A woman with a shocking past… table after a duel. Charming and wickedly handsome, Lowell is one of London’s most inveterate scoundrels. Yet he may not be all that he appears.
And the man who can promise a future filled with love…
Posing as an unrepentant rake has helped Lowell avoid women pursuing him only for his title. But now that duty has finally called on him to marry, he finds himself entranced by the mysterious, independent-minded Viola. Then her late husband’s son returns from overseas, contesting Viola’s inheritance. Lowell longs to help her and sets out to convince Viola that a strategic union may be the best way to save all she holds dear. But can he also persuade her to take a chance on love…?
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The Infamous Duchess by Sophie Barnes is book 4 in the Diamonds in the Rough Series. This is the story of Viola Cartwright and Henry Lowell. I have read (and Loved) the other books, but feel you can make this a standalone book if you wish to do so.
Viola is marked as a scandalous money hungry women when she marries a older Titled man who dies the day after their wedding. Viola has worked with the inheritance to help St. Agatha’s Hospital but she also gives her time and skill. This is where she meets Henry who is smitten with her from the start but his reputation that he used to his advantage is now not such a advantage.
Enjoyed their story…big fan of Ms. Barnes writing.
Complex and compelling characters, one of the best romances I’ve read in a while, and a really nasty villain make up this truly delightful story. The writing is excellent, the plot is tight and well executed. This book contains everything you could want, including some lovely insights into our next hero and heroine.
Viola Cartwright, Duchess of Tremaine is a wonderfully complex character who draws you to her and makes you admire her – and when you learn her whole history, you’ll admire her even more. Viola’s aging husband died one day after their wedding and she’s been labeled as a money-hungry, social climbing woman who conned the duke into changing his will and leaving his unentailed fortune to her. None of that is true, but you’ll have to read the book to see what is true. Viola has taken that fortune and over the last two years, she has created the best hospital in London – the best doctors, the highest success rates for cures, and it is all free. Against all of society’s rules, she not only runs the hospital, but she also participates in patient treatments. She also has no intention of ever marrying again.
You will absolutely fall in love with Henry Lowell from the first moment you meet him – in Viola’s hospital with his brother, Florian, removing a bullet from a duel. When Henry first begins to come around, he notices an angel – the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen – standing at the window with the sunlight glowing around her. Who is that angel? He fully intends to find out! Henry soon comes to regret the reputation he’s built for himself because his angel completely believes it and doesn’t want anything to do with him. Henry purposefully spread the rumors and built that reputation in order to avoid all of the matchmaking mama’s until he was ready to find a wife. Now, that reputation has come to haunt him!
Henry keeps arranging, teasing, harassing and requesting Viola to spend time with him in the hospital so that he can get to know her – and she can get to know him. Henry soon learns that he has to be very slow and very, very patient if he wants to win Viola – and he certainly does want to win her. He does the sweetest and most caring things, but she’s still very skittish.
When Robert, the new Duke of Tremaine brings a suit against Viola, contesting his father’s will, Henry does all he can to help Viola. Secrets are exposed and Henry and Viola draw closer. It is so very touching. You’ll just need to read the book to see all of the exciting parts of this lovely, lovely read.
I highly recommend this book – and can’t wait for the next one. The ONLY thing that would have made it better would have been for something that wasn’t nice to happen to Barrister Hayes and Judge Atkins – just sayin’. I also love the setup for the next book with Carlton Gutherie and Lady Regina Berkly – I can hardly wait!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
After her elderly husband dies within days of their marriage, Viola Cartwright is labeled a grasping con artist along with her new title of Duchess of Tremaine. Though she is not a social person, she finds solace in her work running St. Agatha’s Hospital. When the notorious rogue, Henry Lowell, winds up on the operating table after a duel went badly, Viola is surprised to find herself attracted to him, but she reminds herself of his reputation and not to fall for him.
Henry has cultured his fictional rakish reputation in an effort to avoid marriage minded ladies who are after the title he is heir to, that of Viscount Armswell and eventually Earl of Scranton, but he is intrigued by Viola and might actually consider settling down with her. She definitely makes him regret the idea to soil his reputation.
When Viola’s stepson returns from years spent abroad and contests her inheritance from her late husband, Henry sees his chance to prove his worth to Viola. In the newly returned Duke of Tremaine, Henry recognizes little of the man he once considered a friend. The Duke is determined to ruin Viola and paint her as a manipulative social climber, but this image doesn’t match with what Henry knows of the kindhearted woman.
Though Viola has a fairly low opinion of Mr. Lowell, her loyalty to his half brother and her colleague, Florian, the Duke of Redding, keeps her defensive of him. But she’s been fooled by a man before and therefore she is determined to avoid them now and maintain her independence, despite the threat her stepson poses to that. She certainly won’t be risking her heart again, and certainly not with a notorious rake, and yet everything she is coming to know about him controverts what she thinks she knew. Regardless, she knows she can’t risk getting close to or trusting any man ever again. Right?
I really loved the idea of a “fake rake” with a completely contrived and utterly terrible reputation. Both of our main characters learn that the other is not what they’ve been led to expect. The attraction and sexual tension between them ignites almost instantly but their actual relationship is a bit of a slow burn. Henry and Viola spend time getting to know each other, but Viola is terrified of being hurt again and hesitant to give up the bit of independence she has found. Henry is patient with her and tries to help her gain confidence and get over her insecurities.
This is a well-written book with quite a bit going on. It’s a combination of several different plot devices that I don’t believe I’ve ever read in conjunction before and I liked it. This one isn’t very steamy with scenes occurring but mostly glossed over and the focus mainly on the growing connection between the couple. These two faced difficulties mostly due to Viola’s fear and insecurities, along with her enemies, and Henry was great for sticking by her and supporting her. There was also quite a bit of medical description in great detail that, although perhaps a bit tedious at parts, demonstrated the author’s research and showed more of Viola’s character. The plot gets just a little discombobulated toward with end with a bit of a lull before the final climax. This couple kept hitting setbacks and I was ready for them to just get to be happy already, but I suppose that was rather realistic. The ending for our couple felt a bit abrupt for me, with the final chapter setting the stage for the next installment in the series, although now I’m looking forward to that story. Overall I enjoyed this one and found it quite refreshing.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
What I really liked the most about The Infamous Duchess is that the love scenes were NOT drawn out for once, and that seemed to fit the book. I do love steamy parts, but the simple way she wrote them here just matched the tone of this story. It was an emotional read for sure, with a very sweet hero.
The Infamous Duchess
Diamonds in the Rough
book 4
by Sophie Barnes
This is Viola’s and Henry’s story and let me tell you it was riveting!
Viola has been scorned and labeled a money and title hungry woman who married an elderly dying man for the money and his title. She finds solace in realizing her father’s dream of establishing a hospital. Being the daughter of a physician she’s able to assist Florian with a gun shot patient …..where she first meets Henry.
Henry’s first impression of Viola although hazy is that of an angel. But this angel isn’t swayed by Henry’s flirtatious manner that he’s very well known for. Their relationship evolves when the heir to the dukedom threatens Viola with contesting the inheritance her late husband left her. Henry’s attention and caring towards Viola have her realizing that he’s not the man the ton believe him to be. Henry and Viola have some hurdles to go through when secrets are exposed before they reach the very much deserved happily ever after.
Sophie Barnes has another winner in this series. The story was well written and I loved the dialogue and Henry’s wooing of Viola I’m also anticipating the next book which will be Guthrie’s story which I can’t wait to read!
I received a complimentary copy from the author via Edelweiss. This is my honest unbiased opinion.
I tend to read a lot of shorter works by self-published authors. Often, this means reading a relatively short work that may or may not have character development or detailed plots. This book was so different than my normal reading because it starred a complex hero and heroine in a story that allowed their characters and relationship to grow and evolve. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them and their relationship change over the course of the book.
Viola is the Dowager Duchess of Tremaine. Her husband’s final wish before he died was that she open a hospital to help take care of London’s poor at no cost to them. So for two years–while tracking down the new Duke–she has been doing just that. She even helps with procedures and patients. As she is the daughter of a physician herself, she came to this role having some knowledge and experience.
The book starts off with a bang as a man is brought in suffering from a shoulder gunshot received during a duel. It just so happens that this man happens to be the brother of the chief physician of the hospital, Florian. The man, Henry Lowell, is saved by his brother but must convalesce for a few days in the hospital. During this time, he gets to know Viola, though she is wary of him because of his reputation.
So much happens in this book! Viola and Henry get to know each other gradually and come to understand each other in a way that feels organic and natural. Henry, of course, is not the man of his reputation. Viola has a long and complicated past that is revealed slowly through the book. She married the Duke at the age of 19 when he was 70. He did this because he wanted to protect her, as he promised her father (his friend). Once the new Duke of Tremaine is back, Viola’s life is thrown into turmoil, as the new Duke believes she stole what was rightly his.
Aside from the romantic plot, there’s also a plot about the new Duke trying to get back at Viola both personally and through the courts. There is a side plot about the new Duke’s past; there are also a few colorful secondary characters, one of whom looks like will get his own book.
The love story was beautifully done. You could understand the fears and the motivations of each character, and it was lovely to watch everything unfold slowly. My only issue with the pacing of the book is towards the end, where the speed of the plot increased dramatically. While the courtship was slow, everything accelerated around the time of the trial, and I found it a little jarring after the previous gentle pace.
As a registered nurse who has studied microbiology–including the history of it–I do take issue with the way medicine is portrayed in this book. Despite the author’s note at the end of the book stating her justifications for having Florian insist on handwashing and soaking instruments in alcohol (as well as the use of morphine), understanding of the transmission of disease during the Regency era would not have made these the normal precautions of even a progressive doctor. The miasma theory of disease transmission was still firmly held at this point; bad air is what was believed to caused disease, so any person in a locale of such could become ill. Handwashing was not common even after Ignaz Semmelweis’ realization in the 1840s of the harm caused to pregnant women by physicians who worked on them with the muck of the dead and prior patients still on them; surgeons in the 1800s were known, too, to take pride in being blood spattered as they moved from patient to patient, seeing such as a mark of their office and skill. The germ theory of disease didn’t take hold until the later 1880s to 1890s, well after the work of Pasteur and the findings of Semmelweis. Even Dr. Joseph Lister, who pioneered the use in the 1860s and 1870s of what we would now call antiseptics and is now called the Father of Modern Surgery, was believed to be to progressive and radical in his ideas and practices even by the esteemed medical journal, the Lancet, that published his initial findings on the topic. I think it adds nothing to the book to have these anachronistic bits. Unfortunately, I have seen this recasting of the past quite often in stories, where the author wants to give modern sensibilities and knowledge to people who simply wouldn’t have had them.
That being said, I still found this to be a very good read because of the character exploration done earlier as well as a very likable, very human hero and heroine.
If you enjoy well-written Regency romance, you will most likely not be disappointed by this book.
I did receive a free copy of this, but this did not affect my review.
Book four in The Diamonds in the Rough is another wonderfully stunning love story from Sophie Barnes. I have to say that I loved the first three books in the Series but this is my favorite!
Henry Lowell is a perfect gentleman with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, handsome as sin with a smile that can make a lady weak in the knees. Henry has a reputation as a libertine who has as the story opens participated in a duel that has landed him in his brother Florian’s (Hero in The Illegitimate Duke, Book 3) operating room at the hospital he helps fund with the woman who built and runs the hospital, Viola Cartwright, Duchess of Tremaine.
Viola Cartwright is not your typical Society Duchess. She doesn’t attend balls or dresses like a lady of Quality. She is the daughter of a doctor who taught her everything she knows about medicine. When her father passed away she was taken in by a patient of her father’s, an elderly Duke. He gave her a home and protection and he married her so she could inherit his money to continue her father’s work and build a hospital to help the poor.
Now the Duke’s son is back in the country and intends to take Viola to court to get his hands on her hospital. Viola would never give him the satisfaction of showing how frightened she is that he could take away her life’s work. Enter Henry Lowell, who is immediately attracted to her and will do anything to help her defeat the man who is threatening all she holds dear.
Henry is perfect for Viola. He wants to court her. He knows how incredible she is and wants her to feel the same about him. He won’t push her, he is a patient man and knows that she is worth the wait.
Viola has been betrayed once by a man and is slow to trust. Can Henry convince her that he is sincere?
What I love about Sophie’s writing is that you can literally feel the emotions that Henry and Viola are feeling. Sophie is a master at crafting what her characters are feeling which makes her love stories exceptional. I love her sense of humor and her witty repartee. “Viola flattened her lips. “Then I shall have Dead from unnecessary cause and too stubborn to listen to reason engraved upon your headstone.”
I also appreciate the research that goes into Sophie’s stories. I always learn something when I read her books. Do not miss this one!! I highly recommend it.
I received an eARC at no cost from the author, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.
3.25*
This is a mixed feelings book. I was really liking it in the beginning, but then our hero, Henry Lowell, kept saying something that was annoying me and that I don’t personally like – something like “She’ll be mine no matter what”. And I don’t like that because every time I read that sentence or a similar one, all I could think about was that he didn’t really care about our heroine, Viola, he simply saw her as a prize to be own, no matter what. I wouldn’t be mentioning it if it was something he had said/thought once, but no, he keeps thinking/saying it. He evolves as a character to someone who learns to love and who actually sees Viola as a person and not a prize, but his mind-set doesn’t seem to change, which is one of the reasons why I couldn’t connect as much as I wanted to with this book, hence the rating not going over the 3*.
I really wanted to like Viola – she is a fierce, dedicated woman, a physician, even if she didn’t go to University, and in the beginning of the book she seems so confident, with a bit of sarcasms and wit, but as the book develops, she morphs into someone else, all that strength we saw in the beginning almost disappears… So, I really wanted to like her, but the author made it a bit difficult.
I have to say the best character – “construction” wise, I mean – was probably the villain. We hate him from beginning to end, and he behaves exactly like he should and as we expect him too – with an extra at the end that was perfect. And at that point we see the Viola from the beginning.
So, to be honest, I liked the beginning and the end, and the book isn’t badly written, or anything similar, it just didn’t allow me to connect to the characters enough for me to love them.
The character that most intrigued me and that actually left me wanting to know more was Carl Guthrie, the criminal from St. Giles – now that was someone who I would like to get to know better. Can’t wait to read his book. I’m sure it will be much better than this one.
Branded a money-hungry con artist for marrying the elderly Duke of Tremaine days before his death, Viola Cartwright has found refuge in her work at St. Agatha’s Hospital working alongside Florian. No one must know the painful reason behind her marriage. She steers clear of attachments until Henry Lowell, heir to the Viscount Armswell & Florian’s brother, lands on her operating table after a duel. Charming and wickedly handsome, Henry is one of London’s most inveterate scoundrels.
Posing as an unrepentant rake has helped Henry avoid women pursuing him only for his title. Now that duty has finally called on him to marry, he finds himself entranced by the mysterious, independent-minded Viola. Then her late husband’s son Robert returns from overseas, contesting Viola’s inheritance.
It took me a little time to become engrossed, however the more I read the more I was drawn in & read the second half of the book in a long sitting as I had to find out what happened to Viola & I so wanted Robert to pay. There were multiple threads to the story but overall they worked well to make for a captivating read. The book was very well written & the characters extremely well portrayed. I instantly loved Henry – sigh. He was not only gorgeous to look at but he was so caring, protective & honourable, he was immediately smitten by Viola & his feelings deepened from raw attraction & lust to liking her & very soon to loving her. I liked the complex Viola from the start & as the story progressed came to love & respect her. Whilst this book is part of a series it could easily be read on its own, I liked that the next book in the series was ‘set up’ in the final pages & can’t wait to read it
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
London 1820 Viola was working at the hospital as a man with a gunshot came in and she had to help the doctor with his surgery. Well that was non other than Henry Lowell, rake extraordinaire or so that was the word out in society. Viola herself was the talk of the ton for marrying her elderly Duke days before he passed away. She had done her best to ignore society and taken the money left to her by opening a hospital and helping those in need.
The problem was, rake or not, Henry was a handsome man and very charming. When he first sees Viola he thinks she is an angel. But Viola wants nothing to do with him due to his reputation. But is he really as bad as everyone says?
Sophie Barnes brought these characters to live and with the historical references to the medical field it was fascinating. I always enjoy her books and this was truly a great story. There is a lot to take in and secrets abound but I could not turn the pages fast enough.. Looking forward to the next in this series!