The shy duchess - 4
To kiss a count - 4.5 ( )

This book is really a very solid 3.5 to 3.75 - It doesn't quite get to 4 territory. It is nice that the premise is of a shy lady, but somehow it doesn't ever get over being self conscious as a book. The sex is written well, but still somewhat odd, not really sexy, but fairly well done. It would have improved by having the sex and touching be a smidge more erotic. ( )

A nice story not too heavy but very well written ( )

A gentle, sweet romance. Our heroine (Emily) is the daughter of an Earl, but is shy and often oppressed by the weight of her family's or society's expectations. The hero (Nicholas) is a duke and Emily's family had been hoping to make a match between them.

This book evidently follows on from The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor (anthology), which I have not read. The story takes place in the Season that follows the events of The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor.

I found the gradual process of the Nicholas and Emily beginning to trust each other to be heart-warming. They started out not from a place of dramatic lies and misgivings, but with a distance chiefly caused by Emily's shyness (this appeared as coldness to many observers), which was made worse knowing that her impoverished family wanted her to marry this wealthy peer. The peer in question did not intend to marry, or to get emotionally close to a woman either.

A few times I was pulled out of the narrative by overly-modern phrasing or vocabulary, but I enjoyed the story enough that I won't let it colour my whole review. ( )