Guest Review: Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt

Reviewer: Tracy
Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt
Series: Maiden Lane #10
Also in this series: Wicked Intentions, Wicked Intentions, Lord of Darkness, Darling Beast, Dearest Rogue, Sweetest Scoundrel, Once Upon a Moonlit Night (Maiden Lane #10.5), Duke of Pleasure, Duke of Desire, Once Upon a Maiden Lane, Once Upon a Christmas Eve (Maiden Lane #12.6), Duke of Sin (Maiden Lane, #10)
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: May 31st 2016
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Series Rating:

A MAN OF SIN

Devastatingly handsome. Vain. Unscrupulous. Valentine Napier, the Duke of Montgomery, is the man London whispers about in boudoirs and back alleys. A notorious rake and blackmailer, Montgomery has returned from exile, intent on seeking revenge on those who have wronged him. But what he finds in his own bedroom may lay waste to all his plans.

A WOMAN OF HONOR

Born a bastard, housekeeper Bridget Crumb is clever, bold, and fiercely loyal. When her aristocratic mother becomes the target of extortion, Bridget joins the Duke of Montgomery's household to search for the incriminating evidence-and uncovers something far more dangerous.

A SECRET THAT THREATENS TO DESTROY THEM BOTH

Astonished by the deceptively prim-and surprisingly witty-domestic spy in his chambers, Montgomery is intrigued. And try as she might, Bridget can't resist the slyly charming duke. Now as the two begin their treacherous game of cat and mouse, they soon realize that they both have secrets-and neither may be as nefarious-or as innocent-as they appear . . .

Val, the Duke of Montgomery, is a pretty bad guy who seems unredeemable until he meets Bridget. Bridget is his housekeeper and he’s incredibly intrigued by her. He starts to demand her presence more and more and he’s fascinated by the things she tells him about scruples but he almost can’t get his head around it.

Bridget is at the duke’s house under false pretenses. Yes, she’s a housekeeper, and a very good one at that, but she is there to help out her birth mother – to find some letters that Val has that he can blackmail her with. Bridget’s scared of losing her position but she’s also intrigued by the duke. He seems, to the world, an evil man but Bridget sees more in him and is willing to risk her job and her feelings to keep him on the straight and narrow.

This was an interesting story. It definitely wasn’t your typical romance as it involved a man that for the most part almost seemed sociopathic but wasn’t. I truly loved that Elizabeth Hoyt put these two people together because it really is the only way that it would have worked for them. If Val had been an ordinary duke it would have never worked out for the two of them, that’s for sure.

Bridget in this book was a housekeeper but her mother was the daughter of a viscount. She has compassion streaming through her pores and while she loved her position she always wondered about why her mother hadn’t kept her (she knew she was a bastard but still). I loved that she saw Val for the despot he was. She couldn’t understand what he did or why he did it but she still gave it her all to teach him right from wrong.

Val was a piece of work. For a while I truly didn’t think the man could be redeemed. Even when he started his relationship with Bridget he was still working his schemes and I wasn’t sure where the story was going. I thought that the way that Hoyt brought about their ultimate HEA had me believing it was possible but Bridget still had her work cut out for her.

While this certainly wasn’t my favorite book in the series it was a good one. I liked that they slowly fell in love and it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that it would all end well; I liked that Bridget wasn’t a raving beauty but was an ordinary looking woman; I liked that the author didn’t try to make me believe that Val had been completely rehabilitated by the end of the book. These elements along with the romance involved made this worth reading.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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