Trucker Carrigan and Pinky Grover's instant, incendiary, attraction makes sense. But when they peel away the layers and the assumptions--and their clothes--everything falls into place. The need. The want. The light. The laughter. They have more in common than they ever could've guessed. Is it enough? They won't know until they take a chance on each other--and on love.

Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed

Smash the patriarchy. Eat all the pastries. It’s August in Paris and 17-year-old Khayyam Maquet—American, French, Indian, Muslim—is at a crossroads. This holiday with her parents should be a dream trip for the budding art historian. But her maybe-ex-boyfriend is ghosting her, she might have just blown her chance at getting into her dream college, and now all she really wants is to be back home in Chicago figuring out her messy life instead of brooding in the City of Light. Two hundred years before Khayyam’s summer of discontent, Leila is struggling to survive and keep her true love hidden from the Pasha who has “gifted” her with favored status in his harem. In the present day—and with the company of Alex, a très charmant teen descendant of Alexandre Dumas—Khayyam searches for a rumored lost painting, uncovering a connection between Leila and Alexandre Dumas, Eugène Delacroix, and Lord Byron that may have been erased from history. Echoing across centuries, Leila and Khayyam’s lives intertwine, and as one woman’s long-forgotten life is uncovered, another’s is transformed.

#fiction #romance #contemporary #contemporary romance #asian characters #asian authors #diverse stories #diverse reads #diverse authors #to read #booklr #tbr #reading recommendations #Book Recommendations #new books

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