Sins of a Wicked Duke

Sins of a Wicked Duke by Sophia Jordan

Fallon O'Rourke had a difficult childhood; after her father died on a fool's errand for a selfish lord she was sent to a girls school where she was singled out by the headmaster for her fiery hair. Unfortunately the real world is not going much better as she has been let go by employer after employer because the man of the house cannot keep his hands off her. After one particularly awful firing she accepts a ride from the dissolute Dominic Hale, the Duke of Damon, to her hotel and it proves to be quite eye-opening. He engages in some very dissolute behavior with two prostitutes while she is in the carriage before informing her that she is welcome at his place anytime. She runs away, determined to stay away from him. Fallon decides that the best way for her to get a job will be to disguise herself as a man, but she is shocked when the woman at the agency sends "Francis" to the Duke's house for employment as a footman. She is quite unimpressed with the Duke's behavior as night after night of drunkenness and debauchery follow her employment.

Fallon is undeniably horrified, yet cannot help the attraction she feels for this incredibly virile man. Dominic finds himself feeling lost and the only thing that makes him feel like a real person is when he is buried in a woman (his words) or when he is painting- and he has found that his most recent muse is the fiery haired prude from the carriage. After one night of heavy drinking he finds himself with recollections of a soft, sweet smelling woman in his bed, but he cannot remember who she is- until he discovers that his new valet is actually a woman; the same woman he cannot get out of his head. Dominic knows that he wants her but he is equally sure that his empty soul is unable to offer her marriage. Fallon does not last long against Dominic's charms but she still refuses to become his mistress and give into a blue blood. She leaves Dominic with a challenge: to let go of his past, forgive the mistakes that have been made, and open up his heart. Fallon also needs to let go of her hatred for the nobility in order to find the home she has always longed for- with the man who can do anything to win her.

The first half of the book is basically one scene after another of Dominic engaging in incredibly rakish behaviors, from sucking on another woman's nipple in front of Fallon to being caught in bed with a married woman. I knew that there would need to be some major repentance, combined with some major awfulness from his past to make up for his actions. It's one thing to read about how his past is filled with such incidences and another to actually read about said incidences in the present and it's something I had major trouble getting over. Weird how that works, but it's true. Dominic's complaint was that he was constantly empty and he needed something to fill this emptiness, whether that be a woman or getting a very painful tattoo. This emptiness sprung from a grandfather who put him in the care of an abusive and very angry governess. I guess that's as good a reason as any to turn out... not so polite, but I don't believe that the book adequately explains how he goes from dissolute rogue to the lovelorn, forgiving, desperate man he is at the end. I guess I'm supposed to chalk up to his love for Fallon.

Fallon had issues with her past as well, but they played out in a much more realistic and solvable way. Her hatred of the nobility springs from her father's death and it leads to stubbornness and pride, both of which she has managed to conquer by the end in a very believable manner. Like all working women in romance novels she suffers from being constantly harassed by all male relatives of her employers so nothing new there. Sex was a very big part of this book as both of them are constantly attracted to each other, however, while there are plenty of unconsummated scenes, there are not nearly enough full sex scenes and the ones there are don't play out as romantically as they should have. Sex with Fallon should have been different, more making love, then all the women he had slept with before. There was no side plot of anything to detract from making the protagonists the central, the only, focus of the story, and I felt like that really benefited the novel as their emotional turmoil and their pasts really did make this a complete book.

Rating: I find that I am unable to completely get over Dominic's behavior in regards to other women throughout the story, but the emotional breakthroughs these characters made were quite amazing.

Nothing But Scandal

Nothing But Scandal by Allegra Gray

When Elizabeth Medford's father dies in a freak carriage accident he leaves his family absolutely penniless and heir-less. Her uncle and mother decide the best way to save the family is to marry her off to the social climbing, and moderately wealthy, Harold Wetherby, who is also quite repulsive. To save herself she decides to ruin herself and propositions a man she has secretly admired from afar, Alex Bainbridge, the Duke of Beaufort. Although Alex quite likes Elizabeth he knows he cannot have anything to do with her because of his past history with her father. Apparently her father had gambled fairly heavily and he had offered to pay off his debts by giving Elizabeth to him as his mistress. Humiliated and with nowhere else to turn she goes to her friend, the widowed Beatrice Pullington, who hooks her up with a governess job for Lady Grumsby, who just happens to be Alex's sister. Alex is at first quite upset to know that the woman he has not been able to get out of his head is suddenly being thrust upon him, but he realizes it could lead to some interesting circumstances.

Elizabeth is determined not to succumb to Alex even though he makes it clear he is more than willing to set her up in quite a comfortable life. However, when Alex comes to her rescue when a jeweler discovers her father had replaced her brooch with paste, she knows that he could be her knight in shining armor. Their relationship progresses into intimacy and, although she comes to crave their weekly meetings she still refuses to become his mistress. Alex is called away on important business and when his sister discovers that their are rumors about the two of them she fires Elizabeth. Alex is distraught and goes racing after Elizabeth as soon as he finds out, but it may already be too late as her uncle has conspired with Harold Weatherby. She has been kidnapped and taken to the countryside in the hopes that she will eventually give in and marry him. Alex goes racing to save the woman he knows he cannot live without. Unfortunately saving her is only half of what stands in their way as even when the two have been successfully married and it appears they are headed for marital bliss, a figure from Elizabeth's father's past comes forward with news that could ruin their marriage if Alex and Elizabeth can't manage to trust each other.

I have to start my review off by mentioning that this is Allegra Gray's debut novel and then state that it was easy to forget this as I read because it was just so well done. Elizabeth is simply amazing- she is beautiful and lost and headstrong and idealistic and scared all at once and she is depicted so realistically it's impossible not to love her. She's not childish or sassy, but she does stick up for herself, even while moments of weakness sometimes threaten to get the better of her. Alex is amazing as well as he is the typical rake, but from the beginning the reader is aware that he can be incredibly sweet and protective of those he loves. He is also not afraid of his emotions as he admits his love about halfway through the book and the scenes where he worries that he could be losing her (as she investigates what happened to her father) are also incredibly emotional. These two are certainly attracted to each other and, while we did get some of them, they were short and not very frequent, so I could have used with some more steamy scenes.

There is so much going on in this book, from the romance to the kidnap plot to the issues surrounding Elizabeth's father's very mysterious death and yet Gray manages to very skillfully keep everything focused on the romance. It was really quite brilliant and absolutely amazing considering this is her debut novel! The Harold Weatherby plot was quite engrossing and very interesting- he was certainly painted as quite the monster, although he may have gotten more comeuppance than he deserved at the end (and I found Elizabeth's relish at his demise quite out of character really). The plot involving Elizabeth's father's death could easily have taken over the story or really gotten in the way of what happened, but it really ended up just contributing to the story and to the development of their relationship. In addition it lead to some really quite beautifully written and heart breaking emotional scenes, both in the internal monologues of each character and a couple scenes between the two of them. The writing really did this plot proud.

Rating: Absolutely loved this book. Really almost quite perfect, although it could have been a little more fun and had some more sex. All in all quite amazing, and not just for a debut novel.

Mastering the Marquess

Mastering the Marquess by Vanessa Kelly 324

Meredith Brunley has consigned herself to the idea that she will spend her life as a spinster and spends her time taking care of her younger half-sister Annabel. When their father dies Annabel's guardian is their uncle Isaac who tells Meredith that if she does not marry his son, Jacob, he will have Annabel committed to an asylum. Horrified at the possibility Meredith fleas with her sister to the home of Annabel's mother's parents- who disowned her when she ran off to marry the son of a factory owner (Annabel and Meredith's father). While the grandmother is more than happy to meet Annabel and plans to launch both young women out into society, General Stanton is not so sure. Lady Stanton decides that the best way to keep Annabel out of the hands of her uncle is to have her marry her own nephew, Stephen, the Marquess of Silverton. Stephen is more than willing to help launch his new found distant relatives out into society and try to keep the rest of the ton from being too harsh, but it is not the young Annabel he has his eyes on- it is Meredith.

Unfortunately the rest of society is not as forgiving as Annabel's family and it is quickly obvious that very few members of the ton are willing to let them forget their mother's disgrace or their father's lowly origins in trade. Silverton is not at all pleased when his mother refuses to come to the aid of his cousin and the woman he is fast becoming convinced he should marry. Meredith is wary of the attraction she feels towards Stephen because she knows that the gulf between their stations is too much to bridge and she can't help but wonder if Stephen is merely toying with her. Every time the two of them start to get close she pulls away, fearful that she will come to love him and he will break her out. Instead she wants to concentrate on finding a husband for her sister so Anabel can be safe from her uncle and cousin. This is not too hard as another distant cousin, Robert, is infatuated with the beautiful young woman and she returns his feelings. Just as Stephen manages to convince Meredith that they can have a future together Uncle Isaac and Jacob come and try to use force to gain Anabel's fortune by marrying Meredith. It is up to Stephen to come to her rescue and show her that they will have a happy future.

I initially liked Meredith because of her willingness to really take action and place herself at risk to escape a horrible marriage and to save her sister. Plenty of heroines run away for the former, but I have never read about any of them taking a sister along. For a while I was a tad frustrated over how protective she was of her sister and how she really was willing to sacrifice Stephen to save Annabel. Luckily this self sacrifice charade does not continue on for very long and I especially liked it when Annabel came flat out and told Meredith that she appreciates the effort but that she can and should decide her own life. But even once this was cleared up there was the issue of Meredith having so many issues surrounding her rank in society and not being worthy of Silverton. The two of them talked about it several times, and even though she seemed to be convinced she would always change her mind. Even though it is apparently a woman's prerogative to do this, it got annoying VERY quickly. But she was quite likable and at least her motives were somewhat explained.

Stephen was even more interesting and quite the alpha hero- I especially liked that he had a disapproving mother and wasn't scared to tell her what was what. I liked that the mother was a "villain" but she wasn't pure evil. The sex was so- so and I definitely would have preferred more of it between these two very physically attracted to each other characters. Also I felt it would have moved things along a little quicker as far as her reluctance to get married. The plot involving the kidnapping and needing Annabel's inheritance was very well done. It was integrated throughout the story, it was not overwhelming and the romance still shown through, and it was an integral part of the story as it served as the impetuous for the move to the Stanton's. I liked that cousin Jacob was an awful person but had not always been so and had in fact been friends with Meredith at one point. The book also sets up a sequel involving Robert's sister and a friend of Stephen's that I really can't wait to read as the two characters seem very well suited for each other.

Rating: I was bored for most of this book and it took a while to read. I am writing this review about five days after reading it and I already cannot remember very much of it.

To Tame a Dangerous Lord

To Tame a Dangerous Lord by Nicole Jordan

When Madeline Ellis' employer dies she heads to London to look for a new job but an overeager lecher forces her into the room of Rayne Kenyon, Earl of Haviland, who realizes that her father had saved his life during a war. Rayne feels a tad protective of this very stubborn young woman who has resigned herself to being a spinster and who is determined to take care of herself, and her newly married brother, all by herself. He insists on taking him to Freemantle Academy where his friend Arabella, Lady Danvers, is looking to hire new instructors to teach her bourgeoisie students how to mix with the ton. Madeleine gets the job and the more Rayne comes to think about her predicament, and his own need to find a wife and start creating heirs, the more he comes to believe that Madeline could make a perfect wife. He does not want to risk falling in love with a woman after a former love interest had used his connections to save her family from the blade in France while secretly being in love with another man. He thinks Madeline will make a good, if not precisely biddable, wife and he won't need to worry about losing his head.

Madeline is wary of entering into a marriage of convenience as she has always wanted to find true love like her parents did, but when her brother is accused of stealing an heirloom necklace from a peer to make his new wife's family happy, Madeline thinks that having a connection to the ton could be helpful. And there is also the fact that she has fallen in love with him. Their wedding gets off to a rocky start as after quite the passionate interlude Rayne abandons her to return to London so he can investigate a supposed plot to assassinate Prinny. Madeline seeks the help of the Loring sisters and their friend, courtesan Franny, to discover ways to seduce her husband into loving her. Unfortunately the more Madeline tries to get Rayne to love her the more suspicious he becomes of her and her out of character actions. He recognizes that his feelings for her are changing and tries desperately to fight them. But when he discovers that Madeline has only been trying to help her brother and has been trying to protect him, he knows that it is up to him to show Madeline that he has made a mistake and that he does love her.

Madeline often got a little irritating because of her stubbornness and inability to ask for accept anyone's help. The "banter" between them regarding said stubbornness, as well as that regarding her feistiness, was quite irritating and not at all cute. I also wondered why a grown woman was determined to support her grown brother and his new family- seriously she kept giving and giving and giving him money and I wanted her to put her foot down. However it was nice to see a female who could take care of herself. Rayne was interesting and his spy background got a little boring, especially when it was given to us in some very large and awkward information dumps. I am always a little wary of heroes who are determined to not fall for the heroine but I recognize that without those types of heroes we'd have like 10 romance novels total. In this book it does drag on a little long, but I like that there was the added element of suspicion against her because her secretive and changing behavior. I recognize that some readers wouldn't exactly like this, but it works well here and the explanation behind his behavior is adequate and understandable.

This is going to sound a little weird and I am having trouble adequately putting it in words but: despite lots of sex and it being interesting enough it was rather bland overall. I can not quite put my finger on why it was this way- but I really wanted to skip over most of them and get on with the rest of the book. I was a tad bit irritated with the re-emergence of the Loring sisters even though it wasn't overdone. Mainly I was irritated by how nice and sweet and understanding everyone was to Madeline- I wanted someone who wasn't a horrible excuse for a human being (like Rayne's very stickler grandmother) but who wasn't just so genuine and wonderful and Madeline's best friend. No acquaintances in this book. Surprisingly my major pet peeve was the author's portrayal of the French Revolution: she was very sympathetic to the escaped aristocrats (and they are deserving of some sympathy surely) but she made it seem as though the ignorant and awful French rabble was purely after them because they were aristocrats- completely ignoring that whole starvation thing.

Rating: I believe I would give the romance of the book a 4, but the poor writing quality and the annoying-ness of her brother's plot bring it down to a 2 1/2. I'll give it a 3 though.

A Rake's Guide to Pleasure

A Rake's Guide to Pleasure by Victoria Dahl

Emma Jensen is posing as the widowed Lady Denmore so that she can gamble with the elite members of the ton and make a small enough fortune to live modestly off of for the rest of her life. Her father had been the ninth Duke of Densmore and he earned quite the reputation for throwing scandalous parties before dying and leaving the estate to his Uncle, whom Emma lived with and admired until he died in a house fire. Years before she had met the Duke of Somerhart at one of her father's parties when he had been in attendance and she had been a mere child and since that night she had spun pointless girlish fantasies about her dashing knight in shining armor. When she meets him again at a card party she feels the same sense of connection she had felt years ago, and a very new passion for the handsome man. Somerhart is horrified that Emma is a gambler and that she takes ridiculous risks like skating across very thin ice, but nonetheless he is determined to have her. However he learned his lesson years ago never to let a woman close to him, after being humiliated by a lover, and he vows to keep her away from his heart.

But the more he tries to keep her away the more obsessed with her he becomes. She shows him glimpses of passion in hot kisses and touches but she claims she does not want him for a lover. When a man from Emma's past, who knows the truth about her and who is determined to marry her and turn her into a decent Christian woman, shows up, Emma turns to Lord Lancaster for help. The man is crazed and it shows Emma how close she is to being exposed and losing everything. Somerhart begins to fear that Emma is going to make a fool of him and he tries to push her away but when he becomes angry when she wagers her body in a gambling den, he discovers in the aftermath of his anger that she was a virgin. Unfortunately for him she has chosen this moment to disappear from his life and Somerhart needs to find her- even if he is not quite sure what he plan on doing with her when he does. When he does find her it may be too late as the crazed man from her past has caught up with her too and it is up to Somerhart to save her and prove to both of them that he is capable of love.

So once again Dahl has written some great characters who are very well developed, very likable, and both of them make for interesting reads. Emma is intriguing as the woman who goes to great, and dangerous lengths, to make a life for herself. However in this case I had kind of hoped that she would have wanted more for herself than a quiet house in the country- surely a woman so adventurous wouldn't want to spend her life so isolated from society? However at least that is vaguely explained as it was a place she had felt happy during her childhood. Somerhart, whose real name is never given and he is just referred to as Hart throughout the novel (weird) and whose age is never revealed, is well done as the older man who has sworn off love. A former of mistress of his had published some quite revealing love letters and he had been humiliated by the entire ton so his feelings are understandable if a little cold. What is not so clear to be honest is quite why or how these two fell in love with each other. There is some reflection by Hart that she is innocent and adventurous and strong and some reflection by her that is strong and protective but nothing precisely super love inducing.

Despite that the sex between these two is smoking! even if there is not quite enough of it. They are incredibly compatible in the bed as Emma rather likes being ordered around in the bedroom and even a little bit of submission (her hands being pinned over her head) while Hart is more than willing to do a little dominance. It is nothing extreme and throughout it we're in both their heads seeing how in tune with each other they are and there is a tiny bit of tit for tat in the form of her "making" him masturbate for her. Yea- smokin'! The book is fairly short (289 pages) so the side plot involving Matthew Bromley definitely doesn't draw the book out or make the book just too intense. It is fairly briefly scattered throughout the course of the novel and plays a very important role at the end by doing the romance novel staple- the hero realizes he is truly in love with the heroine when he has to save her from a kidnapping plot. However, it was quite interesting here as there was the angle of religion having driven the man crazy. There was also some very delicious angstiness going on for awhile and I loved it!

Rating: Very great effort from this very great writer. I had some issues with it- I would have liked some more romantic development, but overall quite excellent.