Duke of Desire (Maiden Lane #12)
by Elizabeth
Hoyt
Blurb:
A
LADY OF LIGHT
Refined,
kind, and intelligent, Lady Iris Jordan finds herself the unlikely target of a
diabolical kidnapping. Her captors are the notoriously evil Lords of Chaos.
When one of the masked-and nude!-Lords spirits her away to his carriage, she
shoots him . . . only to find she may have been a trifle hasty.
A
DUKE IN DEEPEST DARKNESS
Cynical,
scarred, and brooding, Raphael de Chartres, the Duke of Dyemore, has made it
his personal mission to infiltrate the Lords of Chaos and destroy them.
Rescuing Lady Jordan was never in his plans. But now with the Lords out to kill
them both, he has but one choice: marry the lady in order to keep her safe.
CAUGHT
IN A WEB OF DANGER . . . AND DESIRE
Much
to Raphael's irritation, Iris insists on being the sort of duchess who involves
herself in his life-and bed. Soon he's drawn both to her quick wit and her
fiery passion. But when Iris discovers that Raphael's past may be even more
dangerous than the present, she falters. Is their love strong enough to
withstand not only the Lords of Chaos but also Raphael's own demons?
Themes: historical
Rating: 4.75 stars
Heat Rating: 
Review:
Holy cow what a way to end a series that has
taken us all over Victorian England.
This series has recently taken an interesting turn, bringing in a secret
society of evil, power-hungry aristocrats that are taking advantage of those
that are “lesser” members of society. I have enjoyed this series from the very
beginning and seeing it evolve into something so complex with so many little
strings between characters from one story to the next has been a wild ride and
one that I would take again in a heartbeat.
While I was sad to hear the series was ending this final tale was
amazing enough to keep it from being too upsetting for me and I cannot wait to
find out what series Elizabeth will come up with next. Lady Jordan finds
herself in a terrifying situation with no hope of ever getting out of this
jamb, until a sexy as hell member of the Lords of Chaos demands her for
himself and whisks her away to his ancestral home. When she sees who he really is, the even more
terrifying truth comes to light, and Raphael is much more dangerous than
society always imagined him to be.
Determined to keep her at a distance Raphael never imagines he will come
to depend on her to keep him alive, essentially giving her the only chance at a
successful escape. Iris is faced with an
impossible decision between death and marrying a man she is terrified of—not because
of his physical presence or even the truth of his past, but because he brings
out feelings in her that she never imagined she would feel for a man. The passion between them soon leads to a
marriage that could be something magical, if only Raphael would let go of his
quest and find a way to be happy with the life they could build together. Iris is a woman out of time to be sure,
unwilling to submit to the men in her life, instead standing up for herself in
all things, even when her fears and common sense tell her to run for her
life. I loved seeing her find a way to
convince Raphael that they are meant to be together and becoming the true love
of his life, more important than any quest for vengeance or suicide
mission. Raphael on the other hand was a
truly damaged man, having lived through a trauma as a child that most of us,
even in this time, are unable to understand or handle. His past haunts him
every moment, except the time he is in Iris’s arms. He was obviously a strong man, one that has
found a way to live with his past, even if he never lets it go, but there were
so many times that I wanted him to let go and allow the love that Iris wants to
give him to heal him even the smallest bit.
I was amazed by the depth of these two characters and their story and a
little bit surprised it got as heavy as it did here at the end, but the story
was no less amazing and wonderful for the darkness woven throughout. I am still sad to know this series is over
and definitely plan to reread it someday, but for now the Maiden Lane family
that has comes together throughout these stories will be left behind for another
new adventure in the wonderful imagination of Ms. Hoyt and her amazing writing
skill. A series that grabs your soul and
gives your heart a hard tug with each new couple falling in love has ended, but
the best part of books is that the stories are always there for you to return
to.
*ebook provided by publisher (via
netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.
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