TBR Challenge: ‘CLAIMING THE DUCHESS’, by Sherry Thomas

2016. Another year. But I follow the same TBR Challenge as I did last year. It was quite difficult but I did it. I'm going to try to do it again this year. And, apart from that, I have also taken a second challenge -Out of This World, for romantic Sci Fi, isn't it great?

I start with this Short and sweet story.

I read this in my Kindle

The topic of this month is We Love Short Shorts! (category romance, short stories, novella etc.)

Published: 2014

Genre: Historical

My Rating: 3 stars

Part of a series: Fitzhugh #0.5

In January the topic is a short story, novellas, category romances and the like. So I looked for something like that in my kindle, and there it was, ‘Claiming the Duchess’, written by Sherry Thomas.

It was in my TBR pile because, well Sherry Thomas is one of my favourite authors and I’m trying to read all her books.

The story is told from the main character’s point of view. I don’t mean to say that it’s a first person narrative, but that the story is told from what Clarissa thinks and feels and expects. What the man in the story thinks is a mystery.

At the beginning, we see a not very happy married lady, Clarissa, who suddenly feels a strong attraction to a man that comes to her house as a guest. But being a married woman, she does not do anything. Then her husband dies and she goes through two years of mourning. She keeps on thinking about the quiet Mr. James Kingston.

So she organizes a party in her house, with several gentlemen and ladies. And among them, there he is, Mr. Kingston himself. Will she be able to express her interest? Will she discover what he really feels?

In those years, she has had a friend, a Miss Julia Kirkland, whom Clarissa has never met even if they have had a very intense correspondence. She has also invited her to her home. There’s a mystery –although not a very surprising one- with this character.

This is a very short story, but told in a charming and sweet style. The feelings are intense, but they keep them inside themselves. A very good novella. In the romance genre, I always find that this format is a tricky one, because you have to provide a believable happy ending, and it looks like it’s not long enough to create a strong relationship. That’s why –I think- the format works best when the characters knew each other beforehand. In this case, both Clarissa and Mr. Kingston have known each other for four years, time enough to develop strong feelings.

If you haven’t read anything by this author, it gives you a glimpse of her style, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a first Sherry Thomas, because she’s written greater things. My favourite? Not quite a husband.

It’s very short, so I recommend to have it for free. I think you still can read it in PDF format in Sherry Thomas’ web page.