Between the Duke and the Deep Blue Sea

I adore the writing of Sophia Nash, and I am so excited that she has created a new series, "The Royal Entourage"! "Between the Duke and the Deep Blue Sea" features a half-French and totally charming hero, Alex Barclay. When he rescues lovely and lively Roxanne Vanderhaven from a murder attempt by her own husband, his own life is turned topsy-turvy in a most delightful manner. Banished to the country by the Prince Regent after a fateful night of debauchery, Alex is ordered to restore his own familial home and find a suitable bride. He is beset by all manner of marriage-minded females, put upon by his own great aunt, and tempted by the intelligent and enticing Roxanne, whom he is sheltering in his home. Roxanne is hiding out from her show more heinous husband, watching and waiting as he goes about "mourning" her and even going through with her funeral, which she secretly attends. Roxanne and Alex have a fiery attraction, complete with verbal sparring, deep, delicious kisses, and an unexpected yearning for mutual happiness. Sophia Nash has a undeniable talent for creating marvelous historical romance, with involving characters and intriguing, immensely enjoyable story lines. I look forward with great relish to the further romantic adventures of "The Royal Entourage". Highly recommended!

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Alexander Barclay, the ninth Duke of Kress, has no recollection of what went on last night. After waking up with a splitting headache and coming to the conclusion that all the other Dukes he partied with the night before are in the same predicament that he is, he knows that nothing good must have happened the night before. When their night of debauchery is described in full detail in the paper, he comes to learn that not only has he lost his fortune in a bet that he doesn't even remember, but he has made Prinny very upset.

Now banished to the country, Prinny has ordered that Alex get two things accomplished, first restore his ancestral home/castle back to its former glory and secondly, that he find himself a bride. No easy feat since, show more firstly, he's broke and, secondly, he has no interest in settling down.

This was so fun!! Very refreshing and entertaining - full of moments that caused me to laugh out of loud... which is no easy task. I found Alex, Roxanne, Alex's great-aunt and all the other Dukes to be an uproariously funny bunch. The situations were fun, the characters were quirky and the dialogue was delightful. Ms. Nash's start to her "Royal Entourage" series is a hit. I've read that the movie "The Hangover" was an inspiration for this series and I can definitely appreciate a story line like that. I cannot wait to see what she has in store for the remaining Dukes. Sheer pleasure to read! show less

After a night of debauchery fueled by absinthe, the Royal Entourage is in trouble with the public and with the Prince Regent (even though he participated with them). Prinny is determined to punished, and since Alex, Duke of Kress, brought the drinks, he's the first one banished to Cornwall where he must find a wife. Arriving there, he finds Roxanne Vanderhaven, Countess of Paxton, hanging from a cliff (a la Thomas Hardy) and rescues her. Roxanne's husband left her there and assumes she fell to her death. She wants to find out why he wants to murder her, and Alex wants to find a way out of his current dilemma with the Prince Regent.
I read the second book of the series first by mistake, but it was fine though I'd recommend reading them show more in order. Roxanne and Alex are a fun couple, and their exploits make for fun reading. The secondary characters are also interesting though there's so many, it can be confusing. The plot was a bit loose in places, but mostly hung together and the story is so entertaining the small lapses don't matter. It's definitely a fun series, one I'll be following. show less

This was a little unexpected. Grittier than many of the historicals in this vein, with less virginity as central and more interaction as central. And enough hinting at the storylines of secondary characters, that one fully expects several a series. A very solid read!

This book is prefaced with an impressive list of acknowledgements, but it's not clear how these informants, editors, publishers, friends, et al. contributed to what reads like a first attempt at self-publishing.

The prologue describes the aftermath of a drunken debauch by 'Prinny', star of stage, screen and hundreds of Regency romances, and his gang of ducal sycophants. Sadly the reader is left as confused about the debauch as its participants. Worried that his latest excess will spark an uprising against the monarchy, Prinny attempts to deflect public disgust by imposing stiff penalties on his gang of dukes.

Alex, Duke of Kress (where did that name come from?) is held accountable for the debauch and is exiled to St Michael's Mount, his show more family seat in Cornwall, ordered to restore his crumbling castle, and find a suitable wife forthwith.

The story segues to Cornwall, where Alex just happens to be walking along a cliff path when the Earl of Paxton, the villain of the story, tries to rid himself of his wife by leading her over the edge of the cliff. Paxton decamps, leaving Roxanne clinging to the cliff face and her inevitable fate. Alex rescues Roxanne and agrees to hide her in his castle.

Despite the ludicrous improbabilities, we now have the foundation and framework for an enjoyable romantic romp. Alex and Roxanne seem made for each other, the villain plots to find hidden wealth and marry an airhead debutante, and Roxanne's fake death holds promise of interesting developments.

Alas, at this point a gaggle of dukes, sisters, cousins, relatives and other forgettable characters descends on St Michael's Mount and the story falls apart in confused complexity. Fortunately, most of these side characters are soon sent away, narrowing the cast to manageable proportions.

The stereotyped on-off relationship between Roxanne and Alex continues but is smothered with an over-the-top Perils of Pauline story of tin mine treasure and the loathsome Paxton's increasingly hysterical intrusions.

The narrative descends into the abyss of pantomime with the sudden appearance of Prinny himself in a Cornish courtroom.

Having lost control of narrative and characterisation, the author completes the grand slam by ruining the Regency dialogues and internal monologues with late 20th century idioms.

I didn't enjoy this book at all and will certainly not be reading further installments in the series, but amidst the wreckage of the story are glimpses of potential. show less

This is why I shouldn't read romances back to back, they run together. But it was cute. Probably should have read this one before I read the second, a rare series that really does help to read in order.

This book was light and fluffy. I personally read a lot of light romances, I'm not generally in the mood for angst, but this one was even lighter than most. I did enjoy the book, but I never really felt completely immersed in it. I may pick up the next in the series when I'm in the mood for this style of book.

On a sidenote to anyone looking to read this: there are a lot of side characters to keep track of.