The Romance Reviews TRR
"Her reflection in the mirror gave her pause for thought. She looked happy, truly happy and she was honest with herself enough to admit that it was entirely due to her time traveling duke." A highly entertaining time-travel novel, THE DUKES' CHRISTMAS ABDUCTIONS blends aspects of traditional Regency romance with steamy sex and sharp-witted, contemporary heroines to create a very unusual holiday love story. The novel opens amid the pomp and bustle of the Faversham House Christmas Ball - an elegant, Regency-themed gathering, complete with lavish costumes and a mysterious butler. As a powerful storm rages outside, something magical is taking place amid the winding corridors of the stately mansion and it will sweep Clara Ellington and Victoria Hopewell into the arms of the men they have been destined to love. Clara, the house curator, has secured an invitation for the exclusive holiday soiree for her beloved friend and romance author Vicky Hopewell. With a voluptuous body and a brash sense of humor, Clara poses a sharp contrast to her slender and impeccably dignified friend. However, they are soon to discover that they are bound by a legacy and a set of passions that connect them in ways they had never imagined. When Vicky asks Faversham's butler to show her and Clara to the private rooms of the mansion, typically forbidden to those outside of the family, the eagerness with which he complies fills Clara with a sense of foreboding. As the young women explore the collection of family portraits amid the home's private gallery, Clara's anxieties grow stronger, as does the raging storm beyond the window. As their eyes settle on the paintings of two handsome Dukes, cousins who once resided in Faversham House, the room is engulfed in a flash of lightening. Disoriented and separated from her friend, Clara collapses in fear, only to land the arms of Daniel Danvers, the 19th Century Duke of Hockwell. Mistaking her for a beautiful servant who has been invited to his family's holiday ball, he is enticed by her womanly body and headstrong personality. Determined to understand the truth of her appearance in his home, he interrogates her in a manner that reveals his unconventional sexual desires and awakens needs within Clara that she never knew existed. Though she is enticed by the handsome Duke who has taken her under his control, she fears for her friend Vicky, who appears to have undergone a journey of her own. Awakened by the sound of her friend's voice echoing in her thoughts, Vicky finds herself tied to the bed of Lord Capel, Duke of Hopewell. Adamant that she is his wife Lady Victoria, and that they married one year ago, in December of 1814, he is distraught by her strange new vernacular and her inability to recall their life together. Though she is desperate to convince him that she is not his wife and that she will not submit to his expectations, Vicky finds the Duke of Hopewell's presence increasingly familiar as feelings of longing re-awaken within her. Though one woman will stay in the past and the other will bring her lover into the present, the bond between Clara and Victoria will remain intact through the discovery of a family memoir which will allow one woman to read of her friend's happily-ever-after while coming to realize her own. While the premise of THE DUKES' CHRISTMAS ABDUCTIONS requires a significant suspension of disbelief, it is thoughtfully written and very well-paced. The stories of Clara and Victoria begin on the same time line, however the authors interweave their adventures following their time travel experience in a manner that keeps the reader guessing while slowly building the sexual tension between the women and their handsome captors. Though the mechanism for the characters' time traveling ability is never truly explained, and that may disappoint some readers, this is ultimately a novel about destiny and sweeping romance and those themes are in no way undermined by shrouding the heroines' time travel experience in secrecy. Farcical and funny, I would highly recommend this romance to any reader seeking a sexy, feel-good story about modern women finding timeless love amid the most magical of circumstances. - See more at: http://erotic.theromancereviews.com/viewbooksreview.php?bookid=20228#sthash.AXUcEhHA.dpuf