THE UNEXPECTED DUCHESS is Book one in Valerie Bowman's Playful Brides series. The hero of this charming historical romance, Derek Hunt, is a Duke but it's a title earned through military service. The heroine, Lady Lucy Upton, is born into the nobility but she is very blunt and more forthright in expressing her opinions than most genteel young ladies. They are both very determined and strong-willed characters. I love when Lucy's friend Garrett rightly points out to her that the Duke is just like her.

Lucy and Derek start out with an antagonistic relationship at the beginning of the book, not because they really dislike each other but because they are at cross purposes. Derek is determined to marry Lady Cassandra Monroe because of a promise to a fallen comrade. Lucy is equally determined to help her friend Cass avoid the Duke's unwanted attentions. The fiery battle of words frequently engaged in by the pair is, at times passionate, and at times very amusing. One thing I really liked about this playful antagonism is that it never got truly nasty between them. Nothing was said that was ever cruel or unforgivable. Lucy and Derek's verbal dueling closely resembles the relationship between Lucy's other best friend Jane and Lucy's cousin and good friend Garrett. I thought the romance between Lucy and Derek, once they gave in to their true emotions, was wonderful and very sexy. The chemistry between them is great.

Along with the engaging story and electric romance, THE UNEXPECTED DUCHESS is full of interesting supporting characters. Despite having a reputation for being extremely demure and kind-hearted, Cass is revealed to be more intelligent than she's perhaps given credit for. I loved Jane's acerbic wit and voice of common sense throughout THE UNEXPECTED DUCHESS. Cassandra's story of unrequited love is very compelling and you can't help but hope everything will work out for her with Julian in the future. In spite of Jane's determination to remain a spinster, she is too fabulous to remain alone and I look forward to seeing what is in store for her in future books.

Besides romance, THE UNEXPECTED DUCHESS is a story about the power of friendship. Lucy and Derek both have very tight friendships that, for better or worse, influence their actions. I loved the friendship between Lucy, Cass, Jane, and Garrett. The support they give each other is very moving to read about. THE UNEXPECTED DUCHESS is a very enjoyable, fun historical romance with great characters. I look forward to reading the next one in this series!