Rating: 
Summary: Is Ms Small under contract?
Review: ..that she keeps shelling out poor novels? Having read such marvelous works in the past (The Kadin, Skye O'Malley, etc.) I find myself continually disappointed in her current offerings. The Duchess is another failed attempt. It seems Ms. Small is running out of ideas for, as other reviewers suggest, the French Revolution seems tossed in for sake of lengthening the book. Bertie, get a fresh inspiration! Your readers are tired of the O'Malley clan and of spoiled little girls with too much money! The only saving grace is that our 'heroine' is not captured and sold into a harem, hence the 2 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Is this really Bertrice Small?
Review: Even though the business of going to France was a little bit much I really did like the book. Ms. Small is one of my favorite authors. As such, I have read all of her books. Of course, the Skye O'Malley series was the best, but this book was a fun read. After reading some of the reviews today, I'm glad I bought the book and read it prior to seeing what other people thought about the book. I don't see a movie based on a critic, and I don't read a book on that basis either. Way to go, Ms. Small. I look forward to the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than the last book
Review: I am a huge fan of Bertrice Small's writing. Even when the story is not up to par, Mrs. Small usually does not fail to catch me up into the lush web of her writing. For the most part, Allegra was intelligent and practical. Traits I admire in a heroine. Quinton was, of course, the perfect man. The sparks between them didn't burn as bright as some of Mrs. Small's other couples, but they were a complimentary couple nonetheless. And Allegra did show toward the end the behavior of a spoiled brat. Behavior that has shown up in some of Mrs. Small's characters as of late. (Autumn, India). Overall, the book is well done and if this had been the only book Mrs. Small had written may have received more stars. However, we fans are spoiled by Mrs. Small's legendary and memorable characters such as Skye, Cyra, Zenobia, Zaynab, and Rhonwyn.
Rating: 
Summary: entertaining
Review: I enjoyed this book for the education it gave on the London "season" because I am new to romance novels. This was my third ever and the first two were Robin Schone books. I prefer her more sensory style of writing, and edge of your seat tension than this bigger scope of detailing events rather than feelings.
The Duke was just a character. He was not really real to me, and though the Duchess was plagued by a family history less than perfect, everything about her and her life was perfect. The climax of the story was so contrived and blown through that it hardly seemed believable to me.
It was entertaining and taught me some things I did not know before on the lifestyle of the wealthy in this time period. The intimate scenes were decent, though not as steamy as Robin Schone's. Altogether, this book was very good entertainment, but not a serious read and did not enthrall me within the lives of the characters who were all too perfect and happy to be real.
A good light read for summer or on a lunch break or long train ride to pass the time.
Rating:
Summary: entertaining
Review: I enjoyed this book for the education it gave on the London "season" because I am new to romance novels. This was my third ever and the first two were Robin Schone books. I prefer her more sensory style of writing, and edge of your seat tension than this bigger scope of detailing events rather than feelings.
The Duke was just a character. He was not really real to me, and though the Duchess was plagued by a family history less than perfect, everything about her and her life was perfect. The climax of the story was so contrived and blown through that it hardly seemed believable to me.
It was entertaining and taught me some things I did not know before on the lifestyle of the wealthy in this time period. The intimate scenes were decent, though not as steamy as Robin Schone's. Altogether, this book was very good entertainment, but not a serious read and did not enthrall me within the lives of the characters who were all too perfect and happy to be real.
A good light read for summer or on a lunch break or long train ride to pass the time.
Rating:
Summary: Not at all up to snuff!
Review: I simply can't believe that this book was written by Bertrice Small. It seems unfathomable. The characters are shallow and superfical as is the plot. There is no depth to this book at all. Basically it is a repetion of saying, "the bluest blood in England marries the richest girl in England" over and over and over! So stupid. I love many of Small's novels, but this insipid dribble is not one of them. Stay far, far away. Read Sky O'Malley, or The Kadin or pretty much any other book for the real Small.
Rating: 
Summary: A Successful Season
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was not a steamy as some of Ms. Small's other books, but it had its moments. I liked the story line much better than some other books in this genre. Quinton and Allegra are fun to watch from beginning to end.
Rating:
Summary: Can I slap someone for this?!?
Review: I typically enjoy Betrice Small and some of the characters at time were cute. That is the best thing I can say about this book. There was really no plot. They both were looking for spouses and they got married nothing got in the way nothing intesting there. She was a spoiled brat and he seemed decent enough except for the fact that he thought her bold behavior "unduchess like" but he still rarely if ever did anything to stop it. And when she would step over the line in front of other people he didn't once call her on it which was uncharacteristic of the opinions he had of her behavior. Later elements where thrown into the story that seemed to just be there to add some pages and by the end I cared less about the characters than I did at the beginning.
Rating:
Summary: Dissapointed about The Duchess
Review: I was very dissapointed with this book. It clearly had none of the exciting heroines of past books by Bertrice Small. Although I was happy to see the mention of the Kira Banking family, I thought that the main character Allegra didn't have any passion such as Jasmine Leslie or Skye O'Malley. It was sad that I had to return the book.
Rating:
Summary: Is this really Bertrice Small?
Review: I'm a big fan of Bertrice Small and have read all of her books. I am halfway through The Duchess and I'm wondering if Bertrice Small really wrote this book. The vivid descriptions and fascinating characters are missing. Usually, by the third page of a Bertrice Small's book, I'm hooked and read until the wee hours of the morning because I can't put it down, but I'm having a hard time even picking up this book to read on.
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