Customer Reviews

Daring the Duke

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the best historical romances I've read in years. I was hooked from the beginning. Great characters with lots of suspense and romance. Hard to put down. The plot and characters seemed fresh, the pace was quick, and it was a totally engrossing read. A sexy hero, a feisty heroine, a mystery, and a passionate romance...put them all together and you get "Daring the Duke", a historical romance you don't want to miss. Anne Mallory developed Audrey Kendrick and Stephen Chalmers's personalities and motivations very convincingly, to the point where you feel as though you know them well enough to be friends by the time you finish the book. One of the things I liked best about this book is the way the author wove the emotional storyline with such a light touch -- I was engrossed with the relationship between the hero and heroine and truly felt as if I knew them both. Daring the Duke was an emotional roller coaster, and I felt all the pain and joy they did. Wonderful love story, great characters with an emotionally scarred hero and strong but vulnerable heroine, unique setting, intriguing plot, edge-of-your-seat pacing, heart-tugging emotion, excellent writing, intense sensual love scenes, and a superb ending. I was so engrossed, I read it in a day. The love scenes are ample & steamy, and the plot is a good one. A fast paced book with an intricate plot that I cannot help but enjoy. Daring the Duke a strong (but not obnoxious) heroine who is in no way ordinary, a back story which is compelling but doesn't get in the way of the love story, and of course a wonderful hero. It was written with an amazing level of intensity and feeling that my heart was pumping furiously with both the palatable passion and the keen sense of danger infused in the story. Steven is a mighty good man. He is HOT HOT HOT! This was just the kind of romance novel I love. Wonderful characters. Characters that seems real because they are not perfect-something most novels like this lack. I absolutely loved this book. The author has a great gift in her ability to develop characters. I must have laughed a hundred times and I absolutely couldn't put the book down until I was finished. I found Anne Mallory writing fresh, and her lead characters fully developed with their personalities very well crafted. I can't wait to read more books from Anne Mallory. I hope she comes out with a new one soon.

Masquerading the Marquess introduced us to a new author, Anne Mallory, whose knowledge of the Regency period in England is certainly vast. She must be a scholar of note, for her grasp of social and romantic customs is as deep as it is wide. We loved the first book, and we wondered how Ms. Mallory would be able to top the ultra-romantic and intriguing set up that she established. For in the first book her heroine, spunky Camille Minton, worked undercover as a cartoonist or caricaturist for Regency gossip columns while pretending to be a dowdy chaperone! For one thing, few books set in the Regency acknowledge the fact that, unpleasant or not, many women had to work to make a living. Plus, Camille's cunning cartoons were a clever way for author Mallory to describe most of her characters without that tedious job of over-description. The suspense came from asking ourselves when would the Marquess she loved find out she was a "working girl"?

Here the heroine works as a thief--a dashing thief like the Scarlet Pimpernel! Audrey is romantic, decent, hard-working and ultimately does the right thing, but we wince for her virtue and we worry about whether or not she will land the one man who will make her happy--which will it be?

Not by choice but because of a blackmailer who plans to expose her to the "ton" (fashionable crowd of Beau Brummell) and to hurt her sister's reputation if she does not comply with his insane demands. It's like Topkapi or Rififi or any number of suspenseful crime caper movies, blended in with the Regency love affairs we love to follow in Avon romances. DARING THE DUKE ups the emotional ante of the first novel by Mallory, engaging us with her sympathetic characters while making us understand why they sometimes flirt with the law.

I wonder what title will come up next for Anne Mallory? ROMANCING THE REGENT? PURSUING THE PRINCE? VIOLATING THE VISCOUNT? Only time will tell!

The Duke of Marston Stephen Chalmers failed to catch Hermes the thief who apparently retired until now. For an unknown reason, Hermes has committed six robberies in a week, but this time Stephen knows that the long assumed male thief is a she, Audrey Kendrick; once he has her accomplices he will send her and her team to Newgate.

Audrey detests the blackmailing Travers who has her sister Faye as a hostage to force Hermes to do his bidding. Travers is upset to see Stephen "Bloody" Chalmers with Audrey and warns her to stay away from the gentleman spy. However, it is difficult to avoid someone who seems to be everywhere you are. As Stephen sets up his final trap to capture the entire Hermes gang, he finds his admiration for Audrey's courage and daring grow and his desire for her interfere with his thought process. Audrey falls in love with the forbidden fruit of an aristocrat who wants to send her to Newgate, Australia or his bed, but Faye's safety must come before her betraying heart.

Though readers know who the thief, her "handler" and the sleuth are from the start, DARING THE DUKE is a fabulous Regency romantic suspense due to a terrific triangular cat, rat, and mouse game between the key threesome. Fans will enjoy Stephen's dilemma as he has fallen in love with the obsession he wants to send to prison. Audrey is a brave individual who sub-genre fans will emphasize with about her dilemma, hoping that somehow she overcomes the impossible with Stephen at her side.

Harriet Klausner

*3.5 Stars*

Once again, there was something missing for me in this book. I honestly think it's because it's one of this author's first books. It felt a little smoother than the first at times, but it was still missing the spark I usually feel with this author's work.

I picked this book up immediately after finishing the first, Masquerading the Marquess. Stephen seemed like such an interesting character that I couldn't wait to read more about him! Luckily, he didn't disappoint and his heroine, Audrey, lived up to my expectations too.

Audrey by turns impressed and irritated me. I loved all the details about her career. It was absurdly easy for Stephen to catch her, but luckily the author gave us the excuse that this was not her plan to explain that away. This enabled me to still be able to accept that she had been too slick to catch a year ago.

I loved how mature and strong she was. She had confidence in herself and was always planning. It was very nice. But I also found her lack of growth and closed off attitude toward Stephen to be irritating. I know she didn't trust easy, but I got tired of it dragging on for the whole book. I needed to see her give something back to Stephen. It felt rather one sided as it stood.

I loved watching the teasing and banter develop between the characters. This is where I feel the author really starts to polish her later style.

I felt that once again things started to feel a little shaky as the plot came together. It was a little too abrupt and felt somewhat convoluted at times. The book could do with some tighter plotting and fewer characters running around.

I really wish that more detail had been explained about Audrey and Stephen's past. I felt that things were alluded to in her thoughts that were never resolved. I also wanted to know if her retirement tied into another event. The timing seemed to match up a little too well for it to be otherwise.

These first two books will not go down as favorites of the author, but I don't regret acquiring them at all. If you read this and felt that it was just a bit lacking I would recommend trying one of her newer books before making up your mind to write her off!

'Daring the Duke' by Anne Mallory is historical romance mystery novel based in 1824. Audrey Kendrick is a famous thief who is now being blackmailed to save her sister. Audrey has history with the new Duke Stephen Chalmers but he does remember her saving his life. The Duke finds out who Audrey is and the chance is on ..... This was fun quick read. . I would recommend this novel and The Lady Lies by Samantha Saxon.

I expected great things based on the five stars reviews here, but I wasn't very impressed with this book. It actually took me over a week to finish it. Normally I'll read a good book straight through in a day or two, but I kept setting this one aside for more interesting books. It's plot was unique enough to have me coming back to it eventually, but I was never in a big hurry to see how it ended.

I thought the plot and the characters had real potential, but there needed to be a little more detail and depth in order to give it that sense of richness of a great romance.

The story seemed to be told on a superficial level, in that we were told the bare facts about what was happening and who the characters were. There was simply not enough descriptions or depth to create a really dynamic story. Usually I feel that romance novels err on the side of giving too much detail that bogs down the story, but in case I think more detail was needed in order to hook the reader. For example, there were plenty of secondary characters who I would have liked to see more of, but they would only appear for 1 paragraph to 1 page at a time. Not enough time for us to care about these more minor characters, or to get to know the protagonists through interactions with others.

That being said, I did see real potential with this story as it had a unique plot and appealing characters. I think with a little more depth it could have made for a really great crime caper and a great romance. This was the first book I've read by this author, but despite being less than impressed, I would definetly give her another shot in the future to see if she's improved.

I liked the way the characters were developed in this story. We met the hero in the previous book and he is stil funny, charming and smart. The heroine is tough and streetwise and knows how to protect herself. The problem is that they were not given enough time to love each other. I hate when authors add so much plot trying to be suspensful that the romance feels like an after thought. The book is still entertianing it's worth reading.

The characters made this book. They were very likeable and I wanted them to have a happy ending. I didn't find the story riveting but I liked it well enough and will be ordering Roth's story. The ending was a little confusing to me when all of the pieces were being put together. I was thinking, "Now who is that?..." Perhaps if I had read the first in the series I may have been aware more of who some of the villains were..I guess. But overall the story was entertaining and I will continue to read this author.