Review: Follow my lead - Kate Noble

Series: Blue Raven 3
Genre: Historical romance
Pages: 355
Published: May 2011

Jason Cummings, Duke of Rayne is feeling the weight of his responsibilities - one of which is to get married.  Being the most sought after bachelor in London can be trying,  so who can blame him if he seeks refuge from the voracious hordes of young debutantes at the decidedly female-free Historical Society?  Female-free, that is, until Winnifred Crane marches up to the door, demanding entrance. Despite her prowess as a historian, Winn is denied membership the Society.  So she daringly offers an unusual bargain: if she can prove the authenticity of a certain painting, she'll be granted recognition, fame, and respect.  But to do that, she must go abroad. And to go abroad, she must have an escort, even a stubbornly unwilling one.. Jason has no desire to accompany Winn on her adventure across Europe, but even he is not immune to Winn's passion for her profession. As the journey proves more difficult than planned, they must work together to stay one step ahead of their rivals.... and the closer they get to the proof Winn seeks, the closer she and Jason become.  

My thoughts:

I actually missed that this was a series, so it's a perfect stand alone novel. The other two books are about Jason's sister and her sister in law. I sure want to read those books too.

In this book Jason (our dashing hero) thinks it's time to get married. I did like that it was he who wanted it because he thought it was time. Of course he was not ready for the horrible horde: débutantes. He does meet one normal woman named Sarah, poor Sarah. We all know she will not get a HEA in this one and I did feel sorry for her. But then why would she want to marry someone who is in love with someone else. Still I was happy to learn that she will get the next book. Back to Jason, I almost feel sorry for him too. He runs after Winnifred because he thinks she is in trouble. And then he most follow her all over Europe. I said almost sorry because I was just so amused to see him follow her lead. He was a strong character who did not want to leave her alone in the middle of no where. Right, Win then, well she wanted freedom and she wanted people to know she had a brain. She was smart but also a bit stupid because she did not realize that freedom does not mean you have to be alone. What we have in the end is a duke who wants to marry a perfect nice woman and a woman who is anything but that.

The book was so utterly charming. I kept on smiling. They get in a lot of trouble and situations and their bantering is so amusing. This is how I want my historical romance. Funny and sweet. Also they do get a bit passionate but that was after they knew each other, and had started to fall in love even if they denied it. I  still smile when I think of this book.

Conclusion:

A great book to read this summer. An adventure in search of clues, and a couple so amusing you have to love them. I will definitely read more books by Kate Noble. Her backlist is already on my wishlist. 

Rating:

I recommend this book

Cover:

I want to see her eyes and her grasp of the skirt is in a strange place.


And a link to the trailer since I was told by a certain msbookjunkie that the trailer made her want the book

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My flash fiction entry