A Duchess a Day: A Novel

Charis Michaels

Nov 2020 · Awakened by a Kiss Book 1 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

USA Today bestselling author Charis Michaels enchants with her Awakened by a Kiss series, taking our favorite fairy tales' forgotten characters and making them the hero of their own story.

An heiress with a plan…

Lady Helena Lark has spent years trying to escape her wedding to the vain and boring Duke of Lusk. She’s evaded, refused, even run away. When her family’s patience runs out, they pack her off to London to walk down the aisle. But Helena has another idea: find a more suitable bride to take her place, even if she must look for a replacement duchess every day.

 

A bodyguard with a job to do…

Declan Shaw, better known as “The Huntsman,” is a mercenary who can pick and choose his clientele. After his last job, escorting a young noblewoman to France, landed him in jail under false accusations, he wants nothing to do with aristocrats or women. But the law isn’t done with him, and if he agrees to babysit a duke’s errant fiancé, the payout could make his legal troubles go away.

 

A most unexpected alliance…

When their worlds collide, Declan realizes that containing his new client is only slightly harder than keeping his hands off her. Helena senses an ally in her handsome new bodyguard and solicits his help. Together they must escape the forces that oppose them and fight for the fairy-tale love they desire.

Ratings and reviews

I thought that this was a very fun and cute read. I found Helena and Declan likable and easy to root for. The storyline held my attention well and I felt that the book had a fresh feel to it. I loved Helena's fierceness and determination. I thought Declan was quite swoon worthy and the struggle that he felt between what his mind thought and what his heart felt came across beautifully as the story unfolded. All together a very enjoyable romance and a promising start to this new series that I'm eager to read more of. This is my elective, unbiased review.

Declan was hired as bodyguard to keep Lady Helena from running away from her arranged marriage to a drunkard of a duke. But Helena's got a better idea: find a woman willing to marry the duke for the sake of his title. Reluctantly, Declan helps in her quest to interview duchess candidates, knowing he could lose everything if he fails in his duty to get Helena to the altar. Is the beautiful woman he's falling in love with worth the risk? This is a fun, vibrant story with well-developed characters and a plot that never lags. There's a bit of insta-love, but it isn't just physical attraction that draws Helena and Declan together. Besides the chemistry, there's a deep compatibility between them despite their difference in station. I enjoyed the narration as well. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I savored every word of this fantastic romance! Paying homage to the Snow White fairytale with many direct and indirect references, this delightful romance starts with a clever plot and ends with a surprise twist. The writing is sharp, witty, sardonic, and zany at times and is exquisitely descriptive, both visually and emotionally. The story is filled with the kind of swoony romantic scenes that make a romance novel truly great. Helena is desperate to extricate herself from an arranged marriage to a dissolute duke, so she hatches a plan to find an assortment of more qualified young ladies in the hopes he'll choose someone - anyone - in her stead. Tasked with ensuring that Helena makes it to the altar, Declan (the "Huntsman") finds himself increasingly drawn into her plan and inextricably drawn to her. He has everything to lose by helping her, but it seems he just can't say no to her. Their adventures involve examining seven lovely ladies as possible replacements as duchess, but these missions serve mostly as the background opportunities for Helena and Declan to discover just how much they're willing to risk to ensure the other's happiness. Containing elements of both insta-love and slow-burn attraction, this story had me hooked from the very first scene and I found myself rereading various passages just to enjoy the charming interplay once again. Just when you think all is lost, a completely unexpected twist brings the perfect solution straight to their door. I was simply amazed at how this was all worked out in such a marvelous way, and stunned that I hadn't seen it coming, despite all the glorious little hints that hindsight reminded me were sprinkled throughout the story. I loved every bit of this story and highly recommend it for everyone who reads historical romance. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

About the author

USA Today bestselling author Charis Michaels believes a romance novel is a long, entertaining answer to the question, “So, how did you two meet?” and she loves making up new ways for fictional characters to meet and dislike each other before falling in love instead. She grew up on a peach farm in Texas and gave tours at Disney World in college but now can be found raising her family and writing love stories from her screened-in porch in Northern Virginia.