Review: The Duke Starts a Scandal (The Duke Hunt, #4) by Sophie Jordan

                                       

Print Length: 339 pages

Publisher: Avon (October 24, 2023)

From Goodreads.com: Lucian, the newly minted Duke of Penning, has much to prove-- to himself, his family and the ton. Craving spotless respectability, he must find an aristocratic wife. Unfortunately, he can't keep his eyes--and thoughts--off his deliciously distracting housekeeper. Such a dalliance can only mar the facade he's constructed to protect his sisters' future from the demons of his past...but this fiery passion is a temptation he cannot resist. While Susanna may not the bride he needs, she is everything he desires.

A woman with a past.

As the housekeeper to one of the grandest estates in England, Susanna Lockhart has worked determinedly to become all that is proper and efficient, and she never steps over the line. Romance is an indulgence for the upper class, not for her--and most especially not with her employer. But every smoldering glance from the surly, handsome duke calls to the long-buried reckless wanton inside Susanna. A love between them can never be, but will Lucian and Susanna risk being together...

Even if it starts a scandal...

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My Rating: 1 star out of 5

I spent the entirety of this novel wondering when the true "scandal" would come. I mean for crying out loud there was the potential for one on three different fronts. His past. Her past. Or the fact that a Duke married his Housekeeper. And yet there was ..... nothing. Everything seemed to be either glossed over, or overlooked altogether. And considering how much of this book was spent TELLING the reader every little detail... it was disappointing to say the least. 

Sadly, this book was a lot of telling. A lot of inner monologues which I would usually say would have been better served as the main characters speaking to each other instead of thinking it, but in this case it was so lustful and repetitive that I feel the book still would have been the same. I never got a feeling that Susanna and Lucian actually liked one another. Hell, almost every time they interacted with one another they were arguing. But apparently that was enough for them.

And considering Susanna "fell in love" much more quickly, I would have expected there to be more feeling to her thoughts when she was called upon to chaperone Lucian and one of his perspective brides. Instead, there was more of the bland writing I had come to expect. 

All in all, there was a lot of missed potential for this book to be better than it was. But I would give this author another chance in the future.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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                                       The Duke Starts a Scandal is available on Amazon.com