An eccentric man steps into another world in this delightful story

What a delightfully different story and writing skill!

Our hero in the tale is a fastidious, regimented, particular (think top scale of OCD) Duke who lives his life and runs his “realm” with perfection, never a hair, or anything else, out of order.

A hundreds of year old agreement which had dogged all the dukes before him has encountered a little hiccup. That hiccup has now thrown our hero into turmoil that he has never encountered on top of his impending nuptials. UNACCEPTABLE!

This must be resolved but the Duke suffers from travel sickness and so sends his man of business in his place to rectify the problem. When his man (who is as uptight and inflexible as the Duke) suddenly stops communicating, the Duke has no choice but to head to the problem. 

Three days and many stops for illness later, the Duke arrives at his destination and steps into a world the exact opposite of what he has tried to maintain.

He finds his very proper man of business all right but the drunken lout chasing a buxom house maid could not be his man could it? And the crooked castle he has come to couldn’t be part of what belongs to it! Please say it isn’t so!

Now comes our heroine into the story. A. Honeywell. But wait, there are 5 females all with the name of A. Honeywell living in the crooked castle which has been held by a male Honeywell for 200 years. The old agreement states that the property must be held by the last male Honeywell and the girls’ father died a year ago. The girls have been covering so as not to lose their home and ale brewery!

If you can get past the first couple of chapters without giggling then you have no sense of irony or humor. Madness ensues in each and every chapter.

A more seemingly mismatched bunch of people you could never imagine and yet, are they all just what each of them needs?

This book is pure enjoyment from cover to cover and should be at the top of your reading list.

This is Maggie Fenton’s first foray into this genre (normally she writes “steampunk”) and in my opinion she has hit the target. I for one will be closely following for future books from her. Bravo Maggie.

The Duke’s Holiday by Maggie Fenton

Available for $20.80 via Booktopia

Share your thoughts below.