Reviewed by Keith Mbuya for Readers' Favorite

When Rosalind Ainsworth expressed to her father, Lord Langton, her desire not to engage in the alleged marriage arrangement to Sebastian Lumley (the future Duke of Kelbrook), Lord Langton’s firm stance on the matter only heightened his eleven-year-old daughter’s feelings of despair, betrayal, and rage. A rather self-conscious than impulsive Lord Langton had dismissed his daughter’s concern, claiming that she was too young to have a say in the matter. After all, the contract was to be honored only after Rosalind turned twenty-one. A decade later, Rosalind is obliged to ignore more than a dozen suitors and reluctantly become Sebastian’s wife. How will her life as a duchess, the wife of the Duke of Kelbrook turn out? Is Sebastian still the arrogant and selfish boy she knew in her childhood? However, one of Rosalind’s many suitors, Mr. Sellers, still expresses interest in Rosalind. Could it be that Mr. Sellers is still optimistic of ever making Rosalind his wife? What could Mr. Sellers be up to? Find out more in Sian Ann Bessey’s An Unfamiliar Duke.

With a slow-paced and character-driven story, Sian Ann Bessey intriguingly whisked me into her world of creativity. She uses short and twisted sentences, accompanied by vocabulary that highlights the setting of eighteenth-century Britain. She beautifully accentuates the culture and lifestyles of London and its neighbors, the luxuries the different social classes enjoyed at that time, their unique taste in architecture, and more. I loved it. The gradual development of the plot and Bessey’s subtle way of conveying her ideas give An Unfamiliar Duke a general tone of suspense and adventure. The author wonderfully incorporates various themes into her work. They included family, technology, marriage, religion, social classes, and more. The characters were amazing and wonderfully developed. I loved how the author uses introspection to reveal the traits of her characters. This gave me a deeper understanding of Sebastian's and Rosalind's actions, choices, and ideas. I loved how she narrated the pair's feelings. Lovers of romance stories will find this a great read. This is the fourth installment of the Georgian Gentleman series, but the Unfamiliar Duke is a stand-alone book. It is a great piece of work.