Book Review: The Lost Duke of Wyndham and Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn

This is the first book in Julia Quinn's series "The Two Dukes of Wyndham."

This was a boring book. I read the second book in this series first and Mr. Cavendish, I Presume was much more interesting and enjoyable.

Here we have Grace, a companion to the dowager duchess, the poor 2 dukes' grandmother. Jack, a highwayman, holds up Grace and the dowager's coach, but the dowager recognizes Jack as being a Cavendish. She then kidnaps him and forces him to stay to prove that he is the actual duke, being that his late father was the elder brother to Thomas' father. The potential was there, but Ms. Quinn fell short. I liked how we got to see Grace, and Jack interact, but there wasn't a lot of opportunity for that, since Grace was with the duchess all the time. By the way, that woman had zero redeeming factors. At all. She was a rude, awful woman, and I have no idea why Julia Quinn would create such an unlikeable character who isn't a villain?

The ending was nice for Jack and Grace but it felt hollow. While Julia Quinn made her characters happy in the end, none of it seemed fitting to either of the men's personalities.
Thomas was raised to be the Duke of Wyndham. He did an excellent job, his people were happy and thriving. He is blind-sided with the news that he has a cousin who is actually duke.
Jack doesn't want to be duke. And yet it's being crammed down his throat. He falls for Grace, but she is now "beneath" him.
In the end, both "dukes" are supposedly happy, and yet, it doesn't seem to do these men justice.
I read a review that said these 2 books The Lost Duke of Wyndham and Mr. Cavendish, I Presume should have been one book. I agree. It would have saved the readers all of the annoying repetition and re-hashing and exact same conversations.
I thought this book merely "okay" while the second book I liked very much...all except the ending of course.
So I would just read the second book and be done with it. However, if you're a huge Julia Quinn fan and want to read both, read them in order, you'll like Jack better.
2 stars



In this book, we see the exact same story, but from Thomas and Amelia's perspectives. I have to say that the beginning of this book is absolutely wonderful! Wyndham (Thomas Cavendish, the duke of Wyndham) has been betrothed to Lady Amelia since she was an infant, and he about 6 years old. He puts off marrying her, however, and Amelia is getting annoyed with it. At balls he is polite, asks her to dance, then continues on as if his duty is done. Well, at 21, Amelia is tired of being so "perfect" around him all the time. So when Thomas asks her to dance, she says *gasp* "No." It intrigues Thomas and he suddenly decides he actually likes his betrothed. Unfortunately Grace and his grandmother are accosted by highwaymen that night, and everyone's lives change forever. Enter Jack. Now he's a likeable and respectable rogue, who turns out to be Thomas' elder cousin. Thomas is worried that along with the dukedom, Jack might inherit his bride. Just when he finally decides to claim Amelia, Jack might be the duke of Wyndham.
This book was so much better, and the characters were so much fun together. My only complaint about this book was the ending. Again, I feel cheated and that the ending was unjust and unfair. Even though Julia Quinn gave everyone a happy ending, it wasn't very satisfactory to me.
4 stars