The Perfect Duke (Georgians Beyond the Pale Book 2)

I started out disliking the Duke because he was like a robot - too perfect. But our h brought him around like the tin man in the Wizard of Oz - she became his heart.Parts were on the slow side, but certainly improved in speed near the end. I really enjoyed all the suspense and intrigue that the ending brought. It was like when you reach the top of a ride on the roller coaster and you head down hill at full speed. That is what it felt like reading the last 1/3 of the book - all in a good way. There is a secret our H is keeping from the h, and I scratched my head many times wondering why he kept it so long from her. His life would have been so much simpler if he told her sooner. Still enjoyed the story, so not lowering my rating.I had trouble between the niece and fiance name - why have them start with the same letter? It is confusing when you are just starting out trying to remember character's names. Of course, could be because I am getting older and my attention span is all over the place.There is one very passionate lovemaking scene, mildly described and not vulgar, in my mind. Romance does build slowly which was nice and frustrating too.We are treated to great secondary character's that I hope some get their own stories. I did enjoy book 1 in the series a little better, but don't have to read it to understand this one - stand alone.We get HEA, no cliffhanger, nice ending, action, suspense, great character development and a unique story line. I am not going into the premise as the blurb does it better than what I can explain. I just am giving you a feel what you will experience in reading this story. (ljb)

I enjoyed this book so much more than Love’s Guardian. The primary characters are well crafted, the secondary characters are fairly so, and the plot is just as wonderful as any the Brothers Grimm.The monsters in this book are paper ones, without the foreshadowing found in Love’s Guardian. There is the mention of a feud between the Kendals and the Pembertons, but no explanation is given until the very end, and the monsters are quickly and conveniently dispatched.Garret Kendal is exactly the Prince Charming every little girl dreams of, and it is easy to place Cara McClure in the role of Cinderella. Her character arc is not as developed as his, which, if it had, would easily have garnered a 5 star rating from me.My jury was out on Ireland’s writing before. After reading Love’s Guardian, I will gladly pick up her books when I’m looking for something to read.

Garret Weston, the Duke of Kendal grew up as a second son with his own dreams. One of those dreams included a future marriage to a special little girl when she grew up into a young woman. Then fate stepped in and all of his dreams turned to stone, just like him.Lady Caroline Pemberton never remembered a time she didn't think of him as her knight, and that fateful day, she promised she would wait for him to return. By then she would be grown up and ready to be his bride. Fate can be very cruel as it destroys a young girl's dreams and changes the course of her life.What do you get when aspects of a number of well known fairy tales mix it up with a Georgian period romance? You get an entertaining read entitled The Perfect Duke. Dawn Ireland's descriptive writing has produced an interesting, well woven plot with more substance than I expected from the purchase page synopsis. Ms. Ireland effectively uses thoughts and dialogue to shape and mature each character. In addition to a very mild intimate scene, there is also some suspense and danger leading to a HEA.I loved this book. For me it is a solid 5.0 read.

It had a promising start but the hodgepodge of plots made the whole story stilted. It’s good enough read when one wants something to help pass the time.

I love a fairy tale themed love story and The Perfect Duke didn't disappoint. Cara is a governess who is warm hearted, caring and so much more then she realises and is perfect for Garret the Duke who comes to realise he doesn't need to be perfect and instead embraces love and happiness. Garret and Cara took me on a wonderful journey, a slow build love and desire with past tragedy and deception woven in to make this an engaging story with a satisfying happily ever after.

Oh my gosh! This is such a wonderful story. It captured me from the first page and held me in its thrall to the very last word. The depth of emotion in both characters is incredible and while this is a storyline that is familiar, Ms. Ireland gives it a new twist, which is very refreshing.Garret Weston, the Duke of Kendal has a dilemma. His long lost fiancée has been found, but she's grown up believing she's Cara McClure, the daughter of a vicar, instead of Lady Caroline Pemberton. Determined to discover whether Caroline can be the duchess he needs, he hires her as a governess for his niece and brings her to Belcraven.Cara immediately recognizes Garret as the prince in her dreams, but without his wonderful smile. Garret and Cara fight the growing attraction between them. He must wait until he sees whether she has the proper training to be his duchess and she believes that she is far beneath his station. But love is stronger and they give into their passions.I don't want to spoil this for anyone so I'll just say it's well worth your time to read this great story.I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful tale and highly recommend it to all who enjoy a true regency romance. This is a story that I'll be reading again. One phrase held great meaning to me and I want to share it: "And suddenly all those little nothing moments in her life became more precious than the rarest of gems".

I had forgottenI had this book in my cloud. I reread it and loved it. I especially enjoyed the romantic scene where Cara first gives in to her "perfect" Duke, but his transformation from a cold-hearted martinet is the core of the story.. I must confess that I thought his stoney pride in his family's name would do him in, but the twists of how he was saved from a ghastly marriage and saved his love from certain death in a family funeral vault kept me on the edge of my chair to the very end. Dawn Ireland is a clever plotter and writer. A tip of the hat to her skill!

I became so engrossed by this story and the characters that I read the complete book in one sitting,so I advise any new reader to allow enough time to do the same.

I really enjoyed this book with its references to fairy tales. As a lover of fairy tales myself i could relate to the story... loved the part where cara sees the blue ribbon with garrett.made my cry !

It was easy to get lost in this book and i did enjoy the storyline as it went along. This is not my normal type of reading but it was enjoyable and i liked it.

This is the second book in Dawn Ireland’s “Georgians Beyond the Pale” series, & was every bit as good, if not better than the previous book - “Love’s Guardian”. However, it can be read as a stand-alone as the main characters only get a mention or two. Instead, Lords Morgan & Bradford feature more heavily in the books, & I have a feeling the author may write Lord Bradford’s story next.This book was fairly well written & edited (I do, however, think “Emily” & “Elizabeth” are the same character). There are no swear words, but there are some love scenes. I enjoyed the little titbits - quotes from fairy tales - at the beginning of each chapter. I liked the main characters, although I didn’t understand why Garret felt he had to keep Cara/ Caroline’s background from her, other than their families having an old feud. I also felt the ending was a little rushed.Garret promised to come back & marry Lady Caroline Pemberton, when she was only 6yrs old. She gave him a token of her love: a little piece of blue ribbon from her hair. However, shortly after this, she was kidnapped & he was made duke after the sudden & accidental death of his older brother.Years later, as he is on the verge of announcing his betrothal to Lady Regina, he is made aware of Cara’s identity, & decides to set her up as the governess of his niece, Rachel. He sends his sister, Mallory away from his estate so he can test Miss McLure’s abilities as a lady. He wishes to learn if she would make a fine lady, & possibly a duchess - his duchess - although he knows Regina would make the perfect duchess, even though he doesn’t love her. Although he knows of Cara’s background, he decides to keep it a secret. He doesn’t want the Kendal name attached to any scandal.Cara has always known she was adopted by the vicar, whom sheloves & calls “Papa”. She has a mysterious benefactor, who paid for Cara to be educated at a very fine school, but she knows she could never be a proper lady. She is after all, known as a “vicar’s daughter”. With her Papa, they run a school for street urchins, hoping to better their lives. She accepts the duke’s temporary job offer as a further way of supporting herself & her father.When she meets the duke, Cara is shocked by the resemblance he has to the “knight” in her dreams. The duke is cold & arrogant, very unapproachable, but as she learns more of him, she finds herself attracted towards him & starts to fall in love. She knows Regina would make the perfect wife for the prefect duke, but she craves his touch...Garret, in turn, finds himself drawn to the warmth & vitality that Cara brings. He finds it difficult to stay aloof when he’s around her & even more so to forget about her. Will keeping her background from her ruin any chance he has with her?In the midst of this, Cara learns her students have disappeared from her little school. Garret decides to follow her back home to keep her safe & to help investigate the disappearances. He hopes that by doing so, Cara will return quicker to his estate. He’s determined the easiest way for to keep her safe & by his side is to marry her, if she’ll have him...This series is apparently only two books, but I do hope the author reconsiders. Towards the end I think there’s a hint that Lord Bradford’s book will be next, although I hope Lord Morgan will get his story told (& perhaps Mallory...)