A Devil of a Duke

** Rating 3.5 stars rounded up **

The writing in this book is excellent and while it is part of a series, it can totally be read as a stand-alone book. I liked all of the characters in the book, but I especially liked the Decadent Dukes as well as the hero and heroine. The premise of the book is a good one and it is unique – which is a good thing when so many stories are just different versions of the same premise. However, what I couldn’t buy was a marriage between a rich and powerful duke and the daughter of a pair of thieves. I like the idea, but for that period of time, it just isn’t something I could buy. Yes, the author did mention that he’d still be accepted by society but she’d be cut. It doesn’t mention any care show more and/or concern for their children’s future in society and how they’d be treated. I don’t know – if her parents were still thieves, but she was the granddaughter of an earl or viscount or baron or something, then maybe I could buy it. I guess overall it just felt more like modern mores rather than 1800’s.

Gabriel St. James, Duke of Langford, is a rake of the first order and he is convinced that he doesn’t care what society thinks of him. However, that isn’t necessarily true because an article was written about him a year ago – and it really rankles. It accused him of not caring about his duties and responsibilities, etc. While it didn’t name him directly, he knew it was definitely about him. So, he had been doing a bit of clean-up in his life – he’d even started attending sessions of Parliament more and there were a couple of bills that he’d even become impassioned about. He was still a rake – but he was doing better – and he probably did care at least a little about what society thought of him.

Amanda Waverly thought she was free from her former life. Her parents were thieves and they had taught her all of those skills as a child– lock-picking, stealth, pick-pocketing, high work, etc., but she had rebelled at a very young age. She wanted no part of that life. Once her mother recognized that she wanted no part of the life and that she would be more of a hindrance than a help, she sent Amanda off to a very good school. Amanda had little contact with her mother from that point (about age twelve) forward. After she was through with school, she worked as a companion to a couple of ladies in the country before coming to London getting a position as secretary (a man’s position) to an eccentric older lady. She was exceedingly successful in her position and her employer introduced her to her ladies society and asked her to take on some secretarial duties for them as well.

Life rarely goes smoothly for a long period of time – and Amanda’s was certainly no exception. Her past stepped in to exact a high price from her. Her mother is being held prisoner and her life is in danger if Amanda doesn’t procure (read that as steal) certain objects and forward them to the person holding her mother hostage. While they haven’t been close – she is Amanda’s mother – so Amanda does as she is told. She’s successfully liberated one item – her next one may be a little trickier.

In order to liberate the second item, she needs access to the house next door to the home where the item resides. Her best option is to seduce (or appear to) the owner of the home, but she is thoroughly thwarted when she tries to do that. The owner’s brother steps in and he is the smooth, seductive, devastatingly handsome Gabriel St. James. He propositions her with an assignation and she creatively gets him to set the assignation at the home of his brother.

That sets up a wild ride of a story. Amanda fascinates Gabriel for so many reasons – most of them centering around the fact that she is totally unimpressed that he is a duke. She sets rules for the assignations that preclude any intimacies – and he can’t believe he agrees to them. He is obsessed with her and he doesn’t even know her name. How can he find her? How can he make her want him as much as he wants her? I like that it takes place over a longer period of time.

I really like that the heroine is strong – definitely NOT a doormat. She takes her future into her own hands and sets her plan in action. The Duke and his buddies interfere, but she still doesn’t end up blubbering – she just amends her plan, includes the Duke and off they go.

I thought the resolution was just a tad too quick and easy – and the bad guys really didn’t get any punishment at all. I always like to see the villains punished.

Overall, I thought the writing was excellent and the story was unique and enjoyable – it just thought it was a bit too far-fetched.

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"I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher." show less

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

After her father is caught for thievery and she begins to question why they steal, Amanda's mother places her in a finishing school. Ten years later Amanda lives a respectable life and even has secured a job as a secretary but her past comes storming back. She is blackmailed to steal certain items or her mother being held prisoner will face the noose.
After a journal article somewhat ambiguously calls him out, Gabriel decides to use his Duke status to champion a bill and maybe slow down on his decadent lifestyle. When he meets a mysterious woman who challenges him, he finally sees the advantage to show more having one woman.
Blackmail, lies, class differences, and love will challenge this couple.

One Amanda sat with fine ladies and agreed to help them with a journal.
The other Amanda intended to allow a man to seduce her in order to have the opportunity to commit a crime that could get her hanged.

Second in the Decadent Dukes Society series, the Duke of Langford, Gabriel, is up for his turn at love. His two friends appear alongside him and with glimpses of the couple from the first in the series, you could comfortably start here without feeling lost. I felt like Gabriel was the least flushed out of the two. He's a duke, as we are reminded with a couple Your Graces here and there, he liked to flaunt his mistresses around as a couple people mention, and he likes to look out for his brother. It felt like a solid character pencil sketch but he never got colored in for me. Our heroine Amanda has a bit more life to her as we delve a bit deeper into her life and the mystery/danger plot springs from her family's thievery past. Amanda seems like a strong level headed woman but she too often falls into the "he makes me hot so I will go against every level headed thought I have previously had".

The story jumps into it right away; to the point I felt a little left behind because we hadn't had a proper introduction to the characters yet. I gained a better footing as I got deeper in the pages and while I wouldn't call the pace slow, it is more gradual which I would put on the mystery/danger plot of being a bit weaker. Amanda is stealing items to protect her mother but then suddenly decides to take action against the blackmailer, the whole plot felt dragged on and then messily sped up when they got to the last item.

In the beginning, I enjoyed how Amanda and Gabriel talked, had conversations with one another but as I started to get into them knowing and playing off one another, the lust bug invaded; their first sex scene felt very abrupt. Without feeling like I ever knew or felt connected to the two leads, I had a hard time becoming absorbed into their romance and their chemistry was fairly weak.

The writing is good, the strong female relationships shown was a delight, and the way the three duke friends interacted was pleasant to read about but the pencil sketch without color filling it out, ultimately, left this feeling fairly dull. However, the next duke in line has a very dark and broody feel to him that will have me continuing with the series.

"I think I will be forever changed because I knew you." show less

To catch a thief

Even though I quite liked the lead characters their story just didn't grab me. Gabriel St. James, Duke of Langdon, is a man who completely disregards society's opinion. Amanda Waverly, is a jewel thief, targeting the rich and famous by night, and a competent secretary by day. Amanda's nightly personae has to do with her mother being held as a surety for Amanda's compliance. Parts I liked, such as Amanda's intrepidness, but her naivety about rescuing her mother and the circumstances surrounding her mother's situation just annoyed me.
As the cut and thrust of these two unlikely people coming together plays out they lack frisson in their together moments. I don't mean sexual tension, I mean their interaction more show more generally.
I was somewhat disappointed. The story had a great basis for being much more enthralling than it was.

A NetGalley ARC show less

Not a standard Regency.

The male lead, Langford, the duke of the title, is conventional, but Amanda, the female lead, anything but. She provides all the spice, all the adventure in the book.

Recommend. The crux of the romance is the gradual revealing of Amanda's true background to the duke. The denouement is well done, plausible, but not as developed as the rest of the book.

Madeline Hunter doesn't know how to do simple. Her stories are enduring, complicated, mesmerizing works of art. A Devil of a Duke is a tale of risk that seduces the heart, even as it stirs the soul. Amanda and Gabriel will have readers on the edge of their seats. What would you do for love?


She's fighting to escape her birthright...

Amanda was born into a family of thieves. Desperate to escape the family trade with the help of her mother, she set about rebuilding her life and striving for something better than the family legacy. Now a respectable woman, circumstances are pulling her back in to the world she fought to escape.


He's working to redeem himself...

Gabriel is a duke. He doesn't care about his reputation, but he does care about show more the welfare of his people. So when his title is called in question, he decides to try to do better. When he loses his heart and mind over a beautifully mysterious woman, is when his resolve starts to unravel. He has a choice to make and his heart is at the center of both. show less

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley to read in exchange for a fair review. A Devil of a Duke is the second book in Madeline Hunter’s The Decadent Dukes Society Trilogy. This book can be read as a stand-alone but Madeline Hunter’s book are always very enjoyable so I would recommend reading them all. Gabriel St James Duke of Langford starts off as a tiny bit annoying in the hero department, I found him overbearing and smug and perhaps a bit of a misogynist, however he did have a few redeeming qualities in his relationships with both his brother and his fellow Dukes so I decided to wait and see and yes he does change and grow into the perfect hero for Amanda Waverly. I loved the character of Amanda Waverly she is strong and show more smart and you will find yourself hoping for her HEA even when things look quite bleak for her. Amanda is remarkable for her time in that she earns her living as a secretary. She also posses a number of unusual skills which come from being raised by a pair of thieves, her parents. These skills are called into use when her mother gets caught in one of her schemes and offers up Amanda and her skills in order to evade the consequences. Amanda is forced to steal certain objects in order to secure her mother’s release. The duke being a fairly intelligent fellow realizes that Amanda has used him in order to facilitate one of these thefts sets out to put a stop to her thieving. Lots of witty conversations, quite a bit of steam and a dramatic rescue make for a very enjoyable tale. Publishing Date April 24, 2018 #ADevilOfADuke #NetGalley show less

Amanda Waverley is not your typical young woman. In A Devil Of A Duke, she is the personal secretary of an eccentric old lady. While most ladies choose to employ a male secretary it is considered bizarre that Lady Farnsworth has chosen a young woman for the position instead.

Amanda’s background is also unusual. Thankfully Lady Farnsworth did not look too closely into her background and accepted the rather meager references provided.

The worst part is that she is being blackmailed to obtain items on behalf of someone who has kidnapped her mother. If she does not comply, her mother’s life may even be in danger.

The Duke of Langford, Gabriel St. James, is one of the Decadent Dukes. A club created in childhood with two other boys who were show more destined to become Dukes. And he is not a huge fan of Lady Farnsworth.

That venerable lady had written an article about the nobility neglecting their responsibilities, which had shamed him deeply. It had hit home.

Since the article, he has been trying to correct his neglect by attending sessions of Parliament. He had delivered a rather good speech too, but if he was reminded of that journal article one more time he wasn’t going to be responsible for his actions.

When Amanda attempts to seduce Gabriel’s brother in order to gain access to his house, which is next-door to the one she needs to break into, Gabriel intercepts. But that might not be too bad, she is able to manipulate the situation and is still able to obtain the item which will help her mother.

After falling asleep during their assignation, Gabriel is starting to become obsessed with finding out who this young woman is. He set up another meeting through an advertisement in the newspaper.

Unusual Story And Characters

Most novels set in this time period Involve members of the ton. And while St. James is clearly a prominent member Amanda most assuredly is not.

It is refreshing to have such unusual characters and a unique storyline. It isn’t your average young lady who would consider Breaking into a home, let alone being able to do so successfully.

This is the second installment of The Decadent Dukes Society series but works very well as a standalone book. I very much look forward to reading more from Madeline Hunter.

Reviewed for LnkToMi iRead in response to a complimentary copy of the book provided by the publisher in hopes of an honest review. show less