Title: More Than a Mistress (Dudley #1)

Author: Mary Balogh

Publisher: Dell 2000

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages:403

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Read My Own Damn Books; Women Authors

She races onto the green, desperate to stop a duel. In the melée, Jocelyn Dudley, Duke of Tresham, is shot. To his astonishment, Tresham finds himself hiring the servant as his nurse. Jane Ingleby is far too bold for her own good. Her blue eyes are the sort a man could drown in—were it not for her impudence. She questions his every move, breaches his secrets, touches his soul. When he offers to set her up in his London town house, love is the last thing on his mind.

Jane tries to pretend it’s strictly business, an arrangement she’s been forced to accept in order to conceal a dangerous secret. Surely there is nothing more perilous than being the lover of such a man. Yet as she gets past his devilish façade and sees the noble heart within, she knows the greatest jeopardy of all, a passion that drives her to risk everything on one perfect month with the improper gentleman who thinks that love is for fools.

Time to dive back into some fluffy romance. I picked up this book because I have all three books sitting in my TBR pile. I almost always read romance series books back-to-back. So on to the book itself. I was a bit turned off by the Duke at the beginning of the story, but he definitely grew on me. The best parts were the conversations between the Duke and Jane in the den. I loved those moments. The only thing I really didn't like was the ending. I hate super abrupt endings and this book has one of those. Oh well, I can ignore the last three pages. I enjoyed the rest of the book. On to the second in the series...

Mistress (Dudley)

• #1 More Than a Mistress
• #2 No Man's Mistress
• #3 The Secret Mistress