Sunday 17 May 2020

[Review] Daring And The Duke, by Sarah MacLean



Title Daring And The Duke
Series: The Bareknuckle Bastards #3
Author: Sarah MacLean
Publisher: Avon
Number of pages: 384
Publication date: June 30th 2020



Synopsis:
New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean returns with the much-anticipated final book in her Bareknuckle Bastards series, featuring a scoundrel duke and the powerful woman who brings him to his knees.

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.


Review:
I received an eARC at no cost from the author, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.


I can't express how happy I am to have received this book, and just before my birthday. What a wonderful gift.

If you've read any of Sarah MacLean's books, you know she's great at turning a villain around. And this book is testament to that. Although I'll say, I liked Ewan from the first book, even though I didn't like what he did.

The Bareknuckle Bastards series follows the life of four siblings. Three boys (Devil, Whit, and Ewan) born of the same man, but different women, and a girl with no blood connection to either of them, but family nonetheless. Devil and Whit's stories are the previous books in the series, and this one is the story of the girl. The girl whose name was given by Ewan, the fourth boy. Because she didn't even have that.

Grace loved Devil and Whit as brothers, but with Ewan it was always different. And that's why it hurt so much when Ewan behaved in a way that made the Bareknuckle Bastards run away from him, scared and feeling as betrayed as possible. Their pain prevented them from seeing what was really happening.

I absolutely loved this book. I read it in just a few hours. Sarah MacLean's writing is so compelling, and so sexy! Her characters come to life before your eyes and just amaze you with their behaviours and actions.

Grace is this strong, independent woman. A queen in her turf. Covent Garden was her home, even though she was not born there. She knew it from Ewan's stories, and when the time came, Grace, Devil, and Whit all ran to it. And when Ewan could, the first thing he did was chase Grace and track her down. No, not chase. Search for her. And his heart and mind couldn't take it when his brothers told him she was dead. Because he knew he could feel her. And when he started to believe them, nothing could stand in his path to destruction for they had let the woman he loved die. Which is something Whit and Devil ended up admitting they would have probably done, if their loved ones had died in the same way.

I loved the heart to heart talks between Grace and Ewan, and how their trust starts to rebuild, and how Ewan realizes it has to be Grace's choice. It could not be in any different way.



The one thing I missed in the book was a reunion of the brothers at the end. Ewan told Grace what happened, but I would have liked a talk between the brothers. Devil and Whit learn the truth just as Grace, but if only we had a scene with the brothers being closer, or at least that open door...

The way Ewan suffered broke my heart. And I have to admit I shed a tear or two when Ewan made his confession of what his dreams were: "“You, and me, here [Covent Garden]. With a collection of flame-haired babes.” She closed her eyes. “My brothers. Their children. A family.”".

I am usually not a fan of second-chance romances, but this one... it's golden!

In short, read this book. You won't regret it, and you'll love the Bareknuckle Bastards.



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