Janna MacGregor

Praise for the Cavensham Heiresses series “Sparkling.” —Publishers Weekly “Full-bodied romance...with intelligence and heart.”—New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell A lady with a noble mission. A duke looking for redemption. A forbidden love that cannot be denied, in The Good, The Bad, and The Duke by Janna MacGregor. Lady Daphne Hallworth is ready to celebrate the holidays with her family. But when they accidentally leave her home alone, Daphne uses the time to work on her dream—opening a home for unwed mothers. But her quest isn’t problem-free: She’s in a battle to win the property for the home against her brother’s best friend-turned-enemy, Paul Barstowe, Duke of Southart. And that’s not all: someone has stolen her personal diary, which holds secrets that could devastate her family. Daphne has always harbored private feelings for the man her family scorns...though perhaps striking a bargain with the handsome Duke will solve both their problems? Paul, long considered good for nothing, aims to open a hospital to honor his brother and restore his reputation. So when a conflict over the land brings him straight into Daphne’s life, they make a deal: He will help her find her diary if Daphne can change her family’s opinion of him. But before he can win her family’s affection, he has to win hers first. Maybe love was the answer to their family feud all along?

The Good, the Bad, and the Duke

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

I haven’t had the chance to read this author before, but when her latest book “The Good, The Bad and the Duke” was released a few months ago, I knew I wanted to pick up this book and it has such a charm to its Christmas toned cover and I will admit the cover is what really drew me to the story and I love unique titles that have me intrigued and so when I saw this book at my local library, I grabbed it right up. And sometimes with new author it can take me a while to get in the mood for them but I was really in the mood to read this one last night and from the first few pages I was beyond charmed by this witty writing. 

Our story begins with seeing our couple when they are close to being teenagers, and that they are friends. Daphne and Paul are our protaganists of the story. Daphne is the sister of Paul’s best friend. We see a moment between them when Paul helps save a baby bird for Daphne and from that moment they both had a great affection for each other. But then they both grew up, and the friendship between Daphne’s brother and Paul fractured and broke apart and now its forbidden for them to spend any time together. Paul made lots of mistakes when he was younger and it cost him two of his closest friends and now with his brother and father’s death, he only has one friend, a vicar who is a bit unconventional. Paul wants to bring about change in himself and in others. He wants to be a better man and to try to fix the friendships that became broke because of his actions. 

The time to Christmas is drawing near, and on Christmas Eve, both her mother and her brother leave her behind on accident and she is left with one servant who stays with her to make sure nothing happens to her. While out for a short walk at the park, her handbag is stolen with her journal by a child and as she chases him through the streets of London and she ends up at a gaming club and runs into Paul. He helps her out from being caught and creating a scandal, and she invites him and his vicar friend to Christmas. Even though there is a bond between them, Daphne is loyal to her brother and her heart is torn between the desire she feels for Paul and the love and respect she has for her brother. 

The Good, The Bad and the Duke was such a sweet romance that gave me laughs and filled me with happy feels. This is a story that is light and charming but also still has a solid plot line. I loved the style of sensuality that flows in and out of the story, Which is not something you always see in a regency romance and I adored the chemistry between these two. It could have been a bit more focused at times, but I found that their relationship really grew on me. We see a mix of forbidden love and friends to lovers. I enjoy the plotline of Daphne losing her journal which unless found could cause a disaster for her family. And I will admit the tension between her brother and Paul is hilarious, I got so many laughs from their interactions but we see how Daphne holds true to her heart and what she has with Paul. 

Both the hero and the heroine that we see grow in this story I fell in love with. I pretty much loved both of them. Daphne has her own passions and desires and stays true to herself. She is a bit more unconventional in that she shares her sexual desires in her journal and she embraces that side of herself and isn’t ashamed of it, but with how restrictive society is she also keeps it secret from anyone but herself. We see this side of herself really come through when she reconnects with him. I loved the intimacy that develops between these two. They have a friendship and a trust, but then we see the level of desire they have for each other and it wraps you up like a blanket on a cold winter’s night. 

The hero is a character that you can admire so much. He has made mistakes with gambling, women and acting rashly. But he sobers up very quickly when his brother who has never lost faith in him, has always had his back but dies of a sickness and I love that he knows he wants a change and goes about making a better world for others. To make decisions out of honor and in the need of service to others and less thinking selfishly about his desires alone. 

These two make a great team together and I had a blast seeing them discover what they have together and the obstacles that have to overcome to find their happy ever after and from beginning to end I had a fun time with this book and definitely one that is full of wit, adventure and sensuality!!!

Simona Andrijauskiene

* I've got this book from publishers of St. Martins Paperback via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review*

First of all I have to say, that I really enjoyed reading parts about Daphne, because she was charming, wasn't afraid to stand for herself and her believes, although she made some mistakes, the things she did, made her even more relatable.  

I also enjoyed reading about relationship between Daphne and her family it was refreshing to see how real everything was. You could see, that even if they loved each other immensely, they also felt frustrated with each other or even mad. That's how family dynamics really are.

Speaking about Daphne and Paul.. Well, I liked how Paul tried to do the best he could for her. Or how he tried to help Daphne cope with her grief. But, and that's where my rating started to go down, Paul made me roll my eyes on several occasions. He just couldn't stop whining about how bad he was, how it was his destiny, how he ruined everything he touched. Sometimes he reminded me of a teenager. 

Also the other thing, that I was not so crazy about, was a writing style. For me it was a little bit too flowery. Sometimes I even skipped some paragraphs or even pages because of it. 

In conclusion, I must say, that this  genre is my guilty pleasure, so there is no wonder I read many books with similar stories. That's why it's becoming more and more difficult to be surprised by plot twists or the characters actions. Unfortunately the same happened with this book. 

I don't know if I read more books in this series, but you should try it. Maybe you will like it more than me.

Jolie

Paul is a rogue who is trying to right all the wrongs that he has caused. Mainly the friendships that he threw away. But it wasn’t going to be easy. Those ex-friends detest him. Redemption comes in the form of Lady Daphne Hallworth. Daphne has had her journal stolen. A journal that has her very private thoughts and dreams in it. Paul would move heaven and earth to keep the wrong sort of people from getting a hold of that journal. Will that happen? Will he get the journal back? Will he be able to mend the relationships with his friends? And more importantly, will he be able to keep the happiness that he found with Daphne? Or will he be forced to let that go?

I hated Paul’s father. What he did to Paul when he was alive was awful. He was beaten for any little slight as a child. One beating was so bad that he couldn’t sit down without a pillow for a week. Once Paul’s brother saw what was going on, he stopped it. But he couldn’t stop the emotional abuse. The way that Paul acted in the first couple of books was a direct result of how his father treated him. Even after death, he was still torturing Paul. Those notes (actually the titles of them) were heartbreaking to read. There was an explanation towards the end of the book about why Paul’s father treated him the way he did. It was a weak explanation but it did bring some light about why Paul was abused.

I got shivers reading Paul and Daphne’s scenes together. Even before they kissed, you could tell that they wanted each other. But once they kissed, it was like a fire was set. Those scenes set this book on fire. What I liked is that the author kept the sexual attraction and tension going after they had sex. Every sex scene was on fire. There were a few times I had to put down my Kindle and go “Oh my!!”

What I also liked about this book was that Daphne was the only one for Paul. He could see her across the room and no one else existed. Everything he did after a certain point in the book was for her. I loved it. I loved seeing that it went both ways. I loved seeing them interact like they were the only people in a room. It was romantic.

I did like the storylines in the book. The author did a wonderful job of bringing them together. There were no forgotten plotlines. After the plotlines merged, the flow was flawless. It didn’t get choppy.

I will warn everyone that you will need a Kleenex or two while reading. There are a few scenes where I was moved to tears. The main scene, after Paul reads his father’s final letter, made me a sobbing mess. The other is the scene where he read his brother’s letter. Again, sobbing mess over here.

What I also liked about this book was that the villain in the other books was made into a hero. The author chose to give an explanation to his actions towards Emma and Claire. He was given a chance to redeem himself. I loved it!!

The end of the book made me happy. And the epilogue, I was ecstatic. Out of all the books I have read this year, this one has touched me the most. Paul deserved his HEA with Daphne. With everything he went through, that man deserved every bit of happiness that he could get.

I gave The Good, the Bad, and the Duke a 4-star rating. I enjoyed reading this book. The plotlines were wonderfully written. I came to care for the characters and got emotionally invested in backstories. You will cry during this book, so read with a box, or two, of Kleenex. Any quibble that I had with the book was minor and had no effect on my rating.

I would give The Good, the Bad, and the Duke an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is mild violence. There is no language. There are triggers. They are child abuse. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Good, the Bad, and the Duke. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Paperbacks, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Good, the Bad, and the Duke.

All opinions stated in this review of The Good, the Bad, and the Duke are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

The Good, the Bad, and the Duke

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