The Truth About Love and Dukes: Dear Lady Truelove

Laura Lee Guhrke is one of my favorite Victorian romance authors. In this story she explains the challenges that, Henry, the Duke of Torquil (the hero) faces as he takes on the responsibilities of guiding his family, and maintaining the status quo of the societal norms in which his life must be lived. Into this picture enters, Miss Irene Deverill (the heroine), the manager of a newspaper, and also the writer of the 'Lady Truelove' column. One of those columns adds more than a little distress to Henry's life. That column is ultimately going to change the lives of the characters in this story. There's humor in this book in the exploration of Henry's world and thoughts. There's also angst, and personal growth and discovery on the part of both the heroine and hero of the story. The secondary characters, especially Henry's mother, the Duchess of Torquil; Angela, Henry's younger sister; and Clara, the sister of the heroine are well developed and important to the story. This book doesn't have quite as much dramatic and emotional flair as some of Miss Guhrke's past works, but it has enough to make it an enjoyable read. It has enough heart to give it a favorable recommendation.

"We love who we love, Henry. Love can't bend to one's will."FINAL DECISION: A cold, old-fashioned man and a woman who works publishing a newspaper. These two should be complete opposites, but instead is an unveiling of the true nature of the selves.THE STORY: Henry, Duke of Torquil is determined to make "Lady Truelove" pay for advising his mother to go with her heart and marry a penniless artist. When he goes to confront the writer at the paper, he meets Irene Deverill, the publisher (and secretly Lady Truelove herself). When he demands that Irene fix the problem that she caused, the two are put into close contact. An attraction turns into an affair that threatens the lives each is seeking to lead.OPINION: Can I be honest? Henry starts out the book being pretty much an arse about everything. Determined that his life go smoothly, he is arrogant, self-absorbed and a definite snob. Jerk is another name for him. But isn't it good when he gets his comeuppance? Just you wait till the end of the book.I am always impressed when an author can draw readers into a character such that an unsympathetic character can be understood and ultimately become a hero. Gurhke does such a good job here. Henry hides a sensitive soul under old-fashioned, rigid behavior.Just what he needs is the unconventional vibrant Irene. A woman who has expanded her horizons (somewhat from necessity until she decided she liked it), Irene is a suffragist and a businesswoman. She is unconventional and believes deeply in love.The romance between these two starts out slowly and it appears that they are doomed to be a mismatched. But as we get to know these two, we find out that they both are the caretakers of their families. As the superficial layers of the two are peeled away, it becomes clear that the two have more in common than they expected. That combined with an intense passion leaves them both with the question -- what will they give up for love?Another part of this book that I really like is that it sits on the edge between traditional and modern society. Taking place in the age of indoor plumbing and telephones, there is a real tension between the old ways and the new ones. The characters have to confront this reality again and again. It is a refreshing spot for a romance and I really enjoyed it.WORTH MENTIONING: I wish we had learned more about Henry's mother and her lover. Their story fascinated me as well.CONNECTED BOOKS: THE TRUTH ABOUT DUKES is the first book in the Dear Lady Truelove series.STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

Some would call this a nice beach read, but since I live near the beach, I'll have to settle for calling it nice.The H is a starchy duke who's in a tizzy because his mother is on the verge of marrying an Italian painter, 20 years her junior and an admitted fortune hunter AND she's settling half her personal fortune on him. He blames Lady Truelove, the pseudonym for the h, for this disaster and calls on her to demand that she set matters straight.The h is struggling to keep her family's publishing business afloat by publishing a scandal sheet in which, unfortunately, a letter by the H's mother figures prominently. Actually, it made no sense to me that the duchess allowed her letter to be published; (Lady Truelove gave her the option of keeping it private.) So why did she? Well, so that through that little contrivance, we would have a story. Easy-peasy! Well, I don't hang out with dummies and I feel a tad resentful when an author assumes I'm stupid.The h is also a suffragist. In other words, she is every powerful duke's nightmare. But she's beautiful:) The suffragist angle reminded me of Consuelo Vanderbilt and we all know what a love nest her marriage wasn't!She and her sister are brought into the duke's household for two weeks so that the h may convince the mother of her error. She and the sister are also put back into the good graces of their grandfather, a viscount who had disowned their mother.Anyway, there they are, in the duke's home for two weeks during the Season, wearing their ready-made frocks to all the fetes, surrounded by women dressed by modistes. Don't tell me they wouldn't feel like the sore thumbs sticking out! Once again, the author thinks we're a bit dim.The romance gets going, as they tend to do in HRs, and we muddle our way into a HEA. And if ever a novel called for an epilogue, this was it. As it was, sans epilogue, I had trouble wrapping my head around how the two lovebirds would manage in the real world.The only author I ever compare Ms.Guhrke to is herself. She has written some brilliant novels. Sadly, I don't think this one comes close in depth to those, or even to the novels that lacked such briliance but were still very good. But, even though I'm not wild about this one, Ms. Guhrke's writing held up. Her writing is always good.

The premise of this novel is interesting and I loved the plot - but the story is written so indescribably boring with Henry and Irene being paper doll characters - the way the author has written this story reminds me of Magnum P.I.'s Alfred telling his boring stories to Magnum - there is a great story line but there is no sizzle in the story teller

zeitweise sehr langatmig, wenn die Gedanken und Gespräche sich immer und immer und noch mal um das selbe Thema drehen; so langatmig, daß ich stellenweise einfach weitergeblättert hab, weil es nicht mehr zu ertragen war.Zum Glück hab ich nicht die Reihenfolge der "Lady Truelove"-Bücher eingehalten (die auch aus den Titeln nicht ersichtlich ist), sondern mit dem dritten Band angefangen, der sehr viel lebhafter daherkommt.

I started this book one night, thinking I read just a chapter and go on tomorrow night, well, I read until 3 am and went on till 70% of the book. It's just so good this book. The hero made my heart beat, I kept on thinking about him long after finishing the book. Heroine nice too.

Enjoyable read. Liked all the characters in it (except possibly Carlotta but she couldn't help being a bitch)

One of the most interesting books that I have read lately.