2021 New Release challenge
ARC Review: The Earl's Iron Warrant (The Dukes' Pact #6) by Kate Archer
11:00
Series: The Dukes' Pact #6
Author: Kate Archer
Published September 9 2021 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Goodreads Synopsis
An Icy Lady and an Implacable Lord...
Charles Battersea, Earl of Dalton and heir to the Duke of Glastonburg, is the last holdout among the six young heirs who have been pressured to marry by way of the Dukes’ Pact. This surprises precisely nobody, especially not himself. He has unaccountably lost his friend, Grayson, to Miss Dell, but if he is forced to tow the bachelorhood line alone, so be it. He has his reasons for avoiding marriage, and they are not what people imagine.
Daisy Danworth, daughter of the dreaded Lord Childress, presents a cool and confident face to the world, as would anybody who’d grown up in such a house. It’s been a matter of survival, and she and her companion, Mrs. Jellops, have survived. Daisy has a certain long-held plan in mind for her future—a charming house in Brighton where she can finally be free. Free of society, and especially, free of men.
A sudden turn of events tosses everybody’s plans topsy-turvy and throws Daisy and Charles unwillingly together. Through managing servants, murderous lotharios, and a missing crown jewel, the cold Lord Dalton and the frosty Miss Danworth might just begin to thaw.
As for their friend, Lord Burke, it seems he’s been harboring a secret all along...
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
The Earl's Iron Warrant sees the final heir of the Duke's Pact fall for the parson's noose, and finally find a woman who makes him want to settle down and marry. The most stalwart hold out of the pact, Charles Battersea, Earl of Dalton, has actively discouraged his friends from marrying, and proclaimed far and wide that he will never marry. What he witnessed at war has scarred him, both physically and mentally, and he can't imagine ever marrying and having children who could be shipped off. When his father cuts him off even further, and forces him to chaperone the newly orphaned Daisy Danworth, Charles is somewhat pleased to have a home to live, and with someone who he has always had a good rapport with. For Daisy, she's faced the horrors of having a cruel father, and now she is free from his control, she has no intention of ever placing herself in the potential harm of a wicked husband. Never have two people so well matched proclaimed to hate marriage, but everyone but themselves sees the attraction between them. As they spend more and more time together, facing a mystery and danger to them all, can they reconcile themselves to fate?
This was a book I didn't know what to expect. I've really enjoyed the others in the series, but have hated Lord Dalton and the way he's acted in the past. I didn't know if I would care enough about him to want him to have a happy ending, but he really grew on me. In this book, we see the vulnerable side of Lord Dalton, and get to know why he is the way he's been, and that it's just a facade he's put on for protection. Him and Miss Danworth are both known for their icier sides, but have spent time together in the past, often taking supper together, and generally enjoy the time with one another. When the Duke of Glastonburg becomes Daisy's guardian, he tells his son to look after her, while the estate is being renovated, at one of her late father's homes. Dalton is to stay with her, but in the ramshackle cottage on the grounds of the Ramsgate house, and at first, there's animosity, but the more time the households are together, it's clear they have found something special. It was also nice to see the other heir to a dukedom, Lord Burke, find his happy ending too, and the series was tied up perfectly in the end. I look forward to seeing what Archer publishes next.
Dates Read:
September 26, 2021
Rating
4 Stars
