Summary

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?

Review

I just adore romance novels with a fairy tale twist, or that are new takes on classic tales, or that build elements from fairy tales into them. This series reminds me rather of Lenora Bell’s Disgraceful Duke’s series, where each book pulls in little elements from some story or other.

When You Wish Upon a Duke is a Regency romance with some excellent Peter Pan flavor. Our heroine, Isobel Tinker, flitters about in green dresses with her long blonde hair pulled into a bun atop her head. She works for the dastardly Mr. Hooke at Everland Travel Shop. Isobel is trying so hard to be good, but then North (aka the Duke of Northumberland) sweeps in and tilts her world on its axis.

North is just… *dreamy sigh* I just love an irreverent rogue with a heart of gold. And Isobel is this amazing, daring, strong woman that I’d either like to BE, or be best friends with. The chemistry between Isobel and North is bright and fun, but that brightness also reveals the shadows and caverns within both of them. Their banter is witty and playful, but they also throw some major sparks. Charis Michaels creates such realistic and deep characters that I completely forgot I was reading a book and was just sucked right into this world.

The plot sets this historical romance verging on the edge of almost fantasy, which is lovely to see. There’s a lightness and playfulness, and just an element of FUN and ADVENTURE, that made this book really hard to put down! (Which makes sense, really, for a book with a main character based on the infamous Tinkerbell…) I loved every moment of it, even the inevitable third act dark moment/drama (which was DELICIOUS).

This is the second book in the Awakened by a Kiss series, and can be read as a stand-alone. Declan, the hero from the first book in the series, A Duchess A Day, is a side character in this book, but there aren’t any spoilers for book one beyond what you’d read on the back cover blurb. (A Duchess A Day is ALSO a really great book, and I highly recommend it!)

A digital ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review. All opinions are unbiased and my own.