While the Duke Was Sleeping by Sophie JordanWhile the Duke Was Sleeping by Sophie Jordan
Series: The Rogue Files #1
Published by Avon on October 25, 2016
Genres: Regency Romance
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
Source: Advance Reader Copy
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three-stars

Sometimes the man of your dreams . . .

Shop girl Poppy Fairchurch knows it’s pointless fantasizing about the Duke of Autenberry. Still, dreams can’t hurt anyone . . . unlike the carriage Poppy spies bearing down upon the unsuspecting duke. After she pulls him to safety, the duke lapses into a coma and Poppy is mistaken for his fiancée. But one person isn’t fooled: his arrogant and much too handsome half-brother, Struan Mackenzie. Soon Poppy isn’t sure what she wants more . . . the fantasy of her duke or the reality of one smoldering Scot who challenges her at every turn.

. . . is not who you think.

An illegitimate second son, Struan may have built an empire and established himself as one of the wealthiest men in Britain, but he knows he will always be an outsider among the ton. Just like he knows the infuriating Poppy is a liar. There’s no way the haughty Duke of Autenberry would deign to wed a working class girl. It doesn’t matter how charming she is. Or tempting. Or how much Struan wants her for himself.

While You Were Sleeping but with a duke and a Scotsman? Did she reach inside my brain to find all of my favorite things? Oh boy! This is my catnip! Going into this, I was thrilled!

The hero, Struan Mackenzie appeared in All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue, but you don’t need to have read that one, this can stand on its own.

The heroine, Poppy is a shopgirl. Twice a week, the Duke of Autenberry stops into the florist shop where she works, and buys flowers. He’s beautiful, polite, and asks about Poppy when he sees her. Of course, Poppy is in love.

I wanted to love this book so much! And I did love the first half. I mean love. But if you’re going to reboot While You Were Sleeping, you need to understand why it worked so well.

You need show all the family as more than a quick whirlwind who blows in and sweeps you off your feet. You need to show the scene where Joe Jr. leans, and you definitely need to show your main characters falling in love. There was so much banter and sexual tension, and then…that’s all there was. There was very little romance and love, but a whole lot of sniping at each other and kissing, then regretting it. The ending was so ridiculously rushed that I kept swiping back and forth between pages to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.

That’s not to say this wasn’t a fun book! I really liked it. But I think it’s missing some core parts. I didn’t feel that Struan and Poppy loved each other. I felt that they lusted after each other and bickered. Sophie Jordan is talented enough that she could have pulled this off. I’m disappointed it wasn’t a five star book for me.

***ARC courtesy of the Avon Addicts program

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three-stars