I’m writing this review without actually finishing the book. I know, it’s unorthodox, but stick with me here. Thanks to the lovely reviews of Courtney Milan’s Brothers Sinister series I have decided to make these books my summer/fall romance reads. Based solely on the reviews I purchased all of the available books and novellas for my Nook and have been sliding these books in amongst my other reading. The Duchess War is the first full novel, second story, in the series and I am in love with it.
There’s a lot to love about these books. Courtney Milan’s style is infectious, her word choice is crisp, her grasp of humor, and how to deploy it, are top notch. Then there are the characters. I love a well written, complex, but not unknowable character. I love them. I think it’s why time and again I am drawn back into the land of Romance novels. The stories are often dictated by known tropes, but the really good ones have some of the richest characterizations you’ll find in fewer than 300 pages. And then there’s the lovely times where your expectations of tropes are turned on their head and you have what makes a truly wonderful story.
In the case of The Duchess War the trope that is turned upside down is that our male lead, Robert, portrays many of the uncertainties one would expect from the female lead. Not that Minnie doesn’t have her own tale of woe, she does. She’s had to change her name to escape a disastrous past that is beyond the simple ‘ruined woman’ trope. But it’s Robert who is afraid of love, afraid of wanting it, and afraid of having it taken away. And that primal fear in him, placed there by battling parents who treated him like a chess piece and not a son, is what truly moves the course of the novel, not the will they or won’t they, and certainly not the question of whether Minnie’s true identity will be revealed, and if it is, how much of her life will be ruined.
And let’s not forget to mention that it’s steamy, wonderfully steamy without being time period inappropriate. And we have not one but two historical protagonists masturbating in the same book. I may be reading the wrong things, but I have never come across that before, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. And when our leads get together, that ain’t bad either. Through that in with socially aware protagonists worried about people’s rights and some lovely supporting characters who are going to be a hoot along the way (looking at you, Sebastian) and this is a thoroughly well rounded novel.
I promise not to post this review until I have actually read those last chapters. But, I can happily recommend this book to you without knowing how we get to the ending, or what the ending looks like. This book is that well written. (4.5 stars)
Your heart just breaks for Robert, doesn’t it? I never thought of it in terms of a role/trope reversal, but I should have what with it being Courtney Milan.
While I was reading I kept thinking (and eventually posted on Goodreads) that Robert felt more like the main character than Minnie. Once that thought was in my head, I was on the lookout. I’ve also been tipped off by you lovely ladies that with Milan, there is more than what you see on the surface.
I also love The Duchess War and agree with everything you wrote.
Thanks!
Oh God, the bit where Robert tells Minnie the “amusing” story from his childhood, it’s devastating. Glad you liked the book, most of the rest of the series is even better.
Oh, it was awful. I think the one that was actually worse for me was when he’s recounting meeting Oliver’s mom for the first time and so desperately wishing to be part of that family and to have it so swiftly pulled away, given what we know of what he was facing with his own parents. Devastating. I’m looking forward to the rest!