Jun 4, 2014

When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath (Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James #1)

When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath
Genre: Historical Romance
Bottom Line: A wonderfully sexy romance about a search for love.  This book was a great balance between a light and emotional story. 

Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James
1.  When the Duke Was Wicked
2.  Once More, My Darling Rogue (August 26, 2014)


Synopsis (Goodreads):

They are England's most eligible bachelors, with the most scandalous reputations. But for the right woman, even an unrepentant rogue may mend his ways . . .

Lady Grace Mabry's ample inheritance has made it impossible for her to tell whether a suitor is in love with her— or enamored of her riches. Who better to distinguish beau from blackguard than her notorious childhood friend, the Duke of Lovingdon?

With no interest in marriage, Lovingdon has long lived only for pleasure. He sees little harm in helping Grace find a proper match. He simply has to teach the lovely innocent all the ploys a scoundrel uses to gain a woman's favor— by demonstrating his wicked ways. But as lessons lead to torrid passion and Grace becomes ensnared in another man's marriage plot, Lovingdon must wage a desperate gamble: Open his heart fully—or risk losing the woman he adores . . .


My Thoughts:

This was an adorable book. Grace is looking for a love match among her many suitors, and she enlists her childhood friend, Lovingdon, to help her determine who actually loves her and who is just after her money. There were a lot of unexpected twists in this story. Grace has a particular reason for wanting a love match, so there was a lot more to her story than just being a hopeless romantic. Lovingdon went into a moral decline after the death of his wife and child, and changed greatly from the man Grace knew as a girl. I am sometimes wary about these plots where one of the characters experienced the loss of a spouse. I want the hero and heroine to be meant for each other and no one else, but I also don't want the love for the former spouse to be belittled. It is always a slippery slope and there were some moments in this book where I considered punching my computer if Lovington said he couldn't love again one more time.  But I thought Heath handled it nicely and I suppose I can deal with a little tension.

Lovingdon was a very sensual character. The passion between him and Grace was marvelous. And the jealousy... I admit I have a weak spot for reading about jealous men. Throughout the book, Lovingdon gives Grace tips on how to tell if a man is in love with her. Of course, half the time he can't stop himself from demonstrating as well. Delicious. Another thing I enjoyed about this story is that the characters actually had nice families, which seems to be so rare in Regency novels. I like to read at least a few historical romances where the families are loving instead of abusive or detached.

On a side note, did anyone else find it weird that Grace never called him Henry? Come on, that is one of my favorite parts of a historical romance! You can't call the love of your life by his title...

I cannot wait to read Drake's story when the next book is released. I just read the synopsis and it sounds absolutely wonderful. Love! Deception! Amnesia! It's gonna be good.  

Rating: 9

Find it on: Amazon | Goodreads Lorraine Heath         

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