JoRead

TO TAME A WILD LADY (Duke-Defying Daughters #2)

To me this was a story of reverse roles where the rogue doing the seducing was the lady and the temptation was the gentleman.
We met Caroline in the first installment of the series as the second daughter of the Duke of Sherrington. Although a lady of good breeding, she had no interest in securing a husband and even the prospect of marriage was the least of her concerns. He main concern had always been her horses and more recently to take part in a very important race where only gentlemen were allowed. When Adrian was hired as the new estate agent some of his ideas did not sit well with Caroline because they would affect her horses and because they would only complicate her very private plans to be included in the men-only race she so desperately wanted to be part of.

Caroline and Adrian could sound the typical enemies-to-lovers trope but that could not be farther from the truth. Adrian is one of the most honest, caring, hard-working, loving heroes I’ve read in a long time, thus he really never behaved as an enemy to her; on the contrary, he was always protective and considerate. Every time Caroline tried to sound petulant or gave voice against one of his plans he very patiently explained why he thought his plans would work or simply put her mind at ease with straightforward logic. In other words, he always treated her with respect. Even when feelings for each other were expressed he clearly explained his position could never let him aspire to more with her and that for both their sakes he could not let her love him.
I liked how they resolved their love issues and how they reached their HEA. Throughout the book Caroline sounded impetuous, sometimes childish, and way too improper for a lady of her times (blamed it on her father that was never near to keep an eye on his unmarried daughters but was always willing to tell them what to do if he so saw fit) however the fact that she was willing to give up her most valued possession in order to see Adrian happy redeemed her in my eyes. I liked the first one better but this one is still another good read IMHO.

*** I received this book from the author at no cost to me and I volunteered to read it; this is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.***