Download The Vagabond Duchess (Historical Romance Large Print) fb2

This was the best of the Great Fire of London trilogy, I rate The Abducted Heiress #2, and The Defiant Mistress 3rd. All 3 books take place roughly simultaneously, around the time of the Great Fire of London in 1666, a less written about time period.
Great story, believable H&H, good historical detail. I would love to get hold of this author's backlist but they seem to be only released in England.
I've probably reread this half a dozen times, that's how much I enjoyed it.

This is the third of a set of three restoration romances set in 1666, the year of the Great Fire of London.

The three books of the trilogy tells the story of three cousins against the backdrop of the wars, turmoil and disasters of seventeenth century in general and the Great Fire in particular. Athena Fairchild, Colonel Jakob Balston, and John Beaufleur, 2nd Duke of Kilverdale, have all been affected in different ways by the English civil war, growing up in different parts of Europe. Each finds their true love in London during a time which would have been very unpleasant to live through but is most exciting to read about.

This is a genuine trilogy in which the events of the Great Fire of London are seen from three different but linked perspectives and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It is not just a set of three very similar stories which switches round the names of the protagonists, unlike rather too many popular romance sagas.

The three books of the series are:

1) "The Defiant Mistress (Mills & Boon Historical - Large Print)", (Athena Fairchild), has an extended prologue set in Cromwell's London in 1658, but the main action begins in Bruges in April 1666 and swiftly moves to Venice and other parts of Europe before returning to London just in time for the hero and heroine to be caught up in the great fire.

2) "The Abducted Heiress (Harlequin Historical Series)" tells how Colonel Jakob Balston came to London just in time for a misunderstood rescue to get him thrown in prison the day before the fire. Jacob and his cousins spend the next few days in further complicated escapes, rescues, intrigues and foiling murder plots: and the book has a shock ending on the last page which paves the way for ..

3) "The Vagabond Duchess" (John, Duke of Kilverdale). This book also starts just before the fire and involves Temperance Challinor, a young woman who is trying to make her way in a man's world. Having inherited her father's business as a draper, she is one of the few female licensed members of the Draper's Company in the City of London. Just before the Great Fire, she meets "Jack Bow," a striking man who she presumes to be an itinerant singer of no great wealth, and she becomes involved with him during the dramatic events of the fire. But she loses track of Jack when he goes to rescue his cousin, and then she hears that he has been killed in the fire. Temperance goes looking for his family, only to find that most of what she thought she knew about "Jack Bow" is not correct ...

The grandfather of all three cousins is Ralph Balston, 1st Earl of Swiftbourne, who has successfully navigated the dangerous waters of mid 17th century politics by twice changing sides at the perfect time. Beginning his career in King Charles' service, he then sided with Parliament from the start of the civil war through the Commonwealth, (without signing his former master's death warrant), but finally in 1660 became one of those who invited Charles II to return.

Lord Swiftbourne is something of an eminence grise behind all three books in this trilogy: he is respected rather than loved by his grand-daughter Athena and grandson Jakob. This is even more true of his relationship with their cousin John, because many years before Swiftbourne had had the unpleasant duty of telling the eleven year old John of the execution by his parliamentarian allies of John's royalist father, the first Duke of Kilverdale. However, in this concluding part of the trilogy we find out a little more about Swiftbourne.

All three books in this trilogy are well above the average standard for a Mills & Boon historical romance, and in my view this is the best of the three.

Only four stars because, although there is some period detail and to the best of my knowledge what there is was all accurate, it didn't have quite the depth of period authenticity required to fully bring to life such a vital, glittering and dangerous epoch of history. If I give this five stars, what would I give Dorothy Dunnett ?

But the fact that I can make that comparison without falling about laughing tells you just how much better this is than the typical Mills & Boon romance. Definately good entertainment for a couple of hours' reading.

The Vagabond Duchess is a bit different from most historicals around. It takes place in 1666, with repercussions from the king's exile, the vicious spread of the plague and the horrid London fires. Because of this the characters are excellently flushed out. Jack, the Duke, does masquerade as a vagabond at times. It was a persona he picked up while exiled in France; he was forced to hide his background. This makes him resourceful and resilient, but unwilling to put himself at the whims of others. Temperance is a shopkeeper that has lost her entire family and was left to fend for herself, she's independent and strong-willed. Naturally, when they meet each other the sparks fly. They have both found someone to lean on.

The plot line basically follows their intial courtship while Jack is a vagabond and then Temperance's life as the new Duchess. I would say this work is more driven by its characters,a very good thing. It is such a warm, sweet story. The only thing I would change is Toby; a very spoiled child. So many tantrums and no one to discipline him, especially since his dad was a wanderer and most likely let him have his way out of guilt at not being home all the time. I felt bad for the sweetheart that was Issac, he was forced buddy up with the brat.

I've boycotted HQN as low quality for years - or at least I thought I did. A recent conversation over at Word Wenches made me realize I've been buying a few HQN's here and there. I constantly ask for more diversity in the genre and at the same time (it was pointed out) I limited myself from exploring all the places I could find that diversity. I picked up The Vagabond Duchess because of an interest in the London Fire of 1666 and I'm delighted I did. I've been a fool and a snob. What struck me most was how these characters live in a time that was far more treacherous than the Napoleonic. The plague had just left, the fire is upon them, a king has been lost then regained - there is no certainty and in times of uncertainty there's an odd freedom. I was far more inclined to believe a shop owner and a duke could expect to make a go of it than I otherwise would have been. This was a tremendously entertaining read. I encourage you, if you've been curious about breaking out of Regency Vampires to try this title out.

*** NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS ***

An Excellent story of what happened when a prudish shop owner matches wits with a Duke who likes to travel in disguise in the midst of the London fires which took from her all that she owns.

First time reading anything from this author. The characters were very well rounded and believable. Look forward to reading more.