Every Duke Has His Day

Every Duke Has His Day
Suzanne Enoch
320 pages
Griffin

From Goodreads: Michael Blumley, Duke of Loriton (age 28), is viewed as an eccentric by his peers in the ton. He does his duty, of course, but his interest—and talent—lies in the science of electricity. He has no interest in what the frivolities of Society. When his favorite aunt, Mary, Lady Harris, leaves her precious, well-behaved black poodle, Lancelot in his care while she travels his life takes an interesting turn.

Elizabeth “Bitsy” Dockering (age 19), third daughter of a viscount, is enjoying her second Season in London. She is a Diamond of the Season and is adored by all—and especially by her precious black poodle, Galahad. To everyone else, however, Galahad is a demon dog. So much so that Peter Cordray, one of Bitsy’s most insistent beaux and a particular victim of Galahad’s bad manners and sharp teeth, has hired a petty thief (Jimmy Bly) to steal the dog, clearing the way for his suit.

When the two dogs and their “people” meet in the park, chaos ensues and unknowingly results in a dog swap. Which means Lancelot is kidnapped instead of Galahad! But when both dogs go missing in an ever thickening dognapping plot, Michael and Elizabeth end up coming together to scour London, recover Lancelot and Galahad all while falling in love.

What a charming novel! I do love a good Regency romance occasionally, though sometimes they tend to blend together after a while. Every Duke Gets His Day is a traditional, no-spice regency romance but it was so different than others I've read recently! While it follows a grumpy-sunshine trope, one I don't personally read often, the characters were so distinctively different in other ways. Aside from their age difference (practically ten years), they couldn't be more different in personality. Bitsy is sunshine-y all the time and brings joy to any event she attends, but Michael does come off grumpy and gruff since he considers any and all social graces a waste of time and would rather hide away in his lab than go to a ball. It was great to see them learn from each other as the book went on.

What really sets this novel apart, however, is the presence of dogs. Were they very popular pets in Regency England? I have no idea but I wouldn't have thought so based on their lack of existence in every other Regency romance I've come across. One time a heroine had a little kitten, but that's the extent to which I've seen pets in this genre. Meanwhile, the people of the ton in this book have so many dogs that it's a lucrative career for people to steal them and offer them back at ransom. Bitsy herself had been subjected to the crime before the book began, and then again after the book started. Several of her friends have been victims of dog-nappings as well! I'd better do a little research on the subject.

The longer the couple spends time with each other in the book, the more charming it becomes. Normally a little spice helps carry the plot, but I think there were only two kisses in the whole book and the plot did not suffer. Instead, I found myself reading far past my bedtime and regretting it the next day. Dang it, adult responsibilities. This book was four stars for me and I highly recommend it to romance lovers, particularly those who also love dogs. 

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. As always, opinions are my own.

 

Nine Lives and Alibis

Nine Lives and Alibis
Cate Conte
336 pages
Minotaur Books

From Goodreads: It’s October in Daybreak Harbor, which means everything Halloween. The town is going all out for the holiday, hoping to one-up the festivities in neighboring Salem, Massachusetts, and Maddie James is delighted to be part of the planning for the annual happenings.

But trouble brews when Maddie’s youngest sister, Sam, books a famous medium, Balfour Dempsey, to come to town for the celebrations and stay in the local haunted inn―along with his equally famous black cat. The town busybody books a secret reading with Balfour and doesn’t want anyone to know why. Maddie’s best friend Becky is hell-bent on getting Balfour to help her solve two 40-year-old mysteries―a murder and a missing maid. And the psychic has a stalker who’s followed him here to the island, demanding he connect with her dead husband.

When Balfour is pushed off the cliffs behind the inn to his death and his beloved cat goes missing, it throws the whole town into a frenzy. And Maddie and her family find themselves in the middle of a murder mystery straight out of a Halloween movie.

I adore this series because I love the idea of a cat cafe.  I went to one once when visiting Hawaii and I had a blast; I wish there was one around where I live so I could go as often as I wanted. There are so many kitties in this book, from JJ himself to all the shelter cats taking part in a Halloween costume contest, and the famous Balfour Jr.! Of course, the owner of the cat cafe in Daybreak Harbor, Maddie, always has something big on her plate, including helping orchestrate a Halloween festival and solving a murder, once again. 

This edition of the series seemed a little different to me from the others. Nine Lives and Alibis was a quick and enthralling read, although it required quite a bit of set-up and the killer didn't strike until halfway through, but then as it turns out there are two murders solved in one! I liked how so much of the town was involved in this case, most finding out little bits of information that could be put together. Particularly interesting to me, the police accepted Maddie's help without much of a protest. In some, if not most, cozy series law enforcement is usually pretty strict with whom they share information and like to insist that they are in charge and the cozy heroine should just butt out. But, Maddie must have solved enough murders now for the police to accept her help. 

Three stars! This was a quick, fun Halloween-themed read any cat lover would enjoy. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying a copy of this book. As always, my opinions are my own.