Suzanne Enoch

Every Duke Has His Day by Suzanne Enoch
Historical romance.
Michael Blumley is he Duke of Loriton. He spends his time on science rather than society frivolities. He agrees to care for his aunt’s black poodle Lancelot, while she’s away visiting his friend, as long as he agrees to take the dog on walks. With his mind on electricity and his hydrogen experiments, the first walk with the dog ended up with him and his dog in a pond.
Elizabeth “Bitsy” Dockering is enjoying her second Season in London. Her black poodle Galahad goes with her on most social outings but he’s not quite as friendly and ends up getting kidnapped just so one man could get closer to Bitsy. Except Galahad and Lancelot had been switched in the pond incident causing chaos all around.

Enjoyable with some amusing incidents between Michale and Bitsy as well as with secondary kidnapper Jimmy Bly as he cares for the two poodles. Michael turns out to be quite the hero as he’s able to draw more out of Bitsy than social nonsense.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher.… (more)

You had me at the reference to Bringing Up Baby. Well, you actually had me when I learned that the fabulous, fantastic, funny Suzanne Enoch was the author. With Every Duke Has His Day she continues her unbroken successful string of books that make me laugh and swoon and just love them so much I can’t stop turning pages but also don’t want to leave these endearing characters at the story’s end.

Science-minded Michael Bromley, the Duke of Woriton, might seem a little odd and boring on the surface, but we – and Elizabeth “Bitsy” Dockering, third daughter of a viscount very much enjoying her second Season in London – soon find out that is not the case. Not the case at all. But the dogs Lancelot and Galahad (great names, by the way) are the real stars of the story. Michael is nonchalant about watching Lancelot while his aunt is away. He’s a scientist for heaven’s sake. How hard can taking care of a dog be? Galahad is sweet, loving and absolutely adorable. Well, to Bitsy – and ONLY to Bitsy. When Bitsy’s dastardly suitor hatches a plan to kidnap Galahad we’re off and running, with a slapstick plot that is indeed reminiscent of Bringing Up Baby via Jane Austen, involving opposites that aren’t all that opposite after all, some humor, some heat, and a delightful romp to a delightful HEA.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy of Every Duke Has His Day via NetGalley for my reading pleasure and honest opinion. Pleasure is an understatement; I loved this book and can’t wait to see what Enoch comes up with next. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.… (more)

I smiled the entire length of this book even though there was some serious dog-napping going on. From the moment the two lead characters graced the page, I knew I was going to love them – and I did. When you have a brilliant, but perhaps absent-minded (distracted) Duke and the season’s diamond together on an adventure – well, that is just what you get – an adventure.

Michael Bromley, the Duke of Woriton, does not care in the least about the ton or society in general. He knows they think he is eccentric and perhaps a tad mad, but he just doesn’t care. He doesn’t have time for all the gadding about, gossiping, and talking all around a subject but never directly saying anything. Not him. He says exactly what he means and he says it plainly. He’s not rude, his mind is just always filled with scientific calculations and inventions so it never occurs to him to engage in small talk. He’d just rather stay in his home laboratory inventing things that help mankind. That is what he should have been doing instead of walking his aunt’s black poodle in the park. But he dotes on his aunt and she has left her precious dog with him for six weeks while she pays a visit to a friend. Everything was progressing swimmingly until another black poodle came barreling into him and Lancelot – and he ended up in the Serpentine. OOPS!

Elizabeth (Bitsy) Dockering was a Diamond of the Season during her first season and she’s still a Diamond in her second season. She is bright, friendly, and beloved by all. Everyone loves her – and she loves her beloved black poodle, Galahad. Yes, Galahad is a holy terror to everyone but her, but she couldn’t imagine life without him. However, bad boy Galahad has just barreled into a duke and knocked him into the water. OOPS!

Unfortunately (or is it fortunately), the dogs get mixed up and before they can be exchanged, Lancelot is dog-napped from Bitsy’s home – then Galahad is also stolen from Bitsy’s home. What? Now, Bitsy and Michael must work together to rescue the dogs before the kidnapper does away with them.

You will absolutely love the way Michael goes about hunting down the dog-nappers. It doesn’t even occur to him not to include Bitsy on the quest and they are off on a rare adventure. From Mayfair to the Rookeries, they hunt high and low for the dog nappers and the dogs – and along the way, they find they might just have something in common other than black poodles.

This was a delightfully fun and entertaining read. I absolutely adored Michael and Bitsy and the supporting characters. I think this book had a little bit of everything – disgruntled suitors, grand balls, kidnappers, circus performers, a very eccentric duke, and a diamond of the season. I know you are thinking of reading this book because you love romance – right? Well, you actually sorta/kinda end up with three romances. So, how about that?

Happy Reading!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.… (more)