Tackling Mt. TBR

First a personal note that this is my first review that I've actually written here on BookLikes. Yay! Also, hooray for half stars!

Blurb:

Miss Cecily Hurston would much rather explore the antiquities of Egypt than the uncharted territory of marriage. But the rules of her father’s exclusive academic society forbid her entrance unless she weds one of its members. To clear her ailing father’s name of a scandalous rumor, Cecily needs to gain admission into the Egyptian Club—and is willing to marry any old dullard to do it.

Lucas Dalton, Duke of Winterson, is anything but dull. He’s a dashing and decorated war hero determined to help Cecily—even if that means looking the other way when she claims the dance card of Amelia Snow, this season’s most sought-after beauty. But Lucas has a reason for wanting Cecily to join the Egyptian Club: His brother went missing during one of Lord Hurston’s expeditions to Egypt. An alliance with the explorer’s bluestocking daughter could bring Lucas closer to the truth about what happened…or it could lead him to a more dangerous love than either he or Cecily could have imagined

Review:

So, this book started off slow. Extremely slow. I was so bored that at one point I nearly DNFed it and called it a day. However, I have so many friends that love the series, that I decided to stick with it and I will say that it improved about midway.

There was nothing particularly irksome about the main characters. Cecily is a blue-stocking and Lucas is a war hero turned duke. Individually I liked them just fine, but as a couple they didn't do much for me. There was no passion between them. I didn't really feel it.

I think the author also suffered from trying to do too many things. I almost feel like the book would've been better if she would have chosen between doing the "duke falls for the blue-stocking" theme or the "mystery" theme. As it was the book came out a bit disjointed.

As far as the mystery goes, it was painfully obvious who the guilty party was pretty much from their first appearance in the book. Even though I knew who did it, I didn't think the hows and whys really came together at the end very well.

On a positive note, I did like Cecily's cousins and the relationship that the three women shared. Likewise, the dukes friends were quite likable as well. I would definitely try this author again as I think the series has potential and I suspect she may hit her stride after a few more books.