Book Review: The Duke Is Mine by Eloisa James

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One thing I loved from the very beginning of this book is the tone. When I’m talking about the tone, I mean Olivia, our female lead—she’s so funny and hilarious. Every single thing she did, said, or noticed about what was happening in the book was funny from start to finish.

I absolutely love it when a female lead has character and a personality that shines, not necessarily in an “in-your-face” way, but more like a character that feels real, layered, complete, and dimensional. That’s exactly what our female lead is in this book.

I honestly do not know how, but this is the very first time I’m reading a book in this fairytale retelling series, which is a shame on me because I now know that this is one of the more popular ones. 

But I’ll gladly tell you right now that this is one of the finest pieces of writing I have ever seen, and I’m hooked. Not everyone can pull off humor, sarcasm, and that general cute and bubbly vibe without making their character seem like a total idiot, but I feel like Eloisa James does it perfectly here, and you’ll fall in love with all of them.

It’s been a while since I was able to read a book that’s anything more than 250 pages, but when I tell you that I devoured this entire book in a matter of hours, and right now I’m already so eager to get started on the rest of the books in the series because every character we were introduced to was so interesting and fleshed out that I was immediately interested enough to know their stories.

Olivia and her twin sister, Georgiana, have been raised from childhood to become future duchesses, primarily because her parents betrothed her, since she’s the older sister, to their acquaintance’s first son, Rupert. So, their life has been something they dubbed the “duchification program.”

Needless to say, she isn’t enthused about the fact that she’s been paraded like a horse for sale, but she’s more or less resigned to her fate, even though she can’t stand her future husband. Georgiana is much more docile and genuinely doesn’t aspire to anything more.

Everything comes to a head, though, when her fiancé goes abroad to participate in a war, and she, together with her sister, is invited to another Duke’s estate by the Duke’s mother to spend some time there, basically like a holiday retreat. The main purpose of this, though, is that her sister wants to marry the Duke.

You might have already guessed it, but yes, the Duke who ends up staying with them for some time is the male lead, Quin, and he is so different from her because, while she’s vivacious, bubbly, and always laughing and friendly, he’s much more reserved and calm. This simple fact that they are so opposite in every way was amazing to me.

Having read so many other books, I should probably have gotten tired of this trope, but the grumpy-sunshine trope is definitely my favorite of all time. I feel like that is the easiest way to sell a book yo me because I feel that there’s something fun and romantic about two people who are so different having their worlds collide and then falling in love unexpectedly.

Anyway, while they are at the estate, Quin’s mother decides that Georgiana is the best option for a bride for her son, because Quin’s first wife, who died, did a lot of things that messed with his psyche, and she wants to avoid that this time around, which is very understandable.

So, Olivia is ruled out almost immediately, and besides, everyone already knows about the pending engagement to the other Duke who went abroad. But somehow, she and Quin end up spending so much time together and find that they have aligned interests and simply enjoy each other’s company.

Now, if these plotlines sound a little familiar, then you’re probably thinking about The Viscount Who Loved Me—and honestly, this one and one other book I read (but I’ve forgotten the title right now) are the best books I’ve seen that have executed this trope to perfection. I don’t like sneaky leads, but very few books, where a girl falls in love with her sister’s boyfriend or sister’s intended husband (mostly historical books), have the romance come across as underdeveloped or fake.

In this one, though, we get to see from the very beginning, the immediate attraction to her. While that was kinda lust at first, it eventually developed into a kind of love where these two genuinely couldn’t stay without each other, and they decided to shun everyone else and chase their happiness. What I love most about it is that everyone was, more or less, supportive of their relationship.

This is a happily-ever-after, obviously, so I won’t give any spoilers about how the situation with her fiancé is resolved or how her sister’s growing feelings for the male lead are resolved, but rest assured, it’s not messy at all. Everything comes together so smoothly, and there’s no drama. It was simply perfect.

Something else I absolutely treasured about this beautiful book is the relationship between thr sisters, because, as I said earlier, there’s no drama about the happily-ever-after (or, let’s just say, there’s a little drama, but not drama that affects the relationship between the sisters or the OTP). The bond between them is amazing because I didn’t want anything like a third-act breakup. I love the way it all flowed smoothly.

Quin is a nerd in every sense of the word. So when he meets Olivia, she inspires passions in him that he hasn’t felt for a very long time. But the thing is, he can’t really trust this, just because, as I said earlier, he had a very bad experience with his ex-wife. So, while he is absolutely besotted, he tries to discourage himself from pursuing his feelings but ends up admitting that he absolutely won’t be able to do that.

The falling-in-love part is definitely my favorite. Having them sneak around and simply be in love, noticing these little things about each other, was the sweetest thing ever. Eloisa James really knows how to write the most beautiful romance books, and if you haven’t read anything in her backlist, then this is the sign you’ve been waiting for.

Just in case you are wondering why I love every single thing about this book and why I love the characters so much: Our female lead is a plus-size character, and I appreciate the fact that even though her size was brought up a few times, it wasn’t central to the story.

I feel like too often we have plus-size characters who are made wallflowers or other things, but I like the fact that she could stand up for herself no matter what happened, no matter what kind of person she faced—even the Duke’s mother—and it was just beautiful to read.

I recommend this book to anyone who loved the second season of Bridgerton or who read the book and wants something just like that. Anyone who likes a sweet historical romance book with a plus-size female lead, an amazing friendship between sisters, and the most swoon-worthy romance you will ever read—then this is the book for you.