The Duchess and the Hunt

If so, please tell us your thoughts in the comments below! Before she became a full-time writer she held various jobs from bookselling to teaching inner-city children to playing bit roles in soap operas. You can find Jennifer in Southern California trying to talk her husband into yet another trip to England, helping her three children with homework while brainstorming a new five-minute dinner menu, or crouched in a corner of the local bookstore writing her next novel. Website Blog Twitter Facebook Goodreads. At least the author had the good sight to name the heroine Sarah and not Sally!

That would have ripped it right there! But, you made this book sound good and one I would enjoy reading.

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Hello again Jennifer and Vicky! Have a good day today. I forgot to answer your direct question again! Well, I like it when he is respectful of women and especially the heroine, that he listens to her, that he is considerate of her wishes, but that he does not allow her to tromp all over him and take advantage of him. I would agree that it seems far-fetched for the duke to marry a maid.

They each have very distinct personalities and I cannot wait to read their stories. The Duchess Hunt included a short except for the next book in the series, The Rogue's Proposal, which follows the surliest Trent, Luke, as he searches for his mother. The excerpt is very promising and I have added it to my TBR list. If you like historical romances with emotional punch and great characters, don't hesitate to pick up The Duchess Hunt. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book. Nov 21, Ivy H rated it really liked it Shelves: I loved this novel!

It was a beautiful tale of a handsome sexy duke who falls in love with his maid. It was so sad to see the heroine always on the sidelines and feeling insecure because she doesn't belong to the Ton.

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The OW is a super annoying bitch, who is nasty and spoilt. The hero's absent mother is part of the mystery plot and I suppose her story will be developed further in the second novel that deals with the hero's brother. I can't say I cared much for the hero's absent mother or his br I loved this novel! I can't say I cared much for the hero's absent mother or his brother so I won't be reading any more novels in this series. I am just happy that the H and h got their well deserved HEA. I don't give a flying F about whatever happens to his dumbass mother in the next novel.

Jul 24, Callixta rated it really liked it. Nice story, a very goo idea but its a bit simple and easy between the heroes. Not very passionate and the love each other from the very beginning. Plus ou moins inquiets ses enfants vont se rassembler pour la chercher. Et il y en aura beaucoup. Sarah and Simon are both genuinely likeable characters, both torn by the difference in their social status and what it will mean to the others in their family.

Perhaps it's more fair to say Sarah is more torn than Simon. Isn't that always the way? Woman pay a much higher price than men for social transgressions?

The Duchess Hunt (House of Trent, book 1) by Jennifer Haymore

I just can't ignore the author's penchant for choosing awkward or odd names. Once again, she has done so for one of her main characters. H Sarah and Simon are both genuinely likeable characters, both torn by the difference in their social status and what it will mean to the others in their family. How could she not know that is a working class name? The polar opposite of aristocratic?

This is appallingly ignorant, and I knocked my rating down to 2 stars just for that. Seriously lamebrain stuff like this incenses me, because someone on the publishing staff at least should have caught the gaffe. The fact that none of them did means none of them are qualified for their positions. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's true. An English duke named Hawkins strains credulity. Any educated reader knows this. A Regency author should certainly know this. I am new to this author's books, so I took a look at her website and saw that the word "sexy" is front and center on her homepage.

I guess I can surmise that most of Ms. Haymore's intended audience probably won't give a toss what the hero's name is. But I hope someone else does, because it's a doozy. I looked to see where this was published, and sure enough, it was in the US. I suspected as much. Just because we I include myself live in a supposedly classless society doesn't mean we should not be aware of class differences elsewhere. I suspect that if this had been published in the UK, someone would have caught the incongruity immediately, which makes me feel embarrassed as an American.

We're not all this ignorant, I swear! You just can't write about England and the English without knowing anything about the culture, history, class system and names. This is the 2nd book of yours I have read, Ms. Haymore, and in each one, one of the unfortunate protagonists is saddled with a nitwit name.

Do I dare read a third? Ask a reference librarian. A British lit professor. Ask a Brit, for that matter! Just please do not insult your readers like this again. It reflects badly on you. May 23, Melanie rated it really liked it. This is the first of Ms. Sarah Osborne lives in a small cottage with her father, the gardener for Ironwood Park, which is the large and sprawling home of the Duke of Trent. As a child, Sarah was allowed to play on the grounds of the estate but was cautioned by her father to stay away from the House of Trent.

One day, Sarah falls into a blackberry bush and is rescued by none other than young Simon Hawkins, the Duke of Trent. He takes her into the house for his moth This is the first of Ms. He takes her into the house for his mother to minister to her wounds. She is welcomed by all members of the Trent family.

Later, she finds a position as housemaid with them and after as companion to their daughter, Esme. After many years of absence, Simon returns to Trent House to fulfill his obligation to marry and settle down. However, as Sarah is not a titled woman, they cannot marry. In to it all, enters a devious blackmailer who threatens to destroy their lives unless Simon agrees to his demands.

The novel weaves together the lives of all the members of the Trent family, in addition to scandals involved with each of them. This was very well written combining their individual stories all together. I liked the characters of Simon and Sarah as they are intelligent, kind and real. Jun 09, Lindsey rated it really liked it Shelves: From their first meeting Simon and Sarah have this connection that only has strengthen through the years.

However, Simon being the duke of Trent must keep his true feelings for Sarah at bay, his reputation pristine, his siblings out of trouble and the gossiping ton quiet about his unconventional parents. When his mothers disappearance calls him home to the family estate after three years, his feelings for his trusted confident and love Sarah will push Simon to make hard decisions. Simon and Sarah From their first meeting Simon and Sarah have this connection that only has strengthen through the years.

Simon and Sarah are beautiful together. She is his yin to her yang. They fit splendidly and every secret encounter is fantastic, but sadly Sarah is not of the nobility and therefore not suitable for Simon. There is a lot of family dynamics in this book which makes it very fun and interesting.

Review: The Duchess Hunt by Jennifer Haymore

Check out my blog: Jan 29, pmatch rated it liked it Shelves: This was my first book by this author, and I found it well written on the whole. It seems more like the name of an innkeeper, blacksmith, or the village idiot. I was really enjoying the story right up to the point where it is revealed the Simon, Duke of Trent, is the only legitimate offspring out of the six children of his father and mother. One illegitimate sibling would have been enough of a scandal, but four additional bastards? Classic case of an author not knowing when to say when so I took off one star.

Another minor observance I had when I started reading this book was it was difficult to picture the characters. And then Chapter 1 starts out sixteen years later and they are all adults. I was finally able to figure out that Simon was around 13 and Sarah was around 11 or so in the blackberry bush scene. Not a big deal but it made it harder to get a feel for them.

I deducted another star because after reading the book and expecting to find out why the duchess disappeared and what happened to her, the reader is left hanging with the third son riding off into the early morning sunrise on his way to Cardiff, Wales. Do yourself a favor and check it out of your local library via the OverDrive app.

May 15, Nightwitch rated it it was ok Shelves: I just couldn't get past the fact that the heroine is the head housemaid and the hero is a duke. Furthermore, she never did any actual housemaiding - yes, she talked about cleaning and dusting and whatever, but she never seemed to be busy doing housemaids' work which, in a house that size, makes no sense and she had no consequences of same - no wrinkled hands, no sore knees, nothing.

Add in the fact that the overarching plot mystery - the disappearance of the duchess - view spoiler [is not re I just couldn't get past the fact that the heroine is the head housemaid and the hero is a duke. Add in the fact that the overarching plot mystery - the disappearance of the duchess - view spoiler [is not resolved in this book, or even close hide spoiler ] , and this book was really not for me. The writing was good and the characters were engaging but it was just too much of a Romanceland romance novel for my taste.

May 21, Tin rated it really liked it. How this story begins confused me: Simon, the current Duke, and his brothers were called home by their sister, Esme, and Sarah, the head maid, who also happens to be a Hawkins childhood friend. They are a family already steeped in scandal, and could not afford to weather through another one, so they all agree to keep their mother's disappearance a secret. I was a bit confused by Simon's plan: Esme had a disastrous first Season and had decided not to return this year. Why leave for London when the disappearance happened at Ironwood Park?

Why bring your socially-awkward sister to London "to act like everything is normal" when everyone knows how much she dislikes society? I can't help but feel it was a thinly-veiled attempt of getting Simon and Sarah together, which was fine, by the way, because I really wanted to read about them. Sarah met Simon when she first moved to Ironwood Park with her father, who had been hired as gardener at the estate.

The young duke rescues her after she falls and gets trapped in a blackberry bush, and brings her to the main house. From then on, Sarah's life has intertwined with that of the Hawkinses, and she and Simon grow especially close. The story touches on class stratification and how a Duke comes to fall in love with a housemaid. At first, Simon tries to narrow the gap between them, by promoting Sarah as Esme's companion. It's an eyebrow-raising moment, especially coming from Simon who is such a stickler for propriety, and Simon pretends, for a while, that it might work between them.

Sarah knows nothing would come of their relationship, but she cannot help what she feels for Simon. She'd always been taught and told to "remember her place". In a sense, both of them defy social strictures for the sake of their love. Raising his hand, he bent his head and rubbed his temple, then blew out a breath and met her gaze again. I want to do right by you, Sarah. It is morally reprehensible for me to have these feelings for someone who is under my care. But she was Sarah Osborne, his head housemaid, and she understood exactly why Simon felt like it would be morally reprehensible to touch her again.

It had everything to do with those vast chasms that separated her social class from his. Damn them, she thought brutally. Why must it matter?

He was hungry for her -- she could see it in his eyes, hear it in his words. And, Lord knew, she was hungry for him too. I have no expectations, Your Grace. I just want to live for today. Let's for once, worry about tomorrow when it comes. I love how the clues are being uncovered and pursued. It really is a very clever mystery! She seemed a wonderful mix of grand and down-to-earth and I loved how she always had her children with her.

However, when she disappeared, I was a bit surprised to learn that her children had thought she was flaky and unpredictable -- and I didn't see her as such that brief time we meet her at the beginning of the book. This aside, the mystery is fascinating because: There is no crime scene. The dower house was not ransacked. There was no sign of forcible entry or struggle or theft. The only thing missing is the duchess's cache of jewels. It was just the duchess who disappeared, but also her two servants. The Duchess Hunt also delves into the story of the Hawkinses, which ties in the story of the missing duchess and Simon.

They're a motley family, with an older half-brother and with both their parents known for their indiscretion. In his generation, Simon's brother, Lord Lukas, seems to be carrying out the family tradition of debauchery. Simon believes, as the head of the family, and, as a duke, that it falls unto him to save his family's reputation. He has been a model duke, very proper and very polite -- and has tried to keep the rest of his siblings in line, which has caused a lot of friction between him and Luke, his heir.

As the story continues, more family secrets are revealed and more pieces of their mother's past comes to light. The travails of the House of Trent is really engrossing and, honestly, rivals that of the real House of Windsor.

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Jun 24, Emma rated it liked it Shelves: Cute, safe, and easy. There's some ridiculous "primal urges" and "innocent maiden" stuff in the beginning, the characterization and relationship are thin, and the sex scenes are nothing spectacular; but there's also no excess unchallenged sexism, dubious consent, or moral-less rakes. The lack of contraception is actually addressed eventually. And the enthusiastic, no-holds-barred, ridiculous airplane chase ending warms my dumb romantic heart.

I absolutely loathed Luke, though, so I won't be rea Cute, safe, and easy. I absolutely loathed Luke, though, so I won't be reading the rest of the series, and it irks me that the final lines were about him?? But this was exactly what I needed to read after a major letdown. Mar 19, Rema rated it liked it Shelves: I like the way Jennifer Haymore writes. She doesn't linger on overtly descriptive paragraphs about the weather, or a castle, or anything else of insignificance. It really helps the story move along.

I liked the characters who were realistic and sensible. Now as a matter of opinion, I found them both boring. I thought there might be some fire in either of their characters to liven things up but they were rather mild in their temperaments. I was more drawn to the character of Luke, Simon's younger brother. He definitely has some grey to his character. And he seemed infinitely more interesting.

I found the life of Simon's mother, the Duchess, very fascinating. I wouldn't mind hearing more of her story. Oct 31, Mary23nm rated it really liked it Shelves: This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. However, when his Aunt brings her goddaughter Miss Jessica Pendle along, little does Jack realize that finding a suitable bride is about to get even more complicated… A riding accident had left Jessica with a limp that had crushed all of her romantic hopes and dreams.

Who will be the woman who will manage to tame the redoubtable — and dashingly handsome — Duke of Dettingham? With the house party in full swing, Jack soon begins to grow weary of the assorted group of debutantes all vying for his attention. Not a single one of them arouses his interest or dazzles him with her beauty and intellect. Falling in love with Jack proves inevitable for Jessica, but when he makes it perfectly clear that he is not prepared to share his heart with anyone, will Jessica give up her dream of falling in love all for the sake of the Duke she cannot stop wanting with all her might?

Daring, dazzling and absorbing, The Duchess Hunt is another triumph for this outstanding writer of historical romance! Mar 31, Mnms rated it it was amazing. I love the characters, the dialogue and the twists to a classic plot. Very commendable if you like your stories naughty but nice!

Jun 30, Carrie Olguin rated it did not like it. This story has almost every cliche romance novel element, such as the heroine attitude: Do you recognize any part of this in the last romance novel you read? She mentally rants and raves for nearly a whole freaking chapter as to why she cannot marry him. But better still is to have never tasted bread. To sum up her rant: She won't marry him because he doesn't love her. After everything he has done, said, confessed, commanded and begged, she too stupid to hear the words "I love you" so clearly expressed in his other words and deeds?

Yeah, well, if she's too stupid to embrace love staring her in the face, I'm moving on to find heroines who embrace life and risk their hearts on the possibility of love. Mar 28, Giovanni rated it liked it Shelves: Jess and Jack're childhood friends, or enemies, if you prefer. Since she's a child she'd follow him like a puppy until something happened view spoiler [ that made her limp broken ankle hide spoiler ] and she changed in one night. While Jack loved to tease her anytime anywhere he could since they're young until now he had to marry for a reason, suddenly he set his eyes on her as his future duchess.

The realization's too sudden for my taste, but don't worry, of course our afraid-of-passionate- Jess and Jack're childhood friends, or enemies, if you prefer. The realization's too sudden for my taste, but don't worry, of course our afraid-of-passionate-love hero view spoiler [ his parents loved each other to the point his father suicide after his mom dead hide spoiler ] didn't realize that he loved her as he treated her and made love to her with passion.

He felt it, just didn't know what to name it. Don't know how his mind operated. The mystery about his sibling's bit silly, didn't care about it. Anyho, it's a decent read and worth the time for a mild romance with a little touch of humor and in it. A little bit weird writing here and there, overall, but still ok. Dec 10, Vampire-lk rated it liked it Shelves: Overall a good regency romance novel! It's ok, but started skimming a bit! Bummed that throughout this whole no Overall a good regency romance novel!

Wtf about not closing the plot line with the minor, but still curious disappearance of Rich--the Duke's cousin!! Aug 28, Kirsti rated it liked it Shelves: Another delightful regency romance, full of mistakes and confusion.