Next in Harper St. George’s Doves of New York series, Eliza and the Duke, features Eliza Dove, the youngest of the infamous American heiress sisters trying to find titled husbands, and Simon Cavell, a former prizefighter hired to watch over Eliza, her mother, and her sister.

Eliza sneaks into the Montague Club where Simon works (and where she’s been forbidden to go) just in time to find Simon sneaking himself back in with injuries head to toe. Simon is out of it and Eliza wheedles enough information out of him to find out he is still fighting behind his employers’ backs. Simon later discounts the encounter as a fever dream until he is hired as a bodyguard Eliza, her sister, and her mother. It’s obvious that Eliza recognizes him immediately, but he refuses to believe she is that Eliza until she tells him she knows about his secret fighting. What she doesn’t know, however, is that Simon is forced to take these fights since the organizer is holding his niece hostage. They enter an uneasy truce with each worried the other will reveal their secret.

Wanting adventure before her marriage of convenience, Eliza attempts to slip out one night and is caught by Simon. She demands a night with him in exchange for keeping her silence, which he misinterprets as her requesting he sleep with her. She is horrified by this and he explains he is not willing to risk his job to bed her or take her out and about in London at night. After Simon’s time watching over Eliza and her family is done, he accepts a fight that Eliza and her sister, Jenny, sneak into. After toying with his opponent to entertain the crowd, Simon wins handily. Eliza meets him in his dressing room and finally convinces him to give her a night in the slums of London. They spend this night going to various amusements, such as watching a strong woman and going to a coffeehouse. While out, Brody, Simon’s blackmailer, approaches them and tells Simon if he fights one last fight, his niece will be released to his care. In the morning, Simon and Eliza agree to part ways for good but neither can stop thinking of the other. Though they agreed to part ways, Eliza cannot help herself and seeks Simon out once again, setting into motion the events for the rest of the novel.

I have heard nothing but praise for Ms. St. George’s writing, so I went into this book with high expectations. It starts off very well with their unique meet-cute, but I quickly grew to dislike Eliza, who comes across as reckless and unwilling to take no for an answer. I understood that she and her sisters have had an unusual upbringing since their mother was a mistress to a rich man instead of married to him, but Eliza’s behavior is immature and made me wonder if she really loves Simon or if he is just her latest obsession. I was pretty much done with her when she followed him to the brothel after they were supposed to have parted ways.

Pages and pages of this story are taken by narrative with conversations being few and far between. I’m a dialogue girl so I needed people speaking to each other more often than they do. There are two lengthy scenes that describe boxing matches. The only thing more tedious than watching boxing is reading about it. I was completely taken out of the story when Eliza’s pubic hair is described as “the fur guarding her sex.”

The saving grace in this novel is Simon. I absolutely love it when an historical romance has a hero who isn’t an aristocrat (and stays that way) and when that hero falls first. Simon is such a sweet guy, doing everything he can to release his niece from Brody’s clutches and doing his best to leave Eliza alone so he doesn’t ruin her future. His past is fascinating, and he’s one of the few historical romance heroes who truly feels dangerous because of it. I enjoyed reading about him – but he deserved a much better heroine.

The hero is the best thing about this novel, and although he makes up for some things, he cannot make up for an aggravating heroine and a lack of dialogue. Fans of the author’s will most likely want to read Eliza and the Duke, but otherwise, I’d skip it.