A Duke to Die For: The Rogues' Dynasty [Mass Market Paperback]

Amelia Grey (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

After receiving the news that he is now the guardian of Miss Henrietta Tweed, Lucien Trent Blakewell realizes he has two options: take control of her affairs himself or agree to sign over control of Henrietta’s fortune to the lady herself. Lucien refuses to believe Henrietta’s wild claims that she carries a curse that delivered an untimely death to her five previous guardians, but taking on the duties of guardianship would definitely put a dent in Lucien’s busy social calendar. Since Lucien does believe that no woman can manage her own financial affairs, giving Henrietta control of her own money is also out of the question. Which leaves Lucien with only one other solution: find his charge a suitable husband. Grey expertly imbues her latest neatly crafted Regency historical—and the first in a new series—with intriguing danger, sharp humor, and plenty of simmering sexual chemistry.

Review

This romance has great characters, a strong heroine, humor, excitement and great love scenes, I couldn't ask for anything more! (Maura Frankman The Romance Studio 20090302)

A heroine who thinks she's cursed, a hero who is afraid of heights, and an upbeat plot... sweep readers along at a lively pace in a lusciously spicy romp that is the first in the author's "The Rogues' Dynasty" series. (Library Journal 20090330)

Grey expertly imbues her latest neatly crafted Regency historical-and the first in a new series-with intriguing danger, sharp humor, and plenty of simmering sexual chemistry. (Booklist 20090331)

Ms. Gray develops her characters and the setting very well, and the tension that rises between Duke of Blakewell and his ward Henrietta Tweed is perfectly timed and tuned. (Dandelion Long and Short of It Reviews 20090406)

All in all, this is a very enjoyable romance, and I would recommend it to any romance fans seeking out a new author. (Meghan Kawka Medeival Bookworm 20090407)

Grey's writing style is fresh and expressive, bringing you right into the minds of the characters she so obviously built with love. (Robin Kavanaugh Blog Critics 20090413)

It has plenty of romance and sexual tension, as well as a fun plot. (Marta Hoelscher Marta's Meanderings 20090416)

With romance, mystery, history, and witty humor this is the perfect book for anyone looking for good relaxing and intriguing book. (Shana Haynes Books are Life 20090417)

Blake and Henrietta's love for each other was... indescribable... If you enjoy historical romances then I'd definitely recommend you pick up this novel. (Dani Atwater Confessions of a Romance Book Addict 20090420)

I quite liked Amelia Grey's A Duke to Die For; there was a nice story with the clever twist of the curse. I enjoyed spending time with all the characters and found them very believable. (Alana McClurey A Hoyden's Look at Litearture 20090505)

A Duke to Die For is an amusing romp across land, air, and ballrooms. It combines one randy and obscenely jealous duke, the best kind, and one beautiful, forthright but tragically cursed miss. (Keira Gillet Love Romance Passion 20090526)

A Duke to Die For was a fast read filled with great passion. For the one who loves a good romance without too much passionate scenes, this one's for you. (Farrah Kennedey The Book Faery 20090601)

Bewitching, beguiling and unbelievably funny... Amelia Grey starts off her new trilogy, The Rogues' Dynasty, with an absolutely enchanting and addictive tale that just makes you want to keep on reading! (Audrey Lawrence Fresh Fiction 20090301)

Amelia Grey is a rare talent and A DUKE TO DIE FOR is proof of that! (Marilyn Rondeau CK2's Kwips and Kritiques 20091214)

Deliciously sensual... storyteller extraordinaire Amelia Grey grabs you by the heart, draws you in and does not let go. (Dottie Romance Junkies )

Grey

expertly imbues her latest neatly crafted Regency historical-and the first in a new series-with intriguing

danger, sharp humor, and plenty of simmering sexual chemistry.

(Booklist )

A sweet and easy read. (Linda Akerman Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (April 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402217676
• ISBN-13: 978-1402217678
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #902,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Oddly boring..., May 23, 2009

By 

emwhist (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Duke to Die For: The Rogues' Dynasty (Mass Market Paperback)

I am pretty surprised to see the other positive reviews here. While the overall plot of this book was perfectly acceptable, the execution was TERRIBLE! 19-year-old heroine becomes ward of rakish hero, instant attraction leads to love. Not the most scintillating outline, but had potential. Beyond boring dialog and shallow characterization, there were a number of head-scratching turn-offs for me. A few are listed below, though there are certainly others...

1. He asks a former mistress to chaperone his ward, our heroine. This is somewhat off-putting, but seems like this could be a potential twist down the road, right? Wrong. Heroine never puts 2+2 together and it just makes for somewhat awkward, clunky reading.

2. A personal peeve of mine, hero sleeps with someone else after meeting and acknowledging fledgling feelings for heroine. Not only does he have sex with someone else, it's a tavern whore and this incident barely gets a full paragraph description, let alone any indication of remorse from the hero.

3. This was probably the kicker for me. The biggest conflict/exciting moment of the story, the catalyst for declarations of undying love... involves an allergic reaction to a dog. Not anaphylactic shock, death looming large variety of allergy. Just the sneezing and wheezing variety. While overwrought plot twists can sometimes be annoying, come ON! Itchy eyes and an aborted carriage ride does not make for exciting reading.

This is the first Amelia Grey book I've read. Perhaps this offering is in keeping with her normal style and it's just not my cup of tea. This was obviously the first in a trilogy about 3 male cousins. I can't say I'll be awaiting those releases with bated breath but at least the series has nowhere to go but up.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Regency Buck with balloons?, March 27, 2009

By 

Helen Hancox "Auntie Helen" (Essex, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Duke to Die For: The Rogues' Dynasty (Mass Market Paperback)

The basic plot of 'A Duke To Die For' is akin to that of Georgette Heyer's 'Regency Buck', a young woman finds herself the ward of a titled gentleman and ends up married to him. Of course there are many differences between the two books, not least in the quality of writing and historical accuracy, but 'A Duke To Die For' has some moments of charm.

Henrietta Tweed believes she is under a curse. When her parents died a woman told her that she was cursed to have all her guardians die and that seems to have happened; her father had left a list of six men who could be her guardian until she came of age and when she arrives at the house of the Duke of Blakewell he's the last one on the list, the others having all died once they became her guardian. However, he's not the duke that her father knew but his son, a handsome young man whose rather disorganised life is fairly rakish but mostly harmless.

Blake doesn't want a ward, particularly one as attractive and appealing as Henrietta. He doesn't believe in her curse, of course, but as he tries to find her a husband and as she helps him with his correspondence, his health and his fear of heights, he begins to wonder if he can let her marry anyone else.

This is very much a simple plot, simply told. There are minimal twists and turns in the stories, few disagreements among the characters and the curse aspect of the plot is resolved in a way which seemed rather too easy to me at the end. Historical accuracy isn't that good in terms of dialogue although some of the background information about ballooning was interesting, although that aspect of the story wasn't resolved in this book (there are two more novels planned, about Blake's cousins, which may continue the theme). Although both Blake and Henrietta were very appealing characters, Blake's behaviour as a guardian was pretty dodgy towards his ward and her tumbling into love with him seemed to reach a great depth very quickly.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Smart, Witty and Entertaining - As Always!!!, May 3, 2009

By 

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

This review is from: A Duke to Die For: The Rogues' Dynasty (Mass Market Paperback)

Lucien Trent Blakewell, the fifth Duke of Blakewell has been enjoying life to the fullest and along with his two handsome bachelor cousins. The mama's of the ton would consider it a triumph to catch any one of them for their marriageable daughters. However, when young Miss Henrietta Tweed arrives on Blake's doorstep announcing that she is his ward and he her new guardian, Blake can hardly believe it. Very determined and cool-headed, Henrietta has also come armed with papers for him to sign so that she can be in charge of her own life, fearing she carries a curse that has caused the untimely deaths of her four previous guardians. Henrietta doesn't want to be the cause of yet another death, especially when this new guardian is one of the most handsome men she's ever seen!

*** Ms. Grey has continued to build an extensive fan base providing her readers with smart, witty and totally entertaining Regency novels. As in her previous works, she keeps a lively pace going with charming heroines and delightfully well-intentioned heroes crafting them with chemistry that zings. Inserting just the right amount of humor within her scenes and dialogs, she keeps the story moving forward as she shows how Henrietta is convinced she is "cursed".

Using Blake's eagerness to do right by Henrietta in finding her a husband adds to the humor as Blake realizes that he's "grown accustomed to her face" as well as her organizational skills, and can't stand the thought of any other man kissing or bedding her, for that matter, then himself! While not an original plot, as this has been used over and over, Ms. Grey puts her own spin and stamp on it making it a sweet and tantalizing story.

Bottom Line: Amelia Grey is a rare talent and A DUKE TO DIE FOR is proof of that!

Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com