To Love a Scandalous Duke

4.5 stars, this book was almost perfect and I really enjoyed the story.

Declan Sinclair, The Duke of Darington aka Dec has returned to England after 12 years. He was sent away after his father committed suicide and has been forbidden to return, until now. But this will not be a happy homecoming for Dec, he returns to find his beloved older brother Albert is dead and he is the new Duke.

Dec is determined to find his brother’s murderer and clear his father’s name, but when he reunites with his childhood friends, Lady Alethea Swinton aka Allie and Finlay Swinton, Viscount Firthwell, his single-minded pursuit of justice is in danger of derailment.

This story is not what I expected, I was thinking it was going to be a straight up friends to lovers story and in some senses it was, but it is so much more!

Allie is overjoyed to see Dec again, but she is cautioned by her father The Earl of Rockhaven to stay away from him as he is considered scandalous. Allie seems to crave her father’s acceptance and has only recently returned to England herself – she has been in Scotland for the last three years caring for her mother – when her mother passed away, she stayed on in Scotland, only returning at her father’s request. Her time in Scotland changed her, she is no longer content to be an idle lady of leisure. But she still has a strong desire to make her father happy, which seems to stem from her contentious relationship with her mother. But the pull of Dec is too great to ignore.

As Dec and Allie renew their friendship, Allie learns the reason Dec has returned and offers to help him. Dec is reluctant to draw Allie into his investigation for many reasons, the primary one being, he believes her father is involved. He tries to keep his distance and ignore his growing attraction to her, but like Allie, the attraction is too great to ignore.

The story is gripping and well written, it is packed with surprise revelations, steamy interludes, life altering secrets, ruthless villains and a little heartbreak before finally culminating into a sweet, sigh worthy HEA.

The only reason I didn’t give this five stars is there are some unresolved questions, like why did Dec get sent away and why was he forbidden to return? There are also a couple of minor inconsistencies and period related errors (that may actually be corrected before the publication, this was an ARC) but were glaringly obvious to this reader. But even with these issues, I really enjoyed this book and would happily recommend it and look forward to reading more by this author!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*

Review I thought this book had it all: romance, mystery, humor, and (yes!) sexy times.

I loved the chemistry between Althea and Declan and enjoyed the way both characters talked with one another rather than being coy about their interest in each other. Because they shared a past together their almost immediate attraction to each other after the long separation was both understandable and convincing. This was a love story that was free of TSTL misunderstandings.

I also liked the sibling relationship between Althea and Finlay, which came across as natural and close and added veracity to Althea’s devotion to her family. Could you quibble she showed too much loyalty to her father? Maybe by modern standards, but this is a novel set in a different time when family and reputation meant everything. Anyhow, I felt her internal struggle throughout the novel and it made me respect her.

I enjoy a good mystery but engaging characters are always key to my enjoyment of a book. Ms. De la Rosa does not disappoint when it comes to developing sympathetic, interesting, and compelling characters. I found Althea and Declan both people I could root for and I cared about what happened to them.

This was a sweet, fun, and sexy read and I’m looking forward to another from De la Rosa!

Loved it !!

4.5 stars
Driven into exile twelve years earlier, due to family scandal, Declan Sinclair is called home by his elder brother Albert. On arriving back in England he’s devastated to discover his brother has been murdered and he’s the new Duke of Darington. When clues point to the man he blames for both his exile and his father’s & brother’s deaths, Declan resolves to ruin the culprit
Lady Alethea Swinton has cultivated her pristine reputation in the hopes of winning her father’s praise. When her childhood friend Declan returns, Alethea finds she’s willing to court scandal and defy her father to help the handsome Declan uncover the truth behind the deaths in his family.
A page turning roller coaster of a novel, which I found very hard to put down. The pace of this well written story was very good & the pace quickened to the climax. The characters are well developed & have plenty of depth. Declan & Allie are very likeable, their attraction sizzles & becomes hotter with each meeting. I was a little confused about the diary entries at the start of each chapter but all is revealed. I hope Finley & Fiona have their stories as they were also intriguing characters. If you like mystery, murder as well as romance then like me you’ll love this book.

My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I really wanted to like this book. The story pulled me in and I didn’t get bored, I liked the H and sympathized with his wish to clear his father’s name and find out how his brother died. The h was more of a problem for me, largely because the author does not understand Regency mores very well. In the first chapter the h leaves her family’s box at the theater and wanders alone up to the roof where she encounters the H. She visits Tattersall’s with her brother and no one seems to find it unusual that a woman would go there. She races a female friend in Hyde Park. She is described as wearing a cap in Hyde Park, Should have been a hat or a bonnet. Her friend sits on a rock either in or near the water and dips her boot in the water. Hard to believe a well-bred lady would do any of these things. I could possibly suspended my disbelief sufficiently to handle all that, but later in the book after the h discovers that her father is a crook and tried to have the H killed she doesn’t share this information with the H even though she said she wanted to help him, and supposedly loved him. She seems more concerned about her father’s reputation than the H’s life. When the H finds out on his own the h is angry and upset that he might expose her father. I found the character of her brother inconsistent. The final resolution of the conflict was disappointing. I do think the author has the ability do better if she would research the time period a little more and develop her characters .