The heroine of this book was too stupid to be alive - people keep repeating that she has no brain, and that's true: no brain, no logic, no common sense. You can enjoy this book only if you treat it as a crazy comedy. For me it was fun, four stars. ( )

The gently-raised heroine has so little idea of how a young woman of quality is supposed to behave that she's far past being an "unlikely duchess" and well into "unbelievable duchess". Her behaviour is beyond the pale, shamelessly impulsive from beginning to end of the story. It could be a less startling tale if it was more plausible that the hero would not be appalled and repelled by her heedlessness. Or her predilection for throwing things.

The denouement is amusing and satisfactory, though, seeming to bring off the happy ending after all. ( )

An Unlikely Duchess by Mary Balogh was a fun story about a ditzy young lady who runs away from meeting her intended only to find herself in a much more precarious situation with a lowlife who plans on ruining her reputation and getting her father pay him to marry her. Of course she is rescued in the nick of time by the hero, and they embark on a madcap romp across the countryside chasing the villain in order to retrieve her jewels, she never realizing that her hero is in fact the intended that she originally ran away from.

I really liked the hero of the book, the Duke of Mitford was a down-to-earth fellow, neither handsome or rugged, but instead could only be described as “nice”. He gets involved with this silly young lady and is soon having amusing adventures but all the while he behaves in a gallant, manly manner. The heroine, Josephine was at first charming but as the book progressed I found she got on my nerves with her increasingly silly behavior.

While the book did amuse me, I did find it became somewhat tedious as it went on. Eventually just about all of Josephine’s family is out criss-crossing the country in their carriages yet continually missing each other. I did find the secondary romance between Josephine’s sister, Susanna, and the Duke’s friend, Thomas quite heart-warming and I did love the ending of the story when all was revealed. ( )

Why is it that when I think I have read (or at least know about) all of Mary Baloghs books...a new one pops up?

This is a fun story about a proper young man who wants to have a last fling before he goes to propose to the woman who will become his duchess. Traveling incognito, he runs into a woman who is fleeing an unwanted proposed marriage - with himself.
There are mistaken identities, stolen jewels, and lots of adventures before the two realize they don't want to run from each other but toward a happy marriage. It's a good read with a great cast of characters. ( )