Duel of Hearts, by Diane Farr

When I first started Duel of Hearts, I was sure that it was my first book by its author, Diane Farr, but it turns out that I'd read Falling for Chloe and liked it.

Lilah and Adam, ninth Earl of Drakesley, have only two things in common. The first is that Lilah's father and Drake's cousin plan to marry, a marriage they rush to London to stop, meeting along the way and discovering their mutual mission. The second thing they share is their forceful, overly assertive personalities, the results of having been raised with no one to gainsay their every wish. Constant bickering ensues when each finds that the other is not responding as most do to their habit of riding roughshod over any and all obstacles. In pursuit of their common goal, they must work together: and, in spite of finding this difficult, the passion that results from their close proximity is as forceful as their personalities.

Duel of Hearts was strange in that it was at the same time a frothy comedy and an exhausting constant battle. I was surprised to see that this combination worked quite well. A B.

Drake and Lilah were characters one doesn't see every day in romance novel. They were rude, self-centered, childish drama queens, and though I'd probably find them exhausting in real life (I think I'm more like Lilah's dad and Drake's cousin in that respect), it was fun to read about them in a book. And man, they were absolutely perfect for each other!

I think the reason it worked was that the way they were enjoying themselves showed through every quarrel. They didn't get upset when the other was rude, they thrived on the chance to retaliate. And the author has a wonderful light hand with comedy, which helped make it all fun.

It was nice to rediscover Farr.