Review: A Lady for a Duke

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Viola Carroll lived a lie, then when she was wounded presumed dead at Waterloo she took the chance to live her life honestly, even though it meant giving up the title of Viscount Marleigh to his younger brother Bartholomew (Badger) and forgoing the friendship of his childhood partner in crime Justin de Vere, now the Duke of Gracewood. Now she acts as companion to her sister-in-law, the interfering Lady Louise Marleigh who always thinks she knows best.

Then Louise receives a letter from Gracewood's younger sister Lady Miranda which, reading between the line and adding two and two and getting at least six or seven, indicates that Miranda is bored and lonely, desperate for a London season, and worried about her brother who is still suffering from the injuries he sustained at Waterloo and mourning the death of his best friend Marleigh.

Much against her will, Viola accompanies Louise to Gracewood's forbidding Northumberland home Morgencald Castle where they find Gracewood drunk and under the influence of laudanum. Slowly Viola persuades Gracewood to set aside his demons and romance blossoms. But can Gracewood forgive Viola for allowing him to believe she was dead for two years? What future can there be together when society would not recognise any marriage between them, even were she simply a lady's companion, let alone the truth? And Gracewood owes it to his lineage to have heirs - how would that be possible?

I really wanted to like this queer historical romance but sadly there was too much navel-gazing by both Viola and Gracewood, too much push-me, pull-me as Gracewood and Viola almost kiss, then retreat, kiss then retreat, rinse and repeat.

This was an ambitious project, to bring twenty-first century trans sensibilities to an historical romance and it didn't really work for me. Maybe its because Viola was so completely a woman, no self-doubt. Although there were veiled references to Viola always wearing gloves and a choker to disguise her hands and Adam's Apple, there was no overt expressed concerns about her body not reflecting her outward appearance or her inner self and maybe that would have sold it to me better.

Also, everyone who loved her was 100% accepting of Viola, almost without hesitation, I think even today that might be an ideal situation, let alone two hundred years ago when society viewed even homosexuality as deviant (which is odd considering the perversions that men indulged in freely in brothels).

Overall, this felt very slow, my overwhelming feeling when I finished this book was relief which is not something that I would ever have associated with Alexis Hall novels. Juxtapositioning modern attitudes and an historical background did not work for me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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