If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would, and I usually find Regencies insipid. "The Accidental Dutchess" is very funny; some of the lines could have been written by Oscar Wilde--I'm not kidding. It has a great hero and heroine, both of whom grow, although both begin as very likable people. I usually intensely dislike romances written in the first person because we don't know the other people's real feelings, but Benson does SUCH a good job here, that you know what Harry is feeling. I thought the plot was just enough not to overpower the characters, and I could not see how (other than leaving the country) Benson could resolve the central problem of avoiding the public scandal, but she did. I am hoping she'll write a sequel.

This book has a dopey, teenage heroine who is probably more like what society girls were really like in the Regency Period than Amanda Quick or Celeste Bradley's heroines. However, since I am a 21st century woman, I had a really hard time relating to this flighty twit. I gave up on this book and turned it in to the used bookstore with no regrets.

Gwen grew up right next door to Harry and Bertie, with Harry being the heir to his father, the duke. Bertie, the younger by 15 minutes twin, has been betrothed to Gwen since she as two years old, and what a shock it is when she stands up with Bertie on her wedding day only to find out on her wedding night she married Harry instead.

After finishing this book, the only real thing I can say about it is it never should have been published, the whole thing is a giant mess. The first person writing style just plain doesn't work here, the whole plot is based on the fact that Harry won't tell this massive secret to Gwen and when it was all revealed the idiocy of the whole thing is too much to handle. There are too many friends, brothers, lovers, parents, plots, blackmail and deceit to make this book work, with no honest feeling or drama, even when Gwen is preparing to abandon Harry so he can maintain his honor there is no drama, no heart break, it's just a plot point, we go over the bump in the road and inevitably there is another bump there to keep the story going, with more and more bumps making this is book about 100 pages too long.

This reads as a first novel, there is a whole lot of charm and humor here but you can't let charm and humor replace common sense. Why in the world would a man we are supposed to believe is desperately in love not confide in her when he risks losing her? Why didn't she just leave him after she finds him out blatantly and publicly flirting with his mistress? Why make Harry do things like shove her to the ground in the middle of a crowded ball room and throw a drink on her simply for a cheap laugh? And more than anything why do I feel like I don't know any of the characters, even Gwen who is the first person narrator?

I suppose for what this is, it's ok, but there is no heart and no depth to this book, which are requirements for me, if you don't mind a book that about as deep as a puddle and 100 pages too long then this is for you. It really is a shame because at the heart this is a good book but the verbosity and cookie cutter characters kills this one. Maybe in a few years when this author has a little more skill she can give it a rewrite because the concept is great and it really is quite charming in places.

1 1/2 stars

It had all the workings of a great story. You see, there are twins Harry and Bertie. They have similar names (John Harry Bertram and James Edward Bernard--or some such). Oddly enough, "Bernard" is referred to as Bertie. Gwen has been promised to Bertie all their life. So when the wedding comes, and Gwen hasn't seen hide nor hair of Bertie in advance, she's curious but not worried. Bertie isn't exactly a doting fiance. It's his brother who writes her often. They've been promised since childhood and it's supposed to be a comfortable and arranged marriage. But Gwen walks down the aisle and Bertie seems different and "unsettlilng" and not the "comfortable lazy" Bertie. Needless to say, there was a switcharoo and it was Harry pretending to be Bertie b/c Bertie's missing. So he was standing in proxy and no one tells Gwen why. Does she take this lying down? A bit....she doesn't put up much of a fuss at all and gets talked over and dismissed. Even when she realizes the the future Duke of Winfell signed the marriage license not in Bertie's name but in his own and his own name was used in the ceremony she's still hoping Bertie will come and "right" this. So she's really married to Harry. But she won't "seal the deal" until someone tells her why. Way to take a stand.

So the whole book is a mystery as to why Harry did it, why her parents didn't
say anything before and after, and how they're going to fix it once Bertie
returns to London (with his wife Terese who Bertie has married in Harry's name). Yes, Harry is now a bigamist. So Bertie will let Harry keep the "honor" of the family in tact if they permanently switch places. But he won't let Harry have Gwen and the title. It seems of all the things Harry has, the only thing he ever wanted was Bertie's: Gwen. And Bertie is a jerk.

The answer? Well the mystery is explained due to a character who is mentioned
in one line in the whole book. It's all about blackmail over what this one character did. Gwen's parents find out about the blackmail and blackmail Harry a second time and force the marriage so that they can "trade up" for their daughter. And the entire story is leading up to the major confrontation with Gwen's parents and the big reveal to society of the real marriage that they witnessed...except the book ends just before that happens. Really. The big reveal, the big "fix", and all that just never happens.