Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro's Reviews > His Grace, The Duke

~ Mild spoilers for the relationship dynamic, not the plot ~

This was a seamless continuation of Book 1 and best read closely after that one. Together they would have been very long, but they feel very much like one book.

The relationship between Rosalie and "her" three men - uptight viscount James, bastard son Burke and naval officer Tom - does a lot of evolving in this second instalment.

In fact, one of my gripes in book 1 was that I didn't really buy the dynamic here. Why were these Regency Era men (okay, mostly Burke and Tom and not James) so unfazed by the idea of sharing one woman? Especially one that is absolutely adamant that she will not get married.

Since the three men were very close, it just made sense to me that something was going on there that went beyond friednship. But book 1 had very little to indicate anything like that. No longing glances, no hints in the guys' POV. The strongest moment for me was Burke and James grappling, with James demanding that Burke call him 'Master' and yield. But that scene went nowhere otherwise, so I just dropped the subject initially.

So when Tom did a 180 in Book 2 and dropped the bomb that not only did he have some wild years in his past, he also held a big torch for Burke - it was a huge surprise for me. Not because it didn't make perfect sense, because it did. But how could Tom's POV in book 1 and even 2 be so utterly devoid of that yearning and unrequited love?

I understand that James and Burke - normative heterosexual men of their time - would be in deep denial and just not notice the attraction that they were feeling. But worldly Tom who tried everything? That just doesn't make much sense and I feel I missed out on some of the necessary set-up.

Despite the fact that in book 2, these relationships developed beautifully and organically, I would have been happier if we had seen at least some queerness in book 1, at least covertly. Rosalie got all the lusting after there for herself, but that is not the dynamic that we end up with in book 2.

Other than the kneejerk-bisexuality, I was very happy with this series. I will ddefinitely check out more works by this author.