Book Review | A Duke by Default [CC]

Hello and welcome or welcome back to 
Bookmark Chronicles today I am reviewing  
A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole this is the 
second book in the Reluctant Royal series  
and I have to admit that I was very pleasantly 
surprised by it in this we follow Portia Hobbs  
who is the best friend to the main character in 
the first book A Princess in Theory and if you  
saw my review of book one then you know that I 
hated Portia I thought she was a terrible friend  
and it made me really hesitant to pick this 
one up because I didn’t think that I was going  
to enjoy her as a character to my surprise she 
is a lot better in this book she’s getting her  
[ __ ] together and I really appreciated that 
so we follow Portia as she goes to Scotland  
because she has an apprenticeship with this sword 
maker things kind of start off on the completely  
wrong foot she doesn’t really like her boss he 
doesn’t really seem to care about her being there  
but there is an attraction between the two of them 
and romance ensues there were a few tropes in here  
that I didn’t like that brought my rating down 
just a teeny tiny bit and I felt

like the ending  
wasn’t completely done like I still had some 
questions but overall I’m rating this 4.5 stars if  
you have not yet read A Duke by Default but would 
like to this is your official spoiler warning
as always let’s start with the characters when it 
comes to Portia I was very pleasantly surprised  
to see that she was kind of taking a step back 
to re-examine her behaviors the perception that  
other people have of her and most importantly 
her perception of herself so I really appreciated  
the self-work that she was doing there were 
some things that I didn’t like that she did  
throughout the book but we’ll get to those 
in a minute one of the main reasons that I  
was hesitant to read this book is because 
the little snippets of Portia that we got  
in A Princess in Theory made her seem like an 
absolute terrible person so i was really nervous  
and I didn’t think that I was going to like her 
Alyssa Cole really proved me wrong on that one so  
that was really exciting for Tavish I didn’t 
really like him in the beginning I felt like  
he kind of just was being a dick for no reason 
like I understand that he was not the one that  
asked for an apprentice but Jamie knew that he 
needed one so he should have just accepted that  
I didn’t really feel like it was necessary for 
him to be such an [ __ ] in the beginning but he  
did end up growing on me I did really really enjoy 
the romance although both of them could have made  
better decisions and had clear communication but 
apparently that’s just the thing with romance so  
it’s fine I really enjoyed that we got to see 
a little bit of Naledi and Thabiso and I really  
like the family aspect with Tavish’s brother and 
Cheryl and all of them um and I like how accepting  
they were of Portia right from the beginning 
and how close she became with all of them  
I like that we got to see a little bit more of 
Reggie and that we learned about the relationship  
between her and Portia that was really nice but 
when it comes to Portia’s parents I typically  
would never say something like this but [ __ ] 
Portia’s mom has to be the most hated character  
in this book because she’s so terrible when it 
comes to Portia especially how they were like oh  
‘we’re saving this job for you because you need 
a stable job that we approve of so we’re just  
gonna force you to do something that you have no 
interest in’ and then they call again and they’re  
like ‘oh well since it seems like you’re going 
to marry a duke we gave the job to somebody else’  
what and then her only being proud of 
Portia because she thinks she’s about  
to marry royalty like I know that I don’t want to 
be a parent but [ __ ] if I did I would at least  
treat my kids the way that children should 
be treated like she’s awful she’s absolutely  
terrible I hated her so much one of the things 
that I thought was a little odd was the ending  
Portia sneaks into the garden party to tell Tav 
that she was drugged and he just so happens to  
decide to publicly declare his love for her which 
was really cute so that happened and you know  
they’re gonna work it out but there weren’t 
any details because in A Princess in Theory  
with Naledi being in school and trying to finish 
her degree but also wanting to help Thesolo,  
Thabiso got an apartment there and you know they 
were going back and forth you know I feel like in  
this one it was never explained if she was gonna 
stay in Scotland or what their arrangement was  
gonna be so I would have liked to see that and 
then the tropes first I really struggled with  
Portia’s ‘I’ve always been a [ __ ] 
up so I’m always gonna be a [ __ ] up’  
because even in the beginning of the book she has 
already made huge changes she’s not drinking she’s  
being more conscious she’s being more present 
trying to be a better friend those are already  
huge steps to becoming a better person so it’s 
like you’re already doing the work to be better  
and I feel like she was kind of self-sabotaging 
a little bit by not acknowledging the changes  
that she’s made and just constantly throwing extra 
unnecessary self-doubt into the situation so that  
was really frustrating then again her parents also 
reinforced that because her mom’s a [ __ ] and  
then with Portia and Tav I didn’t like how they 
mutually agreed that they were going to try to  
stay away from each other because one it made them 
miserable all they did was think about each other  
and two they know that they’re happy together yes 
there are circumstances that need to be discussed  
so discuss them have a conversation figure it 
out use your words you’re adults and this is  
an age gap romance which I tend not to like but I 
actually didn’t mind it here it’s mentioned very  
briefly in the beginning that Portia is in her 
late 20s and Tavish described as a silver fox  
and that’s it it’s not weird it’s not creepy it’s 
not one of those just turned 18 creeper situations  
and I really liked it which is surprising 
so I finally read an age gap romance that  
I actually enjoy and I have an entire list 
from Nicole and Who Picked This Book so I  
definitely will be reading more I actually 
do want to say thank you to Nicole because  
I probably would not have picked up this book so 
quickly if she hadn’t told me it was an age gap  
romance so thanks and the last thing that I 
didn’t like was the morning after the party  
when Portia wakes up hungover and realizes that 
something is wrong Tav told her to leave because  
he didn’t want the tabloids to keep attacking her 
he was trying to protect her but he didn’t make  
that clear so Portia thinks that he’s telling her 
to leave because she’s [ __ ] up his reputation
like come on people communication there 
was also the part where Portia got mad  
that she told Tav that she was gonna leave 
soon so they need to establish boundaries  
but then she got mad at him for not asking 
her to stay but then when he does ask her to  
say she’s like ‘oh I’m just supposed to uproot 
my life for you’ and it’s like ma’am which one  
do you want please make up your [ __ ] mind I 
guess I should mention like all the duke stuff  
he’s a duke now like that’s I mean I didn’t 
really care for that storyline honestly um I  
thought it was weird that the former duke’s 
sister was like ‘oh I came to seduce you  
I will if you want me to’ like ma’amcan you not 
please so those are all my thoughts on A Duke  
by Default let me know if you have read this or if 
it’s on your tbr I just purchased the two novellas  
in the third book in the series so I will probably 
be reading those in the next couple of months and  
finish the series all together and I have to 
say that I’m actually looking forward to it so  
we’ll see how it goes otherwise that’s all I have 
for you today and I’ll see you in the next video

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