Daring The Duke [Mass Market Paperback]

One of the best historical romances I've read in years. I was hooked from the beginning. Great characters with lots of suspense and romance. Hard to put down. The plot and characters seemed fresh, the pace was quick, and it was a totally engrossing read. A sexy hero, a feisty heroine, a mystery, and a passionate romance...put them all together and you get "Daring the Duke", a historical romance you don't want to miss. Anne Mallory developed Audrey Kendrick and Stephen Chalmers's personalities and motivations very convincingly, to the point where you feel as though you know them well enough to be friends by the time you finish the book. One of the things I liked best about this book is the way the author wove the emotional storyline with such a light touch -- I was engrossed with the relationship between the hero and heroine and truly felt as if I knew them both. Daring the Duke was an emotional roller coaster, and I felt all the pain and joy they did. Wonderful love story, great characters with an emotionally scarred hero and strong but vulnerable heroine, unique setting, intriguing plot, edge-of-your-seat pacing, heart-tugging emotion, excellent writing, intense sensual love scenes, and a superb ending. I was so engrossed, I read it in a day. The love scenes are ample & steamy, and the plot is a good one. A fast paced book with an intricate plot that I cannot help but enjoy. Daring the Duke a strong (but not obnoxious) heroine who is in no way ordinary, a back story which is compelling but doesn't get in the way of the love story, and of course a wonderful hero. It was written with an amazing level of intensity and feeling that my heart was pumping furiously with both the palatable passion and the keen sense of danger infused in the story. Steven is a mighty good man. He is HOT HOT HOT! This was just the kind of romance novel I love. Wonderful characters. Characters that seems real because they are not perfect-something most novels like this lack. I absolutely loved this book. The author has a great gift in her ability to develop characters. I must have laughed a hundred times and I absolutely couldn't put the book down until I was finished. I found Anne Mallory writing fresh, and her lead characters fully developed with their personalities very well crafted. I can't wait to read more books from Anne Mallory. I hope she comes out with a new one soon.

Masquerading the Marquess introduced us to a new author, Anne Mallory, whose knowledge of the Regency period in England is certainly vast. She must be a scholar of note, for her grasp of social and romantic customs is as deep as it is wide. We loved the first book, and we wondered how Ms. Mallory would be able to top the ultra-romantic and intriguing set up that she established. For in the first book her heroine, spunky Camille Minton, worked undercover as a cartoonist or caricaturist for Regency gossip columns while pretending to be a dowdy chaperone! For one thing, few books set in the Regency acknowledge the fact that, unpleasant or not, many women had to work to make a living. Plus, Camille's cunning cartoons were a clever way for author Mallory to describe most of her characters without that tedious job of over-description. The suspense came from asking ourselves when would the Marquess she loved find out she was a "working girl"?

Here the heroine works as a thief--a dashing thief like the Scarlet Pimpernel! Audrey is romantic, decent, hard-working and ultimately does the right thing, but we wince for her virtue and we worry about whether or not she will land the one man who will make her happy--which will it be?

Not by choice but because of a blackmailer who plans to expose her to the "ton" (fashionable crowd of Beau Brummell) and to hurt her sister's reputation if she does not comply with his insane demands. It's like Topkapi or Rififi or any number of suspenseful crime caper movies, blended in with the Regency love affairs we love to follow in Avon romances. DARING THE DUKE ups the emotional ante of the first novel by Mallory, engaging us with her sympathetic characters while making us understand why they sometimes flirt with the law.

I wonder what title will come up next for Anne Mallory? ROMANCING THE REGENT? PURSUING THE PRINCE? VIOLATING THE VISCOUNT? Only time will tell!

The Duke of Marston Stephen Chalmers failed to catch Hermes the thief who apparently retired until now. For an unknown reason, Hermes has committed six robberies in a week, but this time Stephen knows that the long assumed male thief is a she, Audrey Kendrick; once he has her accomplices he will send her and her team to Newgate.

Audrey detests the blackmailing Travers who has her sister Faye as a hostage to force Hermes to do his bidding. Travers is upset to see Stephen "Bloody" Chalmers with Audrey and warns her to stay away from the gentleman spy. However, it is difficult to avoid someone who seems to be everywhere you are. As Stephen sets up his final trap to capture the entire Hermes gang, he finds his admiration for Audrey's courage and daring grow and his desire for her interfere with his thought process. Audrey falls in love with the forbidden fruit of an aristocrat who wants to send her to Newgate, Australia or his bed, but Faye's safety must come before her betraying heart.

Though readers know who the thief, her "handler" and the sleuth are from the start, DARING THE DUKE is a fabulous Regency romantic suspense due to a terrific triangular cat, rat, and mouse game between the key threesome. Fans will enjoy Stephen's dilemma as he has fallen in love with the obsession he wants to send to prison. Audrey is a brave individual who sub-genre fans will emphasize with about her dilemma, hoping that somehow she overcomes the impossible with Stephen at her side.

Harriet Klausner

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