Forever Your Duke – Duty and Love

So we finally meet, and the Duke of Nottingvale gets his story at last. He’s been mentioned throughout this series, and now it’s time for him to choose a bride. I originally took him to be a strict man but as this book unfolded, I learned he became so much more than that, and probably the most romantic when he tried to be when learned there was more to life than just his duty!

In this volume, it’s the annual Christmastide party hosted by Alexander, the Duke of Nottingvale and this year, he plans to select one lucky debutante to be his future duchess. As I said, he came out as a very strict duty-first type of man until I discovered his soft side.

One of the regular goers at his annual party is Cynthia Louise Finch who despite being the same age as him, she is unfortunately considered past her prime. Cynthia, I admired her bold and daring personality for being to hell with the rules of society, I’ll do what I want, even if it means I never marry. She originally tried to fit in, but was never able to and decided to go to the other side of the pendulum and just do her own thing. She brings along her younger cousin Gertie in hopes of matchmaking her with the duke. But Gertie is very shy and not interested in him, and would rather find someone else on her own time and become a concert pianist as well.

Although Cynthia seemed to be a frequent guest at Alexander’s parties every year, he acts at first that he can’t stand her but deep down I could tell that he secretly admires her for her free-spirited personality and way of living. However, he continues to shut that part out in front of others, especially his mother. I hate that duchess, I bet she married a duke she didn’t love and has been unhappy her whole life because she put duty first and tried to get her children to be the same way!

The only person who can get through to Alexander, is his sister, Belle, who also thought following the rules was the best way until she fell in love with Calvin the tailor en route to the village. I love her relationship with her brother and how she’s become more laid back since she became engaged to Calvin.

Cynthia agrees to help Alexander select the perfect bride, but the more time they spend together, the more he realizes that he likes her, as does she. She encourages him to step out of his sheltered duty-only life and learn to have fun as they play billiards with the le Duc siblings and ski on the mountain. Their relationship is so cute, the first kiss made me swoon after she played the piano for hours. Cynthia does eventually realize she loves him but doesn’t want to sacrifice who she is for society’s sake, but there is always a way of finding a middle ground right?

Your Grace, your own happiness is more important, Cynthia won’t be the perfect duchess but if you’re happy with her that’s all that matters. What a lovely conclusion to this romantic, funny, and feel-good series! There’s still a prequel left and I’m sure I’ll enjoy that. Well done.