Darcy Burke

Barbara’s Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: The Phoenix Club #2
Publication Date: 8/24/21
Period: Regency London - 1815

Goodness Gracious Me! We met Constantine Westbrook, heir to the Duke of Evesham, in the prequel (Invitation), and the first book of the series (Improper). I don’t know about you, but I sure didn’t like him very well. He was cold, unyielding, passionless, uptight, and, as his brother Lucien says, has a ‘stick up his xxx’. How could a curmudgeon like that become the male show more romantic lead in a romance novel? I knew this author would turn things around and make us love him – and she surely did. You won’t be far into the book before you realize people aren’t always the face they present to the world – and – you’ll quickly come to love Con.

Sabrina Westbrook has been married to the cold and aloof Constantine Westbrook for almost two years now – and she’s had enough. He is cold and passionless, but part of the fault for their distant civility is her own. They were definitely NOT a love match and Sabrina wanted to call it off, but her parents wouldn’t allow her to do so and the duke wouldn’t hear of it either. It wasn’t that she had anything against Con, she just didn’t want to marry anyone. Sabrina has a debilitating anxiety disorder and couldn’t function in crowds or with strangers. How in the world was she going to manage a wedding night and marriage with a perfect stranger? Well, the bottom line is that she didn’t – things went downhill fast. Her anxiety caused Con to have anxiety and well … things just didn’t go well. So now, he visits twice a year and their joining is perfunctory and hurried.

Having had enough of the state of their marriage, Sabrina fights down her anxieties and makes the trip to London to demand her marital rights. She’ll demand he come to her bed every night until she is with child. She doesn’t care how horrid the act is, she’ll endure because she very much wants a child. She has no idea a woman can also enjoy ‘the act’ until a friend shares that information and gives her a book with instructions on how to enjoy it on her own. WOW! What a revelation. She has to wonder if maybe Con hasn’t shared the pleasure with her because he doesn’t really want her and is strictly performing a duty.

Con very much wants to improve the state of his marriage. He desires his wife and thinks she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, but he has no idea how to cope with her fears. When she cringes away from him, it wounds him. Since he has no idea how to make things better, he just tends to avoid her.

Con and Sabrina start, very tentatively, to see if they cannot heal their marriage. Neither understands the issues for the other – and they never talk about it. Well – they manage – in spite of the meddling of friends and family – and the end result is a delightful romance with a truly remarkable couple. It was a wonderful experience to see both of them grow, learn to trust, and learn to love.

I loved Con and Sabrina’s story and I cannot wait for the next book because it features Cassandra (Con and Lucien’s sister) and Lucien’s best friend, Ruark. I just know it is going to be a wonderful read because while Ruark is Lucien’s best friend, Lucien doesn’t think he is husband material for his sister. Uh Oh! The events in this book overlapped events in the first book – and events in the next book – Intolerable – will overlap with events in this book.

As always, the book is well-written, well-plotted, and excellently delivered. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. BTW – the prequel I mentioned above – is FREE on Amazon – so why not read it to see how the Phoenix Club came to be formed, the reasons behind it, and the group of friends who are involved.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. show less

The Duke of Presumption!!

I really liked both lead characters in this addition to the Untouchables. But then I adore those women who are somewhat different to the empty headed Marriage Mart parade. Lady Lavinia Gillingham is a foreword thinking, intelligent woman who apart from being enamoured by the geological, wants to govern her own life. So far she has been able to eschew the Marriage Mart.
William Beckett (Beck), Marquess of Northam, rake at large, hides the pain of a sister scorned by show more society, by taking up the cause of such wallflowers and derided young woman. He anonymously writes poems about them, catapulting them into the eyes of society. And the fickle ton, being the rapacious and untrustworthy construct it is, rushes towards the light shining on these young woman. They instantly become marriageable. Grr!
So when this attention is turned on Lavinia she is NOT HAPPY!
As she espouses to a rather shocked and chagrined Beck,
"He writes poems about ladies he seems to think require assistance on the Marriage Mart. It’s incredibly presumptuous. And pompous. And many other words that end in ‘ous,’ I’m sure.” "
She becomes determined to expose the culprit just as she is reacquainted with Beck, long a friend of her brother's. Beck of course has not even considered that some young woman mightn't want to be forced into an eligible marriage. That they might want something more, or even different.
The premise that Duke would write poems to aid a woman's marriageability was to my mind slim but worked for this story, given what I've already said about the 'ton'. And of course the tension rises as Beck and Lavinia become attracted to each other whilst the chasm of Beck's alter ego yawns between them.

A NetGalley ARC show less

A Rogue to Ruin is the third book in The Pretenders series by Darcy Burke and it can be read as stand-alone. There are mentions of things that happened in the previous books, but all the important stuff is included in this book. A rogue to ruin is my favorite book in the series and the one I would recommend without hesitation.

I was invested not only in Anne and Rafe's romance but also in Rafe's quest to find out who killed his parents and reclaim what was once his. It was so easy to like show more them both. If I want to be completely honest with you, I have to acknowledge that Rafe had some bad moments. He has been doing so many good things though, that I can't be mad at him. One thing I liked is that they took their time getting to know each other before moving to the next level. They do fall fast for each other, but there is a sweetness about it that's missing from other books.

Both Anne and Rafe were well-developed characters with interesting backgrounds. They have things that drive them forward and stuff that haunt them. Anne's ex-fiance was not a good bloke and if you have read the previous books you already know about him. If you don't, it will be explained. Rafe's life is darker and he wasn't always a "proper" man, but he is trying now for something better, to atone for his sins.

The mystery behind the death of his parents was intriguing and well-executed. I wanted Rafe to discover the truth and get justice after all these years. This book reminded me why I love Darcy Burke's books and I would recommend it! show less

A Scandalous Bargain by Darcy Burke
The Pretenders #2

Family…
Who is family?
Does it require lineage and blood relationship?
Or can it be those closest to our heart and
Closer than blood can ever be?

Oh, I do love a good story and this one is a gem! In book one we met Selina, Beatrix, Rafe and others…book one saw Selina and Harry find their HEA. In book two of the series it is Beatrix’s turn and what a grand story it is! In the midst of a pandemic I was able to climb a tree, watch a woman show more fall to her death, see a couple fall madly in love, and smile a great deal as I enjoyed the escape into the past and a love story I could not put down. Two family of the heart have made their forever matches so far…Rafe is up next but…could there be more?

What I liked:
* Beatrix: as mentioned in my last review…she has sticky fingers. but she also has a heart of gold. Warm, caring, loving, fun, a gem though perhaps not a diamond of the first water…she is a delight and deserved her HEA.
* Thomas “Tom” Devereaux, Viscount Rockbourne: a good man, a wonderful father, true to his marriage vows, married to a shrew who was not what he thought she would be. He isn’t to be pitied though he did suffer much. I was thrilled he found someone to bring light into his life.
* Regan: precocious, precious, 3 years old and the light of her father’s eye.
* Selina: a wonderful friend, soon to be married, best friend and “sister” to Beatrix. She and Harry so deserved their HEA and it was nice to see them again in this book.
* Rafe: Selina’s brother, known also as the Vicar, an intriguing and imposing man that I want to know more about
* Wondering about James (the half brother of Beatrix) and some of the other single men mentioned in the story
* The idea of the Folly…wondering how that will all play out…and how Rafe & Selina will find out who their parents were.
* All of it really except…

What I didn’t like:
* The people I was meant not to like: mean girls at the girls’ school, Tom’s wife-Thea, Thea’s mother, Beatrix’s father…

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series/ by this author? Definitely

Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars show less