THE DUKE IN QUESTION

A top-secret mission leads to danger and love.

Lady Bronwyn Chase may appear to be a spoiled, flirtatious heiress, but it’s a facade to hide the truth: She’s traveling to Philadelphia with sensitive documents that will aid the Northern states in the American Civil War. Her haughty mother thinks Bronwyn’s only aspiration should be to marry someone with wealth and a title, but Bronwyn has a “goal of helping the oppressed to lift the yoke of subjugation.” When she discovers Lord Valentine Medford, the Duke of Thornbury, is also aboard the ship, her ruse becomes riskier. Not only is he a friend of her brother, but he’s also a former British undercover agent. Valentine has his own secret agenda: He’s looking for a rogue operative known as the Kestrel. He does not at all suspect the aggravating and all too attractive Bronwyn and is blindsided when the truth comes out. Even then, she still keeps secrets. Pursued by nefarious men from Philadelphia to Paris to London, the pair may be at odds, but that doesn’t prevent their fiery chemistry. Although an intriguing premise, the plot feels muddled and the characters aren’t developed beyond their archetypes. There are some fun action scenes of both the perilous and sexual varieties, but it fails to coalesce into a captivating whole. Howard succeeds in incorporating elements of racial prejudice and examples of allyship relevant to the modern reader into the historical story, but the core romance is humdrum.

Falls flat.