HOW TO LOVE A DUKE IN TEN DAYS
by
Kerrigan Byrne
SYNOPSIS
These men are dark, bold, and brave. And there is only one woman who can bring them to their knees…
Famed and brilliant, Lady Alexandra Lane has always known how to look out for herself. But nobody would ever expect that she has darkness in her past—one that she pays a blackmailer to keep buried. Now, with her family nearing bankruptcy, Alexandra strikes upon a solution: Get married to one of the empire’s most wealthy eligible bachelors. Even if he does have the reputation of a devil.
LOVE TAKES NO PRISONERS
Piers Gedrick Atherton, the Duke of Redmayne, is seeking revenge and the first step is securing a bride. Winning a lady’s hand is not so easy, however, for a man known as the Terror of Torcliff. Then, Alexandra enters his life like a bolt of lightning. When she proposes marriage, Piers knows that, like him, trouble haunts her footsteps. But her gentleness, sharp wit, independent nature, and incredible beauty awakens every fierce desire within him. He will do whatever it takes to keep her safe in his arms.
Buy-book link:
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250243270
ABOUT KERRIGAN
Whether she’s writing about Celtic Druids, Victorian bad boys, or brash Irish FBI Agents, USA Today bestseller Kerrigan Byrne uses her borderline-obsessive passion for history, her extensive Celtic ancestry, and her love of Shakespeare in every book. With her handsome husband and three lovely teenage girls, Kerrigan has fulfilled her dream of settling on the Pacific Coast. Her Victorian Rebels novels include The Highwayman and The Highlander.
REVIEW
I am such a huge fan of the Victorian Rebels series that when a new Kerrigan Byrne series-starter was announced for the anticipated August release instead of Inspector Morley’s story, I was slightly disappointed. That feeling didn’t last long because this new Devil You Know series promises the same intensity and vivid imagery that made me love Kerrigan’s books from the first moment I started reading them in 2015.
How to Love a Duke in Ten Days introduces five (?) of the compelling characters in this new series: Alexandra and Piers, Cecelia and Case, and Francesca. (I have a suspicion about who Francesca’s partner will be. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t read the book yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s someone from her past.) A close friendship, hair color, and shared secrets bind the three female leads while familial ties connect two of their love interests. Kerrigan drew each character so distinctively, I can picture them in my head clearly.
She did the same with the book’s many locations and action sequences, so much so that it has the feel of a gothic screenplay. There’s plenty of violence — from the shocking Prologue to the dramatic denouement. There are also tender moments in between wherein Piers and Alexandra learn one another on their way to falling in love. Instant chemistry, mutual interest in exploration, and emotional connection make these two work as a couple. After suspicions, misunderstandings, secrets, and threats to their lives, their happy-ever-after is well-deserved.
Both are heavily scarred. Piers physically, from a skirmish with a jaguar, and emotionally, from a negligent mother and an unfaithful lover that colored his opinion of women. Alexandra’s sexual assault when she was a teenager and the tragic events afterwards forever changed her personality. Fear, shame, and guilt warred within her despite accomplishing so much from her archaeological pursuits. Their coming together is a miracle only a romance novel and a talented author who wrote it can achieve.
The use of male names for the female characters, an abundance of villains, and the over-elaborate language are some of the elements I didn’t fully appreciate, but aside from these, I really liked this book and I’m extremely excited for All Scot and Bothered –Cecelia and Ramsay’s story.
GIVEAWAY
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, I’m giving away a paperback copy of Kerrigan Byrne’s How to Love a Duke in Ten Days to one of my US readers. All you have to do for a chance to win is comment below. I will draw a random winner at 12 noon on Tuesday, September 3. Watch out for the announcement here and on my Facebook author page Maida Malby.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Roses comes a gripping new novel about five young spies embedded among the highest Nazi ranks in occupied Paris
I’m declaring it now, Dragonfly is one of my Top Five Reads of 2019. That’s saying something because as of this writing, I’ve already read 120 books. Utterly engrossing, highly suspenseful, and deeply evocative, this superbly-written book deserves a plethora of superlatives for how thoroughly I’ve enjoyed reading it. For two consecutive days, I had to drag myself to bed at 4 am because I couldn’t put it down. I kept saying, “One more chapter. Just one more.”
Laura Trentham is an award-winning author of contemporary and historical romance, including Then He Kissed Me and The Military Wife. She is a member of RWA, and has been a finalist multiple times in the Golden Heart competition. A chemical engineer by training and a lover of books by nature, she lives in South Carolina.
Max and Sky are easy to root for because they are regular people with real-life problems, who deserve their happily ever after. Maddie is a star. She’s the little cupid who brought her mother and their next-door neighbor together. I love the parts she played in making sure Max and Sky address their feelings honestly and clear up their misunderstandings right away. I also love the other secondary characters like Big John and Ruby, Logan and Anna. I even appreciate Cade for providing the conflict that tests Max and Sky’s developing relationship.
