Unfortunately this was sometimes undermined with actions that felt inconsistent with her character and were added to further the plot. I liked that Elizabeth was a strong, intelligent, and creative lead. The scenes of foreplay and oral were more evocative than most of the penetrative sex scenes. The Duke “training” Elizabeth vacillated between descriptive and vague. Transitions from one scene to another could be so abrupt I’d replay thinking there was a glitch in the audio. There weren’t explanations for why some of the characters were making choices or keeping secrets that they were keeping – which made it harder to completely buy in to the plot. I enjoyed the bones of the story but sometimes the execution felt a little off. Things were fairly predictable, in a comfort read kind of way. The blurb sounded interesting as I tend to like romance that has a little mystery/suspense in it. I did like some of the secondary characters, but I wish this had been a more concise story. Sometimes she's very docile and others a bit of a shrew. I did like Gervase, I just wish he had been developed more. He didn't always seem that interested in even forwarding her 'education' at times. There wasn't much real connection between the hero and heroine, at least in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind tropes, but this book seemed to throw them all in without following through to a logical conclusion or giving good backstory to explain whatever was going on. You had the dark 'alpha' Duke, the plain bluestocking virgin, a spy caper, the evil gambling stepfather, the first wife who betrayed the Duke, and several other tropes one can find in a Regency romance.

Pearce's work, this one was kind of a mess. She ends up in his household working at decoding cryptic notes detailing an assassination attempt as well as to receive lessons in becoming a courtesan so that she can earn money to support her invalid brother. Elizabeth is sent to the Gervase, Duke of Diable Delamare, by her stepfather, she thinks to perform chores for him and he thinks for a night in his bed.

Educating Elizabeth by Kate Pearce