The Scientist Duke

Society’s most coveted duke finds the one thing wealth and position cannot buy—the perfect partner…

This is apparently the second book in The Duke Trilogy, but you’d be hard pressed to know that other than the title.  I didn’t read the first one (The Scottish Duke), and there was no mention of previous characters or plots.  The duke in question here is Jordan Hamilton, Duke of Roth – a second son who inherited the title after the deaths of his father and older brother (a tired trope I’ve read too many times).  He had been in the navy, and has a keen scientific mind, and he would rather tinker with his mechanics than do anything duke  related.  He’s also suffering from a limp after a fall from his horse, so he’s not the typical hero – except that he’s devastatingly handsome of course.

Martha York, our heroine, had helped her father with his own inventions and felt more at home tinkering with sprockets and copper than thinking about what dress to wear, or ball to attend.  When he passed away, he bequeathed all of his notes and projects to the duke since they had been corresponding for several years.  Martha is miffed that Jordan hadn’t deigned to answer any of her letters or acknowledge her father’s passing so she decides to pack everything up and deliver it in person.  She’s got preconceived notions of his arrogance, and is prepared to dislike him on sight.  Her grandmother and her half-sister, Josephine, decide to tag along for the trip, and a short excursion becomes a longer stay after the grandmother takes a sudden unhealthy spell.

This of course puts Martha and Jordan into closer contact, and she slowly realizes that he isn’t what she expected.  For his part, he appreciates her intellect and they start to form a friendship.  On this level, you can see where things are headed.  But then Josephine throws a wrench into the works and decides she wants to be the next Duchess of Roth and becomes the most evil half-sister since Cinderella’s story.  Truly, she is over the top conniving, selfish and immoral and nearly accomplishes her goal.  She even has an affair with Jordan’s best friend, Reese, who also turns out to be not such a great guy.  More evil machinations ensue between them, and I suppose they deserved each other.

It wasn’t a bad book, but I was irritated with Martha’s seeming change in character once Josephine got her hooks into Jordan.  She came across too martyr like for a long time, and even Jordan just seemed to take the situation without flinching.  Thankfully things got sorted out, but I was not happy at the outcome for Josephine and Reese – and obviously neither character will be featured in the next book!