Valerie Bowman

A dashing spymaster must convince his estranged wife to return with him to England--but falling in love was never part of the plan in this ninth Playful Brides Regency romance. Original.inal.

A Duke Like No Other

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To RomanceI received this book for free from St. Martin's Paperbacks in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

*May Contain Spoilers*

A Duke Like No Other is the ninth book in the "Playful Brides" series and I have had such a fun time reading this series. I haven't read all the books yet, but the ones I have read have been so much. This series takes on some twists dealing with mystery, intrigue and solving crimes while finding love along the journey. The voice in Valerie Bowman's books is simply wonderful and unforgettable. I always get a kick out of her characters and A Duke Like No Other was no different. What I was really impressed with is how the author handled a certain scenario that most of the time bugs the hell out of me, but for some reason it didn't both me. Probably because you find yourself falling in love with the characters before you realize what drove them apart in the first place.

The story does begin in the present with our hero General Mark Grimaldi, is up for promotion he has been working hard to have his dream realized in a position that very few obtain, where he could really make a difference and have the ear of the King. But his boss needs something from him, wants to see Mark settled happily with his wife. Mark and his wife have been estranged for ten years, with Nicole living in France all of this time. And now he must convince her to come back with him to England to playful the loving wife. When Mark goes in search forNicole, she has a stipulation of her own. At first he assumes she wants a divorce, but no, Nicole is lonely and wants a child. And the only way she could have one legitmately without scandal, would be to have a child with her estranged husband. So they agree, and Nicole goes back to England with Mark.

But when they arrive, terrible news puts a hold on both of their plans. Mark's cousin has died from a heart attack with suspicions of poison. And when his uncle whose health is getting worse, tells him that he is next in line...Mark is shocked. He promised his father he would never get anywhere in life with his mother's side of the family's help and that includes him becoming the next duke, a title he never wanted or desired. He is more than happy to leave it to some other family member or relation, but when he is given a letter from both his grandfather and his mother, he can't deny his feelings toward his mother or the duty he feels in fulfilling a request she asks of him.

Both Mark and Nicole go to the country house, with all the parties invited who were there the night Mark's cousin "John" was murdered, to discover the culprit.  But there is more going on than meets the eye, and they will need to discover who would really want John dead and it won't be anyone that they would expect. Mark and Nicole have many unresolved issues to put to rest before they can be together for good, will honesty and trust be the key to bringing them back together or will the secrets of the past drive them even further apart....
I feel as if I'll never get enough of the taste of you, the feel of you, the beating of your heart...
I had such a fun time with this book despite the flashbacks that we see. I am not always a big fan of flashbacks, sometimes they are nice, but other time I just don't have that much preference for them. This book we see quite a few flashbacks and you understand it but at the same time you have a urge to skip ahead to the present day which I tend to have the urge whenever I read a book with flashbacks. (I know I am weird LOL ) But this story really appealed to me. I have found I really like Valerie Bowman's writing voice, I have such a fun time every time I enter into one of her books.
I can't live without you, I don't want to. You're a diamond in a sea of rocks.
Both the characters are written so well in this novel, I adored both Mark and Nicole. Now our heroine, is very unique. She hunts down criminals and brings them to justice working with the Bow Street Runners...yep you heard me---she solves crimes and its pretty awesome. I love how bold and daring she is. But she also is spirited and has a generous heart. Both Mark and Nicole have that in common....justice and doing what is right. I adored seeing the small intimate moments we see admidst the crime solving venture that is going on with them. We learn what drove them apart in the first place and it all boils down to honesty....if they had been honest ten years previous...well they wouldn't have been estranged. However both Mark and Nicole learn some painful lessons about relationships and marriage and they did learn it thankfully even if it was hard won.

Overall I found this book to be a delightful addition to such a fun series....its a story that will take you on adventures, packed with endearing characters and a love story you can get on board with.....ENTICING!!









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Jolie

I love a good second chance romance. There is nothing like seeing two people separated by circumstances reuniting. So when I was approached to review A Duke Like No Other and I read the blurb, I accepted.

I enjoyed reading this book. I am a huge fan of Regency Era romances. Something about that period calls to me. I like that the women can be smart but get the man. I also like that the men were willing to do anything to prove that they loved their women. I loved that allure of the ton and the endless balls/functions that the Lords and Ladies attended. I loved the titles (I mean, hello Duke!!!) and the description of life back then. While I know it wasn’t at all easy, I enjoyed reading about that upper-class. My guilty pleasure.

I haven’t read any of the other books in this series. But if they are anything like A Duke Like No Other, I will be happy with them. I liked that while this book is in a series, you can read it as a stand-alone. I have a couple of pet peeves when I read books out-of-order from the series. I can’t stand it when I get a book that is like 254th in a series and it is taken over by the previous characters antics. Or when the author relies too much on the plotlines from the other books and leaves me going “What the heck is going on“. Fortunately for this book, none of what I mentioned happened. While the previous characters are mentioned and featured, they do not take over the plot.

I did like the main characters but I wish that the author came clean with why they broke up sooner. Instead, she let it leak, slowly, throughout the book. Seeing that I read these books on my Kindle, I can’t skip to the end. So reading the flashbacks drove me nuts. I was done with that part of the plot before it began.

I thought that Mark and Nicole needed a lesson in communication. While I agreed with why Mark being so upset with Nicole, it didn’t deserve a break-up. I also think that Nicole might have overreacted a bit when she moved to France. All they needed to do was talk and Mark would have gotten the entire story from Nicole instead of reading it in a letter from her mother.

I thought Mark had a huge chip on his shoulder. HUGE. It was his unwillingness to bend when it came to his mother’s family that left a bad taste in his mouth. He refused to acknowledge anyone. He was going to decline something that he shouldn’t have because of that chip. It wasn’t until the letters that he started to bend. But I did think it was going to be too late to make amends with his uncle and cousins.

I liked Nicole but like I mentioned above, I thought that it was silly that she ran to France to lick her wounds. I also thought that her condition to Mark’s request was a little odd. It wasn’t commonplace at that time for a woman, married or not, to raise a child on her own. And in France of all places. I also found her choice of profession a bit odd and at ends for the era. Not saying that it could have happened but it was very unlikely.

The chemistry and heat between Nicole and Mark were there. Oh, boy was it there. And the sex was hot. It was kind of dirty too. I liked that. I liked that Nicole knew what she wanted and she wasn’t afraid to let Mark know. I liked that Mark didn’t forget what turned Nicole on after 10 years. Like I said, the chemistry and heat between them were hot. I was surprised that my Kindle didn’t fog up.

I liked the mystery angle that was introduced halfway through the book. It made the plot more interesting and added some extra depth to the plot. I do have to laugh at Mark being jealous of Oakleaf. I giggled at that.

The end of the book was perfect. I was very surprised at who the murderer ended up being. It was the last person I thought it was. The author did a great job at casting red herrings all over the place to distract the reader. Of course, the part where Mark and Nicole get back together was the clincher of the book. I had tears in my eyes while reading it. And the epilogue. I couldn’t get over it!!

What I liked about A Duke Like No Other:

A) Regency England

B) Mark and Nicole’s romance

C) Second chance romance

What I disliked about A Duke Like No Other:

A) Took too long to disclose why Mark and Nicole broke up

B) Zero communication between Mark and Nicole

C) Mark’s huge chip on his shoulder

I would give A Duke Like No Other an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is mild violence. There is not any language. I would suggest that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

There are no trigger warnings for A Duke Like No Other.

I would recommend this book to family and friends. I would also reread this book.

A Duke Like No Other

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