A heartbreaking event pushed Clara to retreat in her shell, only showing her efficiency to the world while Quincy left everything behind, nearly forgetting who he was to accomplish his and his father’s dream. What a terrible set of circumstances! Our poor Woodville sister, Millie, has miscounted the doors in the corridor and ends up inside the room of Tatum Chance, Duke of Romney, and views him taking his bath, in all his glory, I might add. As she hastily departs, she is caught by her family and a friend. These two don’t even like each other, but as Regency times would have it, this gentleman and miss will play by the rules and marry, much to their consternation. Two, and maybe this just comes down to my not really liking epilogues in general, but I didn’t love the epilogue of this story. I know these types of epilogues are typical in romance, but in this case it felt heavy-handed as it tied a neat bow on every conflict from the story but several years in the future. I felt giddy after finishing the final pre-epilogue chapter and would’ve preferred to imagine Clara and Quincy’s future together rather than having it spelled out so definitively. I’ll probably skip it when I reread this book in the future. But in the end, it didn’t lessen my love for this book!

In addition, Britton incorporated the fake engagement trope very well. The pacing is steady and the circumstances are believable with enough subplots and lovable side characters to keep things interesting while never straying too far from the central story. I loved that Quincy and Clara’s friendship was the foundation of their ruse, and it made watching them fall in love even sweeter. The setting on the Isle of Synne remained as magical as it was in the first book, so I’d highly recommend this story for anyone looking for a historical romance set outside of London. Following her heart had given her nothing but ruin and shame, and a secret heartache that haunted her to this day. Hilarious scene when are they are by Millie parents well let’s just say Tatum for the win! Millie should have known then he was unusual! Tatum told her the ugly truth about his mistress and not changing his ways!! But then Millie gets one of her bright ideas! There was also a lot of repetition about Tatum's situation in here, it was just beat to death that he didn't want to put his heart out there to be broken. Yeah, we got it.

Customer Reviews

I think this novel would have played out better if it was perhaps a tad bit longer with more time for the characters to actually get to know one another and build their love, it would have been a 5 star rating for sure, even with Millie being the way she was. By the time the confessions and declarations were made in this, it was far too late. But if there was more time spent after that on the relationship and their story, it would have made for a better well rounded story I feel. As it is, we only get to see their lust, not development. He frowned at her. “If I had wanted to mount you, I would have done it already, Millie,” he said, enjoying the kiss of heat that blossomed on her cheeks. Tatum has a hip injury and it really should be 4.5 stars still didn't figure out how it happened to him!?? Millie was not paying attention and was way too loud and mesmerized about seeing this fine man naked!! Clara is a complex heroine who has given up on her chance at happiness. She has sacrificed herself for her family, and built a fortress around her heart. She carries the burden of a deep and secret sorrow. She is well into spinsterhood- a maiden of 31. She is not an innocent debutante, and I was profoundly touched by her commitment, despair and resignation. I happened upon this offering from Christina Britton, a new-to-me author, and I went ahead and got the first book in the series. I know - most romances are written so you don’t necessarily have to read the whole series. But I like to. It gives me an idea of the setting and the characters and the tone that the author is going for. Especially when it’s an author I’m experiencing for the first time.

Quincy and Clara decide to fake their engagement, to stop Quincy's mother and Clara's aunt from interfering with their lives. Of course, their fake relationship grows to something more, even though both Quincy and Clara resist their attraction at first. Someday My Duke Will Come is not as steamy as The Duke and I, and I found some parts a little slow, but overall I enjoyed this Regency romance. She did not want to do anything with the earl, but nor did she want his flirtation to end. It was pleasant to be wanted, to be courted and not forced into something she did not want. Romney had not tried anything of the kind. With this tale of two wounded persons whose past pain led to alter the course of their life, the author offers us a poignant story of strength and resilience.Except his three older brothers have all died and he is now the Duke of Reigate - a title he never wanted and was never supposed to have. And the dukedom is in ruins because - surprise - his brothers were all utter shit at managing the estate. I have two minor criticisms of this book: one, although it definitely works as a standalone, many of its supporting characters who are important throughout the story were actually developed in book #1. If you haven’t read the first book in this series, it might be difficult to keep all of the side characters straight in book #2. This disappointed me as unfortunately I didn’t love the first book nearly as much as this one, mainly because of the hero (though as a side character he was much more tolerable in SMDWC). Again, you could read this book without having read book #1, but you won’t appreciate the supporting cast nearly as much. I still do recommend this novel to keep up with the series which as a whole has been very entertaining. Fantastic characters, main and secondary alike. You couldn’t help but want them to have their HEA even if you had no idea how that was going to happen. Well done Tamara Gill can’t wait for the next instalment.