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Summary
Summary
In the first novel of Maya Rodale's enthralling new series, an English duke vows to make an American seamstress his duchess...
In Gilded Age Manhattan, anything can happen...
Seeking a wealthy American bride who can save his family's estate, Brandon Fiennes, the duke of Kingston, is a rogue determined to do the right thing. But his search for an heiress goes deliciously awry when an enchanting seamstress tumbles into his arms instead.
...and true love is always in fashion
Miss Adeline Black aspires to be a fashionable dressmaker--not a duchess--and not even an impossibly seductive duke will distract her. But Kingston makes an offer she can't refuse: join him at society events to display her gowns and advise him on which heiresses are duchess material. It's the perfect plan--as long as they resist temptation, avoid a scandal, and above all do not lose their hearts.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Rodale (It's Hard Out Here for a Duke) charms with this captivating historical, the story of an impoverished English duke who sets out to marry an American "dollar princess" and a genteel dressmaker who prizes her independence above all. The Duke of Kingston would prefer to marry for love, but he's got dowries to fund and a mother whose fashion spending rivals a small country's GDP. He hopes for both love and money when he meets Adeline Black, whom he erroneously believes to be heiress Harriet Burnett, in the lobby of New York's most fashionable hotel. Once his misapprehension is corrected, Kingston cuts a swath through Manhattan's most eligible-but he can't forget Adeline. After a group of subversive suffragettes sets up Adeline with her own shop, she believes she has it all-but Kingston reminds her that she doesn't have love. Sparkling characters, able plotting, and joie de vivre make the first in Rodale's Gilded Age Girls Club an utterly enjoyable standout. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
The Duke of Kingston has crossed the pond to wed a wealthy heiress, a quest complicated when he meets a talented, ambitious seamstress he mistakes for a potential wife.On the way to a fitting with an heiress at a Fifth Avenue hotel, seamstress Adeline Black literally runs into the Duke of Kingston in the lobby. The duke has come to America to find a rich wife and immediately been deemed the most eligible bachelor in New York. Adeline reads the papers and realizes that the handsome Englishman is the celebrated duke, and while they shared an instant attraction and a brief flirtation, he is completely out of her league. Kingston, meanwhile, misinterprets the fact that she's in the hotel to mean she's from the upper class. When he pursues her, he inadvertently gets her fired, which is at first devastating but ultimately leads her back to the heiress client who, along with a group of forward-thinking society women, backs her in establishing her own dressmaker's shop, rewarding Adeline's talent, vision, and courage to express her dreams. Her designs quickly become the talk of the town, as does the duke's interest, though they both know he must marry wealth. The relationship remains platonic but still tarnishes her reputation, since society considers her a threat and her former employer is resentful of her success. Just as Kingston resolves to marry the woman he loves, thanks in huge part to Adeline's penchant for challenging his worldview, Adeline's integrity and devotion to the women who now work for her may jeopardize their chance for happiness. In the end, Adeline's originally weary reproach of "Change the world, Duke" becomes both an aspiration and a rallying cry for the remarkable couple.Rodale's Gilded Age-set series launch is a smart, bright love story that perfectly balances messages of female empowerment and social potential with romantic tensions created by class and gender dichotomies ripe for revolution. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Adeline Black has a passion for fashion that is not being fulfilled working as a seamstress for Madame Chalfont, and fully believes that her upcoming fitting session with Miss Harriet Burnett will finally provide her with the opportunity to showcase her sartorial skills to the world at large. But Adeline's couture career plan hits an unexpected snag when she bumps into Brandon Alexander Fiennes, Duke of Kingston, whose search for an heiress to wed has brought him to New York City. Agreeing to show Kingston around and steer him toward suitably wealthy and matrimonially minded ladies while she's dressed in her own designs would certainly provide Adeline with plenty of free advertising, but can she trust Kingston when he says he can't afford to fall in love with her? With an almost Wodehousian flair for words, perfectly placed wit, endlessly amusing characters, and a vividly evoked 1890s New York City setting, Rodale launches her new Gilded Age Girls Club series on a spectacularly high note.--John Charles Copyright 2018 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Miss Adeline Black may not be your everyday Gilded Age girl. After living through her mother's three disastrous marriages, Adeline is determined she will not be shackled by that union. She is a skilled, forward-thinking dressmaker and thinks women's fashion needs updating-women need pockets. But then Adeline meets the Duke of Kingston. The duke has inherited his title and responsibilities from a father who spent too much time on women other than his wife and not enough time caring for his estate. The duke's mother and sisters have spent fortunes on clothing, starving for attention from his loveless father. With these debts outstanding and the dukedom in total disarray, Brandon has but one choice-cross the pond to find himself a dollar princess, an American heiress looking for a British title. Adeline and Brandon are each seeking something else but somehow find each other. VERDICT An inspiring look into a time when being a female change agent came at significant personal sacrifice. Some purists might balk at the romance taking a backseat to the history and at the presence of anachronisms (although some are explained through the author's note). Still, highly recommended; readers will eagerly look forward to the continuation of the series. [Previewed in Kathryn Howe's "Love Changes Everything," LJ 10/15/18.]-Heather Lisa Maneiro, SILS, Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
