The Duke and I
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
Published in 2000
**Ya’ll! Go watch this show on Netflix IMMEDIATELY after reading this book.
Main Couple: Daphne and Simon
The Story: Ah, a classic. Simon and Daphne pretend to fall in love in order to keep Simon unavailable for matchmaking mothers and to make Daphne desirable to the eligible men of the ton. The plan backfires due to their entirely real attraction to each other, but how do they make a marriage born of misdirection work?
The Sex: I mean, watching episode 6 of season 1 is better, but there’s plenty of passion in these pages. The deflowering of anyone is honestly always annoying to me, as it never is a smoothly done in real life as it is portrayed on the page. Also, there’s so little explained to her by Simon. How can you really consent if you aren’t being told what’s about to happen? The sex is also very vanilla. A little hand action by the participants, but more kissing then a pounding. Lucky girl, she seems to be able to orgasm from penetration.
Favorite Lines:
“Many a woman has been ruined by a single kiss.” chapter 10 | This one was a fun read. I found myself having a visceral reaction to it. I remembered all the kisses I’ve had that have changed me.
“A moan escaped her lips, strange and incoherent and full of desire.” chapter 15 | Does anyone else feel the need to moan after reading that?
“His fingers, which had removed her clothing with such finesse and speed, now felt awkward and clumsy as he tried to make sense of his own buttons and knots.” chapter 15 | I appreciated the nervous perspective of Simon, That no matter how experienced you are there are things can that make you nervous.
“Simon managed a returning smile, although how he didn’t know. He’d never before thought it possible to smile when one was about to expire from lack of oxygen. Sometimes he need to touch her was so great it hurt just to look at her.” chapter 16 | This was a moment from the calm before the storm. A glimpse into the relationship they were b building before all secrets were revealed. That was what made me root for them as a couple.
Least Favorite Lines: In general, I’m so disappointed by the character of Lady Whistledown. She is such a clever, important character in the show. I wasn’t impressed by the chapter intros from her.
Final Thoughts: I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW DIFFERENT THIS WAS FROM THE SHOW! Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest I can talk about the book…Nah! The added racial narrative in the show adds so much more depth to the characters. There’s also more drama, more urgency in the show than in this book. If you have already seen the show, expect some timeline discrepancies and basic fact changes. One of the changes I enjoyed deeply in the book was the immediate attraction that Daphne and Simon had for each other. They meet under unusual circumstances, not knowing who the other was, and engage in a highly inappropriate flirtation. Once their identities are revealed, they have to fight that initial attraction. It makes their farce of a courtship that much more enjoyable to watch unfold. The writing of this book also had the quick switches of perspective, but I found them easy to follow. My biggest challenge with this book is the trope that men will change if you love them HARD enough. I have many feelings about the cultural teachings that a man will change for the love of a good woman. It propagates the expectation that it’s all on the woman if he DOESN’T change: she’s not good enough, she didn’t give him enough love, she hasn’t been patient enough, she needs to stay with a terrible man in order to help him change, or that a woman should hold out hope that a terrible man CAN change. Not that Simon’s terrible, but for the most part, when a man says he doesn’t want a relationship nothing short of a threat of death will work, and duels aren’t a thing anymore. AND I am not a fan of her trying to trap him into having kids when he said he didn’t want them. Not. Cool.
Spice Level: 2/5
Kinks Explored: None
Voices Heard: All white
Did I like it? Go watch the show.