Review - - No Ordinary Duchess

No Ordinary Duchess

by Elizabeth Hoyt

The Greycourt Series - Book 3

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: December 10, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

Cold and brooding, Julian Greycourt, the heir to the Windemere dukedom, has always known that his uncle the duke was responsible for his mother’s death. Now he’s determined to exact revenge against his uncle—if he can find the proof. But Julian hides a secret so explosive it will destroy him if it’s ever revealed, and the duke is watching. The last thing he needs is a distractingly sensual woman whose very presence threatens to destroy his plans.
 
Sunny and cheerful, Lady Elspeth de Moray doesn’t know why her brother and Julian fell out all those years ago, but she can’t let the autocratic man get in the way of her mission: to retrieve an ancient family text that she believes is in one of the Windemere libraries. Locating the tome, however, proves trickier than she anticipated, and at each turn, she’s thrown together with the maddingly mysterious Julian. And the temptation to give in to her family’s greatest enemy grows stronger with each intriguing encounter…

PJ's Thoughts:

I've been reading Elizabeth Hoyt since her debut. One of the many facets of her writing that continues to bring me back to her books is her characters. In No Ordinary Duchess, the newest installment in her Greycourt series, both hero Julian and heroine Elspeth are standouts in Hoyt's long list of unforgettable lead characters. 

There are few authors who write complex, emotionally tortured heroes as well as Hoyt. Do I love him? Despise him? Maybe both? In Julian's case, there were points where I wanted to wash my hands of him, others where my heart broke for him. He holds himself apart from family and friends (for reasons) yet strives to protect those he loves with every fiber of his being. He believes his past actions are villainous and unforgiveable and that present actions mark him as unnatural, unable to forgive himself for either. As I said: complex.

Elspeth is one of my favorite Hoyt heroines, a straight-talking young woman with an unconventional upbringing that sets her apart from a typical London miss. Everything about her feels authentic: her determination to complete her quest, her insatiable curiosity, her unapologetic exploration of sensual desires with Julian (Hoyt always brings the spice), and her refusal to accept defeat, especially at the hands of the true villain of this story. She's a force and I adored her. 

The wise women storyline that runs through this series is one I could take or leave. It really doesn't add that much to the books for me other than as a plot device to explain the unexpected skills and knowledge the female leads possess. I'm not that interested in what will happen to the group. What I am interested in is Elspeth brother, Ran, former best friend of Julian and current recluse. The history there is fraught, fascinating, and overflowing with angst. I really hope Hoyt has a story planned for him. I am aching for it.

Review - - When a Rogue Meets His Match

When a Rogue Meets His Match

by Elizabeth Hoyt

The Greycourt Series - Book 2

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: December 1, 2020

Reviewed by Hellie

 

 

Ambitious, sly, and lethally intelligent, Gideon Hawthorne has spent his life clawing his way up from the gutter. For the last ten years, he's acted as the Duke of Windemere's fixer, performing the duke's dirty work without question. Now Gideon's ready to quit the duke's service and work solely for himself. But Windermere tempts Gideon with an irresistible offer: one last task for Messalina Greycourt's hand in marriage. 

Witty, vivacious Messalina Greycourt has her pick of suitors, so when her uncle demands Messalina marry Mr. Hawthorne, she is appalled. But Gideon offers her a devil's bargain of his own: protection and freedom in exchange for a true marriage. Messalina feigns agreement and plots to escape their deal. Only the more time she spends with Gideon, the more her fierce, loyal husband arouses her affections. But will Gideon's final deed for Windemere destroy the love growing between them?

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

Elizabeth Hoyt is always a must-read author for me, her stories filled with dark, redemption-seeking heroes and bold, clever heroines--and sex hot enough to make a girl blush and dog-ear the pages for referencing later. She kicked off a new series, the Greycourt series, with Not the Duke’s Darling (December 2018), which I thoroughly enjoyed and which introduced some subplots (notably the Wise Women group) that I was excited to see carried through the series. This book took a bit longer to come out (set for a December 2019 release, but arriving in December 2020). I was so excited to read this book! My expectations were unbearably high.  

For these reasons, or possibly others, I did not enjoy reading this story as much as I have other stories from Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series, or even the Soldiers series. I couldn’t pinpoint why--because her writing is the same, very readable and fast paced, sensuous, but the characters themselves, something seemed to be lacking for me. I couldn’t quite buy into the characters or that they were in love with each other. When we meet Hawthorne, he is already in love with Messalina. He is the “fixer” for her uncle and as such, he’s low-born and unsavory in reputation, which are usually aspects Hoyt manages quite successfully in winning us over to, but he was already in love with her so he felt a little stagnant in his character arc. The heroine, for her part, hates his guts--so here we have enemies to lovers in a marriage of convenience. And her character arc--her hating to loving him--feels a bit rushed. 

There are some great scenes where more is revealed about Hawthorne, things that slowly win over Messalina’s prejudice to him. But overall, even with the plots and subplots and action, the story felt a little thin. And because the story and characters felt thin for me, the Happily Ever After--or are these two truly destined for each other?--also felt a little thin. Also, there wasn’t enough about the Wise Women group in this story...I really liked them from the previous book. What I did like were these scenes in the story: anytime we saw the little boy Sam and the puppy Daisy; how Hawthorne is able to outwit his employer and get the money owed him; and Messalina’s sister, Lucretia and her love of cakes. (I hope Lucretia’s husband knows to bring her cake to win her over.) Overall, it wasn’t a bad story...it just wasn’t good either, if you know what I mean.