Striving to create a home strong in the foundations of love, respect, and God's truths ...

Monday, April 22, 2013

"Duchess" by Susan May Warren


When her country needs her, will she have the courage to surrender her glittering world and her one true love?


The golden age of Hollywood is in the business of creating stars. Rosie Worth, now starlet Roxy Price, has found everything she's wanted in the glamour of the silver screen. With adoring fans and a studio-mogul husband, she's finally silenced the voices-and grief-of the past. Her future shines bright...until the fated Black Friday when it all comes crashing down. When Roxy loses everything, she finds herself disgraced and penniless. Her only hope is to join forces with Belgian duke Rolfe Van Horne, a longtime film investor. But Rolfe is not who he seems, and he has other plans for Roxy and her movies-plans to support a growing unrest in Europe, plans that could break her heart and endanger her life. Find out more about the series by clicking on these links. HeiressBaroness.

Duchess is all about Rosie Worth's search for significance - and significant it is.  Written in a sweeping epic style, traveling through history with unforgettable movie star Rosie, she puts her value in all the wrong places.  As she makes mistake after mistake, chasing all that glitters in an attempt to find value and meaning, Rosie learns that nothing of this world will ultimately give us peace.

Warren's way of crafting this story - and ultimately this series - is wonderful.  Rosie's background and current fame allow her to meet a few famous people and to rub elbows with many others.  She is perfectly positioned to play a large role in world affairs, and in that way she begins to realize that joy is found in service.

I loved Rosie's transformation in this book.  As interested as I was at the beginning to learn about Rosie's choices and how they might play out, the Hollywood starlet angle holds little appeal for me.  The lifestyle - including Rosie's choices - felt shallow and pointless, but as time passes for Rosie, her choices improve.  

The final third of the book is riveting.  Set in Europe, where the second book began, the family drama that begins to unfold alongside the world events will fascinate.  To this history buff, this was by far the best part of the series.  Matching Rosie's story so closely with history, not just with one novel but three, was brilliant - the perfect ending to a dramatic and sweeping saga.

As a hobby-ist historian, I appreciate the attention to detail and historical lessons woven throughout this book.  As a Christian, I love the story for its redemptive quality and worthwhile lessons shared.  As a woman, I can relate to the lessons learned by Jinx, Lily, and Rosie as they crave love.  As a book reviewer, I think Duchess has wide appeal.  Don't miss it.

To read more reviews in this blog hop, click here.  To order your own copy now, click here.



Susan May Warren is the bestselling, RITA Award-winning author of more than forty novels whose compelling plots and unforgettable characters have won acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. She served with her husband and four children as a missionary in Russia for eight years before she and her family returned home to the States. She now writes full-time as her husband runs a lodge on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota, where many of her books are set. She and her family enjoy hiking, canoeing, and being involved in their local church. Several of her critically acclaimed novels have been ECPA and CBA bestsellers, were chosen as Top Picks by Romantic Times, and have won the RWA's Inspirational Reader's Choice contest and the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year award. Five of her books have been Christy Award finalists. In addition to her writing, Susan loves to teach and speak at women's events about God's amazing grace in our lives. She also runs a writing community for authors. Visit MyBookTherapy.com to learn more. For exciting updates on her new releases, previous books, and more, visit her website at www.susanmaywarren.com


I received a free copy of Duchess in exchange for an honest review.

No comments:

Post a Comment