The Wayward Duke (Private Arrangements)
Katrina Kendrick
HE IS THE ICE-COLD DUKE Julian, the Duke of Hastings, is known for being aloof and utterly in control. For nine years, he's kept his distance from the only woman who ever cracked his icy exterior, burying himself in work as a top-secret government code-breaker. But when his latest assignment ensnares him in a lethal aristocratic plot, Julian has no choice but to enlist the help of his estranged wife. SHE IS THE PRIM DUCHESS To all of society, Caroline Hastings is the perfect duchess. For years she's masked her pain over her husband's abandonment behind a poised facade. But when Julian unexpectedly returns and sweeps them into a dangerous, covert mission, Caroline discovers her frozen duke isn't quite so indifferent in the bedroom after all. Now, locked in a dangerous chase through London's glittering ballrooms and dark back alleys, Julian and Caroline must catch a killer-before he catches them first.
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0The highlight of this book for me was definitely Kendrick's way with words. She writes excellent dialogue, witty and sexy, and I enjoyed the banter between Caroline and Julian. I especially enjoyed the scenes of them codebreaking together, and Julian's dirty letters written in code.
There were a couple things that didn't quite do it for me, though. The sex scenes were incredibly hot, and Kendrick does a great job of showing us how these characters still care for each other in intimate, non-sexual moments t00. But I'm a glutton for paragraphs of internal angst, and I wanted some more raw emotion. I liked the scenes with Gracie, but I wanted to know more about Julian's past with her through his eyes. Why did he feel so compelled to spend months tracking down her family in America instead of staying to help Caroline (with whom he was clearly besotted) work through her grief? And was he not writing letters back to her? I wanted Caroline to ask those questions! Gracie seemed very flat to me, and a more fleshed-out character would have helped me better understand the rift between Caroline and Julian. I also thought the plot structure was a little haywire, and I wish that the action in the terrorism plot had better mirrored the action in the romantic plot. And perhaps the emotional stakes just weren't high enough in the romantic plot. Kendrick is clearly talented, which is why I kept pushing even when I was trying to think of ways the plot could have been better structured.
Overall--really glad I read this book! I'm going to check out some of Kendrick's other work, and I'll be watching her in the future. She has a unique voice and boatloads of writing talent and creativity. I think she's only going to get better.
Thanks NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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