Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right (Impossible Bachelors 2) by Kieran Kramer

Hello to all,

   Before i go back to rest , i wanted to introduce you to another historical romance that i loved. So to be extremely short, here is my review of Dukes to the Left of Me,Princes to the Right written by Kieran Kramer

Happy reading!

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks

Publication: 2010

ISBN:  031237402X

Genre: historical romance
Violence: none
Language: normal
sex: mild
Public: 18+

Source: won

Short description from goodread :

Most women would not be pleased to be labeled a spinster. But Lady Poppy Smith-Barnes isn’t most women. In fact, Poppy has invented an imaginary fiancé, the Duke of Drummond, to deter unwanted suitors. A very useful fellow, this duke, until the real Drummond turns up and uses Poppy’s ploy to trap her in a betrothal.
A good spy flies below the radar. Which is why being named one of the Prince Regent’s “Impossible Bachelors” is so inconvenient for Nicholas Staunton. Every society female will be out to ensnare him. Nicholas needs a fiancée—and Poppy’s ruse is the answer. How could he have known she’d be a brazen, sensual siren with an irresistible taste for adventure? Now nothing less will do than to convince his fiery Poppy to revoke her spinster status…for good.

My opinion:

          Lovely! I spend an excellent time with this book. Kieran Kramer did a wonderful job, she perfectly balanced adventure, action and romance so well that you are immersed in both and I can’t ell you which part I preferred.

This excellent book managed to catch my interest fully while I was starting to want to throw away any more historical romance (a bit like an overdose at the moment I needed something really good or different and this book did it)

The characters are funny and moving. I loved how Nicholas was maturing during the book, how he started to understand really what responsibilities are and how he is discovering what he really wants. Poppy is genial too, she believes in love and wants to settle for nothing less. It requires a lot of courage and persistence. She is really intelligent and fights for her dreams. However she isn’t without a doubt either and she is capable to rethink her beliefs. When she discovers that her first love was more a product of her memories and imagination than the real man she doesn’t try to change him. She accepts the truth and moves on. It’s easy to say that we want to marry for love but first we have to discover what love is. Kieran managed to perfectly show theses hesitations and developments, we can enjoy the evolution of the main two characters as well as they relationship. A strong heroine who knows what she wants, that’s a great change from damsel in distress.

The plot is well constructed; there are revelations during the entire book so the readers keep being surprised. We don’t have time to be annoyed.

The secondary characters are also important and not just put in the story without reason. Beatrice, Eleanor, and Charlotte support Poppy all along the way, they help her to make some introspection and to keep strong. Nicholas also has his supporters even if they enter later in the story they act exactly in the same way than the girls for Poppy (even if they are just a bit less active). The villains are perfect for their roles too^^ we dislike them so easily (but with reasons!)

I really enjoyed this book which made me laugh and nearly cry sometimes, I really don’t regret it and I want to see more of Kieran’s books.

To recommend without a doubt, if you want a heroine with energy and not just a damsel in distress it’s the perfect book for you.

Score:  4,5/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

Challenges:

This book enter in the Romance and Me Challenge



Book read for the 2012 TBR reading