The Duel (Signet Eclipse) [Paperback]

Barbara Metzger (Author)

Book Description

Series: Signet Eclipse | Publication Date: February 1, 2005

From the award-winning author of A Perfect Gentleman comes an enchanting tale about an imperfect earl and the picture-perfect woman who teaches him that love is always worth fighting for.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ian Maddox, lord of Marden, didn't want to be in a duel. He only meant to shoot into the air to scare his opponent, but the pistol ball bounces off a tree and goes into Troy Renslow, a sickly boy who has been surreptitiously watching the illegal gunplay. Ian takes Troy to his bachelor townhouse and fetches the lad's sister, Athena. And Ian is so upset about the boy's condition that he lets Athena stay overnight, without a chaperone. Under the rules of Regency society, this turns the virtuous Athena into a ruined woman. Soon, it seems that everyone is after Ian to marry her. Everyone, that is, except the prospective bride herself. A lively cast of secondary characters adds to the excitement: Ian's radically feminist sister, a best friend who gives "above and beyond" a whole new meaning, a raggedy dog with a mind of his own, a gleefully matchmaking mother, and a butler who also serves as Ian's conscience. Once again, Metzger has penned a truly outstanding historical. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Signet (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451213890
• ISBN-13: 978-0451213891
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another fun regency!, March 11, 2005

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Duel (Signet Eclipse) (Paperback)

THE DUEL by Barbara Metzger
March 11, 2005

Courtesy of WWW.LOVEROMANCES.COM

THE DUEL by Barbara Metzger was yet another fun Regency romance that this reviewer has had the pleasure to read in the past few months.

In THE DUEL, Ian, the earl of Marden, finds himself facing the husband of one of his lovers, Lady Paige, in a duel to the death. Lord Paige, fortunately, was a bad shot, but he also wasn't above cheating by shooting toward Ian's back before the count of three. When Ian's wild shot intentionally goes into the trees to scare Lord Paige, it hits a young innocent boy that happened to be riding his horse nearby. Lord Paige runs away, and Ian goes to the boy and takes him to his estate, along with the boy's sister Athena. Ian lets them stay with him while the boy, Troy, recovers from his injuries. Ian is filled with guilt and will do anything to make sure that Troy gets all the medical attention he needs.

What then follows is a complication that Ian does not need. Athena is not a girl, as Ian thought at first, but was really a young woman of nineteen years, and it becomes quite scandalous among the public knowing that she is living with a man in his home without an appropriate chaperone. Ian tries to right this wrong, but no matter what he comes up with to fix the problem, he finds himself even worse off than before. When his mother suggests that he wed the young gal to stop the ton from gossiping, he is not sure Athena will go for it.

This is the first Regency this reviewer has read by Barbara Metzger. Last year's contemporary novel LOVE, LOUISA was very enjoyable, but one can certainly see why she's won awards for her Regencies after reading THE DUEL. THE DUEL was not only funny and witty, as the best of Regencies can be, but the story line was thought out very well. There was never any scene that felt out of place, nor were there long drawn out chapters that could have been edited out. Ian's best friend, Carswell, was the icing on the cake, as he added so much comedy to the story that this reviewer could not help but chuckle. Carswell dressed in drag to pretend to be a chaperone for Athena was classic.

With that said, this reviewer highly recommends THE DUEL to all Regency fans, but also to any fan of romance novels that enjoys a little comedy in between the romance.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming , Romantic AND Original, January 29, 2005

By 

M. Rondeau (West Springfield, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Duel (Signet Eclipse) (Paperback)

Things could not get worse, or so Ian, Earl of Marden thought when trying to do the honorable thing after his opponent, fired his gun before he should have during their duel of honor that morning. How could he have known that when he shot his pistol off to the side, sparing his opponents life, the ball would ricochet and hit an innocent bystander. Not only an innocent, but a young and sickly lad no less, whose main concern when he regained consciousness was that someone care for his sister. Feeling totally guilty, Ian, rushed the young lad to his own home, then promised the young lad that he would bring his sister there to him, never realizing that the `little' sister was only little in size but not in age.

Athena, whose main concern was for her darling brother, whom she'd practically raised on his own since his birth, could not help but notice how handsome and kind the Earl of Marden was after rescuing her brother. In her eyes, Ian became a hero and never did she realize that this `hero' was the rogue who practically killed him!

Soon, after discovering that the `little' sister Attie was a young woman of nineteen living un-chaperoned in his bachelor household - Ian was resolved to save her reputation. After a series of misadventures in trying to locate a suitable chaperone to stay at the house, Ian felt the best solution would be marrying her. Unfortunately, Athena would not let Ian sacrifice himself just to save her - even though all the family members involved thought it to be a capital plan!

***What can one say of another of Ms. Metzger's remarkable, totally charming, and delightful regencies that has not been said already? The dialogs are witty, and consistently fresh with protagonists that are simply made for one another. Secondary characters are always original and endearing, be they in human or animal form, and Roma, the deaf dog with a penchant for men's boots is no exception. If looking for an original, laugh out loud and charmingly romantic read, look no further than this heart warming and agreeable tale.

*** Marilyn, for www.historicalromancewriters.com ***

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a book not quite finished, March 30, 2005

By 

Annie (Pearl River, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Duel (Signet Eclipse) (Paperback)

A Barbara Metzger regency is generally a fun and entertaining read. Her style of writing is funny, clever and cute. That is true of this story some of the time but I find I am rather tired of regencies that employ the stragegy of the "big misunderstanding" to be central to keeping said hero and heroine apart. Ian is a sweetie, rake and all. However, how bad a rake can he be with all his charities? He is a good-looking man who is 30 so would not one expect him to have bedded a few women? The premise of the duel gone wrong was a good way to start but once Ian lied to Attie, well, you knew she would find out the truth and it would become an issue between them. I find as a reader that if I know from the beginning of the story the "truth" about the mystery of said misunderstanding or lie than it becomes rather tedious to the extreme waiting for the other foot to drop. Also, I hate when authors do not finish their stories!!!! There were so many lose ends in the story that could have benefited from completion. Perhaps 50 pages of our hero and heroine being torn could have been deleted and the stories resolved. For instance, did Rensdale have the a long awaited son or not? Is Troy still the heir? Did Ian's Mom get together with Attie's Uncle who liked her? What about Lady Doro and Carswell? Also, since the club foot is an inherited trait with the men in Attie's family, was it passed on to hers and Ian's children? These would have been things readers who are smart would want to know. The least an author can do for their readers is complete a story to its proper end.