How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days (American Heiress in London, #2)

by Laura Lee Guhrke

[Amanda]

More like a 3.5

A quick first thought before I write my review so I remember this later: Stuart really should have learned to embrace masturbation.

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Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days. The reconciliation trope, while not a favorite, is definitely fun -- there's always a delicious tension between the characters because of their shared history, whatever it is.

In the case of Stuart and Edie, their shared history is... well, a straight marriage of convenience. Stuart and Edie both got what they wanted, then Stuart left, never to return. Turns out, never is five years. Stuart's back and determined to win Edie.

So, you know, yay Stuart! I mean, yes, Edie wanted him never to return, but she's so stubborn about it that you want to smack her and cheer for him. (Which is sad, because I think knowing her reasons before we see her be so obstinate about Stuart would have made her character more sympathetic. In the early parts of this book, I could never tell if she was exaggerating what happened back in New York or if something truly traumatic happened, and that was rather vital for me to know in order to cheer her character.)

But that doesn't mean I'm wholly enamored of Stuart either. At least two different spots in the story -- which I won't talk about because THINGS HAPPEN and SPOILERS -- where I felt like masturbation would have been a much better option than what he did. Need physical release? Just pump it a few times. You don't always need to shove it in a body to get that. We know it's better that way, but it messes things up.

I liked the bet between Stuart and Edie, and I loved to see him attempt to woo her. It wasn't just a seduction -- in some ways, he had to teach her to love herself, which, I think, is a theme many of us can relate to. Edie needed someone to believe in her and see her for the amazing woman she was.

I do feel like the ending was... rushed? Like the ten days were going really well, then this THING HAPPENED, and they separated for a while, and when we cut back to Edie, they were ready to reconcile. It was like there was more tension between the two that was needed to be ready to accept the reconciliation, even though that's exactly what I wanted as a reader.

I'm also not quite sure how I feel about what happened in the epilogue, as it was rather, um... well, it went like this: Stuart ruined the man who raped Edie, and in the course of the ruining, that man committed suicide. Do I think the man should have been punished? Absolutely. But I never felt his death was necessary for the story, so it felt odd to be included. Extra vindictive or vicious, maybe.