34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely Unlikeable Heroine Ruins This Historical Romance- 1 1/2 stars, November 26, 2008
This review is from: Never Dare a Duke (Avon Romantic Treasure) (Mass Market Paperback)
*****SPOILERS*****
After reading and enjoying two other Callen books, I was looking forward to Never Dare a Duke. However, my intense dislike of the female protagonist, a dislike which I have rarely before felt for a romance heroine, ruined any possibility of liking this book.
The book opens with Miss Abigail Shaw meeting the man whose reputation she has set out to ruin. It seems that her father's newspaper is losing some of its circulation and may be in danger of shutting its doors. In a desperate attempt to sell more papers, Abigail decides to uncover some vague sort of scandal that occurred years ago involving Christopher Cabot, the duke of Madingley.
And why does she think there's a gossip-worthy tidbit about the duke just waiting to be uncovered? Well, that's simple. The Cabot family has had so many scandals that the odds were in her favor that the duke had done something. And while Abigail's friend Gwen knows of some rumor regarding his past, we are also told, rather contradictorily, that he somehow has no reputation to speak of. To uncover his secrets, Abigail accompanies Gwen to Madingley Court where she can question the duke's family and servants.
Before long, Christopher arrives there as well. To defend himself from his mother's matchmaking, Christopher and Abigail reach an agreement in which he will pretend to court her. She agrees to the charade so that she can get closer to him and his family, and learn more of his secrets. Although they realize this charade will most likely ruin Abigail's reputation when they call it quits, Christopher pays little attention to the consequences and doesn't seem to give much thought to the reason behind Abigail's so called altruism.
I honestly could not stand Abigail. Every conversation she had- whether it was with the duke, his mom, his sister or anyone close to them was just an attempt to ingratiate herself to them. Every smile, every laugh, every bit of interest she displayed in anyone was just an act to convince them to trust her with the duke's secrets. It never seemed to dawn on Abigail until 2/3 of the book had passed that her story, if there indeed was anything to tell, would hurt the family, particularly the duke's sister Elizabeth who recently had her coming out, and was hoping to find a husband.
And Abigail may very well be the worst investigative journalist in the history of journalism. She wouldn't understand the idea of subtlety if it jumped up and bit her on the behind. She clumsily interrogates servants and family members. She gets caught eavesdropping time and time again. She gets caught questioning various people. She gets caught searching various rooms in the house. She even lies- badly- each time she's caught. And what does her inept investigating uncover? Not a thing. She hears a few vague references to the past, but no real hints of what this possible scandal might be. Does that deter her? Not at all.
The romance, if you can even call it that, suffers from the selfishness of the two protagonists. They are essentially using each other for their own purposes. Neither has a care for the other's well being, their reputation or the result of their actions. Intimate scenes usually ensue after Abigail is caught searching different rooms of the house. It got to be very predictable: she lies about her reasons for being there, the duke becomes mad because he knows she's lying, Abigail pretends to be indignant that he won't believe her lies, and suddenly the Duke is overcome with desire for her.
What may be so upsetting about Abigail's characterization is that the she never really grasps the consequences of her actions. She succeeds in deluding herself into believing that the story must be written by her because "she could not let someone else steal her article idea- and treat the family far worse than she would." This kind of rationalization is what drives her character throughout the story.
Perhaps the most upsetting of all is that Abigail does not decide-on her own- to take the high road. She never reaches the conclusion that her investigation must stop. Instead, her investigation comes to a halt when someone uncovers her real identity. With no choice in the matter and no means to continue her investigation, Abigail "decides" to stop pursuing the story. However, there's no doubt in my mind that she would have continued with the investigation and her story had she not been found out.
Abigail proved time and time again to be one of the most unlikeable romantic heroines I have ever read. My passionate dislike of her ruined any enjoyment I may have had for the book. Although I am a fan of Gayle Callen's previous work, Never Dare a Duke is one book of hers that I would advise readers to skip.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and Different 3.5, November 29, 2008
This review is from: Never Dare a Duke (Avon Romantic Treasure) (Mass Market Paperback)
While the premise of this story may have been stretching it a little...daughter wants to save father's paper with one scandalous news story and she falls in love with the target of her story, the Duke....I still enjoyed the book. I found it interesting from start to finish and I didn't hate the heroine as some of the other reviewers seemed to. She was desperate in her circumstances. Perhaps the author could have focused more on the emotional tug of war in her mind and had her try to think of more ways around her plan. Or she could have had Abby focus on her fears of what would hapen to her family if they were to lose the paper, so the reader could be a bit more sympathetic to her plight.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the book and found it an entertaining read. I was so grateful there was no premature declaration of love as I've been reading in almost every book lately, that was enough to add a star in my opinion - you know, the hero and heroine see each other once or twice and then say to themselves, "Wow, I've fallen in love." And you're there reading, thinking, "Really? When?"
I admit a little more polish could have made it an even better read (tying parts together; have the writer Duke write Abby a love letter or story; remove the ghost find - it was incredulous as well as unnecessary), but I wouldn't pass it up if you're a voracious HR reader as I am because it is something different with a different type of heroine.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finished in one night!, February 28, 2009
This review is from: Never Dare a Duke (Avon Romantic Treasure) (Mass Market Paperback)
I was honestly surprised by all the negative reviews here. I thought this book was one of Gayle Callen's better efforts. Her writing style has definitely improved, similar to that of Nicole Jordan when she wrote the Courtship Wars trilogy. The plot mostly focused on the hero and heroine, and yes, the chemistry WAS there. That's why I couldn't put it down. I couldn't wait for Abigail and Christopher to end up in bed!
Admittedly, the heroine was very naive. She had assumed a lot of things during the course of the story: that she could single-handedly save her father's newspaper, that she could inspire the trust of the Cabot family enough for them to start confiding in her, that she could successfully draw out the duke so that she could learn his secrets, and that she could somehow get away with it all as soon as she leaves the house party. However, she wasn't obdurate or entirely without conscience, and she did seem very forthright and considerate most of the time, so I learned to like her despite her shortcomings.
The duke's character was also very likeable. He wasn't the typical tortured hero with a dark, bitter past and an overly distrustful outlook in life. His "secret" was not as outrageous and therefore quite believable; his past was not even as horrible (or scandalous) as we were supposed to think; and his attraction to Abigail felt very real. In fact, there were a lot of interactions between the two, and each time, the dialogue was interesting and refreshing. Yes, we knew Abigail was lying her heart out, but then again she was pretty good at it! And I'd almost wish she'd be unable to lie to the duke during those times she was discovered snooping around, just so there'd be new development between them, but I kept reading. And I was not disappointed at all.
The other reason I loved this book was the lack of distracting mystery/murder subplot. The ghost hunting theme was tolerable, and the blooming romance between the secondary characters was actually adorable, so it all balanced out in the end.
Stayed up all night reading this book (thank goodness it was a Friday). I thought it was wonderful--light, entertaining, and definitely engrossing. Now I need to move on to the first one, Never Trust a Scoundrel. Hopefully, it will be another all-nighter...
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