New York City socialite and perpetual hot mess Portia Hobbs is tired of disappointing her family, friends, and-most importantly-herself. An apprenticeship with a struggling swordmaker in Scotland is a chance to use her expertise and discover what she's capable of. And it turns out that she excels at aggravating her gruff silver-fox boss...when she's not having inappropriate fantasies about his sexy Scottish burr. Tavish McKenzie doesn't need a rich, spoiled American telling him how to run his armory...even if she is infuriatingly good at it. Tav tries to rebuff his apprentice-and his attraction to her-but when Portia accidentally discovers that he's the secret son of a duke, rough-around-the-edges Tav becomes her newest makeover project. Forging metal into weapons and armor is one thing, but when desire burns out of control and the media spotlight gets too hot to bear, can a commoner turned duke and his posh apprentice find lasting love?
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Reluctant Royals #2
Avon/Dreamscape Media
Contemporary Romance
Liza's Review:
We first met Portia Hobbs in A Princess in Theory as Naledi's best friend. She had many personal issues going on and honestly wasn't always the best friend to Naledi, but I just knew there was so much more to Portia and was so excited to see we would get her story in A Duke by Default.
Portia has decided to become new Portia and in doing so, she pretty much is trying to reinvent herself. Portia wasn't super likable in A Princess in Theory, so I was so happy to see Portia try and change parts of herself for the better. Portia has always had so many varied interest yet has never been able to stick with just one thing. I hated she always seemed to compare herself to her super organized twin sister Reggie and always see herself as lacking. I absolutely loved moving to Scotland to be an apprentice to a sword maker was what helped her discover what made her tick and what she loved to do with her life.
Tavish McKenzie was pretty much swoon-worthy from the moment he appeared on the page, yet was a bit of an ass as well. He really did push Portia away pretty much from the moment they met thanks to being so attracted to her. However, Portia being Portia, she set herself to helping every other aspect of Bodotria Armory as well as some of the other businesses in the area. I loved how quickly Portia made friends with the locals and her instinctive need to fix things and how she wanted to learn about her temporary home, which led to discovering Tavish was the legitimate son of a duke.
I loved the fact that the more time Tavish and Portia spent together, the closer they became and the harder it was to avoid their attraction to each other. There was serious chemistry between them that had been there from the moment they met. I loved they seemed to get each other in a way no one else really had before and accepted each other quirks and all. They were very clearly friends first and I loved the pacing of their relationship. The slow build up worked for me as Portia needed to understand more about herself before she was ready to be with anyone. Portia also understood Tavish in a way few others did and used her understanding of him to help him as he navigated the new world he was thrust into.
I loved that Portia was able to figure out she had ADHD thanks to a link sent to her from Reggie. I think it was part of the reason she was able to finally figure out how she need to live her life. It pretty much killed me how her parents treated her, yet I loved once she and Reggie had a real conversation about everything that had gone on, they became even closer than before. I did wonder why Portia never shared her diagnosis with her parents, but also wondered if they would have really listened to her if she had tried.
A Duke by Default was such a fun and emotional read for me. Ms. Cole has quickly become an auto-buy author for me after just 2 books and I absolutely adore her voice. I loved watching Tavish and Portia fall in love, and I absolutely know they are strong enough to manage anything life throws at them in the future.
Rating: 5 Stars (A)
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