He’s the most notorious rake in London…Though he uses the reputation to his advantage, the exotic Duke of Evesham is misunderstood and mysterious. He sidles around societal rules, especially when it comes to pursuing a wife. Though when he sets his sights on Lady Georgiana, the rules find a way of bending on their own accord.She has no intention of courting anyone… no intention of courting anyone…
The consummate bluestocking is in London for one thing—to find a financier for her late husband’s fire engine. And after six years away from the ton, Georgiana realizes social codes of conduct are different for widows—especially for ladies who catch the attention of the Duke of Evesham—the one man from whom the lady harbors a ghastly secret.
But fate has a way of making opposites attract…
And when this pair unite, the sparks between them are hotter than blue fire. But will Lady Georgiana’s secrets lead to their demise? Or can the devilish duke find it in his heart to forgive the woman who has claimed his mind, body, and soul?
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The Duke’s Untamed Desire by Amy Jarecki is book Two in the Devilish Dukes Series. This is the story of Georgiana and Fletcher Markham, the Duke of Evesham. This can be a standalone book.
Georgiana married below her station but as a blue stocking she married a man who created interventions. One being a fire engine that she help worked on and then after his death finished the creations. Now Georgiana has come to town to look to advance the engine further. But her parents have made sure she goes to several town events with her mother in place of storing the engine. Georgiana ends up meeting Fletcher who happens to witness the testing of the engine as it goes all wrong. Later they meet at a social affair where he doesn’t recognize her from their earlier meeting. But now Fletcher is peaked with Georgiana and goes forward to find out more about her.
Enjoyed their story..big fan of Ms. Jarecki’s writing.
The Duke’s Untamed Desire by Amy Jarecki
A Devilish Dukes Novel #1
What a wonderful way to spend the day! I picked this book up and could not put it down once I started reading. The author has created believable characters that I felt invested in and she took me back to a different time and place allowing me to spend the day with interesting people that I wouldn’t mind having as friends.
What I liked:
* That Georgianna was intelligent and willing to do what it took to realize her dreams
* That Fletcher was a bit of a rake but a rake with a heart of gold – and HOT
* The development of the relationship between the main characters
* That the supporting characters added to the story in a special way and helped to show the personalities of the male and female leads
* Georgianna’s parents – especially her mother
* The way the story was told
What I didn’t like:
* Only what I was supposed to not like…the villain, the misunderstandings and such…
Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
Very Entertaining, meaningful main characters. This story has danger, excitement, very sensual deep feeling love scenes and oh, so funny. Also a different theme. A story to re-read.
I had so much fun reading this romance!
What a delightful romance! Georgiana is a recent widow, dedicated to finishing the project she was working on with her late husband. This venture crosses paths with Fletcher, the titular duke, and at that instant, the game is on!
I loved the way the secrets and history came out, how both these characters fell in love almost despite themselves. I was thoroughly captivated throughout their ups and downs, all the way to their HEA. This author is one of my favorites, and I couldn’t have loved this book more.
Widowed Lady Georgiana is trying to sell her late husband’s invention, a steam pumper engine. She married Daniel six years ago and now she’s trying to save is invention by trying to find a financial backer or anyone to purchase a steam pumper. Fletcher Markham, Duke of Evesham is very interested in the steam engine pumper he lost his mother sixteen years ago to a fire and the steam pumper would be invaluable to have on his estate that is until the hose gets lose their incompetence and drowns him.
Georgina has promised her mother she’s attend society functions when she meets Fletcher Markham again, but he doesn’t seem to remember her. He knows he needs a wife and heirs, but he doesn’t want a debutante, he wants an intelligent beautiful young woman to grace his home and his life. Georgiana realizes social codes of conduct are different for widows, but to do when you seem to have captured the attention of one of London’s biggest rakes the Duke of Evesham. I love these two together, the chemistry and sensual attraction sizzles throughout the book as they navigate their way to finding love and happiness beyond their wildest dreams. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.
Great, multi-faceted characters. Very interesting plot. Just steamy enough. Kept me intrigued from the first page to the last.
*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
Amy’s stories never disappoint. This book is VERY well named. Fletcher Markham, Duke of Evesham, is fascinated with the widow Georgiana. She’s living with her parents after her impoverished inventor husband Daniel Whiteside died in an accident with his steam pumper fire engine. Her mother is insisting Georgiana accompany her to all of London’s season’s events determined to marry her off to a wealthy titled husband. Georgiana is only looking for investors for the working steam pumper she perfected from her deceased husband’s design.
In a delightful opening scene, Fletcher accidentally gets doused with the entire 200 gallons of water in the pumper at one hundred pounds per square inch, when her demonstration goes sideways. It’s a laugh out loud scene and determines the course of the story. Fletcher was legitimized by his father, has an unearned reputation as a rake and really has a heart of gold. He supports a home for unwed mothers anonymously. His mother died in a fire so he’s genuinely looking for a working fire engine that will save lives. Georgiana doesn’t confess she was the woman that drenched him in the opening scene until Fletcher finds out near the end of the story. It’s a delightful story of Fletcher’s relentless pursuit of Georgiana who really doesn’t want to wed. I really hope we get her best friend’s Eleanor Kent’s story next.
I was given an advanced readers copy of this book for my voluntary and honest review.
I always love the stories this author has to tell and this one is no exception. The story and the characters are great. So, you are wondering why I gave it only 3-stars aren’t you? I love historical romance, but I want it to be accurate within the societal norms and context of the times and this isn’t anywhere close to that. There are so very many issues …
Lady Georgiana is the daughter of a very rich and very influential baron and she married way below her station. Her husband was a commoner, an inventor and very poor. They worked together to develop a steam-powered pumper to help put out fires. The invention wasn’t complete when Daniel (her husband) died in an accident, so Georgiana spent the next year perfecting the pumper herself. It is all ready to go and she’s brought it to London to try to sell units and find a wealthy investor.
In order to get her parents to agree to her bringing the pumper and storing it at their home, Georgiana had to agree to accompany her mother to various social engagements during the season. She could do that if it allowed her the opportunity to demonstrate her pumper and find appropriate investors. Her first showing at the Southwark Fair was a total disaster. Not because the pumper didn’t work – but because they were short-handed and the hose got away from them. That loose hose ended up aimed at the Duke of Evesham and doused him with two-hundred gallons of high-pressure water. Oops!
Fletcher Markham, the Duke of Evesham, lost his mother in a house fire and he’s been looking to find a viable steam pressure pumper for years. Now, he’s furious because he’s just seen yet another scam of a machine and it thoroughly doused him. He told the woman that she should just throw the thing in the Thames.
Later, Fletcher meets Georgiana in a social setting and he doesn’t recognize her from the pumper demonstration. He’s very drawn to her – and she’s very skittish. She recognizes him. As he pursues her and she knows he doesn’t know who she is, they begin to draw closer.
I really enjoyed the adventures of Georgiana and Fletcher finding their HEA. It wasn’t a smooth road nor an easy one for them – but it was a truly lovely story.
The same story could have been told using correct period norms and I would have happily given a 5-star rating – and that accuracy wouldn’t have taken a thing away from the story. Within the first 5% of the book, there is a scene describing the old duke summoning his lawyers to his deathbed and ‘legitimizing’ his twenty-six-year-old illegitimate son – because he has no other sons. So, he legitimizes this son and declares him his ‘legal heir’. That just couldn’t have happened – laws of primogeniture wouldn’t have allowed it. There were so very many other things that were just so much more modern – like everybody’s comfort with Fletcher entering Georgiana’s bedchamber, women business-people conducting business at social events – well, just many things that could have easily been done correctly to the period without detracting from the story. Then – there is feeling the baby flutter – like bubbles – at two-months pregnant.
Bottom line – if you don’t care about period accuracy (but then why read historical?), then this will be a 5-star read for you because the story is really good.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I purchased this as part of a bundle the author offered called THE DEVILISH DUKES.
I wanted the h to tell the H what her marriage was like in and out of the bedroom. Even though he figured out the bedroom part pretty fast.
The h is ahead of her time in being in business. Of course it isn’t well known, until she starts to approach wealthy men at Ton functions. Why wasn’t she called out on this? Why didn’t word spread she was in business? I thought she held onto the idea the pumper was her husband’s brain child too long. I wanted her to have more of a backbone and yell from the rooftops how she figured it out. She should have shared her secret with the H after she got to know him. She held onto it way too long.
I loved the H, he was kind hearted and didn’t want credit for his good deeds. He was forthright in his dealings and since he wasn’t groomed as a Duke, approached life differently. He made the story. I did enjoy the story with all it’s twists and turns.
There is lovemaking outside of marriage, heat level 5 out of 5. The Lord’s name is taken in vain a few times, truly wasn’t necessary.
No cheating, no cliffhanger, very bumpy road to HEA, romance and steam. (ljb)
A young widows steadfast loyalty for her deceased husband compells her to carry out his dream. But in doing so she almost destroys her second chance for love and happiness. A very good with a different and original plan.
If you really enjoy a boy-chase-girl story, this is it. These are my favorites. I love it when a man knows who he wants and just goes for it. On the opposite coin of that, I am not always a fan of pushing away. For me personally, the heroine did push away too much. If she hadn’t, this would have been a 5 star read for me. Now saying that, I still very much enjoyed this book. I don’t read too many historical romances anymore and I was reminded as to why I enjoy them. Overall, it was very entertaining and I’m looking forward to reading the best friends book.
Tender, but very steamy love story.
The Duke’s Untamed Desire by Amy Jarecki is an entertaining Regency romance between Mrs. Georgiana Whiteside, who is the widowed daughter of a Baron, and the scandalous Fletcher Markham, the Duke of Evesham. How they met and how their diverse agendas makes for a cute story.
This tender but reluctant love story had a number of aspects to recommend it. It had great dialogue with some very funny parts and it had interesting and well developed characters, who by the way are total opposites. That said, I did think it was a bit too long with a few drag points. In spite of my annoyance with titles (that I outline in the next paragraph), I truly did enjoy this book and I was very satisfied with the smile-worthy ending.
Last, but not least, the constant misuse of a title when addressing Georgiana was truly annoying. The daughter of a baron is not addressed as “my lady” or Lady Georgiana. Only her mother, the baroness, is addressed as Lady ___. If Georgiana were unmarried she would be The Honorable Miss ___, and if married she would be the Honorable Mrs. ___ or simply Mrs. or Madam. I get that to some this is a small infraction, but to those of us who read primarily historical romances this type of error is annoying and tedious.
Content 411: Although there are no American vulgarities, there is some religious swearing and some descriptive and steamy sexually intimate scenes.
A good book with a good story line. Good characters.
Very enjoyable
enjoyed the charecters
Pretty good until the end, when it wrapped up abruptly and with liberal use of cliches. I wish the author had taken the time to craft an ending that flowed with the rest of the book.
Wonderful story of a no longer “young “woman who is smart and trying hard to make her deceased spouse’s invention work. In this time period, fires were a constant problem but women were not seen as capable inventors or business owners. It is uplifting to have her strength but also find happiness with another.
I have never read an Amy Jarecki book that I did not absolutely Love and this is no exception!! I was captured by the first few sentences and laughing out loud by the next few pages!!
What happens when you take one lady, namely Georgiana, who is trying to sell her late husband’s invention, a steam engine, and one Duke, Fletcher, who gets doused by said water from steam engine? Luckily he did not recognize her at the demonstration of said invention, because when they meet again, he is enchanted!
Fletcher, who was born the bastard of a Duke, had inherited the Dukedom on his father’s deathbed as he declared him the rightful heir. So now he knew he needed a wife, preferably intelligent, talented in the arts, pleasing to the eye and not be stuck up and have compassion. Easy?
Georgiana is in town trying to find investors for her deceased husband’s invention and was attending gatherings with her mother. She really had no interest in going to ton events but her mother insisted and they had taken her in and let her store the Steam Pumper!
When these two meet, oh my, the sparks where coming off the page! I think I might have swooned! Luckily he did not recognize her but the pursuit began!
Full of witty dialogue and even more humorous thoughts and actions (sixty leaping lizards! Plus the incident with Rasputin!) I wish I could mention them all! But that would take up pages and all I can say is this is one of the most entertaining and delightful books I have read and I cannot wait to read more in this series!!
Amy Jarecki is famous for her amazing Highlander stories, but her foray into Regency England is a success!! Keep them coming!
One thing author Amy Jarecki is sure to make happen in her stories, is make me laugh–no matter the genre. Her characters have a sense of humor and/or find themselves in funny circumstances. This read is highly entertaining, leaving you chuckling from time to time.
This story is no different. Both protagonists, Lady Georgina and Duke of Evesham, are well matched–they just don’t know it. Georgina comes from a privileged, titled family. Georgina had loved her husband. He was killed by an accident while working on his steam-powered pumper. Georgina, being a bit of a bluestocking, finished the pumper not getting any fianancial help from her parents, leaving her living sparsely in a small cottage.
She comes to London to ‘sell’ the concept of such a machine and hopefully sell her demonstration model. In the process of demonstrating its capabilities, her pumper didn’t have enough manpower. The water was let loose on the duke–hundreds of gallons of water with a force which should lay low any man. It was a laughable moment for the reader, one which has Georgina cringing, and the duke over furious!
Fortuitously, the Duke doesn’t recognize Georgina when he meets her later and she prays he does not. Her romantic fling would be dead in its tracks.
The duke doesn’t have a privileged past. He is a bastard and only recognized as his father’s son when his father was on his deathbed. Under his duke façade, exists a man of compassionate for the poor, particularly women and children, a bit of a philanthropic. He has played the duke for four years and is rather bored with his life and the women he meets—beds them, appreciating their beauty, but little else. His reputation precedes him. Along the way, he has gained the reputation of a rake.
Something about Georgina interests him. Meeting her on a social level he saw her different from others—which had him coming back to the trough, so to speak, multiple times.
Georgina, curious by nature, possessing a passionate side, decides to have a fling with the duke during a house party her mother and father host for her birthday. If you know anything about house parties during the Regency period, they were meant for one thing–to encourage men and women to mingle and get to know each other. The Baroness, Georgina’s mother is busy matchmaking. She sees the duke well suited to her daughter. The Duke agrees, but Georgina would like her independence as a businesswoman and loves the new adventure between the sheets! There are a few sizzling scenes where the duke is overwhelmed by her lusty vigor and can’t believe his good fortune.
The plot moves along quickly. Not all works out the way the duke thought it would or thinks it should. He loses his temper when he finds he’s been lied to and makes big assumptions about everything else. Georgina is only too glad the duke reveals his true character before it was too late.
They say some things are my as they appear. This is so true when it comes to the Duke of Evesham and Lady Georgiana. The Duke is know as a rake and known for breaking the rules. Georgiana married for what she thought was love and is now a widow, trying to carry on what was her husbands dream. Both have secrets they don’t want to be known. Lady Georgiana is so focused on what she believes wants that she doesn’t see what is right in front of her. I particularly loved the Duke, he was just a fun character and once he realizes there is more to his life than what he thought he goes after it namely Georgiana. It was a wonderful story with wonderful characters. At one point when the Duke was talking of his life and he mother it brought tears to my eyes! So yes I definitely recommend this book. Five Stars! Loved it Amy Jarecki!