Archive for 'debut'



REVIEW: Distracting the Duchess by Emily Bryan

Dear Ms. Bryan:

distracting the duchessI understand that this is your debut novel and your voice was good enough that I’ll be looking out for your next one book. Unfortunately this one had some problems for me. The main problem was that one part of the conflict was fresh and exciting and the other part was dated and the juxtaposition made the book read uneven.

Artemisia Dalrymple Pelham-Smythe, Duchess of Southwyke, aka Larla is an artist doing a series of paintings of gods and goddesses. Larla was a child prodigy, creating small sculptures and portraitures which were of great demand. As she has aged, though, her work isn’t as well received and she is of the belief that the set of paintings featuring the denizens of the Pantheon will bring her the recognition that she desires. Society looks upon her with some paternalistic amusement and some dismay for Larla is always doing something such as cavorting in a fountain to assist in infusing her Neptune with a wonderful sense of motion.

Trevelyn Deveridge is the younger son of Earl of Warre. He’s the younger son only by a space of minutes as his twin …