#Review: IT HAD TO BE THE DUKE by Vivienne Lorret

 

 4 of 5 stars

This was a very enjoyable enemies-to-lovers story. Magnus and Verity each had their own burdens to bear--Magnus and his sense of duty to family and Verity, who was the sensible fixer in her rather outlandish family. The whole story starts with one little white lie--Verity was being bullied by her nemesis, Nell, and she suddenly blurts out she's engaged to the Duke of Longhurst just to shut her up. That started a series of unfortunate encounters with a very angry duke who had been courting an heiress to save his family from ruin.

There was some lively banter between Magnus and Verity with a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, although Verity did suffer from panic attacks being in closed spaces. It rounded out her character nicely that she just wasn't perfect. I liked that although it took most of the book for her to realize that she wasn't the ugly duckling, she always believed herself to be. Magnus was always striving to be perfect and do the right thing for his family, but you can't always control everything. I loved that he learned a little bit of chaos, and looking after one's own interests once in a while was a good thing. There were a couple of good twists and turns in the story before Magnus and Verity got their own happily ever after. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

I voluntarily read the advanced reader copy, and all opinions are my own.