Surprising Lord Jack (Duchess of Love, #2)

by Sally MacKenzie

[Amanda]

Y'all, this is the old people fornicating series. Not surprising, considering that, despite being about the Duchess of Love's boys, the series title is the Duchess of Love herself. While there's less fornicating in book 2, it's hinted at enough to make me think mom and dad are getting it on more than their children.

Which is... well, we all have parents. I won't say more than that.

Surprising Lord Jack begins almost exactly where Bedding Lord Ned (again, where there's less bedding of Lord Ned than bedding of his parents) leaves off, though of course from Jack's (and Frances's) POV.

Jack, while not cookie cutter historical romance hero material, isn't outside the realm of what you'd expect a hero to be. He hides his activities (saving women and children from poverty, death, and other unsavory happenings) under a carefully cultivated rakish reputation. Jack worked. He was kind and sweet, and his devotion to Frances was completely in line with his character.

Frances, on the other hand, deals with a lot of upheaval and change -- to the point that I had to wonder if she was romance heroine material. Everything she learns about how she grew up throws her into turmoil, making her question who she is and her values.

Can you fall in lasting love when you're still figuring out who you are? It's not impossible, of course, but I had my doubts at the end of the book. I don't like being left to entertain doubts at the end of a book.

Not mentioned in the synopsis is the murders of women of ill-repute that Jack is determined to solve. It's a rather important plot thread that was surprisingly easy to figure out. But as a long-time mystery reader who also studies how to construct stories, well, it was easy to piece things together.