A Lady for a Duke

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Synopsis

Viola Carroll was close childhood friends with Justin de Vere, who would become the Duke of Gracewood. The pair did everything together, including going off to war against Napoleon. When Viola was wounded and presumed dead at the Battle of Waterloo, she was rescued by a French couple who showed her that it was possible to live as her true self, so she returned to England determined to live as the woman she always knew she was. However, it meant her giving up everything: her title, her wealth, and even her friendship with Justin. She now lives as a lowly ladies' companion to her sister-in-law who accepts her for who she is, but it's a rather lonely existence with her unable to venture out much in society. It's not until they receive a letter from Justin's sister, hinting that she'd like to have a London season and that Justin is too emotionally broken to see what she needs that Viola discovers just how much Justin has suffered, too, and decides that she needs to help her old friend.

Justin de Vere was badly wounded at Waterloo and now lives with near constant pain in his leg and walks with a pronounced limp. But that pales in comparison with the emotional pain of losing his best friend. When Viola comes to visit, she seems somehow familiar to him, and spending time with her feels a lot like old times with the friend he's never forgotten. Justin is addicted to alcohol and laudanum, but he tries to make himself presentable for the lady who has captured his interest. As they spend time together, feelings begin to take root, but when Justin finally recognizes his old friend, his anger toward Viola for leaving him drives her way. He soon realizes, though, that he can't live without her and will do anything to be close to her again. Justin asks Viola to act as a chaperon for his sister's coming out, placing them in close proximity to one another, which makes them fall deeper in love. But Viola's struggle to come to terms with their vastly differing stations in life and her fear that if anyone discovered the truth about her Justin would be shunned by society could keep them apart.

Review

A Lady for a Duke is a stand-alone Regency romance. For most of her life, Viola Carroll hadn't felt truly comfortable in her own skin. Years ago, she became childhood friends with Justin de Vere, Duke of Gracewood. They were as close as siblings, doing everything together, including going off to war on the continent. At the Battle of Waterloo, both were badly wounded. Viola was rescued from among the dead by a French couple who nursed her back to health and showed her that it was possible to live the life she'd always longed for. Her being presumed dead offered the perfect opportunity to become the woman she knows she is. She gave up everything, including her friendship with Justin, and for more than two years, she's been living as a lowly ladies' companion to her sister-in-law, Louise. Lou is very close to Justin's sister, Mira, who she looked after while Justin was off fighting in the war. After receiving a letter from Mira, she believes that the girl wants a London season even though she didn't explicitly state that, but Justin has been so emotionally broken since the war, he doesn't have any idea what his sister needs. Louise and Viola travel to Gracewood's castle, where they find Justin a complete wreck of a man, addicted to alcohol and laudanum. Feeling guilty about letting her best friend down, she sets about trying to revive him with no intention of telling him who she really is. The two reconnect on a deep level, with Justin being very attracted to Viola and feeling like he's interacting with his old friend without knowing why. Eventually their closeness leads Justin to recognize Viola for who she really is, which ends in an argument that drives Viola away. But soon he realizes he doesn't want to live without her anymore and goes after her. As they work together to give Mira the season she wants, they start falling deeper in love, but Viola isn't sure they can ever have the life they truly want when society would never accept her if they knew the truth.

Viola has struggled most of her life with knowing who she is inside but having been born into the wrong body. The one constant in her life was always her best friend, Justin, whom she met at school, and the two became inseparable. Only Viola knew how hard his life was for him with an abusive father, so she tried to bring him some solace. They went off to war together, but when Viola was wounded and presumed dead, she saw it as an opportunity to finally be the person she knew she was. Unfortunately, in order to achieve that, she had to give up her title and wealth, and live anonymously as a ladies' companion to her sister-in-law, who along with her brother, have been supportive of Viola's new life. She's also been pretty lonely without Justin for the past two years, but has resigned herself to never seeing him again, nor ever having a romantic relationship with a man, even though her heart longs for both. Then the opportunity arises for her to see Justin once more. Viola and Louise arrive at Justin's castle which is in disrepair, only to have him shoot at them while under the influence. It's then that Viola realizes just how bad off he is and knows she can't leave without trying to help her friend. A part of her regrets the role she played in his misery, too. As she tries to comfort him and set both the man and his home to rights, they grow close again and Viola realizes she's falling for him. But when Justin finally recognizes Viola, he breaks her heart by blaming her, which drives her away. Later, the pair reunites when Justin brings Mira to London for her season and Viola becomes the girl's chaperon. Being in close proximity stirs their feelings for one another, but Viola fears they can never have a relationship, both because of their vastly differing stations and because if society ever found out the truth, they'd never accept her.

Justin grew up with an abusive father who drilled his heritage into him and often left him feeling weak and useless. The only solace he had in life was the best friend he met at school, but of course, he didn't know at the time that she was a girl. When they bought their commissions and joined the army, Justin was kind of the instigator, so when he lost Viola at the Battle of Waterloo, he was devastated, thinking it was his fault that she was gone. He also was badly wounded, nearly losing his leg, and has been in terrible pain ever since. Deeply depressed, he's locked himself away in his castle, become addicted to alcohol and laudanum, and has thought of ending his life. Then his sister's friend shows up with her lovely companion in tow. When Viola tries to help him, Justin finds himself attracted to her, but he's confused as to why a stranger would offer so much of herself to him and he also wonders why interacting with her feels like old times with his best friend. Eventually he recognizes Viola and becomes upset, feeling that she abandoned him, and an argument ensues that drives her away. Disconsolate, Justin realizes that he can't lose his friend again, and after fighting to get his addictions under control, he takes his sister to London and asks Viola to be her chaperon for the season. As they work in close proximity to help Mira, the two fall hopelessly in love. Justin is willing to do almost anything to have a relationship with Viola, but she fears society's censure in a number of ways, leaving them at something of an impasse.

I felt like I understood Viola's struggles and all that she had to give up to live as her true self. As hard as it was to relinquish her privileges, the thing that was the hardest to leave behind was her best friend. She never thought to see him again, but fate brought them back together. I love how kind and compassionate she is toward Justin, trying her best to comfort him and revive him. She's sweet, but definitely not a push-over when it comes to standing up for herself and her needs. I also thought it was sweet that she's still a virgin despite Justin having dragged her to a number of brothels back in their youth. I understood her self-consciousness about her body. Not only does she have to hide from society's prying eyes, but she also worries what Justin will think of her once the truth is out. Justin is a classic tortured hero, deeply wounded in body and soul by all that's happened to him over the years. He's still affected by his father's abuse, has PTSD from the war, a badly injured leg that still pains him, and emotional scars from the presumed death of his best friend. I like that he was receptive to Viola's attentions and that he thinks her beautiful. He does become a bit selfish when he finally recognizes her, but I'm glad that he didn't stay caught up in his own head for long. Instead, he chose to fight for a relationship with Viola in whatever form that took. Justin can sometimes show his imperious duke side when he wants something from someone who isn't cooperating, but he also has a gentler side that is very open-minded. I love that when he wakes up to what's going on around him, he wants to help his tenants and most of all that he accepts Viola fully as who she is. He's adamant about wanting to be with her, while she takes a while to come around, needing to conquer her fears first.

Overall, I enjoyed A Lady for a Duke, but I struggled with how to rate it. I appreciated it's uniqueness to the romance genre. This is only the second romance I've read with a transgender character and the first transgender heroine. That it's set in the Regency era only added to it's distinctiveness. I also thought that the author often wrote some lovely turns of phrase and was impressed that he managed to use a few words that even I, with my extensive vocabulary, wasn't familiar with. I also very much liked both Justin and Viola and thought they made a great couple. The resumption of their friendship is complex, at once both easy in the way that they fall back into a certain camaraderie, but also difficult in that they can't quite relate in all the same ways they did before because of Viola being a different person now. I very much liked the cast of secondary characters, too. For these reasons, I considered giving the book a higher rating. However, there were a few things that I thought could have been better. The romance is very much a slow-burn, taking quite a while for things to happen between Justin and Viola. It's about 160 pages in before the truth of Viola's identity comes out, about halfway through before they kiss for the first time, and quite late in the story before they make love for the first time, all of which became a little frustrating. Waiting so long for these milestone moments might not have been so bad if we'd had more of Justin and Viola together, but there are some long passages in which they're interacting with other characters and aren't even with one another or are dealing with other things besides growing their relationship. The parts where they are together in a romantic way are very appealing, just not often enough to be entirely satisfying to me. For these reasons, I dropped the rating a bit, but A Lady for a Duke is still a strong four-star read. It was my first by Alexis Hall, but it has left me very interested in checking out his other books at some point.

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Alexis Hall

Themes

Friends Before Lovers
Men in Uniform - Military
Opposite Sides of the Track
Physically Imperfect Heroes
Tortured Heroes