Customer Reviews

The Naked Duke

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In some ways this book seems to be a throwback to the 70's/80's bodice ripper-type books. Extremely naive virgin, sleazy, psycho villain and rape, so you are forewarned. But the book also has some nice humour, some charming moments between the h/h and the hero is not an overbearing alpha male, so it's a bit of a mixed bag.

Sarah Hamilton is an American who has traveled to England on the death of her father. She is to locate her uncle, the earl of Westbrooke, but she has gone quite as far as she can this day and is desperate for a room at an inn before continuing on to her uncle's home. She is directed to a room by a rather drunk gentleman (who he turns out to be is rather funny) but she's grateful to sink into a bed and sleep. She wakes to find herself in bed with a man - both of them naked - and soon, with an audience! The gentleman, who turns out to be the duke of Alvord, tells her that she has been thoroughly compromised and now must marry him! Coming from America where she did not really mix with society, she can't see why such drastic action is necessary. Nothing happened afterall! But everyone around her seems to agree and so she agrees to consider marriage to James, the naked (very handsome and charming!) duke.

James has been considering marriage lately as he feels some pressure to get himself an heir. Lately there have been one too many strange "accidents" leading James to conclude that his cousin Richard is trying to kill him in order to grab the dukedom for himself. James cannot let that happen for Richard is unstable, selfish and cruel. He will not let his lands and his people fall into Richard's hands. And now this beautiful young American has just fallen into his lap, so to speak. He has the perfect excuse to marry her quickly, but she is reluctant. They agree to get to know one another, to let him court her until/unless the story of what happened at the inn gets out. If that happens marriage is definite.

And so, Sarah is launched into society (along with James' younger sister Lizzie) and he does his best to charm her and convince her to marry him, though he knows that this may put her in danger. For Richard is desperate that James not marry and certainly does not want him to have an heir. As Richard gets more desperate, James becomes more worried and more determined to keep Sarah safe. But who is in more danger - Sarah or James? Can Richard be stopped before someone gets killed?

This is a mix of charming romance, culture clash and dark suspense. Though I liked Sarah's character overall and admired her more republican attitudes toward the aristocracy, I don't think I've come across a more clueless virgin in years! She's the daughter of a physician but has no clue where babies come from! If that type of virgin drives you crazy you may have a hard time with her. Richard is without doubt a very dark character who does some very evil things. And I haven't read a book in years that contained multiple rape/attempted rape/near rape scenes, so again, if that type of thing creeps you out you are forewarned. But James is entirely yummy! He's very charming, sweet, good natured, witty and warm. He's the real star of this book IMO.

Bottom line, this is a pretty good debut that shows promise for this author in future. I can just feel books coming for James' friends Major Charles Draysmith and Robbie Hamilton, who also happens to be Sarah's cousin and the new earl of Westbrooke.

I agree with the other reviewer that said that this book is not what one would expect based on the catchy, titillating title and light-hearted summary on the back cover, but "The Naked Duke" is a very readable Regency romance with an engaging hero and reasonably good heroine.

Miss Sarah Hamilton, in compliance with her father's deathbed wish, has traveled from Philadelphia to England (*very* improbably--completely *alone*) to visit her uncle, the Earl of Westbrooke. Exhausted, she stops for the night at an inn near her uncle's estate and is nearly turned away by the innkeeper (as a presumed whore) because of her solitary, disheveled state. When a semi-drunk gentleman offers her a open room, she believes that it is a case of mistaken identity (and, of course, she is right!), but is too grateful for the shelter to investigate exactly *whose* room she is taking. When she awakens the next morning, she finds a naked and amorous man in bed with her and her screaming protest brings them quite an audience. Her bedmate turns out to be the Duke of Alvord, who offers her marriage since he has unwittingly compromised her. She, of course, refuses his offer because he is young, handsome, charming, rich and titled and she is penniless and alone in a strange country with a ruined reputation and no references or employment. (Ha! No really, she has some other reasons for refusing his amazingly generous offer, but they make just about as much sense as that!)

James, the Duke of Alvord, is a really good hero--a gorgeous paragon really (except for his rakish reputation and the problem of his evil cousin Richard who keeps launching murder attempts against James in an effort to usurp the dukedom.) Sarah is an okay heroine but a bit inconsistent--by turns stunningly naive and improbably competent (has *no idea* how babies are made, but *does* know the basics of dirty street-fighting....) James is crazy about her (although he spends more time fantasizing about getting her back into his bed than he does talking to her.) Richard, the evil cousin, is a pretty one-dimensional psychotic villain and insane rapist (no redeeming qualities *at all*!) All the villains in the book are homosexuals or bisexuals (a not very PC move by the author.)

The plot moves along pretty well, but takes some dark turns (so be warned--Richard is *really* a bad guy!) I found Sarah's repeated refusals of James's offers of marriage and insistence that she would look for employment to be ultimately annoying, and the details of James's sexual history (Sarah's real reason for rejecting his proposal is James's reputation as a rake) to be inconsistent with the rest of his behavior in the book. The dialogue is generally witty, but with many, many modern phrases (except for Sarah's cousin Robbie, who seems to be the only one in the book talking "Regency-speak" like an escapee from a Georgette Heyer novel.)

In summary, this is a quick, enjoyable read with a really great hero and some very clever dialogue.
Recommended to Regency romance lovers, particularly to those who like a good bodice-ripping villain.

When her father dies, American Sarah Hamilton travels to England hoping to meet up with her uncle, an Earl. When she arrives at an inn, too late to impose on her uncle, she decides to spend the night--only to be mistaken for a whore and to awaken in the morning having spent the night with a very handsome, and very naked, duke. Now, her reputation is in ruins and James, Duke of Alvord is pressured to offer for her hand in marriage. But she's a good republican. Couldn't everyone just sort of forget about that one night--a night where she's pretty sure nothing happened--and help her get a decent job as governess?

James is not immune to the attraction of a beautiful woman, but there's something about Sarah Hamilton that sends his senses into overdrive. Persuading her to kiss him isn't too hard, but Sarah continues to resist his efforts to persuade her to marry him. When James' evil cousin Richard discovers that James is considering a wife, and potential heirs, Richard becomes a menace to both Sarah and James.

Sarah and James try to work through misunderstandings that are encouraged by Richard--while Richard unleashes one plot after another aimed at destroying Sarah--or murdering his cousin. Although misunderstandings drive them apart, though, the deep passion each feels for the other continue bringing Sarah and James back together.

Author Sally MacKenzie combines humor and suspense in her debut-novel, a regency-set historical. Innocent Sarah, with her ignorance about exactly what it takes to become pregnant makes for a charming fish-out-of-water in sex and status-obsessed London. James makes her perfect foil. MacKenzie's engaging writing keeps the reader entertained as she foils Richard's evil plots.

Miss Sarah Hamilton, a very proper Philadelphian, couldn't wait to have her journey end. If she thought traveling by ship was bad, squeezed into a fully loaded carriage wasn't any better from the fetid air coming from her fellow passengers mouths and bodies. Finally arriving at the Inn near her uncle's home, the Earl of Westbrooke, she was truly looking forward to a clean bed and chance to clean up before presenting herself on his doorstep. Unfortunately, the innkeeper taking one look at her scruffy appearance thought she was `in the profession'. If not for an amiable drunken lord she would never have gotten a room, but after a bath she tumbled into the bed and was out like a light. Sarah didn't wake up until she heard a commotion at the door to her room and saw several onlookers, laughing and pointing fingers at her and - oh my God, a naked and exceptionally good looking man in her bed!

James, the Duke of Alvord, was in fact, quite delighted with his beautiful bedmate and though he'd not take advantage of the sweet thing who was sleeping so soundly when he'd arrived - was about to do just that before the interruption. Though his bedmate did not look, smell, or act like most whores, as she was pummeling him with a pillow and ordering him from her bed. Once he discovered that she was, not only the product of mistaken identity on the part of his best friend's good intentions, but related to said friend - James, was not at all adverse in doing the honorable thing by marrying the spirited American beauty. The only problem was - she was not about to marry a duke!

**** I have to admit - I am truly enjoying these newer authors who are debuting in the regency romance genre who delight us with some fresh new slants and spicy, original and enchanting stories. Sarah was a truly likeable heroine and James was well met, though he was an absolute little devil with his double entendres that leant spice and humor to the dialogs. What I was not expecting, though it added another layer to this excellent debut, was the drama injected with James' very evil cousin Richard. The secondary plot of Richard trying to wrest the dukedom by eliminating James was extremely dark and based upon the cover artwork and the cover description, quite a surprise and very well done. Based on this, I must say to all you lovers of romance - we just might have a new star in the making! This is definitely a new author that one should take a closer look at. ---[...]

I liked this book.

The hero, a 28 year old duke whose evil cousin Richard is trying to eliminate him, rather obviously, I thought, needs to get married and procreate rather quickly.

Enter the heroine, an american, whose father having died, requested that she return to his homeland England and ask his brother to further look after her.

From one romp to the next, the story is often incongruent, but James and Sarah feel real. I love the fact that they come across as very honest with each other as well. Sarah has her moments of doubt, but usually being the good american girl that she is, she voices them and resolves them.

The murder attempts on Jame's life could be cut back, I think I counted 6. The reason given was that the Duke wasn't taken seriously when he tried to convince everyone that Richard was trying to kill him. I found it hard to believe that no one would believe a Duke if he told them anything, especially in the regency period.

The writing was solid and correct for the time period, something that I have found is increasingly not the case lately in many so-called regency romances, which made the book also more belivable for me.

The only downfall is that Duke, at 28, was supposedly still a virgin. I can't imagine it. In any way, shape or form. But still, it didn't detract too much from the story and I managed to finish it in a day anyway...

First book in the Naked series.

American Sarah Hamilton promises her dying father to go to her uncle, the Earl of Westbrooke, after her father dies. She goes to England, unchaperoned, to find her uncle, unaware he died a few months previously.

Sarah ends up in bed with James Runyon, Duke of Alvord. They're both naked and compromised. And Sarah's cousin Robbie, the new earl, mistakenly put them there.

James is a war hero, in the market for a wife and has an unjustified rake reputation. He instantly likes Sarah and decides to marry her. But his nasty cousin is trying to kill him to take the title. Now Sarah's in danger also.

This story was ridiculous, from the unchaperoned part to the sleeping naked part (she should have slept in her dirty clothes, for crying out loud!) to the meddlesome aunt and her friend to James - a duke! - not being able to stop his cousin - not a duke! - just to name a few of the ridiculous parts.

But the most unbelievable part was the secret James reveals to Sarah just before they're going to make love. That was a ~WHAT?!?!!!~ moment. Since this was Ms. MacKenzie's first book, I'll cut her a little slack; otherwise it would get 1 star. I felt I should read this because we chose THE NAKED MARQUIS for our reading group book for April. I sincerely hope it's better than this one.

I have to say, Ms. MacKenzie has a voice. She's very entertaining and fun to read, and if she hadn't had a "ravishment" scene of the heroine by the villain, and then such a quick recovery, I would have given 6 stars if I could. I loved this book. it had so much going for it. I rarely laugh at Regencies. I was laughing at this one. And then...that incident. And such a quick recovery? the next
thing I knew she was over it? I was annoyed, disappointed and a little bit tiffed. I had to wait a long time before I rated this. It was such a 5. And then it was such a 1. In the end, I'm going with 3. I'll check out her next one. Maybe.

This is just plain Boring with a capital B and Stupid with a capital S. If this is the author's debut novel I hate to see what her next book is like. Yes it's her first novel so I really should giver her a break but this book has nothing to recomend. James is a duke and Richard is after the title and in order to do this he needs to kill James and make it look like a accident. James is sweet but thats about it. She wrote no depth to her characters at all. I found him not the least bit interesting.

And then we have Sarah the oh so boring American who has come to look for her cousin who just happens to be James's friend. Don't you love coincidences. Blah! Sarah was found in a compromising position with James very early on in the book and they then are required to get married but headstrong annoying Sarah says no. And so we go on with her living at James estate I assume to make the story more interesting but it fails to do even that.

And the villian Richard - he was not even a villian, no suspense, no excitment just a couple of hundred pages thrown together to make a stupid book with less than average characters that you care nothing about.

Combine a dumb blonde---even if she had red hair, a duke with no duke-ness, a male relative who doesn't care and a phony, one note bad guy...and you have "A Naked Duke". American writers who can't get it right shouldn't try the regency thing or be published. For example, the naked duke, now dressed, is told by a female relative to roll the carpets up so they may dance. A Duke roll carpets in his own home?????? The annoying red head [and why are there so many 'I must be ugly 'cuz I have red hair'] love interest doesn't know that if she is found in bed, much less with a man by herself, she either marries or is an outcast. The only male relative she has doesn't care if she is ruined. I could go on, but I think you get the drift. Please vote for better books by not buying. Books like this one is the reason that historical romances have no respect.

This book was charming and it is refreshing to have the hero and the heroine both virgins and the fact that James reputation is of the worst rake makes it quite funny at times...the villan is a little over the top. Most villans do not fail in assassination attempts as many times as this one and still manage to get away with it.