The Duke Paperback – Import, 7 February 2017

The Duke by Kerrigan Byrne is my favourite so far in this series. I'm really glad that I've read this series in order, as although each book is about a separate couple, the couples and characters from the previous books feature heavily in the storyline. It was much easier to keep track of them all as I already had that familiarity.I loved Cole ( Collin ) and Imogen. I couldn't wait to get to the part of the story where Cole finally remembers who Imogen is, and the author certainly made me wait. It was great though, I love a good slow burner romance. And whilst Cole fell quickly for "Ginny", it takes him much longer to appreciate what's next door with Imogen

excellent

Kerrigan Byrne is one of my favorites, and the first three books of the Victorian Rebels series are read-them-over-and-over, outstandingly good. But the Duke just doesn't have all the great elements of the previous books. Yes, Imogene, the heroine, is just what we expect and love from KB: a smart, independent survivor who doesn't let her past destroy her future. But Cole the Duke? He's cynical, bitter and abusive. At no point in the story, until the very end, does he treat Imogene well, as though he's capable of being a decent partner. From their first encounter, which (for some reason), Imogene remembers fondly, he's awful to her. So awful and dismissive that I never bought his obsession with finding her again -- or any of his poignant memories of that long-ago, wonderful night. (It wasn't wonderful!)There's also the problem of the missing plot. In the previous books, the h and H both had interesting histories, and their relationship developed as they worked together to find a villain and solve a mystery. But in this book, the bad guy is being bad in the background, and the story is nearly over before it seems that Imogene is even in peril. We don't get the sense of imminent danger until almost the end. Which means that, for most of the book, the story consists of Cole and Imogene fighting and making up. They don't seem to like each other, know each other, or fit together, except sexually. And even that doesn't work well until the end.KB gets 4 stars for a great heroine and great writing. But the story is disappointing. I'm not sure which character turns up as the hero in the next book. It sounds as though it's Liam MacKenzie's super hot, Scotch-brewing cousin. But I'm really looking forward to learning more about The Rook, a pirate who gets introduced in this book, and Chief Inspector Morley, whose correspondence with a doctor he's never met has sparked my curiosity. Let's get to these two stories soon!

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Compared to the previous books in this series, this book started out much differently and less dark. It did eventually have its own element of darkness but not to the same degree as the previous novels.It really took me a while to warm up to the character of Cole. I did eventually, but it took me far longer than I expected and I wouldn't say I liked him as much as the other main male characters in this series.I really liked the character of Imogen though and how strong and passionate she was as a character.I definitely didn't predict the villain in this book and didn't see it coming. Another thing that I didn't see coming was the evolution of Morley's character! In this book, we saw a very different side of him and I can't wait to read more.