As has been noted many times on my blog, I am a big fan of author Elizabeth Hoyt and her long-running Maiden Lane series. Now on book #11, the series is still going strong with new twists and turns and wildly romantic encounters.
The heroine of Duke of Pleasure is Alf, a character readers have come to know within the series. She lives in St. Giles where she prowls the streets during the night as the infamous Ghost of St. Giles. During the day, she is street tough, Alf, known to one and all as a teen boy. Of course, both her identities are far from the truth. She is really a twenty-one year old young woman who lives her life as a male to stay alive and mete out justice. She has been tasked by Hugh, the Duke of Kyle, to find out information on the notorious Lords of Chaos, a group known throughout England as awful men who bring horror to women and children alike with their deviant behavior.
Hugh wants to bring this group down, bad, especially when he learns that they may be
Maiden Lane #11
responsible for the death of his wife, the mother to his two young sons. He is sure Alf can get the job done but his perspective changes wildly when he discovers Alf is a young woman. A young woman he is madly attracted to. He needs to keep his feelings in check which is easier said than done.
As the attraction between Alf and Hugh grows, so does the danger. Elizabeth Hoyt skillfully ramps up the tension on all fronts. Though Hugh and Alf seem very different, they have a lot more in common than one may realize initially. Their backgrounds in particular bare some closeness to each other. They are also both scared by the emotions they raise in each other. Alf wants to be herself. She wants to find out who she is as a woman and Hugh gives her that opportunity but their relationship proves to be even more than a door opening. With each other, they are able to uncover their deepest secrets and expose their true selves to each other.
I liked seeing the many sides of Alf. It is remarked in the book that Alf is a skilled actress and that proves to be the case. She is able to adapt to pretty much any situation thrown at her and uses her keen intelligence, her wits, and her talent with the swords to help her out when need be. As for Hugh, not only is he adjusting to life back in England after being away on the Continent for three years, but he is falling in love and trying to prove to his young sons that he is there for them, permanently. It is a challenge to say the least.
Their romance may be slightly unbelievable to some readers, but I really embraced how these two outsiders came together and made a family together. How they found happiness in each other by supporting their differences. Though Hugh worries about Alf many times in the book, I never felt like he was trying to hold her back (too much anyway). He admires her for the person she is. That is not always easy to find.
My one caveat to this book is that I really think it’s important to read some of the first books in the series first. Alf’s character grows and changes throughout the previous ten stories and it will serve readers well to know how she matured and changed. Fortunately, Forever Romance wants to help you do just this and they are doing something AMAZING.
************SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT*****************
WICKED INTENTIONS is now FREE for a limited time!
The ebook edition of WICKED INTENTIONS, the first book in Elizabeth Hoyt’s bestselling Maiden Lane series will be FREE from November 28 through December 12! This is a great opportunity to introduce friends to the series! On December 13 the price returns to $5.99.
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DUKE OF PLEASURE by Elizabeth Hoyt (November 29, 2016; Grand Central Publishing Mass Market; The Maiden Lane Series #11)
IN THE ARMS OF DANGER
Bold. Brave. Brutally handsome. Hugh Fitzroy, the Duke of Kyle, is the king’s secret
weapon. Sent to defeat the notorious Lords of Chaos, he is ambushed in a London alley-and rescued by an unlikely ally: a masked stranger with the unmistakable curves of a woman.
IN THE HEAT OF DESIRE
Cocky. Clever. Courageously independent. Alf has survived on the perilous streets of St. Giles by disguising her sex. By day she is a boy, dealing in information and secrets. By night she’s the notorious Ghost of St. Giles, a masked vigilante. But as she saves Hugh from assassins, she finds herself succumbing to temptation . . .
ONE KISS WILL CHANGE THEIR LIVES FOREVER
When Hugh hires Alf to investigate the Lords of Chaos, her worlds collide. Once Hugh realizes that the boy and the Ghost are the same, will Alf find the courage to become the woman she needs to be-before the Lords of Chaos destroy them both?
Buy the Book!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2cDuypj
B&N: http://bit.ly/2cFKiVG
iBooks: http://apple.co/2cQ1ZGO
Google: http://bit.ly/2cDc2eW
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2d6Jyx2
IndieBound: http://bit.ly/2cPHXtb
Elizabeth Hoyt is the New York Times bestselling author of over seventeen lush historical
romances including the Maiden Lane series. Publishers Weekly has called her writing “mesmerizing.” She also pens deliciously fun contemporary romances under the name Julia Harper. Elizabeth lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with three untrained dogs, a garden in constant need of weeding, and the long-suffering Mr. Hoyt.
Social Media Links:
www.ElizabethHoyt.com
www.twitter.com/elizabethhoyt
www.facebook.com/ElizabethHoytBooks
Add Duke of Pleasure to your shelf on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2cPHOG4
ARC provided by publisher for review.
Tagged: Elizabeth Hoyt
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