ARC Review: A Good Debutante's Guide to Ruin by Sophie Jordan

I’m discovering a lot of new authors and so far they have been a hit! I have a list of Sophie Jordan books that I want to read but haven’t gotten around to it -yet. I’m so glad that “A Good Debutante’s Guide to Ruin” was my first introduction to this author! I really enjoyed this book, the main characters AND the secondary characters!

Ok, so this book was such a great read! I stayed up all night reading it! The heroine, Rosalie Hughes. I really liked her. Rosalie has basically been abandoned. Her mother has left her at a finishing school and she has no one. The headmistress takes her to her stepbrother’s because she has no room for Rosalie. Declan, the Duke of Banbury has had it with their family troubles and has no desire to take-in Rosalie. When he comes to realize Melisande, Rosalie’s mother, is nowhere to be found and he decides to help Rosalie, he calls on his Aunt Peregrine and his cousin Aurelia for their assistance. Declan decides, with his aunt, that Rosalie has to have a season in order to help her find a husband. Rosalie is grateful for the help but she has always had feelings for Declan. She tries to reconnect with him reminding him about their childhood and when he fondly called her “Carrots” because of her red/ orange hair. Declan really just wants her married and out of his life.

There are many aspects of the story that I loved. I thought that Aunt Peregrine were great secondary characters. Usually I tolerate secondary characters but I really enjoy them and I can’t wait for Aurelia’s story. She was so fun and rebellious I can’t wait to see what the author does with her. Also, Melisande is such a horrible woman. She is the epitome of vile. There are so many reasons to hate her…The relationship between Rosalie and Declan was also layered. They had a good relationship as kids but the family dynamics were very screwed up. It should be noted that Declan and Rosalie are not blood relations.

I had a hard time figuring out why Declan let his hatred for his stepmother affect his relationship with Rosalie. I thought it was misdirected. Rosalie has a romantic clandestine kiss with Declan and she is disguised so he doesn’t know that he is kissing her, I’m not a fan of these scenarios because to me they don’t seem convincing. Just when it seems that Declan and Rosalie are going to have their lifetime of happiness the author throws two big surprises our way. I’m trying not to give too much away because this was such a great book but at the same time there is so much to discuss about it!

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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