The Duke and Mrs. Douglas

Rating:
Summary: I truly liked this one - just a few brief comments
Review: Although it seems that most of the reviewers commenting on this book were not totally convinced, I did like it very much and for one reason: each member of the dramatis personae was three dimensional for each one hid some sort of personal difficulty or trauma and each dealt with it in a a serious and adult manner not usually found in short form regency novels. I liked it because each character had to examine him or herself deeply to identify and overcome motives coloured with suspicion of self and others. I felt that the interaction of the various couples/combinations was well drawn. The sexual tension was well portrayed and, I think, realistic. And, of course, the ultimate surprise was the story of the hero's much adored aunt - certainly her own heart required a great deal of self-examination for her life was so nearly wasted.

All in all, I thought this was Donna Simpson's best effort thus far. It is not particularly an easy read and one could easily be frustrated over the behaviour of the various characters. But, in the end, it was a very mature, well drawn look into the hearts and minds of a group of people I personally found exceptionally interesting. None has an easy journey to happiness but you feel that you know and understand them when the story ends. Not "lite 'n' fluffy" - it takes some degree of commitment to read but I felt truly rewarded when I came to the end.

Rating:
Summary: okish read -- not up the usual standards though
Review: Donna Simpson is one of the few authours who can (successfully) write a novel that almost exclusively focuses on the feelings and private thoughts of her characters and still not end up with the book that is either maudlin or awkward. It takes a real talent to write such a novel where nothing much ever happens save for the characters talking to each other and ruminating about the behaviour of others and themselves. Which is why I so enjoy reading Ms Simpson's novels. But this time around, I rather felt that Ms Simpson fell short of her usual excellence.

Feeling gloomy and having had his fill of the back-stabbing lot that surrounds the Prince of Wales, the widowed Duke of Alban decides to leave Brighton and repair to the North in order to visit his favourite aunt. And he takes with him his best friend, Bartholomew Norton, the Earl of Orkenay (not a very close or well liked friend) and another gentleman he knows little of, Sir John Fitzhenry. It's a trip in which he will reestablish his close link with his adored aunt (an aunt he hasn't seen in almost three years, not since he arrived broken over his wife's desertion), and spend time hunting and riding with his friends. But all his plans go out the window when he arrives to find that his aunt has hired a comely young widow, Kittie Douglas, as her companion -- a ravishing and voluptuous lady moreover who makes his pulses races with longing and desire. Can the duke, who had been seriously and publicly betrayed before trust that seemingly virtuous and tenderhearted widow is exactly what she seems? Or does the comely Mrs. Douglas have some conniving plan up her sleeve?

Part of the problem with "The Duke and Mrs. Douglas" was that the duke and Mrs. Douglas spend very little time with each other in a constructive manner at all. They both spend a lot of time thinking and obsessing about each other, but when they do converse, they are, quite frequently at daggers drawn and completely misunderstanding each other. So that when, somewhere towards the end of the book, Kittie laments to her friends about the duke's poor treatment of her esp when she had thought they were becoming friends, I wondered how she had arrived at this conclusion? When, exactly, had they become friends? Had I missed a few chapters somewhere? Kittie, actually spends more time with the cad of the group, and allows the man more liberties than a respectable widow would have (I thought), and I really wasn't too surprised that the duke got, and maintained, a certain impression of Kittie. Also, because the duke and Kittie never really establish any kind of relationship with each other (at least none that I could see aside from lusting for each other), the book does tend to stagnate a little. On the plus side, however, is Ms Simpson's wonderful character realisations of all the individuals involved in this story. She made me want to know more about Kittie's friends (Rebecca and Hannah), Mr. Norton and Sir John Fitzhenry. Truly, no one can show the many different facets of a character (major or minor) the way that Donna Simpson can. And it was the character portrayals of the minor characters that saved this book for me, because, truth to tell, I did find Kittie and the duke and the perpetual fog of misunderstanding that they seem to revel in fairly boring.

Rating:
Summary: Unromantic
Review: Kittie Douglas, a widow for 4 years and companion to Lady Eliza, is happy to find out Eliza's nephew will be visiting their Yorkshire estate. Over the years, Kittie has read his letters to his aunt, and she is intrigued by the very thought of him. She wants to meet the man whose late wife abandoned him. Could he really be so bad?

The Duke of Alban was hoping for a peaceful visit with his aunt, who he hasn't seen in 3 years. He and a few hanger-on friends travel to Yorkshire. But there are a few things Alban didn't expect. He did not know his aunt's companion was a beautiful widow, and he didn't know his aunt was blind. The duke has never desired a woman like he desires Kittie. Unfortunately, his friend, Lord Orkenay, has also set his sights on her.

Eventually, someone makes an offer that changes everything...

"The Duke and Mrs. Douglas" had its good points and bad points. I liked Kittie. She was willful and opinionated, but hardly overbearing. Those expecting a light-hearted Regency should look elsewhere, as this book is somewhat dark, and deals with some very serious issues. I also liked the fact that the characters were at least a decade older than the average romance characters. It was a refreshing change of pace.

Now, the bad points. I didn't care for the Duke of Alban. I thought he was rude, bold and prying. I don't think his interest in Kittie ever extended beyond physical attraction, and I certainly can't imagine why she liked him. In terms of romance, it was lacking. I thought some of the "secondary" plots were more interesting, though slighted. I was more interested in Kittie's friend's dalliance with a younger man. I would have liked to see more of Alban's saintly friend, Mr. Norton. The central characters often left something to be desired.

Overall, it's very average. In the past, I've read better from Donna Simpson. The book is somewhat weak, but it does deliver in certain areas. For instance, I was COMPLETELY blindsided by a twist in the end.

Rating:
Summary: A good story - but claustrophobic
Review: This book falls very much into the middle of being liked and disliked. There was much that was good, but there was much to counterbalance and drag it down.
The Duke of Alban, disillusioned with life, leaves Brighton to visit his favourite aunt. Alban is wary and cynical regarding women. His wife ran away with a lover and his most recent mistress was playing a double game with him. Three men accompany him, an old friend, a social acquaintance and a slight acquaintance who somehow tagged along. Unbeknownst to him, his aunt has become blind and very much needs her companion, Mrs. Kittie Douglas.
Kittie is a widow in need of employment, due to her dead husband's gambling. She has an unrealistically noble picture of Alban, as she has been reading his letters to his aunt. Of course he appears all that is good and she suspects she is more than a little in love with this idealised picture. Hardly surprising that she should immediately be strongly attracted to him when they meet.
He finds himself similarly drawn to her. However, his thoughts are not at all honourable. He feels torn between his instinctive desire to seduce her and his conscience telling him he should not, because of her position.
The second man, Lord Orkeney muddies the waters, by immediately flirting with Kittie.
Two friends of Kittie's then arrive to complicate relationships with the other two men. Spring might have been in the air.
Basically this is a story of how Alban and Kittie fight within themselves regarding their deep attraction. He wants her, but will not consider marriage. She wants him, but cannot reconcile herself to being a mistress - to her it is an insult and debasement.
Orkeney is all the time complicating the issue, on purpose as is obvious. He is lying to both of them. Alban may have wanted excuses to see Kittie as being open to being his mistress, but he does see behaviour that is strong evidence to that effect. Here Kittie is astonishingly stupid.
A strong story, but I really could not get to like Kittie and Alban more than tepidly. They were both so bristling with resentments and suspicions. Maybe being so privy to their thoughts made it a bit too claustrophobic.
There were also several secondary plot threads that were created and showed promise of interest, but then were not developed. A pity.
The ending was good and made up for some of the sluggish internalising of hero and heroine.
As usual Simpson recreates the era convincingly. The characters do actually think as such men and women of the period would have done.