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Publisher:
Avon
Release Date:
December 26, 2007
Genres:
Historical Romance
ISBN:
eBook
No
ISBN
Print
9780061143618
Kindle
No
ISBN
Bookmark Rating:
Reviewed by
Jennifer Ray
Review Posted:
April 2008
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An
inheritance she never expected from a father she never met comes with a
surprising stipulation: Prudence Bosworth must marry within the year to collect
the staggering inheritance willed to her. Not only that, but the man she
marries must meet with the approval of the trustees of the estate in order to
qualify her to inherit.
Having lived her childhood as the illegitimate daughter of a poor woman and her
adulthood as a lowly seamstress barely scraping by, Prudence is ill-prepared for
the new world she is thrust into as news of her good fortune spreads and the
fortune hunters begin to surface.
One man is blessedly oblivious to her new status as heiress, and fortunately he
is the only man she is interested in as a husband. Prudence once met the Duke
of St. Cyres while still a seamstress, and is happy for him to remain ignorant
of her fortune as their courtship commences.
But the Rhys De Winter has secrets of his own – and when his perfidy is
unveiled, Prudence stands to lose everything she holds dear.
There
are books whose back cover blurbs simply do not do them justice, and I tell you
that THE WICKED WAYS OF A DUKE is just such a book. While I was
certainly interested in this story from the synopsis I read, I was not prepared
for just how delightful a story this is. Mere plot points in a synopsis cannot
accurately convey the feelings Laura Lee Guhrke engenders in her readers as she
spins this captivating story of romance and betrayal.
Granted, there are reasons for the betrayal Rhys commits upon Prudence, and
those reasons are understandable, albeit still hurtful. In the end, the
question is whether Prudence can forgive her beloved Duke and whether he has
truly changed his wicked ways.
It is actually Rhys’ transformation that I found most compelling throughout
THE WICKED WAYS OF A DUKE. When we first meet him, Rhys is a
veritable cad, even if he is an honorable one. Yes, he is quick to rescue a
damsel in distress from an uncaring rapist, but he is just as quick to accept
that damsel’s gratitude in the form of her own seduction later.
He has lived his adult life as a spendthrift, gadding about Europe with nary a
care until his money was gone and the generosity of his friends began to wane as
well. Finally forced to face the pile of mounting debt he bears, Rhys resigns
himself to the unthinkable – marriage to an heiress. Discovering that the same
seamstress he’d found so attractive very recently is now one of the richest
women in the world seems an opportunity to fortunate to forgo.
Of course, Rhys could never have expected that the simple lass he intends to woo
will have such a profound effect on him, inspiring him to divulge the most
painful secrets of his past as he actually falls in love with Prudence. That
love, and her faith in him cause Rhys to want to be a better man, to live up to
the ideal she has of him until finally we see an evolved man we can truly
admire, as much as we loved his wicked ways before.
Prudence is even more admirable than Rhys turns out to be. Never losing her
head to the glitz of wealth and elite society, she craves nothing more than true
love and the company of her friends, no matter their social standing. But as
noble as she is, Prudence is never boring or high and mighty. She sparkles her
way through this story by benefit of a winning personality and a true heart
rather than from the silks and jewels she now dons.
THE WICKED WAYS OF A DUKE will sweep you off of your feet into a
romantic historical world sure to make you long for your very own duke. This
inspiring romance will grip you at page one and enthrall you through the very
last paragraph in this page-turner!
Note: This review was originally
written by Jennifer Ray for another review site. It is being reposted at
Wild on Books. |
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