One of Amazon’s Best Romances of 2017! “A romance that Kathleen Woodiwiss herself would be proud to have written.”—Booklist (starred)Katharine Ashe continues her lush and sensual Devil’s Duke series with a sweeping story of unbreakable love.Six years ago, when Lady Amarantha Vale was an innocent in a foreign land and Gabriel Hume was a young naval officer, they met . . . and played with fire. Now … Gabriel Hume was a young naval officer, they met . . . and played with fire.
Now Gabriel is the dark lord known to society as the Devil’s Duke, a notorious recluse hidden away in a castle in the Highlands. Only Amarantha knows the truth about him, and she won’t be intimidated. He is the one man who can give her the answers she needs.
But Gabriel cannot let her learn his darkest secret. So begins a game of wit and desire that proves seduction is more satisfying—and much more wicked—the second time around…
“This is historical romance at its best.”—All About Romance
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Katharine Ashe is one of the most original writers of historical romance. I love her intricate plots, her deep historical research, and her deeply romantic endings. Looking forward to the sequel to this one (The Prince) with the surgeon heroine!
The Devil’s Dukes series is a spinoff of Katharine Ashe’s Falcon Club series. I have not read the Falcon Club series yet, and I tried to start the Devil’s Dukes last year with The Rogue, and I felt too lost to finish the book. When Avon sent along the fourth book in the series, The Prince, I decided to give this one another shot. I wanted to try The Duke, because I am a sucker for a broody dark duke, particularly a Scot.
Amarantha Vale is our young and idealistic heroine, who runs off to Jamaica to marry a reverend and be first lady of his flock. Amarantha quickly learns the social difficulties at the time. Volunteering at a hospital, treating patients of all races, Amarantha observes the inequity of the races and the bigotry of her peers. Throughout this portion of the book, I admired Amarantha and her charitable nature, hard work, and willingness to treat everyone equally. I also felt a little sad for Amarantha as we saw the loss of her naivety once she was in the real world and not being sheltered by her family. Meeting the dashing Captain Gabriel Hume, it was easy to see how she fell victim to his charm, as he was quite the tempting character.
We met Gabriel Hume, (now) Duke of Loch Irvine when he was an enterprising young captain in the royal army. He quickly becomes enthralled with the optimistic Lady Vale, and sets out wooing her despite her engaged status. I found Gabriel to be a romantic and somewhat sentimental hero, and I liked him immensely. He really became the star of the story for me. He was incredibly altruistic and sought to do good deeds and take care of people selflessly and without seeking credit. His work on behalf of women in need, no matter their class or color, was a fantastic aspect of the story.
So our couple is not together for a good part of the story and, during that time, I enjoyed how the story was building and getting to know our characters internally through inner monologues, actions and events. Then we jump ahead about 5 years and Gabriel and Amarantha are reunited, which is where the story switches to be more dialogue-driven. Unfortunately this is where I started to lose the story, and I could never get it back.
Amarantha has changed and I no longer liked her attitude, or the way she treated Gabriel. She seemed very cold and Gabriel was undeserving of her ire. Gabriel stayed true to his character throughout, and I was continually aggravated with Amarantha’s disrespect and callousness toward him. She even went so far as to strike him. I think the author tried too hard to establish the feminist aspect of our heroine, and she crossed the line from strong, empowered woman to cold-hearted bitch. Being bitchy is not representative of any feminism that I want to be a part of… you can be a strong woman who is still nice to people (including men)! I couldn’t figure out if this was supposed to be a role reversal story, or if the current political climate has just made me overtired of women espousing these characteristics. Maybe its both. But not only was the heroine giving me heartburn with her personality… but her actions doubled my ire. She is someone apt to run off into cockamamie schemes that make everything worse, instead of consulting with the people involved in the situation. I think I literally shook my Kindle a few times at her antics.
So, in sum, I loved Gabriel. He was near saintly in my eyes. I hated Amarantha. She was disrespectful ingrate and I wanted to thump her right off the page. The secondary characters were interesting. I know some of them are probably from the Falcon Club series, and I would like to know their backstory so I will probably get around to reading those books sometime this year. I didn’t feel lost reading this book, like I did with The Rogue, so I hope to continue on to The Prince without undue stress. I am very interested in our exiled prince’s book as he was a very mysterious character in this installment. Let’s hope the next heroine is easier on my nerves.
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4.5 Stars
Amarantha Vale travels to Jamaica to marry the man of her girlish dreams, but before she does, she will meet the man that will forever own her heart.
Amarantha and Gabriel meet during a hurricane in Jamaica and bond is formed that neither time or circumstance can break. The spend time together over the next 9 weeks and the bond grows even stronger and when Gabe asks Amarantha to break off her betrothal and wait for him, she agrees. But a well placed lie along with vicious gossip, turn their lives in different directions.
Five and a half years later, Amarantha is a widow and has made her way to Scotland to find her missing sister in law. This is where she learns of the Devil’s Duke and realizes that he is in fact the young man she once loved. Unable to believe the lies about him, she sets out once more to find Penny and to get answers about Gabe.
When they finally met again, they are both a bit wary of the other and neither realize that their HEA was thwarted purposefully. Gabe has secrets, that he cannot share, even with the girl that captured and held his heart for these past 5 years. But Amarantha is not willing to walk away without answers. As they grow closer and truths are revealed, another lie interferes with their newly born relationship and a threat that may cost Gabe his life is issued.
Amarantha is not willing to grieve for Gabe again and sets out to save him, but in true Gabe fashion, he would rather sacrifice himself than let others suffer for him.
This is truly an epic tale, spanning several years and two continents. Gabe is a hero every woman wishes she had and Amarantha is a truly lovely (if not slightly misguided) woman. The sexual tension between them is red hot and when they finally give in to the enviable, it is wondrous. The book is well written, flows nicely, has lots of twists and turns, secrets, surprises, cameos from previous characters, amusing moments, tense moments and heartbreaking moments. It was an emotional roller coaster of a read and I loved every second!
I would highly recommend this book and even though it is the third book in the series, it could easily be read as a stand alone title with no problems. I have read the other reviews where the reviewers didn’t care for Amarantha and will say, I was right there with them, but after I finished the book, I had a revelation, I don’t think that Ms. Ashe set out to make Amarantha seem unlikeable, I think she wrote Gabriel too well and made her readers fall in love with him and therefore no heroine would have been good enough for him. So judge for yourself, is Amarantha unlikable? I don’t think so, I think the problem is Gabriel is too wonderful (as if that is a problem).
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an uncorrected eARC that was provided to me by Edelweiss and the publisher*
Constance Read is an independent single woman who has lived in London for the past six years with only her old friend and her father’s choice of chaperone, Mrs. Joseph, living with her. Constance returns to her father’s castle in Scotland, on a quest to find what happened to two young women who recently disappeared near there.
Saint Sterling has no title, and has made his way in the world using his wits, his honor, and his sword skills. His titled cousin lures him to Read Castle, where Constance’s father, the Duke of Read, hires him to teach Constance to defend herself with a sword. But these two have a secret past. A hurtful past that neither one of them care to revisit.
Saint is one of the most dashing heroes ever, and Constance is a strong, brave woman in need of his help and support. It makes for an exciting, adventure and a sweet love story. This is my first Katharine Ashe novel, but it certainly won’t be my last.
What happened! The latest series by Ashe are boring and drag on with little direction and less story. Sorry, I am leaving and author that wrote great stories-years ago.
A thoughtful *swoon* worthy Historical Romance.
What a wonderful story and so beautifully told! Two people come together at the wrong time and need to move forward to find the love that is waiting for them to share. This has got to be one of the most romantic books I’ve read in years. This author is right up there with the greats for me, Lisa Kleypas, Mary Balough, Johanna Lindsey ,Victoria Holt and more. I’ll give you one passage and challenge you to not feel the romance , you’ll find it’s impossible to not be moved by this language.
“His palm cupped her cheek and her breaths stopped. His hand was so large, so strong, yet it held her gently…………..He touched her there, on her lip, stroking,barely a caress. It tore the air from her lungs.She struggled for more air, with a gasp then with a long sigh. He caressed again and she was liquid, fire. Her heavy eyelids closed and she felt him everywhere, across her lips and in the deep core of her where she ached so fiercely now. She wanted him to touch her and touch her and never cease. “Wait for me.” she heard him whisper. “Dinna marry him.” The raw heat of his words came against her brow. “Wait for me.” Her throat had closed entirely. She nodded. Abruptly he released her…… She opened her eyes and she was alone. ”
That partial passage should beg for you to want to know more, hear more, feel more. Believe me when I say you will not be disappointed with this book, it’s a romance story that is not to be missed.
Enjoy!~
The Duke by Katharine Ashe
How a person reacts at the worst moments can give you an inkling of their true character. Lady Amarantha Vale meets Gabriel Hume in the middle of a hurricane in a foreign land. They fall in love during the hurricane’s aftermath, but already promised to someone else, Amarantha is not free to love the handsome naval officer. Fate’s twists and turns leaves an innocent girl with her heart broke.
Years later, fate throws them into each other’s paths again. Amarantha is the widow of a missionary and Gabriel has become the Devil’s Duke. Hidden secrets intertwine their missions, as Amarantha searches for her friend and Gabriel strives to keep everyone away from his Highland home.
These two strong-willed characters operate with similar motives but at cross-purposes until their truths unite and they are free to love again. Sacrifice and honor pull these two together and apart like the ebb and flow of the tides that brought them to the islands long ago and back to the Highlands to be reunited.
Katharine Ashe weaves a great story, strong characters, history and modern issues into a fabulous, epic tale of love, loss, friendship and faith. “The Duke” will keep you turning the pages well into the night. It is difficult to put down but I mourned it’s loss when I reached the end.
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Sherri Lupton Hollister
Southern Romantic Comedy & Suspense
http://sherrilhollister.wordpress.com
This story is THE DUKE, a DEVIL’S DUKE NOVEL #3 and is written by Katharine Ashe. It is Gabriel’s awaited story.
This is the story of Amarantha Vale and Gabriel Hume.
Gabriel has always wanted to travel and have uncomplicated life at sea. He becomes a young naval officer.
6 years ago, his path crossed with a young innocent lady in Jamaica. They are both attracted to the each other.
Amarantha has always been determined to marry for love. She had followed the minister she was to marry to Jamaica. Problem is, she can’t stop thinking about Gabriel after she meets him. When Gabriel leaves on another mission, he finds trouble at sea. Amarantha is told he has perished, so she goes ahead with her plan to marry her intended. 5 years into her marriage, her husband dies.
After his older brother dies, Gabriel goes back to England to become the Duke. He wants to avoid society and he becomes a recluse by hiding out in Scotland, hidden away in a castle in the Highlands..
After Amarantha’s sister in law leaves Jamaica to find her lost love in Scotland, she disappears. Amarantha travels to find out what happened to her in Scotland. Amarantha finds out there that Gabriel hasn’t died, but there are accusations that Gabriel has kidnapped girls in the area. As women keep disappearing, society starts calling him the Devil’s Duke. They think he is the one to blame, the dark lord.
Amarantha knows the truth about Gabriel, and she won’t be intimidated by him. She needs answers and he is the only man who can give them to her. Gabriel feels he cannot let Amarantha know his darkest secret. A game of wit and desire begins.
Will they find what they desire the second time around? Will it be more pleasing and roguish the second time around? Will she discover his darkest secret? What has happened to her sister in law? Is he responsible for kidnapping her and the other women?
I loved their story. I like how they found love, lost love, and then have a chance to find it again. I am fully pleased with how their story evolved and developed.
I loved Gabriel and Amarantha story.
Gabriel wanted a simple life at sea and travel. When he’s older brother died he had to come back to England to became Duke. He became a recluse, avoiding society hiding out in Scotland.
Gabriel has a secret, everyone calls him the Devil Duke because women keep disappearing and they think Gabriel is to blame. He is rescuing girls who are in bad situations and letting them find a new life on one if His estate.
Amarantha is determine to marry for love. She made a minister who she fall in love with and followed to Jamaica to get married. Only problem she met Gabriel a young naval officer who she couldn’t stop thinking about. Gabe went on a mission. Amy was told he perished at sea.
She married her intended instead. Her husband died five years later. Amy’s sister in law left Jamaica to find a lost love in Scotland and disappeared. Amy travels to Scotland to find out what happened. Only during the search she finds out Gabriel is alive and he accused of kidnapping girls in area.
Gabriel and Amarantha had to relearn to trust each other and find the love they lost.
Really a 2.5. Her other books are better. Good story here, but buried beneath too many characters and too many venues. Villain changes from merely obnoxious to evil in much too short a time. Secondary character Jonah’s story arc is too convoluted to be enjoyable. Try the novella “The Pirate & I” instead.
Never have I come across a tale as complex as The Duke. Ms. Ashe has created a thinker’s romance filled with labyrinths and heart-stopping emotion. A puzzle waiting to be solved.
Overall I really liked this one! PROS: sweeping epic “old-school” type of grand adventure; various locales; steamy love scenes; endearing hero. CONS: a bit convoluted with changing timeline (first half); heroine could be a bit annoying; perhaps a little too lengthy.
I enjoyed watching the maturity growth of both main characters over the six-year time span. And it was refreshing to have a hero who saw and loved the heroine for who she essentially was (especially as she was wrestling with trust issues). On his part at least, it was truly love at first sight. Favorite takeaway: the character/honor and amazingly strong devoted love of Gabriel…what a guy. *sigh*
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.