The Duke’s Embrace – A Journalist Fighting For Freedom

It’s been a while hasn’t it? Time to resume this series of feel-good regency romances.

I found this one to be better than the last, albeit its duration but short stories can be sweet and memorable. Now that Desiree is off the market, more focus is put on her two brothers.

Sebastian “Bastien” and his brother are still looking to return to France but they will have to sell their smithy before they do. Bastian becomes attracted to Eve Shelling when he sees her out with her dog and the attraction is clearly mutual whenever she glimpses him as well.

Eve was an interesting character. I loved how she was not afraid to stand up for what she believed in. She works with her father on the Cressmouth Gazette, a paper for the village. However, Eve longs to make it bigger as a journalist and write about real news rather than just Cressmouth’s cheer and year long Yuletide.

Her father forbids it though and I quickly learned it was due to once when her mother was ill, Eve brought in a man who was a doctor whom she hoped to marry, to save her mother’s life. But the plan backfired and her mother died, since then her father hasn’t let Eve have much control of her life.

I also found him to be a bit racist toward the le Duc brothers, but then again, so is Lucien since he seems to scoff at every English person and refuses to learn their language.

Eve agrees to help Bastien promote the smithy in an article and the two quickly fall in love. But she feels betrayed when she learned that he and Lucien are still involved in smuggling with Jack Skeffington. But she is too heartbroken to write the truth out that could ruin their lives.

It made me happy whenever she stood up to her father not once but twice. She’s a grown woman, yes she made one mistake, a very costly one but still, just like in today’s society, women should be allowed to make their own decisions and Eve eventually becomes successful in journalism, without having to leave Cressmouth. And yes, she married Bastien.

Good story, heartfelt and funny, now let’s see what Lucien brings.