Duke Of Sin [Mass Market Paperback]

I REALLY liked this book. Great writing, great character development, more to the story than just a light-hearted romance. I really liked the two lead characters. I could pick apart a couple of un-realistic aspects of the story (her being a virgin still @ 35, him living in seclusion with only his servants for the last 5 years) but I enjoyed it so much I am not going to.

My only complaint is the Title of the book & the picture on the back of the book. I felt like I needed to hide it from my kid's. I was afraid it was going to be a really trashy romance. It was not. Really only one "R Rated" sex scene.

He's called the "Duke of Sin" but the only sin he committed was being wrongfully accused of murdering his wife. Again, this is the best romance story I have read in a long time. I will be looking for more from this author.

I was surprised so many reviewers focused on the inconsistent eye color. My husband, me & our 3 boys have a mix of eye color depending on what shirt we have on. I never even caught this & it seems a weird thing to get hung up on. Again, it was a good book.

Adele Ashworth has created real people in Duke of Sin. The emotions ring true and have you turning the pages feeling you know these people. The mystery has some actual mystery to it. I made several wrong guesses in the course of the book before banging my head and saying 'Of course!'. The solution makes perfect sense - I just missed it.

Two examples of realism - the first comes when the hero is explaining to his friend how he became involved with the heroine - he sums it up along the lines of 'So I said I'd give her the manuscript if she became my companion'. Instead of shock or dispproval or any of the usual best-pal novel reactions, the hero's pal proclaims him a genius and swears he WILL use that ploy in the near future. I laughed. The second is something I won't spoil - but the hero reveals it only to his friends. He never tells the heroine. This moment is much more satisfying than the standard gut spill every hero starts doing about page 243.

If you have a low tolerance for sex scenes, be warned - this book is very hot. Generally you would find me complaining about that but Adele Ashworth has written them into the story and the characterization so seamlessly that I found myself reading and not skimming until the last 3rd of the book. (Normally I hit the first one and skip ahead). Rather than detract from the story they really do advance it and enhance it. Great read.

this is the first book i've read by adele ashworth and it definitely won't be the last! duke of sin, while flawed in a few ways, is ultimately a great story because of the two lead characters. the heroine, vivian rael-lamont is strong, independent, and forthright with her emotions. rarely does the hero have to guess how she's feeling. she is candid and honest about them whenever he inquired.

the hero, william raleigh, duke of trent, is just as candid, which brings a mature voice to this story. it's not a love story between an experienced hero who falls in love with an innocent and naive chit, this is a love story between two mature adults who aren't afraid to say how they feel or tell each other what they want, and THAT'S why i love this story.

the emotions here ring true and are never melodramatic. ashworth does an amazing job of depicting the characters in a way in which the reader can see the vulnerability they share because of the hardships they've experienced in their lives. despite what other reviewers have said, i DID see the chemistry between the two and saw the love develop on a deeper level. i could see it because vivian and william were fleshed out so that the reader could see all facets of them, which made the reader understand why they would fall in love with each other.

the one main weakness of the story was the plot. the blackmail plot was so convoluted that even when it was resolved, i still didn't quite understand what had happened. however, the pace of the book was such to where the plot meant little to me because the focus was always on vivian and william, which is how i like my romance novels. so what if the secondary characters weren't drawn out? it didn't hinder the development of the love story between vivian and william, so i didn't care. it made the whole thing more intimate.

one strength of the plot was that william guessed early that vivian wasn't a nefarious creature bent on ruining him. he knew she was being blackmailed, so the reader was spared all of the crap that goes with misunderstandings like that: cruel treatment of the heroine at the hands of the hero followed by the heroine desperately trying to convince the hero she's telling the truth. sure, there are a couple of secrets that vivian held close to the vest, but they were ultimately revealed in such a way that the hero didn't doubt her, except for one time and his friends help him recognize the fact that she's innocent of any wrongdoing against him so it only lasted for a second.

and BOY...those love scenes were as hot as they come. ashworth is gifted in both her description of sensual tension and verbal foreplay, all without it ever becoming a vulgar thing. there were also some, um, UNUSUAL love scenes here. let's just say that william can be a bit overeager and finish things before they begin. the fact that he couldn't control his desire DEFINITELY made him sexier in my eyes.

while i do agree that some of the dialogue was more sophisticated than i would have expected for victorian england, frankly, i found it refreshing. just because it's not the usual dialogue doesn't mean it's not likely to have existed. i'm not a stickler for that kind of thing.

so in the end, strong character rendering, burnng sensual tension and some of the most luscious love scenes i have ever read, made this a good story in my book. if those are the kinds of things you look for in a romance novel, then pick this one up. if you're more of a stickler for accuracy in historical data, are uncomfortable with graphic love scenes, or are easily distracted by a weak plot, then you probably won't like this book.

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