The Duchess's Next Husband

April 15, 2005
Adrian, Duke of Windmere, overhears a conversation among his physicians and learns to his horror that he has only months to live. He increases his conjugal attentions to his wife, Miranda, in hopes of finally securing an heir to the title, and finds himself rediscovering her on several levels, finally admitting that after seven years of marriage, he has fallen in love. His mother, however, is a thoroughly unlikable woman who has made both Miranda and Adrian miserable by her constant harping on the "proper" way to behave, and schemes to have Miranda divorced so that Adrian can marry a young woman of the Dowager Duchess' choice. Historical romance at its best, Brisbin's Regency-era setting is aptly sketched with an economy of detail, her characters are nicely developed, and the enduring conflict between traditional doctors of medicine and the more holistic approaches, as epitomized by midwives and herbalists, is a nice counterpoint to the main plot.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)