Review: Daring and the Duke (The Bareknuckle Bastards #3)

 Daring and the Duke (The Bareknuckle Bastards #3)

by Sarah MacLean 

Blurb:

Grace Condry has spent a lifetime running from her past. Betrayed as a child by her only love and raised on the streets, she now hides in plain sight as queen of London’s darkest corners. Grace has a sharp mind and a powerful right hook and has never met an enemy she could not best...until the man she once loved returns.

Single-minded and ruthless, Ewan, Duke of Marwick, has spent a decade searching for the woman he never stopped loving. A long-ago gamble may have lost her forever, but Ewan will go to any lengths to win Grace back…and make her his duchess.

Reconciliation is the last thing Grace desires. Unable to forgive the past, she vows to take her revenge. But revenge requires keeping Ewan close, and soon her enemy seems to be something else altogether—something she can’t resist, even as he threatens the world she's built, the life she's claimed…and the heart she swore he'd never steal again.

Themes:  Historical

Rating: 4.5 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

 The long anticipated finale of one of my favorite series hits with a bit of bittersweet ending. While I have enjoyed this series immensely and am sad to see it ending, the have been dying to find out where Ms. MacLean would take her characters and how she would bring back these two star-crossed lovers and give them the HEA that they both so badly deserved.  The series took us on a long and heart wrenching story through the pasts of four children that were emotional abused and pitted against one another by the monster that was their father and separated by circumstances and manipulation when their father realized they were banding together against him.  Grace, the only girl of the group, held a special place in their hearts, different for each boy, but she always loved Ewan as much more than her brother.  When he turned on them, for the power and greed of their father’s offer, she took her brothers and ran for the only haven she ever imagined, becoming Queen of London’s darkest streets and taking her place in the world by force and her wits alone.  Returning after a long separation from the only woman he ever loved, Ewan was convinced he’d lost her before ever getting the chance to prove himself to her, but now has a second chance to show her that they have a chance if only she’ll allow him back into her heart.  The battle between and for them both will be dark and filled with obstacles, but once the full truth of their shared past comes to light, they will both have to decide to set aside their fears and old grudges in order to find a path to happiness, or they will never have a third chance to be together. Grace was a woman to be reckoned with and I loved her wit, sass, and strength.  She is the type of heroine that I love to see in these historical novels, because they are so often overlooked in the truth of history, but under all her bravado there was so much pain and heartbreak I wanted to cry for her often.  Once she decided she would give up her chance at love in favor of doing what she feels she should for herself, I feared for her sanity and future, but thankfully it all worked out in the end.  Ewan was an enigma and such a well-written hero that we have to shift our minds from the way we have known him in the past two novels to full appreciate his greatness and importance to Grace.  In the previous novels he was truly a dark and evil bastard, but learning more and coming to understand his full motivations, while not being forgivable, we can understand why he made his mistakes and appreciate that he feels the pain and anguish he caused his brothers and people.  I loved seeing him making amends and trying to prove himself to the people and his brothers and make a place for himself in the Bastard’s world so that he could prove himself to Grace.  He is strength and sexiness personified to be sure, despite being everything that Grace despises in the beginning and how much he changed over the course of the story was a true turnaround and I enjoyed reading about him maturing into the perfect mate for Grace.  The passion between Grace and Ewan begins more as anger for one and anguish for the other, but after they come back together the obvious emotional connection and sensual connection burns off the pages and you can immediately see how perfectly matched they are for one another in every way.  I loved every sad, sweet, entertaining, and high-spirited moment of this story, not to mention getting to see how settled the boys became with their women as time passed and they mellowed.  I cannot wait for whatever fabulous series comes our way from Sarah MacLean next and can guarantee I will be first in line begging for a chance to read it.

*ebook provided by publisher (via NetGalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.