The Irish Duke (Signet Eclipse) [Mass Market Paperback]

Virginia Henley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Signet Eclipse | Publication Date: March 2, 2010

A sweeping historical romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Decadent Duke.

Lady Louisa scoffed when Lord Abercorn of Ireland first asked for her hand. She will be the mistress of her own destiny and no man can change that. As the greatest young beauty in all of England, she is pursued by every titled bachelor in the land, and refuses everyone, including the Irish lord. But a family scandal soon throws Louisa reluctantly into his arms, bringing consequences she never expected.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As children, James Hamilton, Lord Abercorn asked for the hand of Louisa, daughter of the duke of Bedford. Though she refused him, Abercorn never loses hope of marrying her, despite her later vow never to wed or bear children. As she grows more beautiful, Louisa earns the admiration of men and the envy of her insecure sister, Georgy. When Georgy's irresponsible behavior embroils the entire family in scandal, Louisa is forced to marry the handsome Abercorn, setting them up for a turbulent journey toward regaining trust and, inevitably, falling in love. Henley (The Decadent Duke) is a historical romance veteran, and her skill shows on every page, despite her dedication to formula; her heroine is typically willful, beautiful, talented and innocent, while the hero is a patient, faithful variation on the charming rogue. Henley's satisfying balance between romance and sexuality will help genre fans overlook the contrived plot.
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From Booklist

James Hamilton, Lord Abercorn of Ireland, has loved Lady Louisa Jane, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford since they were children, and Louisa loves him. But Louisa’s fear of childbirth causes her to spurn his advances. The emotional journey from Louisa’s childbirth phobia to her role as the mother of 13 is a fascinating one. The fact that Lady Louisa is Princess Diana’s ancestor makes this story even more interesting. Henley’s novelization of the woman who lived through five monarchs and became a grande dame of British nobility is rich with historical detail and romance. Once again, Henley has penned a tale that keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end. Fans of the romance genre will be interested to know that one of the real-life Louisa’s daughters became a romance writer. --Shelley Mosley

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade; 1 edition (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451229207
• ISBN-13: 978-0451229205
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #847,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times best-seller Virginia Henley is the author of 26 lush and lusty historical romances and 5 short stories. Her books are published in 16 languages around the world. She is the recipient of a dozen awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times, A Maggie Award for Excellence from the Georgia Romance Writers, and a Waldenbook Award for top-selling long historical for 1994.

The St. Petersburg Times calls Henley "The Queen of Steamy Romance."

Kathe Robin, RT Book Reviews says: "Henley's gift for bringing remarkable women to life in colorful, turbulent times is what turns her romances into keepers. Henley heats up the pages with her love scenes, and her skill at portraying actual historical personages with humanity while maintaining historical accuracy wins our minds. Henley knows what historical romance is all about and always gives the readers what they want."

Henley says: "My hero is always dark, dominant and dangerous. Then I create a woman who is a match for him...or more than a match!
Men come up to me at conferences and thank me for writing my books. One man said, "I don't read them, but I always know when my wife is reading a Henley!"

My next book The Dark Earl goes on sale September 6 and is the third in the series following The Decadent Duke, and The Irish Duke.

I have just turned two of my backlist books into Kindle ebooks. Wild Hearts and Bold Conquest are historical romances. My novella Hot As Fire, also available on Kindle, is my only contemporary. I have a short story up on Kindle called Letter of Love that is FREE.

Next month I will be offering a new ebook that is a Southern family saga.
MASTER OF PARADISE tells the story of Nicholas Peacock who is disinherited of his title and wealth in England. He sails to Charleston, South Carolina, and starts a cotton plantation just before the Civil War disrupts everyone's life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strong historical, March 5, 2010

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Irish Duke (Signet Eclipse) (Mass Market Paperback)

As the Dowager matriarch of her family, in 1894, octogenarian widow Lady Louisa Jane Russell holds court as she always has while looking back over the decades of her life. In 1819 Lady Louisa loves her position in society, which allows her to enjoy life to the fullest. Irish nobleman James Hamilton went so far as to propose, but she ridiculed him for being Irish with a speech impediment; of course he was nine years old at the time and she was his age.

In spite of her putting him down, they become friends though he never has given up marrying his Lu. Other men want her too, but though she adores them, she prefers her independent gaiety more so. However, over a decade later, a family scandal leaves Lu with the choices of marrying her kindhearted Irish admirer, someone else, or face scornful disgraced exile.

Few if any writer can interweave historical information to enhance a story line as deftly as Virginia Henley can and does with the enjoyable The Irish Duke. The story line is driven by the heroine who tells her great-granddaughters about her life with her late beloved Irish Duke who to his death insisted B is pronounced as a V. Fans will relish Ms. Henley's fine nineteenth century historical romance as the exhilarating plot with its strong lead protagonists brings the era to life.

Harriet Klausner

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Boring Beyond Beilef!, March 24, 2010

By 

SNB (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Irish Duke (Signet Eclipse) (Mass Market Paperback)

I ussually enjoy Henley's mix of rich history and romance. But in this story, the only history is the fact that the character's actually existed. There're no real political intrigues or big historical event. And, unfortunately, there is ZERO romance. I can't see why the characters loved each other, they never showed it and it was never explained--beyond the fact that the hero has a crush on and proposed to the heroine when he's 9 and she's 7. Who hangs on to a crush that long? There's no explanation of why they supposedly are in love. The only interesting part of this book was the side story involving the heroine's sister...there's literally nothing else of interest going on!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Zzzz........ *snore*, October 5, 2010

By 

readsalot (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Irish Duke (Signet Eclipse) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book has zero sexual chemistry between the hero and the heroine. Moreover, his devotion and love didn't make any sense at all. He falls in love after watching the *7* year old heroine dance when he was only 9 years old, he then doesn't see a hint of her until he's 19 but he's apparently still mad about her. The book is just filled with boring secondary characters who're actually more interesting than the heroine. Who happens to be a spoiled, whiny, and stupidly naive, little prude.

I've been trying to finish this book for the past 2 weeks, but I decided tonight to give it away.... Seriously, whats happened to VH? Her books are normally full of gutsy, fiery, bawdy heroines who don't take crap from anyone....