Customer Reviews

THE WICKED WAYS OF A DUKE

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Laura Lee Guhrke is one of my favorite authors of historical romance. Why then did I give this book only three stars? It didn't give me any of those exciting, breathless moments I enjoy so much in a romance novel.

Prudence Bosworth is a 28 year old "girl bachelor" who has been on her own in London since the age of 17. Her aunt and uncle took her in after her mother died but Prudence and her aunt and cousin always had problems. She saw herself as a burden for the financially strapped family and after one too many disagreements took herself off to London to make her way in the world. She works as a seamstress at Madam Marceau's and has managed to work herself into the position of head seamstress after eleven years of hard work. Prudence knows that she is not considered to be a beauty and that the only way for her to have a 29" waist is for her to be laced into her corset so tightly she can just barely breath. She is the type person who always sees the best in people and makes the best of any situation she is in. I liked Prudence. She reminded me of a perfectly normal woman and I actually could not find any fault with her for believing what she was told. Rhys de Winter, the Duke of St.Cyres comes to her rescue at a time when she needs a little outside help. But Prudence is a very practical woman, she knows there will never be another meeting between the Duke and the seamstress.

The Duke of St. Cyres (pronounced sincere - thanks, Ms Guhrke!)is a rogue from his head to his toes. Very early on we get the full force of his character when he rescues a serving girl from the unwanted attentions of another member of the peerage (with Prudence looking on) and then later winds up with the serving girl in his bed. And believe me, he was NOT thinking about Prudence! As you will know from reading the description of this book, St. Cyres (at 33) has just become Duke after the death of his uncle. He is totally awash in debt. He has spent the last ten years living in Italy and spending every penny he had. Suddenly all the responsibility for the title and lands with all that implies falls into the lap of one who doesn't want it but must find a way to save it. Let's all hear it for the idea of 'rake marries an heiress for her money'!

Several things were different about this book. It is an historical novel but is set in 1894 so there are some modern conveniences most of us are not used to finding when we read novels set in the Regency Period (which is much more prevelant in my experience). We therefore have things such as electric lighting at the Opera House and railroad travel. These things are mentioned in a very nonchalant way and don't really play much of a part in the story, with the exception of St.Cyres buying Prudence a train of her own (with HER expectation of money, of course). Basically, this reads just like a Regency.

Something I really spent some time wondering about is why Ms Guhrke made the inheritance for Prudence so incredibly HUGE. It was so big that it was unbelievable. Just a niggle in my consciousness, but it did niggle. Also, why did Prudence do what she did at the end of the book? I know Rhys had lied to her over and over but I found that to be out of character for her and I didn't like it. I had actually hoped the author would be able to withstand any pressure put on her and leave the ending the way she led us to believe it would end. I, for one, would have been much happier (and I think Rhys would have too, deep down!). Another bothersome factor were the excerpts from the daily London papers which began each chapter. They actually told what WAS GOING to happen in the chapter. Why? I didn't like that at all. Another irritant was that Henry Bosworth changed his name to Henry Abernathy when he went to America. Why did people in London begin to call Prudence by the name of Abernathy but Rhys called her Prudence Bosworth? Awkward and not explained as far as I can find. Also, why was there only one suitor for an heiress with such a large inheritance? You will not often hear me say that a book needed to be longer but this one needed some fierce competition. Cousin Robert might as well have not even been mentioned and it was obvious that Rhys was a sweetie. Where was the competition, if not for Prudence at least for the money? Just some information for those of you who want to be warned, there are two episodes of a sexual nature in the book, not counting the serving girl because it is not explicit. Quite honestly, they do happen before Prudence and Rhys marry but they are very well done and unless you just don't want to read about that at all, they probably won't offend your sensibilities.

My overall opinion: I gave this book three stars because a)I didn't find it very exciting, b)the family secret St.Cyres was hiding was ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY OBVIOUS, c)I didn't like what Prudence did in the ending, d)I doubt very seriously that I will ever want to read this book again, and e) too many niggly bits make for a three star rating. It isn't a bad book, it just isn't as good as every other book I've ever read by this author. Way too many opportunities missed for making this a super, good book!

Prudence Bosworth is the illegitimate daughter of a man who ran off to America before she was even born. At 28 she is living in a respectable boarding house for girls and making her living as a seamstress to London's more well-to-do ladies. While fixing the skirt of the ton's most eligible heiress she has a chance meeting the Duke of St. Cyres, Rhys De Winter.

Rhys does a few things that evening that captures Prudence's attention and respect and endears him to her. Knowing her place in society, she admires the Duke from a far, knowing nothing will ever come of it.

Rhys De Winter is the heir to a crumbling estate and enormous debt. His one goal is to marry quickly and marry rich. When the seamstress he fancied for a tryst turns out to have a change in luck and status, his plans start evolving.

This is a Cinderella story; a girl goes from rags to riches overnight all the while falling in love with someone who was once out of her reach and yet now, is attainable. Though I pretty much knew every twist and turn the author was going to take, I still found myself enjoying the read and the characters within.

I love the historical romances when the author can truly transport her reader to the time period; and this one did. I could almost hear the swish of layered fabrics on the women's gowns, hear the echoes in the empty castle, and smell the lavender in the lavender house. There weren't too many surprises along the way, but it didn't take away from the pleasure of reading. Enjoy!

Cherise Everhard, March 2008

The Wicked Ways of a Duke is good news for fans of Laura Lee Guhrke's bachelor girl series. It continues the high level of writing begun in the first book of the series, And Then He Kissed Her.
I liked this book, but I only gave it 4 stars because, while it was very good and I heartily recommend it, it didn't quite have the emotional punch of other LLG books. I loved the premise--poor seamstress inherits pots and pots of money from her father. Naturally, this then puts her in the path of money hungry noblemen. Enter our hero--Rhys. We know right away he needs Prudence's money, but I enjoyed the path to true love with all the bumps we know are along the way. Rhys made no pretense of what he was after, but of course he didn't tell Prudence.
Laura Lee Guhrke is an excellent author, an autobuy for me, and one whose books I anxiously await. Her writing is outstanding in this one, but it didn't quite have the gripping quality I was hoping for. Prudence was a female who was right up there with the great female heroines in books today, so I guess it was Rhys who let me down. I liked him, but he left me a little cold. Maybe it was subconsciously because I don't care all that much for blond heroes.
Anyway, this is a book far above the level of a lot of romance novels I have slogged through, but it just didn't quite grab me. On the whole, though, I am still anxiously awaiting the next bachelor girl story.

This book was ok, but I've definitely read better. The author doesn't fully develop the characters, and a lot of the sub-plots she tries to bring in either don't get resolved, or they get tied up in one page or less. The main character kept being described as "innocent" which is fine, but at the same time the author wrote her as sounding like a child, even though she's supposed to be 27. Prudence Bosworth is the illegitimate daughter of a department store owner, who dies and leaves her millions. She goes from a seamstress to heiress overnight. The Duke of St. Cyres, Rhys de Winter, is a rake and scoundrel who rescues a maid from being raped, only to take her to bed for two full days himself. He's rude and arrogant and continually plays on Prudence's innocence the whole time without feeling bad until he's called on it and then he has an epiphany that he's in love. He finds out about her money and then twists things so he pretends he doesn't know and tries to make her jealous and feel sorry for him about his desolate circumstances of falling into debtors ruin. Then the author tries to paint him as a tortured soul, haunted by his past and his horrible mother. I don't know, it just wasn't a very well-written book and I expected more.

I was so excited to get this book since I love Laura Lee Guhrke. Compared to most of the books I read it was good, but I was a bit disappointed in a way. Our heroine in the beginning is a seamstress and the hero is a wicked rake. She inherits gobs of money and now the rake wants her for his wife since he is in debt. I would have loved it if that whole part was taken out and she could have remained a seamstress and he could have fought his feelings for her against needing to wed an heiress. That would have been a great story I think. I didn't feel the two characters had a lot of speaking scenes together even though the book is 372 pages. This book is not her greatest but it will not deter me from eagerly buying her books when they come out.

had trouble getting into this book from the beginning. We knew that Rhys was only Prudence for her money, so this made Prudence seem extremely naive and not too bright. She's supposed to be a girl-bachelor who has been on her own for 12 years. How can she be that dense? And since she did not discover his true motives until almost the end of the book, this gave the whole courtship during which Prudence and Rhys was supposed to have gotten to know each other a ring of falseness. For Prudence, she was falling in love with who she thought he was, not who he really is; and for Rhys, while I can well believe that Prudence gave him the much needed comfort for him to walk out from the shadows of his past, I just can't understand what he saw in Prudence for him to fall for her. Other than being extremely naive, she did not really exhibit any personality for me to believe that someone like Rhys would fall for her that hard.

I think that this book would have been a lot better if Prudence had discovered Rhys's subterfuge a lot sooner and if the author had devoted more of the book to Rhys's attempts to win her back. As the way it is written, the romance seems very false. I also did not like the ending, when the author decided to gave the characters a convenient way out with an extremely cliched and formulaic "twist".

Which is too bad because I like this author and she will continue to be an auto-buy for me. What I didn't like right off the bat was Rhys. I didn't get why he had to behave so atrociously. And the premise that a working girl from the lower class could receive such an abundant settlement from a father she never knew and then be accepted by the ton just was totally unbelievable. I'm sorry to say I couldn't get past page 40 and gave up. Maybe I'll pick it back up again to give it another try, but not likely. Sorry Ms. Guhrke.

I wanted to love this book ... I really did ... but it left me disappointed. It had so much potential: independent/working-class/illegitimate/plus-size heroine meets (and reforms) confirmed bad boy (a Duke, no less!). And did I mention she inherits an amazing (and ridiculous) fortune along the way? Unfortunately, the heroine was blah (all blushing cheeks & stammering - where was her spice & spirit?) and the heroine was just mean. His reform was not believable; he was lying for 7/8th of the book & bam! he's suddenly a good guy! Couldn't buy it. I would have liked it so much more if the heroine had strung the bad boy along a little more instead of retreating into misery when his deception becomes apparent. She should have shown some backbone - plus, she could have tortured the hero with scenes of her being chased by other more respectable suitors. This book was OK for wasting a couple hours but won't be picking it up again.

As you can see from my rating, I did NOT enjoy Laura Lee Guhrke's second "Girl-Bachelor" book, THE WICKED WAYS OF A DUKE. Had it been written by another author, it may have gained a 2.5, but I have so enjoyed other books by Guhrke --- Guilty Pleasures, And Then He Kissed Her --- that I was all the more disappointed by this one. I had it up and posted on PaperbackSwap before I'd even completely finished.

So where do I start?!

THE HEROINE:
Prudence was sympathetic, but after awhile the urge to slap her grew a little too strong. I liked her when the book started: she's independent, works hard, is kind and generous, smart (or so we thought), and she doesn't have the beautiful face and figure (she's supposed to be a little plump --- don't let the cover drawings fool you) that heroines often do.

My opinion changed pretty quickly as I became increasingly frustrated with her. Prudence is supposed to be 28 years old and have lived in London *by herself* for 11 years . . . yet she's still so naive and gullible?!?! I didn't view this as sweet and innocent --- which is Rhys' interpretation --- but just plain annoying and dumb. She acts childish, is overly romantic, and is basically a lovesick puppy who acts far too desperate for a man who doesn't seem to have many redeemable qualities --- if any. I *love* reformed rake stories, don't get me wrong, but usually there is some underlying goodness that can be accessed; Rhys is by no means cruel or mean and at least he has that going for him, however my overwhelming feeling towards him was definitely one of contempt.

THE HERO:
Rhys is selfish, lazy, uncaring, and solely driven by lust. He is *unbelievably* manipulative and even though we sometimes have heroes who are the bad-boys-we-love-to-love, this went way beyond that. It was kind of like St. Vincent in Lisa Kleypas' IT HAPPENED ONE AUTUMN --- i.e. he's bad enough to be the villain of this book but good enough to be the hero of the next one.

We see no process of change --- up until the day before Prudence discovers his duplicity, he's still acting irresponsible and lazy. Then he spends the day touring one of his estates that is in horrible condition, and all of a sudden he's Mr. man-of-the-people, ready to settle down with his wife, have children, take on work and duties . . . even though the day before he had still be wanting to shirk his ducal responsibilities and spend his time with Prudence traveling around Europe and never settling down.

THE PLOT:
One of the most unbelievable and annoying things about Prudence and the plot is that never once is she suspicious of Rhys and his pretense that he has no idea of her change in circumstances. It's essential how Guhrke decided to have her story play out, and that's really the only reason it's there, because HELLO?! Has he not spoken to another living being in London or read a single paper?!?! The seamstress-turned-millionaire-heiress is supposed to be the talk of the town, so unless he's a hermit, how would it be possible that he hasn't heard and doesn't hear for two weeks?!

THE ROMANCE:
Secondly, the belief that they love each other is utterly and completely ridiculous. We're dealing with books of ~300 pages here, however some authors are able to truly show you and make you completely believe that two characters who didn't know one another before have indeed fallen in love with one another and will have their HEA. (Mary Balogh comes to mind, as I find that is true with almost all her books and I'm always amazed at how complex her characters are and how intricate her stories --- especially compared to a lot of other HR authors out there).

This is seriously how the story goes: Rhys and Prudence meet at a ball, speak a few sentences; they meet at the opera, speak a little longer; he follows her to a museum, great conversation; they have a nice afternoon together alone, with a picnic and fishing; . . . and that's it, she's in love with him and wants to marry him. I'm sorry, but it would take more than two brief conversations and two afternoons for me to decide to tie myself for life to another person, especially in that day and age when women didn't have the rights they do today.

Prudence is able to choose her husband --- why decide after a week acquaintance that this is the guy for you? Basically: lust. Yup, that is pretty much what drives both sides of that relationship. She loves how he's good looking (how wonderful for her), he likes her "luscious" body --- and the fact that she's loaded (how wonderful for him).

"GIRL-BACHELOR" SERIES:
1) And Then He Kissed Her --- Emma
2) THE WICKED WAYS OF A DUKE --- Prudence
3) Secret Desires of a Gentleman --- Maria
4) With Seduction in Mind --- Daisy

BOTTOM LINE:
The hero was unlikable, the heroine was pitiful, the romance was completely unrealistic and implausible, there was lust but no love, and the only good part of the entire book was the actual blow-up when Prudence discovers the treachery and the unusual ending. *SKIP IT* and read Guhrke's Guilty Pleasures or And Then He Kissed Her instead.

I couldn't think of a very inspiring title for this review, but that pretty well sums up my response to this book. I love LLG's title and have relished some of her other recent novels, but this one was less exciting. I never quite liked the hero's scheming ways, even if he did redeem himself in the end. I don't blame the heroine for what she did in the end - I wouldn't have trusted the bugger either!