Customer Reviews

Never Dare a Duke (Avon Romantic Treasure)

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

 

 

*****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.

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.

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...

Abigail Shaw realistically looks at her father's failing newspaper and knows only one thing can save the family's journalistic enterprise, a meaty scandal. Titillating sensationalism sells papers as the Ton loves to read about a scandal hammering at a peer. She selects the cleanest reputation she knows of because if she can find dirt on Lord Christopher Cabot, the sales will be through the roof.

Going undercover Abigail obtains an invitation to a party hosted by her targeted duke in which he plans to select one of the attendees as his bride. However, Christopher is attracted to Abigail, who to her chagrin, reciprocates. She offers to help him find his spouse by them pretending a dalliance. The only problems are it is not pretending and the scandal she has uncovered on Christopher has her included in the crosshairs.

This is a fun lighthearted historical romance starring two interesting individuals especially the undercover investigative reporter. Using Rovian logic to go after the strengths of your opponent, Abby picks Christopher, which leads to a series of amusing encounters and love as the heroine learns to NEVER DARE A DUKE; they will accept the challenge and double dare you back.

Harriet Klausner

Abigail Shaw is the daughter of a newspaperman, whose paper is failing. An under-the-radar reporter, Abigail is intent on saving the paper. She decides the paper could increase sales if it included a little gossip and her target is the seemingly clean Duke of Madingley, Christopher Cabot.

Invited to his home for a house party hosted by his sister, she takes advantage of the opportunity to investigate the Duke. Much to her surprise the he shows, giving Abigail the perfect chance to get to know him. Offering to pretend to be his object of interest, Abigail and the Duke don't expect to be more than friends who help each other out.

As the house party continues, however, the two begin to find themselves enjoying each other's company. The Duke struggles with the fact that she is not royalty and Abigail becomes concerned that her impartiality is in jeopardy as she begins to like him.

Never Dare a Duke is a fun read, if a little disjointed in the telling. There are many characters to keep track of, and the action is full of subplots. However, it's a good-hearted book, with a nicely thought-out struggle of conscience. And the fact that the first sex scene doesn't appear until the last third of the book is a nice change of pace.

Niki Lee
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This author has written some wonderful books. That alone was enough to make me pick this book up with excitement. The plot seemed interesting...???

Well, it only challenges the old college urban fantasy: If you sign your name on the test at least you get a D.

Unhappily, many college students learn to their dismay that the above is just a myth. I hope authors will get this point, too.

Abby is deceitful, and opportunistic. She uses her BFF, Gwen to get her into a house party at the duke's seat. Abby wouldn't normally be invited to such an affair because she isn't "ton", she's the daughter of a newspaper publisher. Normally, the two class groups would never mix at this point in history.

The back story: For some reason, her fathers' newspaper is bleeding red (we don't find out why)...and Abby wants to help by locating the source of the whispered rumors that the Duke was once in a scandal.

The Duke is a paragon of control when the timeline of this story begins. He is respected by all who know him but Abby is convinced there is a story and if her fathers' newspaper prints it first.....voila..no more red ink.

Abby shows up at the house party with her friend, Gwen and is accepted with a fake story about her "gentleman" father in the north. The Dowager duchess hosts the party and has ordered up several marriage prospects for both the duke and his sister. Abby uses the house party to cover up her searach for rumors and inuendoes.

I found the story simplistic to the extreme. The romance between Abby and the Duke is forced, and their love for each other is grounded in lies.

I won't spoil the rest for those who do want to read this book, but again.....you really don't get a D when you simply sign the test and you can't make a book into a best seller by slapping together words.

I'm sorry, but I just didn't enjoy this book at all. The story had potential but Abigail was one of the most unpleasant heroines I have ever come across. There was no chemistry between the main characters and I thought the writing was very poor. I would recommend the previous book in the series for a better read - 'Never trust a scoundrel'

'Never Dare a Duke' is an enjoyable, lighthearted read with appealing, if fallible, hero and heroine. Our heroine is a budding journalist in a time when women weren't really supposed to work. Her father owns a newspaper which is struggling financially and Abigail Shaw has hit upon the idea of revealing the deep, dark secrets of that mysterious man, Christopher Cabot, the Duke of Madingley. Of course he's known as an upright, honourable man - but surely he has some skeletons in the closet? When Abigail's friend Gwendoline gets an invitation to a houseparty thrown by the Duke's mother, Abigail goes along as well in order to investigate the Duke so that she can dish the dirt.

Right from the start of her time at the duke's house Abigail is unsuccessful at being unobtrusive. For some reason the duke has noticed her - and she's certainly noticed him! He is being pursued by two determined young women who want to become duchesses and so Abby dares the duke to pretend to be courting her so that the other women give up. The duke takes her up on the dare, but might a pretend romance turn into something more real? Is there a deep and dark secret in the duke's past? Will Abby be able to write an exposé on him?

The pacing in this book was very good, despite the fact that there wasn't very much action. The romance seemed believable as we see how well matched the duke and Abby are, despite the huge gulf in their social situations. Abby's character was well written in that, despite her rather unpleasant actions at times, it was always clear that she was goodhearted, if a little naïve at times. Historical accuracy and dialogue seemed reasonable in this book and the side characters were also well written. It's a good read!

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

I absolutely loved this book. There was plenty of fun and drama, as well a good story. You couldn't help but feel strong emotions towards several of the characters not just Abby and Chris. This was my first read of Gayle Callen, and I can't wait to read more!

Danielle

This was a great historical romance Abigail is the daughter of newspaper owner but her best friend is a daughter of Earl. Abigail decides to write a story about The Duke of Madingley and gets invited the Duke's family home for a week long party. When the Duke arrives at the house party - Abigail has second thoughts about betraying him. I loved it - give it a chance.