Early Book Review: The Duke's Disaster by Grace Burrowes

The Duke's Disaster by Grace Burrowes is scheduled for release on April 7 2015. This historical romance does have secondary characters that fans might recognize from other Burrowes books, but is a stand alone. Noah Winters, Earl of Anselm, spent months sorting and courting the year's crop of debutantes in search of an ideal bride. When the sweet, biddable young thing he selected accepts another's proposal, Noah decides to court her companion instead. Thea Collins, though, is anything but biddable. She has learned the hard way that men are not to be trusted, especially the handsome ones. When she reluctantly accepts, Noah rushes Thea to the altar before she can reveal her deepest secret. Can she finally move on from her past, or will it come back to haunt her?

The Duke's Disaster began a little rushed, and I worried that a chapter or prelude somehow was left out of my digital copy. however, once the story got going I was hooked. I started the book at bedtime, and finished it quickly the following day. In fact, i admit to being a wee bit testy when I had to step away from the book in the middle of a very important moment. Noah and Thea each have their troubles and hang-ups, but they are smart and strong willed characters. I liked that they are more forthright than most romance characters, and most withheld thoughts and discussions are because of wanting to protect each other or family than because of intended deceit. The love story moved at a good pace, with a quickly noted attraction but no instant love to muddy the water. the secondary characters were important to understanding Noah, and i highly suspect several of them to have books of their own that I will want to read. The action, danger, and secrets within the story are very well paced as well, and I found it hard to leave the characters behind.  In fact, I dreamed about the characters the night I started reading the book.

The Duke's Disaster was another great historical romance from Burrowes.  I really enjoyed the characters and look forward to reading more from her. What more can you say for a great author than craving the next book from them even after they give you a book with no cliffhangers or questions that need resolution?