12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jenna Peterson ~ Always a sure thing! 1st in the Billingham Bastards series, Nov 2 2009
By cb - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: What The Duke Desires (Mass Market Paperback)
Lillian Mayhew's mother committed suicide after Simon Crathorne's father (the Duke) raped her - now Lillian wants revenge. Simon's father is dead but she wants to drag his good name through the mud so like her families was. The problem with her revenge plan is that when she meets Simon she finds an honest, handsome, kind man who she finds herself falling in love with... While they are falling in love/lust Simon is discovery the layers of his father deceit. Some great plots twists that I wasn't expecting Enjoy ! Looking forward to the Billingham Bastards series; The Unclaimed Duchess(2) due out August 2010 and Caleb's Story (3).
If you enjoy this genre I would also suggest; One Week As Lovers, Royal's Bride and looking forward to Nothing Denied: A Novel (this author's other pen name).
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Read, Jan 1 2010
By Helen Hancox "Auntie Helen" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: What The Duke Desires (Mass Market Paperback)
When Lillian Mayhew decides to avenge her mother by exposing a secret about the late Duke of Billingham, she doesn't initially realise the consequences. She decides to go to a house party that the new duke, Simon Crathorne, is hosting in order to gather evidence about his father's misdeeds.
Simon has organised the party in order to find a bride but none of the young ladies appeal apart from the rather unsuitable Lillian - unsuitable as her family aren't important enough. But whilst the house party is going on Simon is also putting his father's paperwork in order and is beginning to discover there are things about his much loved father that he didn't previously know. As he and Lillian get to know each other and strike up a bond of friendship, there are secrets that could cause a rift between them. And then there's the biggest secret of all that will turn Simon's life upside down.
This was a very enjoyable read. It perhaps started a little slowly and it wasn't easy to like Lillian because of her task to destroy a family because of what a dead man had done, but as she learns about Simon she is able to put her vengeance behind her (phew!) and instead explore the possibility of a new life. I particularly liked the surprising part of the plot where Simon discovers why his mother has behaved so oddly toward him - it was well handled in the book and was an interesting and entirely plausible series of events.
This was a good read, not particularly strong on historical detail or dialogue but with some good characters and a sturdy plot.
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2010
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Plodding, stilted prose, Nov 14 2009
By angusmacscottie "RJB" - Published on Amazon.com
I have been working my way through the Romance genre, and I have read many authors. This book is not high on my list. It is about a woman who seeks revenge against the family of a man who purportedly raped her mother, causing the mother to commit suicide. The suicide has occurred more than five years before Lillian (the daughter) goes to the ducal estate of Simon (the son of the rapist). Lillian goes to the estate to find proof of Simon's father's villainy. The father is now dead. Come on now people, proof after five years with no DNA in the Regency, Victorian, now what is the era this book is set in? We don't really know, and the book does not adequately clue us in with descriptions of the characters or their surroundings. In the course of Lillian's puny investigations, she meets Simon, and you can guess the rest of the plot, although the author has thrown in a plot twist to add drama. She shouldn't have bothered. In any case, I found nothing to endear me to either character. The plot was plodding and the prose was stilted. No one talks that way in any era, even our own. The book did not sparkle or slip into my heart. Don't bother with this title.