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The Heart of a Hero #8
The Missing Duke
When his father dies, Lord Adam Bateman refuses to succeed to the dukedom which rightly belongs to his missing elder brother. Whilst performing secret and sensitive missions for the Duke of Wellington, he continues his efforts to find his twin. The search has become Adam’s all-consuming passion, leaving no time for affairs of the heart.
Miss Lucy Mercier is also seeking answers. Her father, a tailor, had been used to make hot air balloons for various noble patrons, including Lord Adam’s sire. Believing the deceased Duke of Wardley had been involved in her papa’s failure to return from the Continent, she takes employment in Lord Adam’s household in order to discover the truth. Then she accompanies him on an important commission for the Allied Army, and finds herself having to guard against a growing attraction for a man she knows she can never have.
Are the two disappearances connected and will two heads prove better than one in the pursuit of answers? Will Adam and Lucy find true happiness together or will the past – and their different stations – rise to keep them apart?
Miss Lucy Mercier is also seeking answers. Her father, a tailor, had been used to make hot air balloons for various noble patrons, including Lord Adam’s sire. Believing the deceased Duke of Wardley had been involved in her papa’s failure to return from the Continent, she takes employment in Lord Adam’s household in order to discover the truth. Then she accompanies him on an important commission for the Allied Army, and finds herself having to guard against a growing attraction for a man she knows she can never have.
Are the two disappearances connected and will two heads prove better than one in the pursuit of answers? Will Adam and Lucy find true happiness together or will the past – and their different stations – rise to keep them apart?
- GenresHistorical Romance
263 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 31, 2017
11 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Heather King
13 books35 followersI am an author with a passion for history and in particular the Regency. I have my own voice, but I like to follow traditional Regency precepts and pen uplifting stories with flowing prose, witty dialogue, engaging characters and bags of emotion -- following with tiny steps in the magnificent wake of Georgette Heyer.
I live in a beautiful rural part of the UK and share my home with various life forms, including two ponies, three cats and a rescued 'Staffie' X. When I am not writing, I enjoy long walks with my dog, watching costume dramas and curling up with a good book.
From a small child, I have loved to write - and dream. In my bedroom I had a wallpaper with flower-edged squares - just perfect for writing my 'news'. I don't think my mother was very impressed, although I don't recall any major consequences.
I discovered Georgette Heyer in my early teens and in my opinion, there are few in the modern era who come close, let alone match her in the Regency genre. We can but aspire, as a friend once said!
My debut novel was 'A Sense of the Ridiculous', a traditional Regency Romance released originally by Musa Publishing and I'm excited that I will soon be re-releasing it with a new cover.
Writing as Vandalia Black, I also pen Vampire and Shape Shifter romances.
I live in a beautiful rural part of the UK and share my home with various life forms, including two ponies, three cats and a rescued 'Staffie' X. When I am not writing, I enjoy long walks with my dog, watching costume dramas and curling up with a good book.
From a small child, I have loved to write - and dream. In my bedroom I had a wallpaper with flower-edged squares - just perfect for writing my 'news'. I don't think my mother was very impressed, although I don't recall any major consequences.
I discovered Georgette Heyer in my early teens and in my opinion, there are few in the modern era who come close, let alone match her in the Regency genre. We can but aspire, as a friend once said!
My debut novel was 'A Sense of the Ridiculous', a traditional Regency Romance released originally by Musa Publishing and I'm excited that I will soon be re-releasing it with a new cover.
Writing as Vandalia Black, I also pen Vampire and Shape Shifter romances.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 26, 2017
Book nine in the Heart of a Hero series sees Ms King take up the reigns as we once again step into Regency world of heroic heroes. This one is very much along the lines of your more traditional regency Romances with the added thrills and suspense that we have come to expect from this series and, it’s still intriguing but with a charming Bronte-ish feel to it. Which I adore.
I do love this it is very different to the other’s in the series but I like King’s writing, she has a flare with words and a voice that echo’s the great Bronte sister’s. There is just so much to like about The Missing Duke, the plot ties seamlessly in with the rest of the series and as ever you get to see some of the past heroes like the cunningly intelligent, master spy Joanna Devlin from the prequel Novella. The characters are strong and well-constructed that you instantly like them, as ever with Historical Romances what I always look forward to is the detailing and the history and I can say that King’s got all aspect’s spot on.
A real winner and a great episode in this series that keeps getting better and better and I whole heartedly recommend it, what I like about The Heart of the Hero series is that each book can be read very as a standalone. For those that haven’t read this series, yet you can start anywhere in the series, and I really like that.
I do love this it is very different to the other’s in the series but I like King’s writing, she has a flare with words and a voice that echo’s the great Bronte sister’s. There is just so much to like about The Missing Duke, the plot ties seamlessly in with the rest of the series and as ever you get to see some of the past heroes like the cunningly intelligent, master spy Joanna Devlin from the prequel Novella. The characters are strong and well-constructed that you instantly like them, as ever with Historical Romances what I always look forward to is the detailing and the history and I can say that King’s got all aspect’s spot on.
A real winner and a great episode in this series that keeps getting better and better and I whole heartedly recommend it, what I like about The Heart of the Hero series is that each book can be read very as a standalone. For those that haven’t read this series, yet you can start anywhere in the series, and I really like that.
February 5, 2018
A High Flying Adventure!
I loved the concept of the young lady disguised as a male secretary. Creating so many problems with her own life as well as shaking up the world of her employer, drawing an unwanted and surprising attraction. The history of balloon flight was very interesting, adding more adventure to all the other intrigues going on in the pursuit of finding the missing duke as well as the heroine, Lucy's father, both missing long ago.
I find it unusual for an historical fiction book to be written as it would have been in that time, usually only in the dialogue. It took some getting used to the language but I really enjoyed it. Also her equine knowledge of horses and their equipment I found most refreshing.
I will definitely be looking for more books written by Heather King and highly recommend this one.
I loved the concept of the young lady disguised as a male secretary. Creating so many problems with her own life as well as shaking up the world of her employer, drawing an unwanted and surprising attraction. The history of balloon flight was very interesting, adding more adventure to all the other intrigues going on in the pursuit of finding the missing duke as well as the heroine, Lucy's father, both missing long ago.
I find it unusual for an historical fiction book to be written as it would have been in that time, usually only in the dialogue. It took some getting used to the language but I really enjoyed it. Also her equine knowledge of horses and their equipment I found most refreshing.
I will definitely be looking for more books written by Heather King and highly recommend this one.
December 3, 2018
This book and I just didn’t hit it off. Even though I’d loved the author’s A Carpet of Snowdrops, this very different work failed for me on every level. Nothing wrong with it at all, just a mismatch of my requirements with what the book was offering.
I chose it because the premise intrigued me. Twin boys, the two sons of a duke, are playing in the park attended by their flirtatious nursemaid and a footman, when the older boy simply disappears. No amount of searching uncovers what has happened to him. He’s believed to be dead, but his brother refuses to accept it. Even when he grows to adulthood and no trace is ever found of his brother, he never stops searching for him, and never accepts that he’s dead. So far so good.
Then we hit the first stumbling block. The female main character is masquerading as a man and acting as secretary to the surviving brother. Well now. There are, of course, some very famous cases where women of the era pretended to be men and had unexceptional careers as a doctor, or in the navy, so I know perfectly well that it could be done. In real life. But in fiction, I want to know how it was possible. How did she cope with periods? Not being able to pee standing up? Did she cut her hair? None of this is addressed. Apart from mentioning that she binds her breasts to flatten them, and occasionally lowering the timbre of her voice, there is no acknowledgement of these problems. When she later transforms back into a woman, there is her hair long enough to be twisted into a knot on top of her head, with curls cascading down. How did she hide all that hair when she was supposedly a man? Enquiring minds want to know.
Then there is her secretaryship of the son of a duke, a man managing the ducal estates for his missing brother, since their father is now dead. Typically a secretary would be someone on the fringes of the nobility himself - a younger son, perhaps, or a cousin, but someone loosely connected to the employer. It is such a responsible position that one would hardly give it to the first likely lad who applies. However, I can probably go along with that more than the woman-dressed-as-a-man thing.
Then there is the writing style. I like an author who’s done her research, but here we get every last drop of it. This is the book for you if you want to know where to change horses on the Calais to Paris route, or what the posting inns looked like, or the scenery, what every character ate, or the name of every village they passed through… Well, OK, maybe I exaggerated the last part, but sometimes it felt more like a travel guide than an author telling a story. Here’s a sample:
‘It was approaching five of the clock when Adam drew the curricle into the spacious yard of the Red Lion at Egham, one of the foremost coaching inns on the Exeter road. The large, red-brick buildings contained stabling for upwards of two hundred horses in addition to the most elegant amenities for the traveller. Leaving the chestnuts in the diligent care of Carrots and the ostlers, he strode into the inn along a fine, wood-panelled hallway. A handsome staircase rose to the upper floors and the sounds of an orchestra tuning their instruments echoed from beyond the double doors into the ballroom. The aromas of roasting meats, baking bread, coffee and tobacco filled the air, creating an ambience of warmth and pleasure.
‘He entered the coffee room, which was already half full and where a small fire burned in the grate despite the clemency of the weather. This part of the inn dated from the seventeenth century or thereabouts and was low-beamed, cool and dark within. The landlord greeted him with polite deference.
‘“My lord, what a pleasure it is to see you. Are you wishful to dine? We have a nice piece of lamb roasting on the jack; very tender and served with minted green peas. There is a steak and kidney pie in the oven and one of my good lady’s rhubarb tarts as well. What might be your fancy, sir?”
‘“I will take some of the lamb, thank you, Brooks. You have a private parlour to spare? I am expecting a guest for dinner.”’
And so on. I know some readers love this amount of detail but to me it slowed the pace to a crawl, and made what was at bottom an exciting story into something that I found a real effort to get through. I abandoned the struggle at the 50% point, skimming the rest to find out just what had happened to the missing brother and man-girl Lucy’s father.
I’m giving this three stars because it’s a well-written tale that a lot of readers will love. Just not me, sadly.
I chose it because the premise intrigued me. Twin boys, the two sons of a duke, are playing in the park attended by their flirtatious nursemaid and a footman, when the older boy simply disappears. No amount of searching uncovers what has happened to him. He’s believed to be dead, but his brother refuses to accept it. Even when he grows to adulthood and no trace is ever found of his brother, he never stops searching for him, and never accepts that he’s dead. So far so good.
Then we hit the first stumbling block. The female main character is masquerading as a man and acting as secretary to the surviving brother. Well now. There are, of course, some very famous cases where women of the era pretended to be men and had unexceptional careers as a doctor, or in the navy, so I know perfectly well that it could be done. In real life. But in fiction, I want to know how it was possible. How did she cope with periods? Not being able to pee standing up? Did she cut her hair? None of this is addressed. Apart from mentioning that she binds her breasts to flatten them, and occasionally lowering the timbre of her voice, there is no acknowledgement of these problems. When she later transforms back into a woman, there is her hair long enough to be twisted into a knot on top of her head, with curls cascading down. How did she hide all that hair when she was supposedly a man? Enquiring minds want to know.
Then there is her secretaryship of the son of a duke, a man managing the ducal estates for his missing brother, since their father is now dead. Typically a secretary would be someone on the fringes of the nobility himself - a younger son, perhaps, or a cousin, but someone loosely connected to the employer. It is such a responsible position that one would hardly give it to the first likely lad who applies. However, I can probably go along with that more than the woman-dressed-as-a-man thing.
Then there is the writing style. I like an author who’s done her research, but here we get every last drop of it. This is the book for you if you want to know where to change horses on the Calais to Paris route, or what the posting inns looked like, or the scenery, what every character ate, or the name of every village they passed through… Well, OK, maybe I exaggerated the last part, but sometimes it felt more like a travel guide than an author telling a story. Here’s a sample:
‘It was approaching five of the clock when Adam drew the curricle into the spacious yard of the Red Lion at Egham, one of the foremost coaching inns on the Exeter road. The large, red-brick buildings contained stabling for upwards of two hundred horses in addition to the most elegant amenities for the traveller. Leaving the chestnuts in the diligent care of Carrots and the ostlers, he strode into the inn along a fine, wood-panelled hallway. A handsome staircase rose to the upper floors and the sounds of an orchestra tuning their instruments echoed from beyond the double doors into the ballroom. The aromas of roasting meats, baking bread, coffee and tobacco filled the air, creating an ambience of warmth and pleasure.
‘He entered the coffee room, which was already half full and where a small fire burned in the grate despite the clemency of the weather. This part of the inn dated from the seventeenth century or thereabouts and was low-beamed, cool and dark within. The landlord greeted him with polite deference.
‘“My lord, what a pleasure it is to see you. Are you wishful to dine? We have a nice piece of lamb roasting on the jack; very tender and served with minted green peas. There is a steak and kidney pie in the oven and one of my good lady’s rhubarb tarts as well. What might be your fancy, sir?”
‘“I will take some of the lamb, thank you, Brooks. You have a private parlour to spare? I am expecting a guest for dinner.”’
And so on. I know some readers love this amount of detail but to me it slowed the pace to a crawl, and made what was at bottom an exciting story into something that I found a real effort to get through. I abandoned the struggle at the 50% point, skimming the rest to find out just what had happened to the missing brother and man-girl Lucy’s father.
I’m giving this three stars because it’s a well-written tale that a lot of readers will love. Just not me, sadly.
March 21, 2020
King's historical romance begins in 1788, then moves forward to 1814.
Part King's story involves innovations in ballooning.
Part King's story involves innovations in ballooning.
April 12, 2021
Apart from the heroine dressing up as a man and succesfully fooling a supposedly smart and observant hero this was pretty good.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews