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Duquesa by Default
But she found she was marrying for love
Joanna was very relieved that Duque Rafael de Santiago was able to help her out of the embarrassing mess she'd got herself into--but there were limits to her gratitude!
She would not marry his younger brother, Manuel! The bizarre situation soon got completely out of hand, for Manuel tricked them both and publicly announced Joanna's engagement to Rafael.
What drove these brothers? They didn't consider Joanna's feelings at all!
Joanna was very relieved that Duque Rafael de Santiago was able to help her out of the embarrassing mess she'd got herself into--but there were limits to her gratitude!
She would not marry his younger brother, Manuel! The bizarre situation soon got completely out of hand, for Manuel tricked them both and publicly announced Joanna's engagement to Rafael.
What drove these brothers? They didn't consider Joanna's feelings at all!
190 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 20, 2024
3+ but it's complicated, and the high rating is mostly nostalgia
This is among the small group of "first Harlequins [and romance novels--all Harlequin categories] I ever read." And at the time of my first reading, it hit me quite differently as it does now; it hit me much better!
When I just reread it for the nth time something of that old feeling it engendered in me, and my memory, was lost. I felt it fade away as I skimmed along. Too bad, and almost sad. I still see it as an old faithful read, and certainly an important stepping stone on my journey to appreciating Bonkers romances, but it can't goofily thrill me as it once had.
I also don't think I'll feel moved to reread it again after this most recent go, when I noticed so much more of the grating ridiculousness of it and not simply the towering splendor of Bonkers.
Still. The hero is absurd and overbearing and great. The heroine not a ninny but always in need of something so she's not a fighting sort either. They clash but don't clang. The secondary players almost comical and overdrawn. The plot... well, I did say Bonkers, and a sort of Beauty & the Beast meets captured by the prince meets forced proximity, and a *captivated*-means-love thing. It's a mess and to my memory a wonderful mess, and even now seeing the flaws, I'm happy to keep thinking of it that way.
This is among the small group of "first Harlequins [and romance novels--all Harlequin categories] I ever read." And at the time of my first reading, it hit me quite differently as it does now; it hit me much better!
When I just reread it for the nth time something of that old feeling it engendered in me, and my memory, was lost. I felt it fade away as I skimmed along. Too bad, and almost sad. I still see it as an old faithful read, and certainly an important stepping stone on my journey to appreciating Bonkers romances, but it can't goofily thrill me as it once had.
I also don't think I'll feel moved to reread it again after this most recent go, when I noticed so much more of the grating ridiculousness of it and not simply the towering splendor of Bonkers.
Still. The hero is absurd and overbearing and great. The heroine not a ninny but always in need of something so she's not a fighting sort either. They clash but don't clang. The secondary players almost comical and overdrawn. The plot... well, I did say Bonkers, and a sort of Beauty & the Beast meets captured by the prince meets forced proximity, and a *captivated*-means-love thing. It's a mess and to my memory a wonderful mess, and even now seeing the flaws, I'm happy to keep thinking of it that way.
January 10, 2021
Yikes! I had never been so turned off by a book so quick. Ok, I lied maybe there were a few other times...but I waited so long just to read this book but it was not for me. Never had a hero come off so creepy in that first meeting scene. It was such a weak, dull first impression too. I thought the hero was going to be this aloof, brooding, mysterious lord, beast of a man... no I didn’t get that vibe on first impression.
December 25, 2021
Over the top melodrama. Didn't finish. Maybe if I was in the mood for one of the bossy, guys who think they own the universe I'd have like it.
March 17, 2025
"Her head pounded violently, making her shudder as the floor began to sway in dizzy circles." And what has prompted such a violent physiological reaction in Joanna, our alluring and brainless FMC? A closed head injury? An all-night bender on tequila? No, it's caused by the scarred hero's fingers on her arm. Duquesa by Default is strongly reminiscent of Rebecca Stratton in her prime: wet-behind-the-ears dimwits who swoon, tremble, stammer, and all but go into seizures at a mere touch.
Joanna may very well be one of the most stupid of the TSTL heroines one encounters while slogging through vintage Harlequins. Her introduction to the hero comes after I think my eyeballs are still misaligned from rolling too hard.
At one point our so-called hero Don Rafael (who has already informed Joanna, his acquaintance of less than a day, that he intends on making her marry his younger brother) muses "I wonder what thoughts have run through that beautiful head of yours". Oh, Don, Don, Don. If a semi-intelligent thought was ever present in Joanna's head, it died of loneliness. Actually, come to think of it, he's a little short on cranium filler himself, given that he offers to be Joanna's substitute dad.
He's 28.
And then after a nasty sequence in which he convinces himself she's a gold digger, humiliates and belittles her, then announces he's going to force her to marry him ... she's practically giddy because, you know, True Wuv.
Needless to say, this book is not recommended.
Joanna may very well be one of the most stupid of the TSTL heroines one encounters while slogging through vintage Harlequins. Her introduction to the hero comes after I think my eyeballs are still misaligned from rolling too hard.
At one point our so-called hero Don Rafael (who has already informed Joanna, his acquaintance of less than a day, that he intends on making her marry his younger brother) muses "I wonder what thoughts have run through that beautiful head of yours". Oh, Don, Don, Don. If a semi-intelligent thought was ever present in Joanna's head, it died of loneliness. Actually, come to think of it, he's a little short on cranium filler himself, given that he offers to be Joanna's substitute dad.
He's 28.
And then after a nasty sequence in which he convinces himself she's a gold digger, humiliates and belittles her, then announces he's going to force her to marry him ... she's practically giddy because, you know, True Wuv.
Needless to say, this book is not recommended.
February 18, 2014
*yawn* Couldn't stand the main male character. =/
May 21, 2017
The hero is idiot
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews