{Lords of Eton Review} Last Duke Standing by Cheryl Bolen

Last Duke Standing by Cheryl Bolen
Series: ,
on January 15th, 2019
Genres: Historical, Romance
Source: Netgalley
Buy on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, BookBub
Goodreads

As the third son of the Duke of Fordham, Alex never thought he'd become a duke. But he's suddenly catapulted to the lofty title after his slightly older brother dies in his sleep. Now Alex has the onerous task of announcing the death to the woman his brother was to wed.

Ever pragmatic, Lady Georgiana Fenton insists on seeing the late duke's body, and when she does, she's convinced he was smothered as he slept. She and the new duke decide to secretly work together to uncover the murderer. But the longer they're together, the harder it becomes to resist the duke's scorching kisses--and even harder to dismiss him from the list of suspects. No one had more to gain by her fiancé's death.

I received Last Duke Standing for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Alex and his friend retired to his brother’s estate to work on a bill to be brought forth in the House of Commons. His brother was busy with his hunting party at the time and he and Alex did not connect. By the following morning, it was too late. The Duke of Fordham supposedly died in his sleep leaving Alex to take the reigns of the dukedom and inform his brother’s fiancé.

Lady Georgiana Fenton didn’t have a whirlwind romance with her fiancé, but believed they would have a strong marriage and make a wonderful life together. Once his younger brother informed her of the duke’s death, she insisted on seeing the body. Even in her grief, she was practical and noticed more than one thing that made her believe the duke was murdered. She shares her suspicions with Alex, but doesn’t leave him out of the suspect pool.

Georgiana and Alex work to find the murderer before someone else becomes his victim. While Georgiana fights the attraction to her late betrothed’s brother, Alex lets himself feel for the first time in quite a while. The journey to unravel the mystery has them crossing out suspects as they fall in love for the very first time.

I loved Alex from the start. While his family was all of one political faction, he felt strongly enough to go against them joining the opposite party. He fought long and hard to win his seat in the House of Commons and was looking to do some ground breaking work for the people of his country. When he inherits the dukedom, his voice became even louder in the House of Lords. Bolen might not intend for this story to hint at the parallels of the political climate of today, but I did feel it drew them. Georgiana was somewhat on the opposite side politically from Alex, but over time she came to see what he and his sister were fighting for. She doesn’t jump sides completely, but is able to see both sides of the arguments. Something I wish many more people would do in the political climate of today.

Romance, politics, and a murder mystery all wrapped up in this adventurous tale. This is the third book in this series, which I adored so much, I will be going back to read the first two. Maybe, just maybe, Bolen may grace her pages with another story of the Lords of Eton.