When the Duke Found Love, the last in Isabella Bradford’s Wylder Sister trilogy, brings readers the story of Lady Diana, the youngest sister. Her head is easily turned by a handsome man and she’s on the path to ruin if she continues as she has, so her family decides to marry her to a respectable gentleman. They arrange for her to wed Lord Crump, but unfortunately she finds him boring and uninteresting. Nothing like the handsome and charming stranger she met in the park. The Duke of Sheffield is called back from France after an indiscretion with a married lady angers both their kings. To help redeem his reputation, he’s ordered to marry an upstanding lady from a good family. But his chance meeting in the park with Lady Diana will force them to choose between duty and love.
I haven’t read the other books in the series so I’m not sure if that would change my opinion, but I didn’t like Lady Diana. She does know how to have fun and she doesn’t care much about proprieties, which I found charming, but not so much the way she reacts to situations. The majority of her problems are caused by the fact that she’s impulsive and acts before she thinks. Sure, that’s supposed to be her appeal for Sheffield, but not so much for me. And it didn’t seem like there were any consequences to her choices.
Sheffield was the best part of the book for me. He’s an unrepentant rake (most historical romance heroes are, only to be redeemed by love), but he takes his responsibilities seriously. He meets with his man of affairs as soon as he returns from France and he makes sure that his properties and staff are taken care of when he’s away. It’s just in his private life that he is a little more lax. He’s only in his mid-20s which, for a man, is still young and he is expected to be carefree. He’s charming, fun, and loves his family, including his ugly but adorable dog.
I like the idea of the plot – two people on the edge of ruin who are set to marry other people but fall in love – but I just couldn’t go for Lady Diana. Sheffield’s appeal, though, kept me reading until the end. When the Duke Found Love is well-written and has a fantastic hero, so if you like historical romances give it a shot. You might like Lady Diana more than I did.