A Historical Regency Romance Book - A Damsel for the Mysterious Duke

I enjoyed this book. Although a bit dragging at times with needless descriptions of events. The plot keep me reading to see the results of all characters searching for the truth for the Duke's past. I did rather enjoy the outcome. I do read all that this author has written. Not one of my favorites by her.
I was given this book free for an honest review.

A well-written and compelling book! This is a sweet romance with a story of finding ones roots. I loved the strong female protagonist!
I received this book as a free ARC copy, but this is my own honest review.

Bridget writes another pages turner! This is a great love story of 2 childhood friends that has a wonderful component of some mystery involved. No spoilers in my review... read it to find out what happens!

I enjoyed this book. Although a bit dragging at times with needless descriptions of events. The plot keep me reading to see the results of all characters searching for the truth for the Duke's past. I did rather enjoy the outcome. I do read all that this author has written. Not one of my favorites by her.
I was given this book free for an honest review.

A well-written and compelling book! This is a sweet romance with a story of finding ones roots. I loved the strong female protagonist!
I received this book as a free ARC copy, but this is my own honest review.

A lovely book that has the guaranteed happy ending although I would of liked a better conclusion to some characters. I definitely recommend this book and you will want to read the book in one sitting!

What a wonderful story of friendship and devotion. The young servant whose friendship with the lonely girl of the manor blossoms into a story of love and redemption is a really heartwarming tale. Georgina a lovely caring girl who has a big heart and kindness to all never forgets her friend of childhood. A very engaging tale of evil women controlling others destinies however they cannot stop Georgina. A very happy ever after tale! Thanks Ms. Ayles! I was able to review this book as part of the ARC team, what a great gig I got!!

Georgina is determined to find out the origins of her best friend growing up Sammy White who mysteriously disappeared one night when she was nine and he was eleven. What she finds are two extraordinarily evil women that tore apart young Sammy's life without a second thought. One of the women being her now deceased grandmother Elizabeth. Georgina will do everything in her power to help her old friend who is no longer the sweet servant boy that was her best friend but a handsome young Duke of Calder.

Some people are unable to show love; how sad their lives must be.
Georgina Jefferies was convalescing in her cousins home & enjoying being around another young girl. Duke Calder, Emerson Lockhart, was a man of secrets. They had met 10 yrs prior, but were unable to act on this friendship for fear of discovery. He wanted to discover his origins & navigate romance.

Hold love dear, be grateful everyday for love you have & never grow tired of expressing it.

A Damsel for the Mysterious Duke is a "Magnificent" story. Storytelling at its best. I love the two main characters Emerson Lockhart, Duke of Calder aka Sammy White child servant and his childhood best friend Georgina Jefferies. Sammy was placed in Georgie's family home as a infant. His origins where unknown. One night Sammy at age 11 is taken from his servitude and begins his training as the son and heir of the Duke of Calder. Sammy is never sure of who he is and when his father dies he becomes the new Duke. Georgina has been ill for months with a lung illness. As part of her recovery she is sent to live with her fathers cousin and his family. Georgie becomes very close friend with her cousin Fleur. At a garden party they are introduced to the new Duke of Calder. Georgie feels like she knows him from somewhere, but she has never met any titled lord before let alone a Duke. After several meetings Emerson accidently calls Georgina, Georgia and she immediately remember her long lost friend Sammy.

The two embark on a journey to find out who Emerson really is. There friendship and loves blossoms on there journey of discovery. Let Me Say this is Very Clean Read!! There is absolutely No sex at all just one little kiss, so this is Not even a Sensual story. With that said this was still very well written and crafted story. Sadness, a tear jerker at times, but enough happy moments to counter balance the sadness. The villains of this story are just pure evil. Two women bent on destruction of anyone they can hurt. They loved chaos and destructions.

I truly loved this amazing story!!

That was such a beautiful yet heartbreaking tale!

I cannot express how much I love and appreciate Bridget Barton for taking the time and effort to write such a wonderful book!

We meet Georgina Jeffries, a young lady who has been living with her cousins since she has gotten better from an illness that took months to heal. She is spending much of her time with her cousins Fleur and Jeremy and really enjoys their company. But things begin to change for her when she meets the new Duke of Calder, Emerson Lockhart. She obviously has never seen him before, but she can't help but feel like they have an old connection.

Emerson Lockhart has lived in a lie, he doesn't really know if he is a Duke or not. But he makes sure that the world never knows that, but meeting new old childhood friend Georgie once again brings back his past. But he is determined not let Georgie find out who he really is.

But as fate decided she find out what happened to her only friend, a servant boy from her household who disappeared 10 years ago and never returned. But the Duke is conflicted about his past. He worries he is an imposter and isn't the son of a Duke, so Georgie decides that she will help him find out his origins and how he came to be a Duke.

But the more they search and dig, the more they realise how evil, conflicted and terrible his history is. Involving both her family and his in the separation of his identity and family. The more we read, the more we begin to strongly dislike some characters and feel sympathy and compassion for others.
I applaud Barton for creating such a heartfelt novel, the more the characters uncover of his origins the more drawn we are to his story and what happened to him

Love is questioned throughout, family and romantic love. Is it worth living for? Is it a trick, an illusion or is it worth dying for?
In this novel we find out that there are many who think that love is useless and cruel and not worth living for, while there are others who do not think so.

The more I read, the more I wanted to know why things happened the way it did. It was quiet beautiful, so well written and the pace was set perfectly, truly a remarkable story, and unforgettable journey for these characters.
The story felt so real. Even if I despised some characters, they were made perfect in their role.

I am so glad by the way things turned out, because in reality, life is hard. It's not all glamourous and picture perfect as some books describe it.
Life is about finding out who you are, making mistakes, learning from them, being resentful, regretful, angry and bitter, but also learning to redeem yourself, forgive yourself and learning to love yourself and that is what some of the characters did.
Especially the bonus epilogue that was included on her website. That was truly well written, beautiful and inspiring in every way.

Ms Barton, you have undoubtfully earned my respect and admiration. I cannot wait to read more of your works. You are an amazing and talented author, keep doing what you do!

Received a copy from the author herself in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

Sammy and Georgina....Sammy White was a servant in Georgina’s home and they became the best of friends as children despite their difference in status. Then at 11 years old, he disappeared and she wondered about him all through her growing years. She was sent by her parents from 2 months of illness to recuperate at her uncle’s house near the sea. Here, she meets the young Duke who turned up to be her friend Sammy but now has a different name and elevated status. The story evolves in how they solve the mystery of his life and its existence, their love for each other and the lives of their grandparents who had a history themselves entertwining with the Duke. I loved it especially the extended epilogue.

The premise is interesting, but the execution of the plot defied belief in so many ways. I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll just say that several of the characters had very inconsistent personality characteristics, and behaved in ways that didn't make sense. However, for some reason I just can't put down Barton's books once I start reading. I'm not sure why that it is. I find the dialogue to be insipid, the prose awkward, and the plots filled with holes, but the characters capture me and I have to know how it all ends. If I figure out why, I'll let you know.