Grace by Contract - Rachel Rossano

Grace by Contract

Rachel Rossano

Once Upon a Duchy

SPOILER WARNING

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Official Blurb:

After her father uproots the family to the northern duchy of Brackenhurst, Grace Eldon and her four younger sisters struggle with a new life of hardship. Desperate to keep a roof over their heads amid mounting debts, she and her youngest sister seek employment in the Duke of Brackenhurst's household despite fearsome rumors.

Scarred and maimed from a terrible fire Silas Isling, Duke of Brackenhurst, buries himself in his work to avoid the stares of pity and fear. When one of the new maids shows no fear at his appearance, he is intrigued. That is until his meddling steward gives her the task of cleaning Silas' bookroom. It is a most unwelcome disruption since he prefers to be alone.

While a thief plagues his castle, an old nemesis reappears, and enemies invade in the guise of guests. Amidst the distractions and chaos, Grace brings some unexpected order. Once convinced his scars had stolen all hope for love, Silas finds his life forever changed by the quiet maid. Could she love a scarred Duke?

As a Retelling:

The basic hallmarks of B&B are here. An attractive young woman by name of Beauty ends up in the castle of a disfigured local lord, and ... wait, no (checks notes again), it's actually her sister, Grace who the Duke falls in love with. They are the daughters of a merchant, though this merchant is ... a bit of a rat, defrauded a bunch of his customers, and is currently allowing a fellow rat to impose upon his very beautiful but mentally challenged daughter, Beauty. Grace seeks employment from the local Duke in order to clear their debt and gain his protection.

There's a lot to this setup that has a definite feel of Pride and Prejudice - Grace's is a family of five sisters, Silas's history with Sir Webb is very Darcy-Wickham, and the head housekeeper plays a very good Catherine de Bourgh. It might have just been the fact that I read this coming right off an actual P&P retelling, but it was quite glaring to me.

Weirdly, combining the two stories in this format lessened rather than intensified the romance's conflict. There's little if any prejudice that drives our couple apart, though Grace does make a lot of noise about their class difference and his favoritism causes her issues with the head housekeeper. His disfiguring injuries are actually what throws them together, since he struggles to read and write due to weakened eyesight and the loss of his dominant hand. She used to keep the paperwork for her father, so the steward gives her the task of reading and writing for the duke.

The climax of the story does parallel the original story, with Grace leaving for home to deal with family issues, and then things quickly growing worse from there.

Arista's Thoughts:
All together, a touching romance between a duke who thinks no one can love him and a servant girl who has the world against her. It's set in Rachel Rossano's greater world that contains most of her books, and it works pretty well. I've seen most of the themes implemented better in other retellings, but they came together well for a very cohesive whole here. I felt the villains were a bit over the top, and I think the author shied a bit too hard away from Sir Webb's vileness and thus made certain aspects a bit confusing, but seeing them go down was satisfying regardless. If you like your retellings without the magic, I definitely recommend this one.

Loose Retelling: Beauty and the Beast

Unintentional Retelling: Pride and Prejudice

Cameo - Wild Swans, Twelve Dancing Princesses

Non-Magical
Indie

Traditional European

Have you read Grace By Contract? If so, leave a comment below with your own short review to help future readers!