The Hazards of Hunting a Duke

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Synopsis

Because her mother had always indulged her desire to wait for the right man to marry, Ava Fairchild thought she had plenty of time to find her perfect match. But when her mother unexpectedly passes away, her stepfather absconds to Paris with her mother's money, leaving Ava, along with her younger sister and cousin, all but penniless, and with an ultimatum that he'll see them married off as soon as he returns. Not willing to leave things to chance, she seeks out Jared Broderick, the Marquis of Middleton, a man in line for a dukedom. A year earlier, after a case of mistaken identity, she'd shared a sensual stolen kiss with him that left her breathless. She finds him attractive and they get along well, so he seems like the perfect candidate for her husband, someone she can live with, who can also provide for her sister and cousin so that they don't have to marry in haste, too.

As it turns out Jared is being pressured to marry as well, and the woman his father has chosen is someone he can't stand. However, Ava is a woman who intrigues him, so he quickly strikes a bargain with her and they wed right away so that their parents can't put a stop to it. They both think it will just be a marriage of convenience, but after a passionate wedding night that rocks both of them to their core, Ava almost instantly falls in love, while Jared is left conflicted. He never thought he'd ever give his heart to anyone, but Ava might be the one person who he could see himself falling in love with. However, when Ava intercepts love letters from Jared's mistress, she thinks he's still living the same roguish life he led before their wedding and can't abide that. She sets about trying to seduce her new husband into loving only her, but when rumors of the mistress still persist, she believes that she may never possess Jared's heart and the marriage might be doomed.

Review

The Hazards of Hunting a Duke is the first book of Julia London's Desperate Debutantes series. After the untimely death of her mother, Ava's stepfather cuts off her entire allowance, including for servants, and has vowed to see her married to any eligible suitor who comes along as soon as he returns from a trip to Paris. Likewise, Jared's father is pressuring him to marry and insists it must be the one woman who bores him to tears. Ava and Jared had met a year earlier when she mistook his carriage for her that of her chaperone's, which led to a searing stolen kiss. For Jared, Ava is not only beautiful but someone who would likely never bore him, and she views him as someone who's not only attractive, but a man who could provide for her sister and cousin so they don't have to feel pressured into marrying any old yahoo who comes along. The pair make their bargain and enter into a hasty wedding so that their parents can't stop them. However, an unexpectedly passionate and enjoyable wedding night stirs unfamiliar feelings in both of them. Jared finds himself conflicted and reluctant to give his heart to anyone, while Ava pretty quickly realizes she's fallen in love. When Ava intercepts some love letters to Jared from his mistress, she believes he's still seeing the other woman and can't bear the thought, so with the help of her lady's maid, she sets about trying to woo her new husband. But when Jared continues to hold himself at arm's length and rumors of the mistress still persist, it may spell the end of their marriage before it's really gotten a chance to get started.

Ava's mother had always indulged her desire to wait for the right man to come along, and as a result, she's nearly on the shelf. When her mother dies unexpectedly, her stepfather takes her mother's fortune and hares off to Paris, basically leaving Ava, her sister, Phoebe, and cousin Greer destitute. The three get by on Phoebe's seamstress skills, which not only provides them with fresh new-looking dresses but also earns a bit of coin, and also persuading people from the workhouse to act as servants in exchange for nothing but a roof over their heads and meals. Ava's stepfather has also vowed to see the lot of them married as soon as he gets back, so Ava puts a plan into motion to find a man she can live with before he returns. The man she sets her sights on is none other than Jared, the Marquis of Middleton, who will one day become a duke. The two are definitely attracted to one another and get on well enough, so when Jared proposes, Ava eagerly accepts. She thinks it's only going to be a marriage of convenience, but their passionate wedding night stirs her emotions until she soon realizes she's fallen in love with her new husband. However, between the love letters that arrive from Jared's mistress and London gossip, Ava believes that he's still pursuing the other woman, something that Ava finds she cannot abide. At first, she sets about trying to seduce him so that he won't want to be in any one else's bed, but when he still can't seem to give her his heart, she feels defeated.

Initially I rather admired Ava for getting by on her ingenuity when her stepfather cut off their funds and for falling on the proverbial sword, willingly entering into a marriage of convenience to save her sister and cousin from the same fate. However, as the story progressed I became a little annoyed with her. As Jared keeps reminding her, she knew what she was getting into and agreed before they wed. While I understand that her feelings changed and she couldn't help falling in love with him, I felt like she was going about winning Jared's heart all wrong. First she engages in seduction, which in some ways was fun and steamy, but in other ways, felt more like a game. She doesn't really communicate her feelings until late in the story, and although I understood her being hurt when Jared seemingly couldn't return them, she then turns rather sulky. I couldn't help feeling like she was practically badgering Jared into loving her, and when he needs more time, she just simply leaves him. Even when he comes to make peace with her and finally tell her he loves her, she won't hear him out and just yells at him. I don't want to make it sound like she's all bad or anything, because there was a lot of evidence pointing to the idea that Jared was still seeing his mistress, something that I wouldn't have been able to handle either. But I just felt like Ava could have dealt with it in a different way that didn't lead to so much arguing and conflict.

Jared's father is a stubborn, difficult man, who like Ava's stepfather is pressuring him to marry. His father has chosen a woman who Jared finds unattractive and boring, so he's mostly just ignoring the man's demands until it turns into an ultimatum involving a bit of blackmail. He'd never really forgotten the kiss with Ava, so after seeing her a few more times and sharing a few more passionate interludes, he proposes. However, he plans to simply impregnate her with an heir and then return to his life as normal. After their steamy wedding night, though, unfamiliar feelings begin to prick his cold heart. He tries to ignore them, but they persist, leaving him conflicted. He'd never planned to give his heart to anyone, but Ava turns out to be the one person who just might be worth the risk. But when she begins to argue with him about it and then leaves him, he worries it may be too late to win her back. I couldn't help feeling that Jared's characterization was a bit uneven. He begins the story as a magnetic, devil-may-care rake who never has a shortage of female attention and who wins Ava with his seductive charm. Then after they marry and he starts to have feelings for her, he turns brooding. The way he's always riding hell-for-leather and fighting his emotions, I thought for certain we'd learn of something dark in his past, such as a woman who spurned him or someone he'd loved deeply who died, but nothing of that nature really surfaces. As it turns out there was one person in his past who he seems to have cared for, but he then questions whether it was actually love. So I never fully understood why he was so reluctant to give in to his feelings for Ava. Even he seems confused as to why, which didn't really work for me. I just saw a missed opportunity to deepen Jared's characterization that didn't materialize.

Upon finishing The Hazards of Hunting a Duke, I was conflicted on how to rate it. Overall, I still generally liked the book, but after thinking about it for a while, I decided that it just had too many weaknesses to warrant a four-star rating, so I dropped it to 3.5. In addition to the issues I had with the characterizations, I thought the plot didn't entirely flow well either. The story begins with two strangers getting to know each other a little and sharing a few steamy kisses that leads to a marriage of convenience for them both, but after that magical wedding night, everything changes. It's almost like Jared and Ava become two different people. At first, I thought it was going to become about her trying to seduce him into leaving his mistress. (For those who might be concerned, he isn't actually cheating on her.) Then I thought we were going to learn something profound about Jared. There were bits and pieces of each of these things, but ultimately it just devolved into them arguing all the time, her turning a bit shrewish, and them eventually separating. After things getting so bad between them, I thought there would be a spectacular reunion with lots of groveling and apologies on both sides, but that didn't really happen either. So I couldn't help but be a little disappointed in the trajectory of the story. All's well that ends well, though, and I did feel like they'd--hopefully--put their differences to rest once and for all, so it wasn't a bad ending per se. Another small quibble I had with it, though, is the author's use of marquis for Jared's title, which is the French spelling. She really should have used the anglicized version of marquess, which would have been a super-basic thing to discover through research. This was my first read by Julia London, and although she might not have wowed me with this initial foray into her work, it was good enough to leave me open to continuing the series. From what I saw of them, I liked Ava's cousin, Greer, and sister, Phoebe, who become the heroines of the next two books, which makes me interested in seeing what's in store for them.

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Julia London

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Babies & Children