ANYTHING BUT A DUKE – Christy Carlyle
The Duke's Den , Book 2
Avon Books
ISBN: 978-0-06-285397-4
April 30, 2019
Historical Romance

London, 1845 and 46 

This begins the tale of a strong willed, intelligent young lady of good family with a penchant for inventing. In this Diana Ashby takes after her late father with this difference; she succeeds, and he didn't. She's made herself a studio in the home she shares with her mother and twin brother. It is her ambition to make a mark in society and to be a help to others with her inventions. Her latest is a cleaning machine that picks up dirt in a long tube. 

One cool and damp evening as Diana walks to a scientific lecture at a friend's house, she sees two ruffians with guns attack a well-dressed man. She charges them using her voice and furled umbrella as weapons making them flee. As she helps the weakened gentleman to his feet, she rather enjoys his warmth, clean scent and gratitude.

The grateful man is Aidan Iverson, only marginally a gentleman. Though rich now through his own makings, he has no family. He was abandoned by the mother whose name he can scarcely remember. She left him and his young sister in a workhouse. Through hard work and a talent for gambling, then investing wisely, he has a fortune and owns a third of the plush gambling club, the Duke's Den. What he really wants, however, is acceptance by Society. Aidan tried hiring an investigator to learn his father's name and what happened to his sister.

Aidan and Diana meet again when she is given a chance to present her work to investors at the Duke's Den, most unusual for a lady.

With two such strong yet sensitive characters, you can be sure this second of the three novels in Ms. Carlyle's Duke's Den series is an excellent read.

Jane Bowers