Charis Michaels: When You Wish Upon a Duke

USA Today bestselling author Charis Michaels returns to her Awakened by a Kiss series where overlooked fairy tale characters get their own happy endings, with a captivating romance about Miss Isobel Tinker and the duke who makes her believe in magic.

All it takes….

After a childhood spent cavorting around Europe with a dangerous crowd, Miss Isobel Tinker has parlayed her experience and language skills into a safe, reliable life. Working as a clerk in Mayfair’s Everland Travel Shop, she dreams of someday owning her own travel agency and has vowed never to leave the familiar shores of England ever again. When a handsome duke arrives at her doorstep, she realizes her staid existence is about to take flight.

…is faith and hope

Jason “North” Beckett, the Duke of Northumberland, desperately needs a travel guide. He’s inherited a dukedom but has a final mission for the Foreign Office—rescuing his wayward cousin from Nordic pirates. Isobel Tinker is the ideal translator, discreet and unknown, but she’s also uncooperative, stubborn, and disarmingly beautiful.

And a little bit of trust

In exchange for her help, North promises Miss Tinker her own travel agency upon return and strict professionalism at sea. Isobel cautiously agrees but soon realizes “strict” and “professional” are not how she would describe her feelings for the irresistible duke. As their adventure sweeps them to the shores of Iceland and beyond, can temptation and growing trust give way to the magic of wild, passionate love?

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

CW: miscarriage

This was the first Charis Michaels for me, and I really enjoyed a fresh take on a Duke and a plucky heroine.

Once, a million years ago, I did a stint as a student travel agent, helping others dream about amazing vacations and plan life changing adventures.  I loved it, and I love how Isobel Tinker gets to leverage her childhood experiences into a stable profession.  Her business is geared towards helping other women have comfortable adventures, and I just adored this idea along with a fair amount of historical context to make it plausible (although a thorough author’s note explains the creative license).

Isobel is a complex character, and although she carries the general shape and character of a classic Regency heroine like the Grand Sophy (or at least the Grand Sophy after a few years of domesticity), she also has enough internal struggle to make her really interesting.  Her character arc was really rewarding, and at its peak definitely brought some tears.

Similarly, Northumberland is a man trapped by fate and forced to give up a career he loved to settle down and be lord of the manor.  Much to his chagrin.  He also has a wanderlust and the smarts to make him an excellent match for Isobel.  So the romance really makes sense on a lot of levels, and although there is instant attraction, these two really have to work to trust each other and the situation.

It was mid way through the book that I started to make connections that this was a spin on Peter Pan.  Although I didn’t need that reference, I think it pushed Michaels to make a really interesting Regency with Icelandic pirates, and a merry band of Lost Boys.  I also liked that the Duke figure really struggled with the concept of being a Duke (and the conclusion of this story thread was fantastic, although I don’t want to spoil it).

The intimate scenes were minimal…mostly a lot of kissing until the wedding night.  It definitely walks the line of kisses only and on the page,  but there is enough on page to be too much for strict kisses only readers.

There are a few mentions of miscarriages, but it was delicately handled.  There is also a bit of violence, albeit not graphic, in the climactic scenes.

Some readers found the climax anti-climactic, but I actually liked that the confrontation wasn’t the focus and we are able to forget about Peter in the end.  There is a second, more pivotal confrontation towards the very end that to me was more meaningful (and I think more meaningful to Isobel), and which really brought home the book to me.

I would recommend this for most readers looking for something slightly different, who also enjoy a bit of swashbuckling.  I will definitely be looking out for more Charis Michaels!

5 out of 6 A fairytale twist on Peter Pan with two adventurous MCs on a mission, who fall in love

Content Rating/Heat Index
Mature Content
Pre-marital sex, thievery, near sexual assault
Intimacy
Several scenes, mostly kissing and fairly vanilla
Violence
Violence mostly occurs off page, but one climatic scene

Overall
Adult themes and intimacy are present.

*A review copy was provided by the Publisher via Netgalley.  No other compensation was provided.