Griffin Stone: Duke of Decadence - Carole Mortimer (HH #1244 - Aug 2015)

Series: Dangerous Dukes (Book 3)

Who: Griffin Stone, tenth Duke of Rotherham.

What: A disheveled woman who is nearly trampled by his carriage horses.

When: Late one summer night while the Duke is in pursuit of would-be assassins.

Why: When the mysterious beauty's identity is revealed as Lady Beatrix Stanton, Griffin realizes it's she who holds the key to everything. Bea's memory must be unlocked, but with every second in her presence inflaming Griffin's desire, keeping his mind on the task ahead proves nigh on impossible!

Griffin and his fellow "Dangerous Dukes" are still working to shut down the network that attempted to assassinate the Prince Regent. Griffin is following a lead that sends him back to his estate in Lancashire when a woman darts out of the woods and is hit by his carriage. He feels responsible and takes her on to his home to care for her.

Thanks to his secret work for the Crown, Griffin is cynical and mistrusting of anything that seems out of the ordinary. But once he sees the woman's injuries and discovers that she has no memory of who she is or what happened to her, he suspects that she's more victim than conspirator. And as bits of her memory begin to return, her presence may be more than coincidence. For her own safety, they need to find out who she is and what happened to her. Griffin sends word to his boss asking for his help. In the meantime, he's determined to protect her, especially from himself!

Griffin has been attracted to Bea from the moment he saw her, but tries hard to subdue it. He had been married once, but it hadn't been a happy marriage. His wife was cold to him, apparently fearful of him, and eventually unfaithful. She drowned a year after their wedding, possibly taking her own life, leaving him feeling responsible for her death and undeserving of anyone's love. The intensity of his desire for Bea takes him by surprise, as does her reaction to him. When Bea awakens in Griffin's home, she has no idea who she is or what happened to her. She does know that being near Griffin makes her feel safe. He also makes her want to get closer to him. 

I loved seeing the relationship grow between Bea and Griffin. She may be young and well born, but she is also a very strong and determined person. She isn't about to let what happened to her turn her into a quivering mess. She is also a pretty good judge of character, and she doesn't let Griffin's gruff, blunt and sometimes rude behavior blind her to the caring man she sees. She also knows what she wants, and isn't afraid to go after it. I really loved seeing her work her magic on Griffin's resistance. I loved seeing Griffin's reactions to her advances. He was so used to the way that his wife had treated him that he couldn't believe that someone like Bea wasn't terrified of him. I loved seeing his protectiveness, and how thoughts of her kept distracting him from things he was trying to do. Even trying to avoid her didn't help him. He knew he was in trouble when he found himself jealous when she spoke to a gardener. I loved seeing how just having her around affected him, making him happier than he'd ever been. But he still didn't believe that love was possible, even when his friend tried to tell him it was. I loved the ending as Griffin came to terms with his past and embraced the changes that Bea brought to him. I loved seeing him open up to Bea and how she showed she loved him just as he was.

The mystery of who Bea was and what had happened to her was very well done. Her fear after her nightmare revealed a little of what happened to her was intense, and gave Griffin just enough information to start to put the pieces together. When his two friends arrived with more details, Griffin's fear for her increased. I loved seeing Bea stand up for her right to know what was going on. The danger for her went up when she found out about the kidnapped boy and she insisted on being involved in finding out more about where he was. The final confrontation had a couple of very interesting twists, including one about Griffin's wife that I never saw coming. 

Darian Hunter: Duke of Desire - Carole Mortimer (HH #1209 - Nov 2014)

Series: Dangerous Dukes (Book 2)

The Players:

Darian Hunter, Duke of Wolfingham: legendary rake and notorious bachelor

Mariah Beecham, Countess of Carlisle: society's scandalous widow and secret agent of the crown

The Stage:

A notoriously debauched house party

The Scene:

Forced to pose as lovers, Darian and Mariah must work together to stop an assassination plot

The Twist:

As the shocking and oh-so-sensual games play out around them, the romantic ruse becomes all too real. And the tantalizing temptation to indulge their every desire becomes overwhelming…

Very good book that starts out with sparks that turn combustible later. Darian is angry when he hears that his younger brother appears to be in a relationship with Mariah. Mariah is a widow with the reputation of having had multiple lovers, and Darian doesn't want his brother involved with her. When he confronts Mariah about it, sparks fly between them. 

Darian comes across as quite a judgmental jerk in their first encounters. He's trying to protect his brother from what he sees as a bad influence, but his methods are not appreciated. He certainly doesn't expect to find himself physically attracted to a woman so outside of anything that would normally appeal to him. He's also intrigued by things that don't seem to be consistent with his view of her.

Mariah's marriage had not been by her choice and it had not been a good one. After her husband's death, she swore she would never put herself under the control of another man. She enjoys her freedom and is angered by Darian's accusations. She doesn't see that he has any right to judge considering he has his own reputation. There's also something about him that sets her on edge.

As their latest argument is interrupted by a man they both know, Darian and Mariah are shocked to discover that the other has also been working as a secret agent for the crown. They are asked to put aside their differences and work together to stop an assassination plot against the prince. To do so, they must play the part of lovers at a notorious house party.

I loved the sparks and chemistry between Darian and Mariah. Once they discovered each other's secret lives, both had to resolve the conflicts between their perceptions and what was the truth. This wasn't easy for either of them. They also had to deal with their attraction to each other. Because of her marriage and its effect on her, Mariah is far different than Darian had believed. I loved his protectiveness and gentleness as he gets to know her, and his attempts to control the strength of the desire he feels for her. I loved the strength of will that Mariah had, that enabled her to overcome all that had happened to her. Her wariness about the way Darian made her feel was quite understandable, but I liked that she allowed herself to pursue it. The things that went on at the house party were quite eye opening for her. After the action was all done, I loved seeing Darian realize just how strong his feelings for her were. The scene in the carriage on the way back to London was fun to read as Darian tried to tell her how he felt. I liked the epilogue and the bit about Darian's brother.

The mystery of the traitor was good, but was really mostly in the background. The final confrontation was good, but didn't have much intensity to it.

Zachary Black: Duke of Debauchery - Carole Mortimer (HH #1204 - Oct 2014)

Series: Dangerous Dukes (Book 1)

LONDON'S MOST DISSOLUTE BACHELOR

No one knows how to sin quite like Zachary Black, Duke of Hawksmere. So when he finds a mysterious veiled woman hiding in his carriage, there's only one thing to do…carry her to his bedchamber and find out what she wants!

But coming face-to-face with beautiful Lady Georgianna Lancaster -- his former fiancée -- unnerves Zachary. Maybe the best way to restore his equilibrium is to hold her captive…and turn the secrets of the past into the sins of the present!

As an agent for the Crown, Zachary is accustomed to dealing with mysterious events, but having a veiled woman show up in his carriage was unusual. She claims to have information about Napoleon that she wants to pass on. He is suspicious, since his involvement is not common knowledge, so he takes the woman to his home to question her. There he discovers that she is none other than Georgianna, the woman he had been briefly engaged to before she ran off with a man who turned out to be a French spy. This makes him reluctant to believe anything she says.

Georgianna has so many regrets she wouldn't know where to start listing them. She had believed herself in love with her brother's French tutor, and when her father promised her to a man she'd never met, gladly eloped with the one she thought she loved. Once in France, he admitted that he only used her to get out of England, then shot her and left her for dead. It took her months to be able to get back to England, to face the man she had wronged.

Zachary and Georgianna's relationship starts out in a rocky manner. Neither one actually knows anything about the other. Last year Zachary had made an offer of marriage after only seeing Georgianna at a ball. He needed a wife to keep his inheritance, and something about her appealed. He didn't think about whether she'd be given a choice, or whether she would want to be married to him. Georgianna had only been aware of Zachary by his reputation as a cold and arrogant man. She didn't want to be stuck in a loveless marriage with him. When she returned, all he could see was this woman who had been with a known French spy, who is claiming to have vital information. In spite of believing that she is likely a spy herself, Zachary is still attracted to her, and in reaction finds himself treating her far more cruelly that he normally would. Georgianna has changed a lot due to everything she's been through. All she wants is to pass on her information and disappear, believing that she has been shamed in society's eyes. She finds she is drawn to Zachary, but his treatment of her makes her angry.

It was interesting seeing the relationship develop between Zachary and Georgianna. Though he starts out mistrusting her, he can't deny that he is impressed by the strength of will he sees in her. As he learns more of what she's been through, those feelings only grow, as does his attraction to her. I liked the way he began to see the mistakes he had made a year ago and wish that he had done things differently. He also appeared to have more kindness in his personality than was evident at the beginning of the book. That kindness worked against him as his feelings grew and he believed that she could never forgive him enough to give him another chance. Georgianna's attraction to him confuses her. She can't understand how she can be attracted to a man who has treated her so badly. Once they move past their initial meeting and she gets past her anger, she begins to look at him differently. She sees the man who has worked for his country and put himself in danger. She sees the one who protected her reputation and has helped her brother. And the one who makes her heart beat faster, but who she thinks will never see past what she did to the woman who has come to love him.

I really enjoyed the ending, and seeing how both had to get past their pride and fear of rejection before they could reach the future they were meant to have. Their declarations to each other were sweet and very emotional.