The third sensual romance in the 1797 Club series by USA Today Bestselling Author Jess Michaels.Adelaide Longford is London’s most overlooked bluestocking wallflower and that is fine by her. Being ignored gives her the perfect opportunity to sneak out and secretly take on the persona of the most celebrated actress of the day, Lydia Ford. The thrill of walking the boards and hearing the applause … boards and hearing the applause of those who watch her is the most exciting experience of her life.
Until Graham Everly, Duke of Northfield comes into her life. He is broken after the humiliating loss of his longtime fiancé to his supposed best friend and they enter into a lusty affair which sets her body on fire. Graham has no idea why he’s so attracted to both the bespectacled, prickly Adelaide and the passionate Lydia, but soon he is caught in a dance with them both and torn between which future he wants to pursue.
When Graham finds out Adelaide’s secret identity will he be able to accept both parts of her? And will he be able to save her from a lurking danger that neither of them could have ever foreseen?
Length: Full-Length Novel (70,000 words)
Heat Level: eyebrow waggle
This book is part of a series (The 1797 Club) but can be read as a standalone novel.
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GUYS. Just… GUYS. I might be partial but I’m not. This book is FAB. GREAT. AWESOME. BUT GET TISSUES. So much love. So much.
The lead characters were so relatable. I feel like Adelaaid & I wish for a Graham! Swoon worthy.
Jess Michaels has done it again! This is an awesome series, but you can read this book as a stand-alone if you want to. I just can’t imagine why you’d want to.
Our heroine is a dual personality – well – sort of. By day, and most evenings, she is Lady Adelaide Longford, daughter of a deceased Earl. Three nights a week, she is Lydia, the toast of the theater. Adelaide’s home life leaves a lot to be desired, so she sneaks out to become her alter ego. She has been raised since the age of ten by her aunt who seems to hate her. The aunt is very verbally abusive and has become physically abusive in the last year or so. Lydia is everything Adelaide is not, she is confident, brave, outspoken, beautiful, poised and maybe even a bit brazen. Adelaide is a wallflower who dresses in high-necked, severe dresses, wears spectacles and arranges her blonde hair in a very severe bun.
You’ll remember our hero, Graham Everly, Duke of Northfield was jilted by his fiancé in the second book of the series. He really took a nose-dive after that and drank steadily for several months. It wasn’t because he loved his fiancé because he didn’t – he just felt betrayed by his best friend and his fiancé. When a couple of his friends drag him out of his doldrums and convince him to attend a play with them, Graham is enthralled with the star of the play, Lydia. As soon as the play is over, he makes his way backstage to meet her and is instantly smitten. A few days later, he attends a ball and ends up asking the wallflower, Adelaide, to dance and is attracted to her. Now, he’s really confused. He wonders how he can be so attracted to two very different women, but he most definitely is.
Adelaide is convinced that Graham isn’t really attracted to her, that he really wants Lydia. Poor Adelaide is jealous of Lydia!
As the story continues and Graham’s secrets are revealed and so are Adelaid’s, they have to cling to each other. They both face life threatening situations and each must try to save the other.
This is a wonderful addition to the series and I hope you will read it and enjoy it as much as I did.
“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”
This series is phenomenal – there is so much emotion written into these books, that you can’t help but to be sucked in and become invested in the characters.
This is the story of Graham Everly, Duke of Northfield and Lady Adelaide aka Lydia Ford. If you have been following the series, you know that Graham was jilted in the previous book and that Lady Adelaide is dear friends with Emma, Duchess of Abernathe.
In the two months since Graham was jilted and lost his best friend in the process, he has been sulking. He didn’t love Meg, but his pride was hurt and he was angry at both Simon and Meg for their betrayal. He has been drinking and brooding ever since. His fellow dukes have decided that he has sulked long enough and convince him to go out with them to see a play. Grudgingly he agrees and is immediately captivated by the actress Lydia Ford. After the play, he meets her backstage and they share a passionate kiss.
Lydia Ford is not who she seems, she is in reality Lady Adelaide, daughter of the late Earl of Longford. When she hears the Duke of Northfield wants to meet her, she is terrified that he will recognize her and she will be ruined. She started acting to escape her unhappy home life and has been successful in keeping her true identity a secret. By day, she is the dutiful niece to the abusive, unstable Lady Opal. She is a wallflower, who wears spectacles and dowdy gowns. But by night, she is the bold and talented actress Lydia Ford. She meets with Graham and is relieved that he doesn’t seem to recognize her – but why would he? He is gorgeous, rich and popular and Lady Adelaide is a wallflower.
Graham feels lighter and happier after meeting Lydia and decides to stop hiding and return to society. To avoid a confrontation with Meg and Simon, Graham asks Lady Adelaide to dance and is surprised and delighted by her. The encounter causes Graham a bit of turmoil, how can he be attracted to two women at the same time? It isn’t exactly easy for Adelaide either, she is attracted to Graham, but can’t tell him her secrets.
Things between Graham and Lydia heat up and they share a passionate night together, but strangely, Graham feels out of sorts. He keeps crossing paths with Adelaide and they have formed a friendship. He has begun to care for Lydia, but he also has begun to care for Adelaide and his affair with Lydia makes him feel like he is betraying Adelaide. Adelaide is also having problems, the least of which is she is jealous…..of herself.
When a villain from the past attacks Lydia, Graham beats the man senseless and Lydia saves him from himself. They share another night together and Graham shares his deepest, darkest secrets with her. Adelaide is horrified by the pain and suffering Graham endured as a child and admits to herself that she is falling in love with this broken man. She knows that she will have to tell him her secrets and soon, as their night together might have complications. Graham awakens to find Lydia gone and he is more confused than ever – he wants both women and has no idea what to do. He turns to his friend James, Duke of Abernathe (Meg’s brother & Emma’s husband) for advice.
When Adelaide returns home, her aunt loses control and attacks her, she is saved when her friend Emma arrives and takes her to her home. Graham is also at Emma’s house and James tells him to let Adelaide go. He accepts this advice with a heavy heart, but when he goes to leave, he finds Adelaide in the library. When he sees her, he is confused, she looks more like Lydia and when she confesses the truth, he is overjoyed. They share another passionate encounter and he makes a decision.
The next day, he arrives to see Adelaide and tell her of his plans, but they are interrupted by her aunt and then by an agent from the home office with the news that Graham is the prime suspect in a murder. To save Graham, Adelaide confesses her affair with Graham. Her aunt goes crazy and attacks Adelaide again. Once she is taken out of the house, Adelaide and Graham decide to find out who the true killer is. Once they do, Graham tells Adelaide that they will marry.
The truth of the murder and his acceptance of his feelings for Adelaide, lead Graham to reconcile with Simon and Meg. It also lead Adelaide to try and make amends with her aunt.
This book is so good! It is well written, flows perfectly, has steamy love scenes, great secondary characters, a lot of secrets, nasty villains, some heart stopping moments, reconciliations and finally a sigh worthy HEA.
I would highly recommend this book, it is the third in the series and could be read as a stand alone title, but I think you would have a great understanding of the character’s motivations if you read the series in order.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review of an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*
Graham and Adelaide, A Good Read
I was anxious to see Graham settled. He was in a sorry state at the start of his story, and with good reason. Both he and Adelaide were likable characters, good-hearted, yet not without flaws. I thought both of them were too forward when they first met, making their relationship seem cheap, but the rest of the story was more romantic and helped to make up for it. I liked how Graham reacted to the truth about Adelaide’s secret. I also liked how smoothly things worked out in the end.
Adelaide Longford is London’s most overlooked bluestocking wallflower and that is fine by her. Being ignored gives her the perfect opportunity to sneak out and secretly take on the persona of the most celebrated actress of the day, Lydia Ford. The thrill of walking the boards and hearing the applause of those who watch her is the most exciting experience of her life.
Until Graham Everly, Duke of Northfield comes into her life. He is broken after the humiliating loss of his longtime fiancé Meg to his supposed best friend Simon. Graham has no idea why he’s so attracted to both the bespectacled, prickly Adelaide and the passionate Lydia, but soon he is caught in a dance with them both and torn between which future he wants to pursue. His friend James warns Graham not to hurt Adelaide who is James’ wife Emma’s best friend but what is Graham to do?
This is the third book in the 1797 Club series & whilst it could be read as a standalone to fully appreciate it I’d recommend reading the two earlier books. The series goes from strength to strength. The characters are very well portrayed & the plot is well paced. Graham & Adelaide have both suffered in the past, both are broken & needing to be healed, their attraction is strong & their revelations are horrifying & heart wrenching. The author has written another page turner with more than a hint of spice, I was loathe to put it down & read it in under a day. I look forward to the next in the series.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Graham Everly, Duke of Northfield, was engaged to his best friend’s sister for nearly a decade. He was betrayed by both his fiancee and a man he though of as a brother when the pair were found in a compromising position. Graham doesn’t know how to forgive or forget until he sets eyes on actress Lydia Ford.
Lydia walks the boards by night, but by day she is blends in with the walls in ballrooms all over London as Adelaide Longford. Since her parent’s deaths, Adelaide has lived with her stern and at times cruel aunt, Lady Opal. Her only outlet as Adelaide is her friendship with Emma, the new Duchess of Abernathe. Lydia gives her the freedom to be someone else, if even for only a few hours at a time.
In the previous two novels, I found Graham to be very stiff and off putting. I was excited to see what kind of woman would take him over, body and soul. For a majority of the novel, Graham is obsessed and torn between what he feels for both Lydia and Adelaide. When Michaels describes the different looks of the two lady personas, I understand how Graham could not tell the two ladies were the same woman. Graham is transformed from the broken, betrayed Duke into a lusty and loyal man he was always meant to be.
Adelaide’s upbringing by her maiden aunt was borderline brutal. Her accidental introduction to the theater a few years before opened a whole new world to her. Not only did she find something she loved and was utterly fulfilling, it brought her to her destiny, the Duke of Northfields.
I loved the unusual way Michaels brought this duo together and the reintroduction of the villain from the first novel of the series, Sir Archibald. Not only do we get a complex and fascinating love story, we get two villains in Archibald and Opal who cause more than enough havoc for an entire lifetime.
It is with absolute honesty that I convey to you that I devoured this novel in one day. I could not stop reading as every page had something worthwhile to absorb. There is not a single paragraph that needs to be skimmed. I had my doubts about Graham’s story, but Michaels blew me away once again. She gave Graham lessons I never thought he would learn and brought forgiveness to his heart and soul. With the discovery of unconditional love, Graham and Adelaide were able to leave the heartless past behind and create a blissful future together.
I received this book for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This is a captivating and engrossing storyline. Graham is sweetheart who was betrayed by his best friend and fiancé. It leaves him very depressed, but it’s more about what Simon did, not Meg. When he sees Lydia, he’s drawn like a moth to a flame. And after he dances with Adelaide, he feels the exact same pull. He’s totally confused as to why they both attract him. Adelaide finds that she can’t stay away from him either, as Lydia they become lovers, but has to be proper as Adelaide. So while he’s trying to figure out what to do about the two women, she’s afraid to tell him that there’s really only one woman. There’s some drama in the story, and secrets and shocks and romance. Put this one at the top of your TBR list.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. This is my honest and voluntary opinion of it.
The Broken Duke by Jess Michaels is another wonderful Recency Romance. While, #3 in THE 1797 CLUB, it can be read as a stand alone.
As with all Ms. Michaels stories she manages to draw her readers into her stories with her characters, her descriptions and her emotional turmoil. The plot flows seamlessly, and is interesting, as well as intriguing. A story of passion, deception, betrayal, angst, murder, abuse, redemption, love and finding a HEA.
The H/H are a bit different as the heroine seems to portray two people, a bit confusing at first, but soon the reader totally understands her deception. The hero is vulernable, yet controlled. This was not my favorite of this series, thus far, but an enjoyable read, nevertheless. Something about the H/H was hard for me to connect with, at first.
Romance readers who enjoy a bit of mystery, steamy interactions, emotional turmoil and HEA, should enjoy THE BROKEN DUKE. I already anticipate the next book.
I received a complimentary copy, however, all opinions are my own.
Ratinf: 4
Heat rating: Steamy
Reviewer: AprilR
The appeal of a Jess Michaels novel lies in the presentation. Beneath the scandalous lust, the intriguing adventures and the danger that follows in the wake of the main characters, lies a beautifully written work of art. The Broken Duke thrives on staying one step ahead of the readers. Adelaide is a temptress in hiding. A woman caught between two worlds, longing to be noticed and willing to risk all for that chance of notoriety. Her quest brings her to the attention of the one man who could topple her entire masquerade. The heartbreak she never saw coming and the danger she never thought possible, lies in the hands of the greatest love of all. (4.5 stars)