The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden
When Colin Lacey befriends the seemingly quiet and shy Jane Huxley, it’s an unlikely friendship that Jane knows will never turn to romance. At least, she trusted him as a friend until he duped her into thinking she was helping him retrieve his late mom’s necklace! The deception burns as Jane’s reputation goes up in flames and she finds herself quickly marrying Colin’s older brother, Harrison. Marrying the Duke of Blackmore is one of the worst matches Jane can think of, and now she’s doomed to a loveless marriage with someone she hates. At least, she thinks it’s loveless until she learns there’s a lot more than meets the eye. Is there still a chance for an epic romance for Jane?
I’ve been enjoying this series a lot. Since I loved Jane whenever she appeared in the previous books, I was really excited to see her find her happily ever after. In this book, we mainly follow Jane and Harrison through their rotating perspectives along with an occasional chapter from Colin’s perspective. I really enjoyed Jane and Colin’s friendship of sorts, though I wish it wasn’t born from ill intentions. I could see them having a true friendship in the long-run if he’s ever given a chance to uphold a true friendship. However, I don’t think we’d really see that happening in real time given the format these books follow.
I could see that Jane and Harrison would be a good match in the long-run from the start. Jane always has her nose in a book and enjoys a good romance while Harrison is her well-meaning and seemingly harsh and brooding romantic partner. Once she peels away all his protective walls, Jane finds that she and Harrison are mostly on the same page. Now they just have to work their way through all the hiccups in their relationship. Honestly, I think they pair well together, especially with how dreamy and intense their marriage is.
While it takes a while for Jane to slip into her new role as the Duchess of Blackmore, it was really nice to see her come into some of her newfound confidence as the book continues. We do see her struggle with other people’s perception of her, especially Lady Mary and her mother’s shenanigans. I really would’ve liked for their antics to come to light to more than just Jane and Victoria. I seriously doubt being put in their place once would be the end of it, but I’ll accept the resolution of this plot as it stands.
I truly enjoyed seeing the character growth for Jane, Colin, and Harrison. While I wish that Jane and Harrison didn’t periodically lose who they were because they were blinded by love, I really enjoyed reading this. There were quite a few funny moments and I loved following one of my favorite characters throughout her own book. It’s always nice to see how the characters from different books in the series know each other and pop up in each other’s lives, so it’s always exciting when we see one or a few of them pop up. Of course, it’s always great to see Lady Wallingham. It’d be interesting if she got her own novella at some point! All in all, I highly recommend this series.
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