The Making of a Duchess (Sons of the Revolution)

The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen is the first of the Sons of the Revolution trilogy, featuring three brothers who all suffered to varying degrees from the.
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I think it would have worked better had she been a bit older and more assure of herself. It would have made her character more believable in her role as a would be spy and her deception of Julien. Julien was a fascinating character whose past shaped him into the man he had become. He could be ruthless when it came to getting what he wanted but he still held enough compassion for those in desperate situations like Sarah was. I did like how Julien treated Sarah, trying to keep her safe while still searching for his brothers.

He was terribly attracted to her but didn't completely trust her which made for some interesting sexual tension. And he found that he was not only attracted to her but he liked her. Which took him by surprise. Love when that happens. I enjoyed his honesty and his honor even when he had no reason to trust. The plot of this French exile doing well in England while still maintaining ties to France was interesting.

I liked the way the politics of the time period were woven into the story but didn't overwhelm the characters or the romance. The romance between these two seemingly opposites started out as a business transaction, much like many marriage proposals between aristocrats of that time. In the end they of course, fall madly in love and will do just about anything for each other. Unfortunately, what started out well didn't hold together as well. It all kept coming back to the character of Sarah and the fact that she just didn't fit. I get that she wasn't suppose to fit the role of spy, since she didn't have any experience and only three days of training but it was more than that.

It was the fact that she kept going with the role and began to believe in what she was doing, that she could play the spy when she kept screwing everything up. It was out of character for her and made that aspect of the plot unbelievable. The next book in the series, The Making of a Gentleman, is due out in October. I will admit that I am curious about it and will probably read it due to who the hero is. As long as the heroine isn't another Sarah, I'm willing to give it a try. May 31, Jennifer rated it really liked it Shelves: How does one describe a novel such as this without giving away the points that make the novel so delightful?

He and his mother escape France and head From My Blog He and his mother escape France and head to England and begin a new life for themselves and all is fairly calm for twelve years when trouble finds Julien once again. Sir Northrop, a former Naval Officer now part of the Foreign Affairs Office and head of overseeing and training operatives, has been watching Julien, believing him to be an informant and a traitor.

Northrop sets up an elaborate ruse to have a spy planted within Julien's household, an intimate with the hope of an engagement between Julien and Sarafina Artois which would allow for confidences to be shared. The only problem for Northrop is he needs an operative with no family and no ties to the London ton. His choice is his governess, Sarah Smith, who has approximately three days to learn about the elite before being sent to stay with Julien and his mother. And oh yes, how is her Italian?

The Making of a Duchess makes for exceptionally entertaining reading with a cast of brilliantly written characters both central and minor. An example of Galen's wonderful command of description, wit, charm, and her delightful cast of characters is evident during Lord Aldon's ball. One cannot help but adore Sarah as she goes from the happy and content governess to an unwilling spy, entering the Season and the ton, both entirely foreign to her. And what of Julien and his mates? Is he indeed a spy as the British government suspects or are his dealings on the continent legitimate and quite legal?

Galen's descriptive writing and wonderful dialogue makes her novel impossible to set down. If it is not evident yet, let me point out that I highly recommend The Making of a Duchess to any reader who is looking for an intellectual, witty, and all around delightful read. Jul 03, Sophie Jordan rated it it was amazing. I've loved all Shana Galen's books, but THIS book is her best yet -- and much different fare from other historical romances.

A breath of fresh air. Very layered, multi-dimensional characters -- I was riveted from the first page! Jul 20, Gaby rated it it was amazing Shelves: The Making of a Duchess grabbed me from the start. It opens in France during the time of the French Revolution. Julien is the eldest of the Duke's three sons and he wakes up to the sound of peasants attacking their home. He runs to help his brothers and his mother but is surrounded by angry peasants -- some of which he's known all his life. Although Julien is able to escape, the violence and hatred of that night marks him forever.

He and his mother are able to rebuild their lives in England, but The Making of a Duchess grabbed me from the start. He and his mother are able to rebuild their lives in England, but Julien cannot forget his brothers who might still be in France. Despite the danger, Julien plans visits to France to search for his brothers and help them escape.


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Julien is deeply committed to fighting the Revolutionaries who have taken so much from him and his family. When a young French aristocrat -- whose family barely survived the Revolution -- writes his mother, he is willing to marry the young woman. The mingling of noble French blood will be one more victory against the thousands of people that have tried to eradicate his family. The young woman, Sarah Smith, is actually a governess who has been manipulated by her employer into acting as an amateur spy.

Her mission is to pretend to be an escaped aristo and to find proof that Julien Harcourt is spying for France and against England. Her "handler" is brutal and mean -- and clearly dangerous. As Sarah tries to fulfill her mission, she can't find proof of Julien's disloyalty. Instead, she is drawn to his sense of honor and kindness. But if they work together, they must still find a way to overcome the hostility and accusations from the spymaster that is Sarah's employer and handler. The book is such a fun read. Each part develops the characters of Julien and Sarah so that I found myself cheering for them and hoping that they'd quickly find a way out of their dilemma.

The plot twists, drama, and suspense all come together and make the most of the drama of the French Revolution. The Making of a Duchess is a thoroughly fun historical romance! Sourcebooks Casablanca June 1, , pages. Review copy provided by the publisher. Jan 15, An Odd1 rated it really liked it Shelves: Just because spy "The Widow" "ample bosom..

Safe from untrustworthy Northrop "accepted into the highest social circles" p 21? Easy killing is scary. Easy to guess Sarah "slip of paper.. Julien's mama does see family resemblances Just because spy "The Widow" "ample bosom.. Julien's mama does see family resemblances. Mouth "much too large" is as fashionable today as thin lips were aristocratic then.

Her plain brown eyes and hair are redone with cosmetics, fancy dresses. Surprise that Northrop "dispatched" p her parents, left her at orphanage, hired her as servant to humiliate, and deliberately placed her in position as herself.

The Rogue Pirate's Bride

Letter from family servant Gilbert is real, not fake lure. Of course they retrieve Armand, mute. They bring back Gilbert too, hope to question him about Bastien, other brother. Her "confidence growing" p 63, she soon takes on her part as Lady Sera. Julien first offers "business arrangement" p 88 marriage proposal. Dancing, she steps on his feet. He puts "discomfort aside and did his duty" p I suspected his pal Marcus Stover, so friendly to her, obligingly finding "smuggler..

Because I do want you" p In childhood game, brother "Bastien had always been Captain Cutlass" p , so who is pirate likely to be now? Feb 16, Erin rated it liked it. A sweet romance that was a fast read. This book didn't blow me away but I was charmed by the main characters. Sarah was sweet, unassuming and incapable of lying. When she is essentially blackmailed into spying on Julian, it was an obvious disaster.

Julian, obsessed with finding the rest of his family in war torn France, was instantly attracted to Sarah. The obvious does occur. In order to enjoy this story, I had to suspend a great deal of disbelief about this time period well, knowledge based o A sweet romance that was a fast read. In order to enjoy this story, I had to suspend a great deal of disbelief about this time period well, knowledge based on a lot of books read in this time period. For one, Sarah was an orphan raised in a Girl's Academy to be a governess and suddenly had to impersonate a Duchess.

She had to socialize not only with Julian and his family but upper class British nobility as well. And she pulled it off. Two, she had to seduce and beguile Julian, which wasn't very hard for her despite her humble upbringing. All the obvious tropes did occur and I was actually mentally ticking them off. All in all, this was a nice "fluff" read.

I really liked another one of Ms. Galen's books, so the bar was set a bit higher than this book delivered. I was a bit disappointed that this book was not up to par with the other book I had read, but I do believe that this is an earlier title. I feel like I'm a bit harsh with this book, but I think it's because I went in with the misconception that it would be as good as the other book. I will be continuing on with this series and I look forward to the next brother's story.

Read on my Kindle. Feb 14, Alaine rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is the first historical romance that I recall reading set in the early 's but I really enjoyed it. Yes I'm a sucker for the poor girl being rescued by the dashing knight in shining armour. This is a beautifully told romantic story that will have you sighin This is the first historical romance that I recall reading set in the early 's but I really enjoyed it.

This is a beautifully told romantic story that will have you sighing and gushing after the first few pages. But there is plenty of suspense to keep the story moving along quickly. Although one of my favourite scenes was when Sara met Julian and promptly threw up in his Ming vase, it was laugh out loud funny. All in all a very entertaining read with plenty of intrigue. This romance was different to any I've read before so I enjoyed it simply for its fresh ideas.

Wonderful characters combined with international spies 's style makes this a captivating read. As I know very little about the French Revolution the Aristocratic side of the story made for interesting reading and the suffering of people simply because they where born into wealthy families. One thing I've learned from reading historical fiction and historical romance is that suffering has no bias when it comes to wealth or the lack of it. Can't wait to read the next book in the series, 'The Making of the Duke'. Dec 17, kris rated it it was ok. I would say spoilers except there are 3 books in this series and the third clearly has a pirate on the cover.

The awkward spy-Sarah stuff managed to get dragged out for faaaaar longer than it should have been. Then, all plot-lines get wrapped up in the last 3 chapters? Here's a quicky summary: I, do, however, want to know Armand's story, so! Oct 31, Niki rated it liked it Shelves: I am officially a romance novel snob. After talking books with my mom and her friends, I have come to the conclusion that ravishment novels only have joy for me if they have an awesome plot as well.

That being said, this book was lacking in a lot of ways. I loved the concept of the plot, however I hated the length and the lack of detail to plot development that the book had. While the book itself wasn't written too poorly, it was modera I am officially a romance novel snob. While the book itself wasn't written too poorly, it was moderately predictable and the "twists" were seen miles away. I liked the idea of a plot based on espionage and intrigue, however I should have recognized that since the book was rather short, that the development of the plot would focus on the budding relationship between the main characters rather than the plot of a spy being sent in to discover a political threat.

I liked the time period and the allusions to literary characters revolving around the French Revolution, however I feel that this novel lacks. I gave it three stars because the author did her best to balance the plots, but I feel like the length and development was lacking, either to make the book easier to read or to make a publisher happy.

Jun 18, Laura rated it really liked it. The Making of a Duchess is set during a fascinating period of history, the French Revolution, and the period shortly thereafter. I was captured by the start of this novel with thirteen-year old Julien Harcourt, duc de Valere, trying to escape with his life from a mob of peasants. The novel then flash forwards towards the future when an older Julien Harcourt is trying desperately to find his missing brothers in Napoleon ruled France.

Little does he know that Serafina is really Sarah Smith, a governess turned spy, who is trying to determine whether Julien is a French traitor. I loved the two main characters and really enjoyed the setting. I read this book easily in a day. Overall, The Making of a duchess was a highly enjoyable and exciting romance novel. Jan 12, Grace Elliot rated it really liked it. Sarah is a governess working for Lord Northcott, but when her employer summons him to her study she finds a new career unfolding - as a spy. I bought this book as the blurb appealed to me, but I was a little wary because the plot had the potential to be weighted down with angst.

Happily, this was not the case. The author skilfully handled the storyline without it being cliched.

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Sarah turned out to be a pretty hopeless spy and was found out early on. She was refreshingly honest with Julien, and i Sarah is a governess working for Lord Northcott, but when her employer summons him to her study she finds a new career unfolding - as a spy. She was refreshingly honest with Julien, and instead of trying to pull the wool over his eyes - owned up to what she was about. The story could then move on in a believable way as a new threat to Sarah was revealed.

An enjoyable read with characters I was happy to spend time with. Not a 'wow' book but I'd happily read more by the same author. She's an orphan raised in a school to be a governess. When her employer demands she takes on an incredible task. He ran for his life with his mother at the age of thirteen when the peasants rioted on his families country home. He has never forgot the pain of leaving his brothers behind. And he vowed to find them. With France and England at war he has to sneak over when he gets a lead. If found he would be imprisoned or worse face the guillotine.

Can she do the job set to her with So many twists!!! Can she do the job set to her with her memories and feelings all jumbled? Can he stay on task when all he does is think and dream about her? Mar 02, Lisa Hutson rated it it was amazing. I read these books out of order. It was not a huge problem. But if you can, I would read them in order. It builds up the family, the personalities. What a love story. A total love story.

Fate and destiny bring the right people at the right time. This couple is perfect. Love this story and now, having read the rest, I will add the whole series is wonderful. You will not be bored. Aug 31, Lassarina Aoibhell rated it really liked it. I'm trying to figure out how to review this book, and it's hard, because there were definitely things that bothered the hell out of me about this story, but overall I enjoyed myself so much that I just want to slap 5 stars on it, because I fell in love with every chapter and I'm super excited to chase down the remaining books in the series and devour them too.

The love story here is entwined with a spy story in which no one knows what they're doing and everything goes wrong in a charming way; I a I'm trying to figure out how to review this book, and it's hard, because there were definitely things that bothered the hell out of me about this story, but overall I enjoyed myself so much that I just want to slap 5 stars on it, because I fell in love with every chapter and I'm super excited to chase down the remaining books in the series and devour them too.

Sarah is a governess whose employer is a member of the Foreign Office. He commands her to pretend to be a French noblewoman whose family was exiled during the Revolution and convince a Duc to marry her, all the while spying on him for the Foreign Office. Why entrust this game to a novice who knows nothing of spycraft? Well, a professional spy was to do it but was injured and cannot, and Sarah is the right age and roughly correct physical type, and one must make do. Julien is the Duc in question, who survived the Revolution by fleeing with his English mother.

His two brothers were left behind and are presumably dead, although Julien has never accepted this and continues to search for them. Julien has accepted that he needs a bride and it might as well be Seraphina, the daughter of his parents' friends and the woman that Sarah is pretending to be.

Naturally, absolutely nothing goes as planned. I loved the way Sarah and Julien interacted. I loved how bad Sarah was at being a spy. I loved Julien's family and the way dozens of small, seemingly inconsequential things came together to build an entire story that was richly woven. I did see the twist coming from miles away, but in a well-written narrative with proper breadcrumbs, you're supposed to see it coming. I loved the different ways Julien and his mother addressed the same grief. I just loved this story, and I devoured it in one sitting, which my cat heartily approved of because it meant I sat up until 2 am petting him while I read instead of, you know, sleeping like I should have been because I had to get up for work the next day, but we make sacrifices for our books.

There were things that never felt quite right to me. Julien's mother explained why she accepted Sarah as the missing Seraphina so easily, but I never understood why Julien, otherwise an intelligent man, just completely missed all the signals he should've seen. I wouldn't quite dub him too stupid to live, but he was certainly not the sharpest knife in the drawer in ways that seemed inconsistent with his characterization otherwise.

For all my complaints—and those may well be ones that ruin the book for someone else—I'm enchanted enough by this story to want to read the latter two books in the series. My gut feeling about this book is that I loved it and I want it to be 5 stars; the issues would ordinarily push it back down to 3. I'm settling at 4, with the caveat that I'm aware I'm overrating it from feeling rather than logic.

Aug 13, Readerkuna1 rated it it was amazing. Another good book by Shana Galen. Sarah is asked by her employer to spy on Julien Harcourt. He claims he is a spy. Sarah presents herself as Comtess of Guyenne. Sir Northup is the spy and killed her parents. They have sparks and a growing attraction. They go to Paris to find his brother. They find Armand and they get married. They find their love during all this. Julien has to see if he can find is other brother. This is good that in spite of all they both went through, they found their Love.

An interesting journey of intrigue I wasn't sure that I was enjoying this story until I was so enthralled that I couldn't put it down.

The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution

The premise and the heroine were just not quite right to me at first and the Duc's responses to her were incredible. But the story draws you in and as Sarah's ineptitude turns to sensibility you can't wait to see where this tale will take you. Now I can't wait to read the next story in this series! Jan 31, Shirley Hamlod rated it it was amazing.

This was a really good start to this series of 3 books. The beginning of the book is brilliant and reminds you of the harsh realities of the French Revolution. I love the characters and the plots and subplots are good. Jan 08, Reforming rated it liked it Shelves: Jun 17, PR rated it it was ok.

The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen

Unnecessarily complicated plot line, with cliched evil characters and cliched plot twists. Jul 17, Sooz Anzalone rated it liked it. Forced to leave behind his brothers, Julien has never given up hope that they are still alive and has made several trips back to France in attempt to find them. When Julien is sent a letter from his former butler stating that he knows where Julien's younger brother Armand is, he knows he must leave immediately. Problem is, both countries are at war and if he caught he will be labeled a traitor and placed in prison.

Sarah Smith is working as a governess when she is approached by her employer and informed that she is to help him with an investigation for the crown. They have reason to believe that Julien Harcourt is a traitor and they need Sarah to find information supporting that theory. Sarah will be staying at the home of Julien Harcourt and while there she is to find any information that she can convincing the Crown that Julien is indeed a spy.

Sarah is to become Serafina Artois, a daughter of former family friends. From the beginning Sarah expressing misgivings, she's just a governess, not a spy and does not believe she will be able to convince anyone otherwise. When Sarah begins looking for evidence against Julien, she begins to believe there is more to the story than she is being told.

She begins to believe that he isn't a traitor that her employer believes he is. And when Julien finally tells her of his mission to save his brother Sarah knows that she must help him in anyway that she can. Together they both embark on a journey to find Julien's brother. The attraction between Julien and Sarah is instant. Though, they don't get along all that well at first, we see them gradually become closer and the feelings each have grow deeper. Even when Julien suspects Serafina as an impostor, he can't deny his feelings for her and wants to make her his wife. I'm not sure if my problem with this story lays with the character of Sarah, or if it's a combination of factors.

I just never really warmed up to her. Almost up until the end of the book she has valuable information that Julien can use to save his brother, yet she keeps it to herself until she is able to get her way. I felt like she was whiny and conniving. She seemed to only care for her well-being. As for Julien, I felt that he was a good and honorable man.

I thought he was selfless and would do anything for those he cares for. I just never understood his deep feeling for Sarah. Why does he care for her?


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I just felt like on one page he is attracted to her but can't really stand her and then all of a sudden on the next page he loves her. Why doesn't he care that she has been lying to him? Sarah just sort of walks all over him and it's okay. Maybe he just wasn't alpha enough for me? I'm not sure, but there is definitely something off for me. I really wished I liked this book more.

It had such a great beginning and then it just seemed to fizzle out once I hit the middle. Hopefully Armand story is able to save this one for me.

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I find that I'm interested to see how his HEA turns out. This is a lovely story. It feeds into two additional tales, and as a threesome, they are extremely sound. Individually, this is the weakest, perhaps as a result of being the beginning. That being said, this is a strong book, with excellent character development and plot choreography. The evil villain was slowly, inexorably revealed, and punished, and more important, the additional characters for subsequent were revealed. I loved it, but found myself putting it down, as the suspense would get too heavy for me.

Too much suspense to bear. I wasn't sure that I was enjoying this story until I was so enthralled that I couldn't put it down. The premise and the heroine were just not quite right to me at first and the Duc's responses to her were incredible. But the story draws you in and as Sarah's ineptitude turns to sensibility you can't wait to see where this tale will take you.

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