Customer Reviews

The Duke's Double (Lords of Love)

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

 

 

From the back cover:

They were caught in a storm of reckless love, torn between an unforgiving past and a future of unforgettable passion...

Once, she had fled a hostile world to live in exile on Capri. Now, the widowed Joanna Sherwood's only recourse is to return to her native England, to the scandal that destroyed her, to a society that shunned her, and to the one man who brought about her downfall: Adrian Delacourt, the Duke of Roxbury, her first husband, her first love, and the father of her beloved son....

But something else is awaiting Joanna: a sanctuary she never dreamed possible--and an elusive happiness found only in the irresistible embrace of her loving enemy....

And my review:

I really enjoyed Anita Mills' novella THE CHRISTMAS STRANGER, found in Harlequin's Christmas Rogues collection. So when I came across a bunch of her books, I immediately snapped them up. But I was disappointed in THE DUKE'S DOUBLE.

The book had amazing promise. This premise was a fresh one, not something that's been done to death. The writing is engaging and flowing. So what's the problem? The characters--they all drove me nuts! The things they did made no sense!

For example, when the hero accused the heroine of adultery with his best friend, what did she do? Nothing! She didn't bother to say one word in her own defense, even after the hero started divorce proceedings. The explanation for this was that the heroine was so hurt that the hero would even question her that she didn't want to dignify it with an answer. Uh....what? Yes, I totally understand why that would hurt, but if it had been me, I would have been protesting my innocence to anyone who would listen. I would not just stand there, say nothing, and make myself look guilty. And later, even when the hero keeps accusing her, giving her numerous chances to set the record straight, she just keeps reiterating that it's "all in the past". Again, wouldn't any normal woman scream, "I never cheated on you! How can you even think that of me?"

The hero drove me crazy with the way he believed his mother's lies without bothering to question them, even though he knew that his mother hated the heroine. Wouldn't that make you think that she might have a motive to lie? Plus the heavy-handed way he tries to take the heroine's son from her when he finds out that he is the father made me really dislike him.

Also, the hero's mother told her lies because she hated the heroine and wanted to get rid of her (because she wasn't "worthy" of being a duchess). Okay, but your son getting a divorce is okay? Maybe in today's modern times, but in Regency times, the scandal would have been devastating to the entire family. Yet that's never really explored.

And the son, Justin, always saying that "papa loved me best". And no one bothers to correct him, even though he repeatedly says it in front of his younger brother. Talk about a good way to make his younger brother feel worthless. I wanted to give Justin a good spanking. Just because you lost a parent at a young age does not give you a free pass to act like a spoiled brat. And it should be noted that the younger brother (Robin) had lost his father too, yet he was a total sweetheart. I think he was one of the only few characters I liked in this book, but unfortunately, he played a very minor part.

I never really felt like Adrian and Joanna should be together. If their love was so fragile before, why should I believe that it will last this time? I felt that the heroine picked the wrong man--I would have much rather seen her with Johnny, the man she gets engaged to during the course of this book.

Not recommended, unless you are a hard-core fan of Anita Mills and are determined to read her entire backlist. I have some other books by this author on my to-be-read bookshelf, but after being disappointed three times in a row, I'm not holding out a lot of hope.

This is probably the strangest review I've ever written, because it's the first time I'm going to give a 5 to a book I know I'll never read again.

"The Duke's Double" was a powerful, emotional piece of literature that deals with friendship, betrayal, the death of a good friend, and the redemption of a lost love. It is, without a doubt, the most poignantly bitter-sweet work I've ever read by an author of romantic fiction.

The reason I won't be reading "The Duke's Double" again has nothing to do with the quality of this book...it was superbly well written. I simply won't be pulling it off my shelf again because I don't enjoy spending the better part of a day reading something that leaves me feeling dismal and slightly depressed.

There are, however, many, many readers who enjoy bitter-sweet stories, and will therefore thoroughly enjoy this novel. Although I don't happen to like books that bring tears to my eyes (and this one caused me to whip out one tissue too many), I still have to rate this excellent piece of work a solid five. "The Duke's Double" pulls at all of your heartstrings, and probably a few that you didn't even know you had.

I guess I'm the odd man out but I cannot agree with all these 5 star ratings. I thought this book was very poorly written and had 2-dimensional, cardboard style characters. The only reason I got as far as I did in the book was that the plot had so much promise. But Mills' writing style was so stilted that I just couldn't finish the book.(eg...."with black hair that curled just enough to give him naturally what many a Corinthian spent hours to achieve...") Sheeesh! Wazzat mean? I wasn't sympathetic to either "Jo" or "Dree" and knew they were going to be uncompromisingly obstinate the whole way through. Maybe I didn't give this book a fair chance, but I have just recently read 3 masterpieces: The Outsider by Penelope Williamson; Heart of Deception by Taylor Chase and McClairen's Isle: The Reckless One by Connie Brockway. Anyway - read Duke's Double at your own risk (or just try the 3 I mentioned and don't waste your time on this one.)

Excellent book, definite keeper! This story just seemed to flow. The hero was believable, the heroine was likeable, and their problems were not solved with a simple "I love you." It took some work on both their parts to overcome years of hurt feelings and misunderstandings. A truly romantic love story.

The only problem I had with it was the...um...we'll say "love" scene. I actually don't think it needed to be in there at all. The story would have been perfectly lovely without it and besides that, it didn't really feel like it fit. It wasn't as bad as some books I've read where it actually felt like it was an afterthought, but nearly.

This is a story about people falling in love again after one of them has done something unforgivable long ago. In this case, it was the hero, who believed his mother's lies about his beloved wife and actually divorced her. His actions cost him both his wife and best friend.

Years later, Jo returns to England. She never wants to reclaim her old life -- but she still finds herself drawn to Adrian.

Adrian's mother brings this couple a lot of misery. However, if you want to see her get her comeuppance... don't blink. That part of the story is resolved too quickly -- and the other snobs don't get the tonguelashing they deserve.

I gave this book a B- at All About Romance.

When trust and false accusations end in divorce and scandal, Lady Johanna Delacourt-Sherwood exiles to Capri with her second husband and best-friend. When her second husband dies, Johanna returns to England so that her two beloved sons can be raised on native soil and claim their heritage. But when her ex-husband Adrian Delacourt, the Duke of Roxbury finds out that she has returned, it makes for a very powerful love story that will touch your heart and really hope that they can work out their differences and realize that true love never dies and can survive anything, even a vindictive and ruthless mother-in-law! Wonderful, powerful and worth every minute you take to read.

After the death of her beloved second husband, Joanna Sherwood must return to England for the sake of her two young sons. The last thing she wants to do is run into her spiteful first husband, who, at his mother's instigation, had divorced her for adultery with his best friend and forced both of them into exile.

But that was over six years ago, and Joanna's successful second marriage had left her with two sons to raise, one of which bore a striking resemblance to her first husband, the Duke of Roxbury. However, Joanna was told that the Duke never visited his estate anymore, so she felt safe in making the decision to return to her second husband's neighboring estate to raise her two boys.

Nevertheless, the Duke happens to be home at the time and during the inevitable unpleasant encounter with his ex-wife, he glimpses his son...a son he never knew he had...a son who looks enough like him to be his double and yet bears the name and title of his wife's second husband.

The Duke's ham-handed attempts to gain access to his only son only succeed in frightening Joanna into a hasty betrothal to a kindly lord who reminds her of her beloved second husband and who promises to take her and her children with him to his estates in Ireland.

The Duke realizes that he still loves Joanna and finds that he is willing to forgive her for her past unfaithfulness. However, the shoe, so to speak, is on the other foot. Joanna was innocent of wrongdoing, and she cannot forgive HIM until he admits it.

There are a lot of issues involved in this potential reconciliation that unfortunately remain unresolved at the end (like a final confrontation with the duke's poisonous mother), but I found the romance quite enjoyable, if a little intense for my taste. The duke's betrayal and cruelty to Joanna made me wonder how anyone could forgive such behavior, but I suppose one must consider such factors as the manipulating mother and his extreme youth at the time.

In any case, this very unusual romance between the Duke of Roxbury and his former wife is definitely worth further exploration.

The writing was good, BUT the story were almost the same as Kathleen Harrington's Promise Me.

this is an ok book, but doesn't deserve the rave reviews (or are they simply trade gimmicks?). there is nothing special in this and the story, not even innovative plot or exotic love scenes. you can find a story like this in any typical silhoutte historicals, .

don't get me wrong, you can read the book once, but for cynical romance readers like me (who started reading romance at 10 and still keeps going, only it takes a real good one to fell warm and mushy) it's nothing spectacular.

The main hero in this book is nicknamed and perpetually called "Dree." Can I say that I can't get past that? It sounds so whiny for a name to be written like that. DREEEEEEEEEE!

There are so many good reviews for this book, but honestly, it's crap. The characters are cardboard cutouts, the main plot is a result of a giant misunderstanding and everything is just so convenient.

I bought this book because of the rave Amazon reviews, don't make the same mistake I did.