A Most Unusual Duke
by Susanna Allen
Publication Date: 12/28/2021
Bridgerton meets New Moon in this sparkling shapeshifter Regency romance mixed with humor, steamy chemistry, and fantasy.
The Duke said he’d never get married…
The Prince Regent insists his cousin and fellow bear shifter Arthur Humphries, the Duke of Osborn, take a mate to ensure the continuation of their species. After all, Arthur is an Alpha, so he must set a good example. The duke would very much prefer to continue his comfortable bachelor lifestyle, but the Prince Regent is not a bear to be poked.
Beatrice, the widowed Marchioness of Castleton, is in possession of a powerful secret. She knows all about Shifters, her horrible late husband being one of them. At any moment, Beatrice could reveal the secrets of the Prince and those like him—unless the Prince can make sure she marries another Shifter.
A marriage between the Duke of Osborn and Beatrice is far from ideal for either one, but at least they won’t fall in love…right?
Susanna Allen is a graduate of Pratt Institute with a BFA in Communication Design and counts The Village Voice, New York Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly as past design experiences. Born in New Jersey, she moved to Ireland for twelve months — in 1998. She is the author of Drama Queen and The Fidelity Project, both published by Headline UK, and That Magic Mischief, via Crimson Romance. Susan is living her life by the three Rs: reading, writing, and horseback riding, and can generally be found on her sofa with her e-reader; gazing out a window and thinking about made-up people, or cantering around in circles. She loves every minute of it!
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After a hard days work beginning to set her new home to rights, Beatrice's bath attendant is the last person she'd expect...
Beatrice counted her first day at Arcadia as one of excellent progress.
She had a good understanding of the amount of work needed to restore the house (prodigious), was now aware it had been allowed to disintegrate (a mystery), and better comprehended the resistance she was likely to encounter (colossal).
Descriptives applicable to Osborn.
As well as irascible and sardonic and stubborn. If she attempted to lift anything, he was there to do so in her stead; when she reached out to open a door or a window, he shunted her aside to see to it himself. What little furniture they came across was inspected for fitness, and broken objects were set aside as they made their way from room by room.
Osborn balked on the threshold of the largest receiving room, and when she did not exhort him to follow or inquire as to why he hesitated, he took a breath and ventured forward. It cost him, and Beatrice honored his fortitude by being as brisk and snappish as she could manage. He, in turn, was obstreperous and sarcastic. She tested the bell pull, and it came straight down from the ceiling with the requisite cloud of dust. She stumbled back into his chest; he turned her around and stroked the dust off her face, which produced an odd stirring beneath her petticoats, to a disturbing enough degree she dropped the velvet rope and left the room.
So, perhaps not the worst husband she may have found herself forced to marry. Whatever her lack of control that led to being bullied and blackmailed into this situation, she need not act as if she had no say going forward. Good may be wrought from the situation at the end of the day.
There was good to be wrought from her accommodation on the ground floor: it meant a proper bath could be brought in and filled without Glynis or Ciara having to exert themselves too terribly. Morag had promised a bucket line of sorts, and even though the water would not arrive at its hottest, she anticipated the pleasure of fully immersing herself after the busy, begrimed day. The door opened without so much as a knock, and she assumed it was the housekeeper.
“Morag, a closed-door requires a warning before—” Beatrice came around the screen in her dressing gown and gasped.
Osborn strolled in carrying two enormous containers akin to rain barrels. One was clutched in his fist with as much ease as if it was a handkerchief, and the other he held balanced on his shoulder. He poured the contents of the latter—lovely, steaming-hot water—into the copper tub.
“Why did Mr. Todd not see to this?” This was not a task to be laid at ducal feet, no matter how she teased him about his lily-white hands.
Osborn gave her a brooding look she could not decipher but that inspired the rustle in her petticoats again. “This is a job that requires fewer brains,” he replied as he emptied the second, “and greater brawn.”
He threw back his shoulders, and the muscles of his upper arms…twitched? Parts of his, his chest also lifted and lowered, and she could not look away.
Nor did his departure encourage her to avert her gaze. It was not ladylike to gawk at a man’s bottom, not even one belonging to one’s husband, even should he be in name only. However, it was indisputable that there was no comparison to be made between the backside of Castleton and that of Osborn.
Glynis and Ciara scampered in after him with a bucket of water each and an inability to contain their giggles. Out their water poured, with Ciara adding a few drops of oil from a bottle, and they toddled away. Twin shrieks of laughter erupted as Morag came in with soap and an armful of clothes, a duty that, contrary to her usual style, was executed without comment.
Beatrice stood like a statue in between the bed and the tub and could not bring herself to fuss with the linens. He’d know she’d need them after she had been in the water without her clothes and oh no! Would he be required to fetch the tub after she was done? She would empty the bathwater out the window, one teacup at a time, rather than have him return when she was clean and sleepy and smelling sweet.
The oil was jasmine, and its feminine, heady scent filled the room; she sniffed at the cake of minty freshness sitting in a dish on the lip of the tub. Both were fragrant and delicate, in sharp contrast to her old soap, which like the spare bottles of oil had not accompanied the removal to Arcadia. It was time, likely past time to set aside the use of both. She would ask Todd where they had got to but would make no great effort to replicate them.
Osborn returned without his coat and waistcoat and with two more barrels. The heat rose off the water, fingers of steam wrapping around his arm as he poured out one, then the other, the fine lawn of his shirt clinging to his shoulders. He flipped away that thick lock of hair, the one forever falling across his brow. Though he seemed no worse for his exertion, his skin gleamed in the combination of hearth and candlelight, his shadow casting long and large against the glass cases.
“Madam. Your bath awaits.” The resonance of his voice sent chills over her skin, and she suddenly felt rather faint. She expected it was a result of the physical work of the day and the resultant fatigue. And the heat of the water. And the fire.
“Should you choose to give up dukery, you make a fit chambermaid.” Good Lord, what was she saying?
“I am not, as you may have discerned, adept at dukery.” He seemed amused. Lifting the barrels with much rippling of muscle, he gave her a sarcastic leg to match her defiant style of curtsying. “The water will be seen to in the morning. I bid you goodnight.”
This book had many tropes I enjoy, a marriage of convenience and an alpha shifter. But unlike the couple from the first book, these two are being forced into a marriage neither really wants. So their initial interactions are very stiff and formal and it really left me wondering when these two would fall in love. Thankfully when they do, the characters begin to feel lighter.
I also really like Arthur's brother and his family. When Arthur or Beatrice spent time with the children it showed the other a softer side.
I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
The prince regent has ordered Arthur, the Duke of Osborn to marry. There are several reasons, the first is to take a mate and take his rightful place as Alpha of his father's former sleuth.
Beatrice is the widowed Marchioness of Castleton. and because she knows all about shifters, the Prince finds her to be the best option for Arthur.
Even though this is not what either wanted, they try to make the best of it and be a marriage in name only. But the more time they spend together, the more they find themselves drawn to one another.
Thanks so much to the author, Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for this ARC to review.
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