On this episode we explore the fourth book in The Wildes of Lindow Castle series, Say No to the Duke, by Eloisa James. This is Boadicea "Betsy"'s story. She is the oldest daughter of the Wilde clan at the end of a successful debut season. At 18 she is pretty sure of what she wants in a husband - think staid, passionless, etc. Nothing that would tempt her to stray and give in to her scandalous genes inherited from her mother. Although, if she was married to someone she didn't have much passion or affection for, wouldn't that make her more likely to stray? There seems to be some holes in her logic.
Enter the (secret) man of her dreams - no not the Viscount, Thaddeus, who is an heir to a dukedom. But remember how the book is called Say No to the Duke? Seems misleading because he isn't the duke yet so shouldn't the title be Say No to the Duke's Heir?? Doesn't really roll off the tongue but it is more accurate. Her secret crush is Jeremy, a friend of her brothers Parth and North. He sees through the perfect façade she has created for the benefit of all Society and her suitors and understands her and knows who the real Betsy is - or Queen Bess as he likes to call her. But she fears the passion she feels for him so pretends they are just frenemies.
The most poignant part of this love story is that Betsy prayed all her young life to find a friend, someone to share all her secrets with. And she ended up finding her best friend - just not in the way she expected. I am a sucker for a good friends to lovers story and this one does not disappoint.
If you, like us, are having a hard time keeping all these siblings straight in your head and what order/rank they hold in the family - check out the Wilde family tree on Eloisa James' website. It definitely comes in handy.
Our snarky sisters don't have a lot of snark for this book - we loved it! Of course, Beth hated the poor choice of the heroine to have sexual relations before marriage, not because she is a prude, just because it was SO risky for women in this time period to end up unmarried with a bun in the oven. So logically, doesn't feel like a smart choice.
Amy is not a fan of adding melodrama for the sake of melodrama. . . especially when you only add it to like the last two chapters and it feels rushed. The last two chapters ALMOST ruined the whole book. In fact that is the only reason this book received a 4/5 instead of 5/5 star rating.
