Review of When You Wish Upon a Duke by Isabella Bradford

Title/Author: When You Wish Upon a Duke (Wylder Sisters #1) by Isabella Bradford
Publisher/Date published: Ballantine Books, July 31st 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: "Raised in the Dorset countryside, Lady Charlotte Wylder doesn’t care one bit about well-bred decorum. The dark-haired, blue-eyed beauty would rather ride a horse than attend a stuffy ball. So when Charlotte learns that she is to leave immediately for London to wed the Duke of Marchbourne, a perfect model of aristocratic propriety, she is less than enchanted with her arranged marriage.
But to her delight, their first encounters are brazenly flirtatious, and their wedding night burns with passion. March’s broad shoulders and dark countenance make Charlotte want to rip every button off his waistcoast. She may even be falling in love with her new husband. Yet whenever their desire boils over, March reluctantly pushes Charlotte away. Will past secrets and present misunderstandings mire their marriage in scandal, or serve to strengthen a bond that is destined to last a lifetime?"

I'm a bit conflicted about this book.

It starts with Charlotte, a tree-climbing heroine, who doesn't know of her arranged marriage until the day a solicitor comes to fetch her to London for this purpose. At this I wanted to say: BAD PARENTING. I mean, seriously, she'd been betrothed from birth, you'd think that in the 18 years following they'd have a moment where they sat her down and explained to her what was expected of her when she'd come of age. But perhaps that's just me.

Anyway, this had me expecting all kinds of excitement and angst and getting to know each other and falling and love. And some of it happened, some of it didn't and some of it was slightly weird.

I liked Charlotte, even though she was 18, which is slightly younger than most historical romance heroines, she knew what she wanted and knew to fight for it. Also, I loved the relationship with her sisters we get a glimpse of at the beginning.
The Duke of Marchbourne was just.. awkward. He didn't have a lot of social skills and doesn't really know how to deal with women, specifically his wife. I just wanted to shake him at times!

Their first meeting was awkward and cute and the kissing was hot! But the sexytimes weren't all that sexy to me... And really, I could get how things could happen like they did, cause people didn't really communicate and the crazy ideas March and Charlotte's aunt had were probably valid for the time, but seriously, if your wife is crying AFTER, you're not doing it right. Also, if she's not crying AFTER other times, you're doing it right (or at least better). Not the other way around, THIS WAS SO FRUSTRATING!

I kinda thought that they fell in love a little too quickly. I mean, I get the attraction and all, but it was just really fast! And they were so at odds with each other and not understanding each other, it didn't seem like a solid enough base to go to love.

Even though it wasn't my favourite read, I didn't once consider DNF-ing it. Isabella Bradford writes an engaging story and while it did made me roll my eyes at some things, I was still entertained. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author and continue with the stories of Charlotte's sisters!

My rating: 3 stars