ARC Review: Once Upon a Duke's Wish (The Duke’s Lost Treasures #1) by Lana Williams
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Series: The Duke’s Lost Treasures #1
Author: Lana Williams
Published May 17th 2022 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Goodreads Synopsis
An earl shadowed by the past meets a lady determined to start anew.
Ella Wright brings her two younger sisters to London after the tragic death of their treasure-hunting father on Oak Island, hoping to secure their futures. But the city presents new challenges, the first of which is convincing their estranged grandfather, the intimidating Duke of Rothwood, to take them in. Then their father’s journal detailing his search for pirate treasure is stolen, and Ella has no idea who to trust.
Leo Stanton, the Earl of Marbury, is alarmed when he hears three ladies claiming to be Rothwood’s granddaughters have arrived in London. Fearing the man who’s been like a grandfather to him is being taken advantage of, he rushes to Rothwood’s side to find three beauties under his roof and their father’s questionable scribbles missing.
Given Leo’s expertise in pirate artifacts, the duke requests his assistance to find the stolen journal. Leo reluctantly agrees, though he thinks Ella’s father was a fool. While he can’t ignore his resentment of past events, one heated kiss with Ella convinces him that more is at stake than a notebook.
Ella knows the pain pursuing a dream can cause, yet her growing attraction for Leo can’t be denied. Dare she trust him in her quest to regain her father’s journal along with her love, or will fate demand payment for the past?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
After their father died, sisters Ella, Norah, and Lena Wright leave the only home they've ever known, in Nova Scotia, to travel to London. They hope their grandfather, the Duke of Rothwood, will welcome them, after his only daughter - their mother - ran off with their father over twenty years ago. Allowed to live in his home, but not embraced with open arms, the sisters find themselves trying to navigate London society, and when their father's prized journal is stolen, Ella will do anything to get it back. Even if that means working with the Earl of Marbury, and potentially losing her heart in the process.
I was drawn to this book first by the cover, and then the synopsis. And let me tell you, the story inside is even better too. The Wright's have never known their maternal family, and the thought of setting across the ocean to hope their grandfather will take pity on them is hard. And eldest sister, Ella, is taking it all on herself. She knows they need help, and she will do anything to see her sisters settled. Holding tight to her father's prized possessions, she crashes into a handsome man who just turns out to be the son of the man her mother jilted all those years ago. Ella and Leo clash heads almost instantly, but working together to find the journal, and learning more about the other person, and not the persona they put on for others, they quickly fall. I really liked the progression from wariness to love that Ella and Leo went through. The book really shows them falling naturally, and the added mystery of David Wright's journal helped to aide the plot. A great start to the series, and the epilogue was so sweet too!
Dates Read:
December 17-18, 2022
Rating
3 Stars
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