So, here's the thing: I don't read romance. Oh, I'm not prescriptive about it - I've read the odd volume here and there. Jane Austen, some of the classics, and so forth. But generally I stick to my preferred genres, which are fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. There's not a lot of romance in horror. But for a while now I've been thinking I really should read more romance, because it gets looked down on so often and I more than suspect that there's latent sexism in the looking-down-on, so I've made a reading goal to read more romance. But I don't know anything about romance, so basically I'm just picking random books from Goodreads lists. This does not always pay off. Earlier today, I finished the most dreadful piece of crap - an ill-written contemporary romance between two utter arseholes. You would think I'd be put off, and I was, momentarily, but then I remembered all the terrible sci-fi I've encountered over the years and I don't let that define the genre for me, so thought I'd give it another go, on the grounds that whatever I chose couldn't be worse than said piece of crap. In my defence, that dreadful book had an average rating of just over four stars, given to it by over 45,000 reviewers, so you can forgive my thinking there was something to it. Well, those reviewers were wrong. It was shite.

This was not. It was honestly kind of delightful. Historical romance this time, because I wanted to try something different to the awfulness I'd just read. Honesty further compels me to admit that I found Romancing the Duke over-written in a great many places, and falling into purple prose with frequency. But the protagonists were actually likeable, and though the Duke was frequently difficult there was genuine reason for his behaviour. And it was interesting to have a disabled hero, I didn't expect that. Also what I did not expect was the streak of farcical humour, occasioned by the supporting cast of fairy tale fans who'd formed a cohort of good-natured lunacy that tended to horrify both the protagonists, although they come out of it well... and with separate story arcs that revolved around more than each other. That made it really entertaining, and I was prepared to give this likeable story three stars until the immortal line, near the end: "Release the ermine!" I won't spoil the lead-up, but I nearly fell off the bed laughing.

Three and a half stars, rounding up to four. Apparently there's more in the series, and I feel I should read them. This is absolutely a popcorn read, but it's a such a fun one - I love the ridiculous fairy tale cos-players! All the characters are sympathetic, even the supporting cast, and there's a level of self-awareness when it comes to the perceived tropes of the genre here that makes it all so much more entertaining.