I’ve encountered so many characters like this and they mostly come across as silly and self consciously madcap – but not Rebecca. She is unconventional (she wants to be a doctor), she rides astride, turns up her nose at deportment, and is not skilled at feminine accomplishments. I think she is the best romance heroine of this year. And wait till you meet the band of gypsies!! Sir Henry and his wife may not understand their daughters, but they truly love them and want them to be happy. He too is a villain, but not a deep dyed one and he is quite reformable, should the author want to feature him in a future book. Lord Edleston is a handsome rake who is surprised when he falls in love with Rebecca. Actually I think she’d make a good example of a reformed villain in a sequel to this book. She has had a hard life and isn’t the caricature of eeeevil that so many romance villains often are. Connor’s former mistress is a villain and has done some nasty deeds, but she is not without sympathy.
The characters in the book are a delight. She will stop at nothing to keep her status. Since Connor was assumed dead, the brother inherited the title and the fortune – and when he died childless, she inherited it all. He is aided by Cordelia, dowager Duchess of Dunbrook, a former mistress of Connor’s who married his brother. Edleston has fallen in love with Rebecca and wants her back. But a pair of villains has formed an uneasy alliance and is on their trail. Connor can’t stand the idea of the bright and intelligent Rebecca engaged to a wastrel like Edleston, so he helps her escape to his aunt’s home in Scotland. Rebecca is accidentally compromised by Lord Edleston when she attempts to spy on her sister. He has been happy working as a groom and has become very fond of Sir Henry’s lively daughter, Rebecca.
Roarke Blackburn was assumed killed in battle, and when Roarke recovered, he took two of his names and became Connor Riordan.
On the field at Waterloo, he was badly wounded and when asked his name, he mumbled the name of his best friend, Roddy.
Several years ago, Roarke ran away from his brutal father and enlisted in the infantry. Everyone thinks he’s Connor Riordan, an Irish groom. Roarke Edward Connor Riordan Blackburn, the heir to the Duke of Dunbrooke, is working on Sir Henry Tremaine’s estate. The setting and characters may be very familiar, but Julie Anne Long tells the story in such a fresh and lively way, you’ll swear this is the first time you’ve read a book like this. “Can’t we have something new?” Well, don’t dismiss this one. “But I’ve read that story and seen these characters a hundred times this year!” the romance reader wails. The Runaway Duke is set in England at the end of the Regency period and features a tortured hero and the spunky heroine with whom he falls in love.
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