Cinderella and the Duke is a fast-paced and witty retelling of Cinderella, whose characters make it stand out from the pack. There isn’t too much new here, but it’s charmingly told, and Drake’s voice is entertaining.

Julia Beaumont has one more chance to land a husband before the season ends and she’s forced to spend yet another winter with her horrifying stepmother in impoverished servitude (her late father did not provide her with much of an income). The Weatherford Ball allows all sorts of folks to mix, and Julia believes she’ll find a decent (or at least tolerable) man there. Enter the most infuriating man she’s ever met.

Gregory Carter, Duke of Ashworth is a brawling, beery, duel-indulging bachelor with no intent of settling down, but Julia is gorgeous, and there’s no harm in flirting, now is there? After she saves him from yet another horny married woman, they share a passionate kiss, but she flees from him and probable scandal at midnight, leaving him alone with her slipper.

In the aftermath, Gregory comes to Julia’s house to return the slipper. She makes a daring proposal to him: they will fake a courtship and engagement to save one another from having to deal with bored married women eager to be tumbled whose husbands feel the need to cover for their honor (him) and the horrors of a bone-dry Season and her stepmother’s wickedness (her). But as the season progresses, rogue and hoyden soon find themselves falling in love with one another.

This one is just a romp that lives upon its wits, and sometimes that’s good enough. I liked Julia’s relationship with her stepsister, Susannah, and I enjoyed the fact that she’s no doormat. Gregory is roguish but no evil swain – in fact, sex with him has both educated his married lovers and given them hope for the future with their husbands (?!?). The romance suffers from the typical lust-but-also-self-hatred!push-pull that haunts many a historical romance. A lot of the conflict, though, feels light as air. It’s one of those situations where everyone can and should do better, but the book itself does a good job of making what there is, work. Cinderella and the Duke will please those who just want something light and frothy.

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