The Broken Duke by Jess Michaels Published by The Passionate Pen on September 12th 2017
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Historical, Regency, General
Pages: 151
Buy on Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Available with KU Subscription
Goodreads
The third sensual romance in the 1797 Club series by USA Today Bestselling Author Jess Michaels.
Adelaide Longford is London’s most overlooked bluestocking wallflower and that is fine by her. Being ignored gives her the perfect opportunity to sneak out and secretly take on the persona of the most celebrated actress of the day, Lydia Ford. The thrill of walking the boards and hearing the applause of those who watch her is the most exciting experience of her life.
Until Graham Everly, Duke of Northfield comes into her life. He is broken after the humiliating loss of his longtime fiancé to his supposed best friend and they enter into a lusty affair which sets her body on fire. Graham has no idea why he’s so attracted to both the bespectacled, prickly Adelaide and the passionate Lydia, but soon he is caught in a dance with them both and torn between which future he wants to pursue.
When Graham finds out Adelaide’s secret identity will he be able to accept both parts of her? And will he be able to save her from a lurking danger that neither of them could have ever foreseen?
I received The Broken Duke for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Graham Everly, Duke of Northfield, was engaged to his best friend’s sister for nearly a decade. He was betrayed by both his fiancee and a man he though of as a brother when the pair were found in a compromising position. Graham doesn’t know how to forgive or forget until he sets eyes on actress Lydia Ford.
Lydia walks the boards by night, but by day she is blends in with the walls in ballrooms all over London as Adelaide Longford. Since her parent’s deaths, Adelaide has lived with her stern and at times cruel aunt, Lady Opal. Her only outlet as Adelaide is her friendship with Emma, the new Duchess of Abernathe. Lydia gives her the freedom to be someone else, if even for only a few hours at a time.
In the previous two novels, I found Graham to be very stiff and off putting. I was excited to see what kind of woman would take him over, body and soul. For a majority of the novel, Graham is obsessed and torn between what he feels for both Lydia and Adelaide. When Michaels describes the different looks of the two lady personas, I understand how Graham could not tell the two ladies were the same woman. Graham is transformed from the broken, betrayed Duke into a lusty and loyal man he was always meant to be.
Adelaide’s upbringing by her maiden aunt was borderline brutal. Her accidental introduction to the theater a few years before opened a whole new world to her. Not only did she find something she loved and was utterly fulfilling, it brought her to her destiny, the Duke of Northfields.
I loved the unusual way Michaels brought this duo together and the reintroduction of the villain from the first novel of the series, Sir Archibald. Not only do we get a complex and fascinating love story, we get two villains in Archibald and Opal who cause more than enough havoc for an entire lifetime.
It is with absolute honesty that I convey to you that I devoured this novel in one day. I could not stop reading as every page had something worthwhile to absorb. There is not a single paragraph that needs to be skimmed. I had my doubts about Graham’s story, but Michaels blew me away once again. She gave Graham lessons I never thought he would learn and brought forgiveness to his heart and soul. With the discovery of unconditional love, Graham and Adelaide were able to leave the heartless past behind and create a blissful future together.
The 1797 Club Series
The Daring Duke – James Rylon, Duke of Abernathe
Read my review HERE!
Her Favorite Duke – Simon Greene, Duke of Crestwood – June 2017
Read my review HERE!
The Broken Duke – Graham Everly, Duke of Northfields – September 2017
The Silent Duke – Ewan Hoffstead, Duke of Donburrow – November 2017
The Duke of Nothing – Baldwin Undercross, Duke of Sheffield – January 2018
The Undercover Duke – Lucas Vincent, Duke of Willowy – March 2018
The Duke of Hearts – Matthew Cornwallis, Duke of Tyndall – May 2018
The Duke Who Lied – Hugh Margolis, Duke of Brighthollow – August 2018
The Duke of Desire – Robert Smithton, Duke of Roseford – October 2018
The Last Duke – Christopher Collins, Duke of Kingsacre – November 2018
For more info on the series, go http://www.1797club.com and join the club!
About Jess Michaels
USA Today Bestselling author Jess Michaels likes geeky stuff, Vanilla Coke Zero, anything coconut, cheese, fluffy cats, smooth cats, any cats, many dogs and people who care about the welfare of their fellow humans. She watches too much daytime court shows, but just enough Once Upon a Time (CaptainSwan FOR LIFE). She is lucky enough to be married to her favorite person in the world and live in a beautiful home on a golf course lake in Northern Arizona.
When she’s not obsessively checking her steps on Fitbit or trying out new flavors of Greek yogurt, she writes erotic historical romances with smoking hot alpha males and sassy ladies who do anything but wait to get what they want. She has written for numerous publishers and is now fully indie and loving every moment of it (well, almost every moment).
Leave a Reply