Book Review: The Heiress Gets a Duke (The Gilded Age Heiresses #1) by Harper St. George

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 316 pages
Author: Harper St. George
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: January 26th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Even a fortune forged in railroads and steel can’t buy entrance into the upper echelons of Victorian high society—for that you need a marriage of convenience.

American heiress August Crenshaw has aspirations. But unlike her peers, it isn’t some stuffy British Lord she wants wrapped around her finger—it’s Crenshaw Iron Works, the family business. When it’s clear that August’s outrageously progressive ways render her unsuitible for a respectable match, her parents offer up her younger sister to the highest entitled bidder instead. This simply will not do. August refuses to leave her sister to the mercy of a loveless marriage.

Evan Sterling, the Duke of Rothschild, has no intention of walking away from the marriage. He’s recently inherited the title only to find his coffers empty, and with countless lives depending on him, he can’t walk away from the fortune a Crenshaw heiress would bring him. But after meeting her fiery sister, he realizes Violet isn’t the heiress he wants. He wants August, and he always gets what he wants.

But August won’t go peacefully to her fate. She decides to show Rothschild that she’s no typical London wallflower. Little does she realize that every stunt she pulls to make him call off the wedding only makes him like her even more.

HIGHLY ENJOYABLE.

My first historical romance y’all. I’m not upset about it one bit. I really enjoyed this read and look forward to the next book.

One of the things that worked for me here was the open door scenes didn’t take over the book. I thought they fit in exactly where they should go and furthered the story rather than took me out of it.

Ohemgee, Evan. I loved him y’all. Such a great love interest. He was a “typical Duke,” but also seemed to really value what August wanted. He wanted to ensure she would choose him and not feel like she was being wholly forced into their marriage. It was really sweet and endearing to see his efforts.

August was a gem. I love her fiery attitude and strength of character. She knew what she wanted and took charge of the situations before her. August and Evan clearly had chemistry from the get go. I loved their meet-cute and the love story that followed.

The expected miscommunication didn’t arise intense feelings of annoyance in me. I actually thought it worked perfectly. It made sense for the plot and gave both characters an opportunity to breathe and see what they wanted. Not to mention, gave such a cute coming together at the end. All smiles for me!

Overall audience notes: