I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Last Night with the Duke (The Rakes of St. James, #1) by Amelia Grey Series: The Rakes of St. James #1
Published by St. Martin's Paperbacks on March 7th 2017
Genres: Historical
Pages: 304
Goodreads
FINAL DECISION: The highlight of this book is the interaction between the hero and heroine which is sexy at times and full of banter. The book was adequate as a story but it just didn’t grab me. Three stars for me is a book I don’t mind paying for, but will probably be one I only read once. I did like it enough to want to read more of the series.
THE STORY: Benedict Mercer, Duke of Griffin, needs a chaperone for his twin sisters. This is especially important because Griffin’s past misdeeds threaten his sisters as someone might be seeking to ruin their season as revenge for Griffin and his friends youthful adventures. Griffin comes to Miss Mamie Fortescue’s Employment Agency seeking to hire a chaperone and finds Miss Esmeralda Swift. Esmeralda is the daughter of a viscount but her mother’s scandalous second marriage has left Esmeralda with a younger sister to raise and herself outside of society. She doesn’t want to accept the duke’s offer, but she needs the money. The close proximity the two end up in draws them closer together and asks them both to take some risks.
OPINION: The hero and heroine quickly have an attraction to one another but are limited by their circumstances. Both are honorable people who don’t want to overstep the bounds of the chaperone/employer relationship. Griffin is very conscious of his power status and unwilling to compromise Esmeralda while she is his employee. Esmeralda takes her chaperone position seriously and doesn’t want to risk Griffin’s sisters by having their chaperone become a scandal. This creates tension and conflict between the characters. And through their conflict, the two engage in intellectual foreplay and force a partnership to help Griffin’s sisters.
For me, the relationship between the two characters was the best part of this story. I did find the word craft of the story a bit tedious at times and I was tempted to turn pages too quickly to get on with the story. Nothing in this book was bad, but I was not excited by the story enough to want to jump to read it again. Rather, I digested the book and went on. That being said, I enjoyed the story enough to want to read the next book in the series.
WORTH MENTIONING: One duke down, two more to go!
CONNECTED BOOKS: LAST NIGHT WITH THE DUKE is the first book in the Rakes of St. James series.
STAR RATING: I give this book 3 stars.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to prepare a review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.