The Duke and I by Julia Quinn,

Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has hatched a plan to keep himself free from the town's marriage-minded society mothers. He pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. After all, it isn't as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marry -- though there is something about the alluring Miss Bridgerton that sets Simon's heart beating a bit faster. And as for Daphne, surely the clever debutante will attract some very worthy suitors now that is seems a duke has declared her desirable. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, she soon forgets that their courtship is a complete sham. And now she has to do the impossible and keep herself from losing her heart and soul completely to the handsome hell-raiser who has sworn off marriage forever!

The Duke and I is the first book in Quinn’s 8 book Bridgerton series. I liked the courtship portion of this book quite a bit. The characters were smart, likeable and had a lot of chemistry. But it seems like, no matter how much I like Julia Quinn’s writing, I can’t get through one of her books without something irritating the hell out of me. After Daphne and Simon are married, the book is filled with Dark Secrets and Big Misunderstandings all of which could easily be solved with a rational conversation. There’s nothing like DS’s and BM’s to make otherwise smart characters look unbelievable stupid. Oh well, despite the annoying second half of the book I’m still glad I read it. I liked the Bridgerton family enough to look forward to each of their stories.

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