Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious, clever, well-written, tongue in cheek froth
Review: Some of the reviewers obviously didn't "get" this book. It's a comedy! Lilah and Drake are made for each other, precisely because nobody else could stand to live with either one of them. They ENJOY their conflicts and it is that air of naughty enjoyment that makes their confrontations so droll. And, by the way, the cameo appearance made by Lord Rival takes place when he is clearly in his early 20s. He doesn't meet Olivia in THE FORTUNE HUNTER until he is in his 30's. So he's an unrepentant rake because he hasn't repented yet. In other words, DUEL OF HEARTS takes place several years before THE FORTUNE HUNTER. I agree with the other reviewer that he would never cheat on his beloved wife, but he hasn't met her yet. The author could have made this clearer, perhaps, since it probably bothered a few readers who didn't figure that out.
Rating:
Summary: Witty and Exuberant
Review: Witty and exuberant Diane Farr again treats the reader to a highly entertaining romp in her novel Duel of Hearts. Delilah Chadwick is incredulous that her adoring widowed father could really be contemplating remarriage without consulting her, but so the letter she receives from him states. She embarks on a mission to save her beloved father from Eugenia Mayhew, a young woman Lilah has never met but who must be "a mercenary harridan...taking advantage of Papa's good nature." Lilah is so used to everyone capitulating to her demands that she's failed to notice how headstrong and domineering she actually is. So she's astonished and extremely annoyed by the very forceful man actually opposes her will when, at the local inn, she attempts to wrest from him the carriage he has just rented-the last suitable vehicle in the area to carry her to London where her father is. Adam "Drake" Harleston, the ninth Earl of Drakesley, is stunned and highly displeased with the forceful harpy who has the nerve to repeatedly demand he give up his rented carriage to her. When he begrudgingly ends up sharing the carriage with Lilah and her companion Miss Pickens, he's even more displeased to discover that she's the daughter of the older gentleman who's no doubt seduced his poor cousin Eugenia into pledging marriage. Drake was raised with Eugenia and always assumed that he would marry her one day. After all, a biddable wife who can offer him a quiet life is just the ticket to enable him to maintain the status quo of his existence. And that's surely what he wants-right? Drake is alarmed to discover the overwhelming physical reaction he has to Lilah, and she is equally embarrassed by the passion she feels whenever she's near him. Although they form an alliance to stop the disastrous marriage of her father and his cousin, they cannot stop arguing over how to do it. And what a wonderful, feisty argument it is. As they wittily oppose one another's wills, they feel extraordinarily alive and begin falling in love while the reader is treated to highly entertaining repartee. But nothing goes as planned, and by the time Drake apparently persuades Eugenia to break her engagement and to marry him instead, emotions are running high all around, and it's no longer clear who is tricking whom. What is clear is that Drake and Lilah must stop fooling themselves or an extraordinary love will be lost forever. Lilah and Drake are lively, well-drawn and thoroughly enjoyable characters who take the reader on a thrilling ride in this witty page turner. The supporting cast is equally endearing and funny. Duel of Hearts is a delightful book that no romance lover should miss.
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