Prepare for a fun Regency adventure!
From author Cindy Anstey comes Duels and Deception - a delightful YA historical romance with much wit and heart.
As a part of Xpresso Book Tours' Blog Tour not only do I have my thoughts on the book for you all, but I also have an awesome giveaway for you to enter below.
And be sure to drop by the rest of the tour stops for more bookworm extras!
And be sure to drop by the rest of the tour stops for more bookworm extras!
Title: Duels and Deception
Author: Cindy Anstey
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: April 11th 2017
Genres: Historical, Romance, Young Adult
Synopsis: Miss Lydia Whitfield, heiress to the family fortune, has her future entirely planned out. She will run the family estate until she marries the man of her late father’s choosing, and then she will spend the rest of her days as a devoted wife. Confident in those arrangements, Lydia has tasked her young law clerk, Mr. Robert Newton, to begin drawing up the marriage contracts. Everything is going according to plan.
Until Lydia—and Robert along with her—is kidnapped. Someone is after her fortune and won’t hesitate to destroy her reputation to get it. With Robert’s help, Lydia strives to keep her family’s good name intact and expose whoever is behind the devious plot. But as their investigation delves deeper and their affections for each other grow, Lydia starts to wonder whether her carefully planned future is in fact what she truly wants…
Author: Cindy Anstey
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: April 11th 2017
Genres: Historical, Romance, Young Adult
Synopsis: Miss Lydia Whitfield, heiress to the family fortune, has her future entirely planned out. She will run the family estate until she marries the man of her late father’s choosing, and then she will spend the rest of her days as a devoted wife. Confident in those arrangements, Lydia has tasked her young law clerk, Mr. Robert Newton, to begin drawing up the marriage contracts. Everything is going according to plan.
Until Lydia—and Robert along with her—is kidnapped. Someone is after her fortune and won’t hesitate to destroy her reputation to get it. With Robert’s help, Lydia strives to keep her family’s good name intact and expose whoever is behind the devious plot. But as their investigation delves deeper and their affections for each other grow, Lydia starts to wonder whether her carefully planned future is in fact what she truly wants…
Grab your copy of Duels and Deception today via:
Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | B&N
Or add it to your Goodreads bookshelf!
Rating:
Duels and Deception is a delightful take on the historical fiction genre.
Light-hearted yet fully realised, Duels and Deception is the perfect balance of everything that makes fiction entertaining, as well as the golden nuggets of detail that give books that historical twist.
Lydia is an intriguing main protagonist.
I will admit that at times Lydia - as a character - came across as a little too 'cliche' (in regards to her role in the plot and her tendency to follow repeatedly utilised Regency tropes). However, the further I delved into Duels and Deception the more she grew on me, as layers were slowly but surely revealed.
Disheveled and rumpled VS the elegant Parisian gown.
One of my personal favourite character revelations was the struggle within Lydia to discover who she truly was. This was especially strong during the part where she mourns her inability to project the 'better' version of herself to Robert and the rest of the world.
It made her all the more real - after all, it's a struggle many modern women know well! We're always seeking to project the 'put together' version of ourselves; a concept very much a part of the Regency era. Image was everything, in a sense. As Lydia fights to keep her family name intact, she also begins to realise that some things are more important than image. One of them being love.
Overall Duels and Deceptions is a well-paced Regency romance that is perfect for those that love tales of blossoming affections, kidnappings, and (of course!) pineapples.
'Lydia huffed in frustration. She could hardly make an offer to a gentleman when the object of that quandary refused to pay a call simply because she had asked him not to.
Really, the male gender made no sense.'
Really, the male gender made no sense.'
Tour-wide giveaway (US/CAN)
A print copy of Duels and Deception!
Whenever she is not sitting at the computer, throwing a ball in the backyard, gardening or reading, Cindy can be found–actually, not found–adventuring around the world with her hubby.
She has lived on three continents, had a monkey in her yard and a scorpion under her sink, dwelt among castles and canals, enjoyed the jazz of Beale St and attempted to speak French.
Cindy loves history, mystery and… a chocolate Labrador called Chester. Love, Lies and Spies is her debut novel.
She has lived on three continents, had a monkey in her yard and a scorpion under her sink, dwelt among castles and canals, enjoyed the jazz of Beale St and attempted to speak French.
Cindy loves history, mystery and… a chocolate Labrador called Chester. Love, Lies and Spies is her debut novel.
Connect with Cindy via her:
Don't miss out on the other tour stops!
See the full list here.
See the full list here.
Although I was provided with a review copy by the author and/or publisher, all opinions expressed in the this post are purely my own. To find out more, please visit my disclaimer page.
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