Monday, June 7, 2010

The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen


I received a review copy of this novel from Sourcebooks. This in no way affected my opinions.

The first book in a new series from Shana Galen and it was marvelous!

I was enraptured from the first page: 1789, French aristocrats fleeing from their home that has been set on fire.

Julien Harcourt, Duc de Valère was 13 years old when he escaped with his mother to England. His father was sent to the guillotine and his twin brothers thought dead. In the year 1801, Julien is 25 and has received word from a former servant that his brother Armand is still alive and plans immediately to to head to France to find him, risking his own life if caught.

Sarah Smith, an orphaned governess is summoned by her employer to work as a spy in the household of a former French aristocrat who is believed to be a traitor. She has two days to become Serafina, the daughter of French aristocrats who had mysteriously disappeared years before. Julien's mother is planning a match between Serafina and her son.

Once Sarah is embedded in the Harcourt household, she knows she's way over her head, but her employer has threatened to throw her out on the street if she didn't comply. She has no idea what she is doing, but begins to search for anything that can prove that the Duc is a traitor so she can get out and back to her charges, but she soon finds herself in the midst of an adventure she's not sure she wants to be in. However, it soon leads to finding out who she really is and finding out what is in the depths of her heart.

The Making of a Duchess was a fast read for me; I could not put it down. It has just the right amount of romance mixed with face-paced adventure that makes you hold your breath. I eagerly await the next book in the series!

Read an excerpt.

4 comments:

Joanne said...

Sounds like a great read, with just the right balance of adventure and romance. Thanks for the review!

Keri said...

Sounds like a very interesting read. The only thing that I'm confused about is when you said "his twin brothers thought dead." Does that mean that he has two brothers who are twins who are both thought to be dead or did you mean that he has a twin brother called Armand or was thought to be dead?

Christy B said...

Keri, he has brothers who are twins and it's assumed that they're both dead. Armand is one of the twins.

Marg said...

I am reading this at the moment, and it seems to be taking forever. It isn't quite working as well for me as it appears to have for you. I love the idea of Julien, but I am not so keen on Sarah.