Elizabeth HOYT : Not the duke's darling - Greycourt #1

Freya de Moray is many things : a member of the secret order of Wise Women, the daughter of disgraced nobility, and a chaperone living under an assumed name. What she is not is forgiving. So when the Duke of Harlowe, the man who destroyed her brother and led to the downfall of her family, appears at the country house party she's attending, she does what any Wise Woman would do: she starts planning her revenge. 

Christopher Renshaw, the Duke of Harlowe, is being blackmailed. Intent on keeping his secrets safe, he agrees to attend a house party where he will put an end to this coercion once and for all. Until he recognizes Freya, masquerading amongst the party revelers, and realizes his troubles have just begun. Freya knows all about his sins—sins he'd much rather forget. But she's also fiery, bold, and sensuous—a temptation he can't resist. When it becomes clear Freya is in grave danger, he'll risk everything to keep her safe. But first, Harlowe will have to earn Freya's trust-by whatever means necessary.

Mmmph, I usually like this author, her books are perfect for escapism with well written, sensible characters, but the magic didn't work here : I didn't really buy the story, yet mostly, the problem was the writing style.

One sentence, one paragraph.

Often.

Even for just a few words.

To stress the importance of what was being said.

See what I mean ?

But the worst was the amount of words in italic.

For the same purpose.

This surprised me, because Hoyt previously stood out for me among the legion of historical romance writers, so I was really disappointed.

I may read the next in the series, later, but this time, I'll make sure to count the words in italic from the start.