The Duchess

Rating:
Summary: it's alright
Review: 'the duchess' is alright, i think, for jude's standard. i mean, she writes all these books about diff kind of ppl in different timelines and you wonder how she doesn't get mixed up.

claire is you typical dumb heiress, with the spendrift, rather [stupid] parents and a bratty sister. she thought she fell in love with harry, and if you knock her head with a box of romance books she coudn't see his obvious flaws. then she goes to that god forsaken house full of cold family members, and ends up spending her time with trevalyan. they suit each other. the dumb heiress and the even dumber duke/traveller/spy/writer/soldier/wanderer/whatever else. by the time they realized their feelings for each other the readers will be groaning "about time!" and flip to the next page.

and for a well-read lil miss, claire is quite closed up about everything else isnt she? she insists that christianity is the true religion, and doesnt respect other people's beliefs. i find it real irritating. she should read more books, i say, and stop reading them frank bakers. she's getting mentally unwell reading them all.

conclusion, in most parts the characters are unlikable, but the storyline's okay. i'd read it if only for the story. an okay read overall.

Rating:
Summary: A rare gem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I bought The Duchess because my local Borders was running pretty low on JD novels. I thought, "ah, why not?"

Why not? Indeed!! I wish I would have purchased this book long before now!! To put it simply, I really have not sat down to read a book and not put it down until it was finished since JD's A Knight in Shining Armor!!

The story flowed so well. The friendship between Trevelyan and Clair happened so naturally that it made it so believable!

I loved the exchange of words between Trevelyan and Clair. The wit that JD gave to both her characters was priceless! I do have to say, though, that much of the funny lines come from Clair.

What I also loved was that with a lot of JD novels, her main characters love each other, hate each other, love each other again, you get the picture. This was not the case in The Duchess. I did not feel as though I was reading the same ol' novel with new setting and new characters. This was unique in so many ways!

I do hope you take the time to read it! Buy it new... buy it used... it does not matter. Just buy it!! It's good to read JD at her best! :)

Rating:
Summary: I enoyed it
Review: I have not yet read this book for I am trying to find out in which order does this book come in the Montgomery series order. I can't seem to find an e-mail for Jude Deveraux to ask her so I'm asking anyone if they can help. I have acouple books from her and I have found that they all are part of a series. The book that I have are. (BLACK LYON, HIGH TIDE, THE TEMPTRESS, AND THE VELVET PROMISE.) I don't know about any of you all but I hate reading a book and finding out that it was part of a series.

Rating:
Summary: A Keeper
Review: I've had this book for years. The heroine and the hero are well written, in my opinion. Even though I know the whole plot very well now I keep reading over and over because the story flows and the characters are intelligent and witty. Someone lent me this book and now I don't think I'd give it back, even if I did know who it belonged to.

Rating:
Summary: Decently entertaining...
Review: I've read lots of Jude Deveraux works and her Montgomery-Taggert Saga is my favorite of all of her works. I've enjoyed most of her books and this isn't an exception. THE DUCHESS is a decent and entertaining read, no doubt. The characters are very likable and interesting, even the secondary ones. Though I confess Trevelyan isn't a strong and appealing MONTGOMERY as I expected him to be, but still likable nonetheless. Trevelyan and Claire's personality are different from my usual read. They are both scholarly and are not overly handsome or beautiful. It's their interest in books and adventure that drawned them together. Their love story was alright to me, passionate but not as challenging. In my opinion, they need more of a worthy rift for me to find their relationship exciting. I loved Brat, younger sister of Claire and wished her relationship with her sister was more profound. It's touchy how she pretends not to care for Claire. I really love their sis-to-sis relationship and was hoping for a heart warming confession between the two. Brat is indeed a hearty character and is worthy of her own book. I was a bit disappointed on who she married in the end, I feel she deserves a stronger character. The plot have a bit of everything in it -mystery, adventure, humor, romance, suspense and a bit of action twist... though I am afraid to say that the mystery, suspense and romance needed a bit of polishing. I was also expecting a big bang in the end or a grand finale but it seems like the story ended a bit too soon and sadly, a bit too lacking. I wanted more confrontation and scenes with Eugenia. The children versus their evil mother scene would have been an interesting read. But no, she seems to simply just disappear too easily. That wasn't convincing enough for me. If Eugenia is indeed as hateful and evil as she was portrayed, wouldn't she fight till the end? She worked too hard and too long to just simply give up and move out. And let's say, she did got tired and decided to give up, I sure would have love to read what she has to say, wouldn't you? A hearty apology or a retribution is what I was expecting and got none. Like I said, it was just all too easy and came out as lacking towards the end.... Even on the Epilogue, Jude Deveraux mentioned most of the characters with their beautiful family but seemed to have forgotten to mentioned Trevelyans and Claires marriage or offsprings. She mentioned their books, their travels and their adventure but what about their love, marriage and offsprings?

Well, overall, this book isn't bad. It has its moment of humor and passion. Entertaining most of the time but not Jude Deveraux's best work. Far from it!

Rating:
Summary: The question of love and money revisited....
Review: Ms Deveraux has written a real winner as usual. She revisits the age old question of love or money in this wonderfully written novel. Claire Willoughby has the dicision made for her however by her greedy parents.

This was a moving story, full of wit, humor, love, betrayal, adventure and surprises. It kept me reading hour after hour. I was simply unable to put it down until I had read it from cover to cover. My congratulations to Ms. Deveraux on another job well done.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful tale of love and family
Review: This is among my favorites by Jude Deveraux.

Claire is marrying someone from a long prestigious line of history, and she is well read and know a lot about the family. Harry could care less about the history of his family. Harry didn't care about much of anything but hunting. Claire sets out to make things better, and in the process, meets Trevelyan. This opens her eyes to a whole array of new thoughts and love. I love hearing more about The Brat (Claire's little sis), Trevelyan's sister, and the exotic Nyssa. Such a great story.

If you like any of the other historicals by Jude Deveraux, add this to your wishlist.

Rating:
Summary: Victorian Adventure
Review: This is one of my top five favorite Jude Devereaux books. The hero is very similar to the famous Victorian explorer, Sir Richard Burton (not the same as Liz Taylor's on again-off again husband. If you want to read another amusing fiction book about him try Riverworld.) Brilliant, funny characters; all in all a great read.

Rating:
Summary: The Duchess
Review: This story delightful! The friendship from the start, I thought, was unique. Trevelyan is an observer, a loner, prefering to be thought dead than to be a Duke. Claire is responsible, selfless and thirsting for knowledge. He was amused by this american and her opinions, and he is the only person who seems to enjoy her company and isn't boring; he is the only person who "appreciates" her. This is one book where I really feel like the main characters don't just love each other, but really belong together. Each needs what the other has...it is so beautiful! I loved the supporting characters so much, especially Claire's younger sister, Brat, what a hoot she was! I would love to read a book about her and Harry.... And Harry was so oblivious to everything, I felt so sorry for him! The only thing that bothers me about this book is that it seems like the ending needed more...something, I don't know. I feel like it ended so abruptly. Did they have kids? Other than that, this was a good read for me! Not as good as Knight in Shining Armor, but good, nontheless.