Lady Isolde Worthingham is having a pretty bad time. If she didn't have bad luck show wouldn't have any luck at all. The night before her wedding she finds her best friend in her fiancee's bed. The "friend", Leonora, threatens to blackmail Isolde's family if the Duke doesn't marry her instead. To add insult to injury, she insists that Isolde and her family remain to watch the wedding.

Isolde hides away in Scotland for 5 years but decides it's finally time to return to London to find a husband. Who's one of the first people she sees - of course, her former fiancee Merrick, Duke of Moore. He's out in Hyde Park giving his young son a riding lesson. Meeting the Duke and Duchess of Moore at various ton events, the Duchess never passes up an opportunity to rub in what she has done.

Isolde is courted by Moore's friend Wardoor until she finally gives in and agrees to marry him. She knows he won't be faithful but she wants children. After their engagement is announced, he begins ignoring her and she thinks something is wrong. With only a few weeks to go before the wedding she begins to worry but it would be scandalous if she broke off a second engagement. With the Duchess pregnant (not with her husband's baby) things grow worse.

This is a great read - you can't help but feel sorry for Isolde and wonder if she will ever get her Happily Ever After. You feels sorry for Moore for being trapped in a loveless marriage but wonder if part of it is his own doing. This book is full of characters you'll love or hate but you won't feel indifferent. ( )

ARC Review: Only A Duke Will Do (To Marry A Rogue) by Tamara Gill

With a flair for the dramatic and the heart of a dreamer, it's no wonder Tamara Gill writes romance. Her attention to imagery and the tempo of her delivery are all on full display in Only A Duke Will Do. Her vision speaks to the romantic deep within believers in love and happily ever after. Merrick and Isolde were a dream interrupted by heartbreak, but the chance to begin again was always in the cards for them. The heart will not be denied and Tamara Gill has been blessed with a haunting gift of classic proportions. ( )

Good Read

I like the book. It's a story of lies, hurts, betrayal and how true love prevails. I recommend this book. ( )

Publisher's Description:
Without a Season, Lady Isolde Worthingham captured the Duke of Moore’s heart at a country dance. But on the eve of her wedding, a scandal that rocked the ton and sent her fleeing to Scotland alone and unwed, leaves her perfectly planned future in a tangle of disgrace and heartbreak.

Merrick Mountshaw, the Duke of Moore loathes the pitiful existence he hides from the ton. With a scandalous wife he never wanted, who flaunts her many indiscretions, life is a never-ending parade of hell. When the one woman he loved and lost returns to London, he knows he can no longer live without her.

But vows and past hurts are not easily forgotten. Love may not win against the ton when a too proper Lord and Lady play by the rules.

My Thoughts:

This is a mostly sad tale of betrayal and love lost then rediscovered.
What's a lady to do when her long time best friend betrays her in order to steal the man she was about to marry just before the wedding.
Leave town and the country in disgrace, that's what. Now five years later Isolde has returned home. Her former betrothed is married to the woman who betrayed her.
This convoluted story is heartbreaking at times. Will Isolde and Merrick get their chance together again and their Happily Ever After?
I gave this sad tale 4.25 of 5 stars for storyline and character development and a sensual rating of 3.5 of 5 flames.
I received a complimentary digital ARC of this book from the publisher to read and review. This in no way affected my opinion of this title. ( )

Regency Melodrama

The scenes set. It's the night before the big day when finally Lady Isolde Worthingham is going to say 'I do' and marry the man who holds her heart, Merrick Mountshaw, the Duke of Moore. But when Isolde witnesses her fiancé in bed with her so called best friend her heart breaks into a thousand pieces. And her best friend--nothing less than a scheming cat who goes to scandalous lengths to bag a Duke!
The marriage between Merrick and Leonora Hart is doomed to failure from the beginning.
Isolde hives off to Scotland for five years to try to mend her broken heart. After that time she is at last was persuaded to return to London. Because society is society, Isolde finds herself back in the arena of all that is fashionable--including Moore and his Duchess.
Lenora is even worse than when we last saw her, glittering, highly strung, barbed and dangerous. Merrick still calls to Isolde. But enough! Isolde has decided to find a husband and start a family. Love need not be a factor.
The man she chooses however is pursued by his own devils, and it's seems that unknowingly Lenora is heading into a marriage that will be far less far than the contract she envisages and nowhere near the polite union she's hoping for. Isolde's heart will not be involved but she hopes for at least a civil scandal free union, despite the draw that Merrick still is.
A reasonably enjoyable romantic farce with an eye opening prelude and three interesting acts.

A NetGalley ARC ( )