The Discarded Duke

by Nancy Butler

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451206797
• ISBN13: 9780451206794
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 231 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Utterly moving

This book was just great! Three weeks after I read it and I still vividly remember the details of this wonderfully written book. I usually read historical and mainstream romance, but this regency book was one of the best romances I've ever read. Treat yourself by reading about a hero whose circumstances make you want to turn every page to undue the injustice and will have you clamoring for the happy ending he so deserves.

A Powerful Story!

If you've never read a Nancy Butler book READ THIS ONE! It is an amazing story, truly heart-gripping. The heroine, Ursula, is in desperate need of money and believes she has found the answer to her problems in the Duke of Ardsley. BUT, while visiting one of his estates she meets his bailiff, Will Ridd. Will's strength and intelligence are compelling. Suffice it to say that they become 'better acquainted'. So much so that she makes a VERY brave choice. This story has some dark moments and discusses some unusual subjects for a regency romance. But that is part of what makes the story unforgettable.It is not a fluffy, ballroom story. You may need a kleenex or two. But this story will stay with you long after you've finished it.

Very much out of the ordinary

My congratulations to Nancy Butler for a stellar offering. The Discarded Duke offers a carefully crafted plot which is full of twists and surprises. It also gives us a set of characters (both the H/H and the secondary characters) who are particularly well drawn and who act out the story in a wholly human and believable way.The most significant thing about this book is that it explores very deep emotions and offers insights into some of our darkest thoughts, fears and guilts. It touches on the issues of insanity and how, in not so distant times, even the medical profession looked upon such diseases as epilepsy as evidence of madness. It explores the manipulation and devious nature of borderline psycopathic behaviour and it also offers some hints as to why fortune hunting must be viewed with some sympathy.This is a "lost heir" story told with careful consideration and thorough explanation of motive and outcome. There is a damaged but strong, sweet hero who hides more than a few secrets. The heroine is strong too and yet, through her own difficult past, is understanding, tolerant and supportive. The secondary characters either will or have lost much but what they gain in replacement is satisfactory beyond question.I do highly recommend this novel. It was not your typical Regency offering and is strongly written and well-conceived. Definitely one to be read again.

Nancy Butler is a definite diamond!

Lady Ursula Roarke needed to come up with a large sum of money - FAST - thanks to her deceased husband. She decided to marry for money and landed her sights on the Duke of Ardsley. He had an interest in beginning his own breeding stable. She had excellent stock and used it to lure the duke into proposing marriage to her. The duke's estate had been producing wool. In fact, William Ridd had been cross breeding to make the best wool bearing sheep for years. His success with the sheep had kept the duke's coffers full and the area's population happy. When he learned Damien (a.k.a. Ardsley) planned to get rid of the sheep, he and Judith Coltrane (a friend) try to stop it. ...I skip much here. I do not wish to give away anything vital. I can state that Will and Ursula are considered the "the couple" or "main characters" for this novel. Yet they do not hog the spot light. Damien really has no clue how much the wool from the sheep mean to local weavers or to himself! In addition, Will has a past he does not care to dwell on or speak of, but can marks on his back make Ursula too curious to drop that particular subject. I believe you et the idea. I refuse to insult your intelligence by going on. There are secondary characters and a few sub-plots to keep life interesting and readers (like us) hooked! Excellent novel! Nancy Butler is a definite diamond! ... Reviewed by Detra Fitch.

A Great Read

In The Discarded Duke, Nancy Butler again proves her outstanding talents for weaving an absorbing and believable tale while creating characters the reader is sure to fall in love with. As in her earlier The Prodigal Hero, these characters are not cut from the common cloth of romance hero and heroine. And that is what makes them so believable. Nor is the reader slapped in the face with the immediate "I love him!" romance. This romance grows--as it hits snags along the way--between two strong but almost reluctant people. I predict that if Ms. Butler continues as she has started with this book and The Prodigal Hero, she is the number one candidate to step into the Regency Romance shoes set aside by Mary Balogh who has gone on to write hard-cover historicals.