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