Veena’s review of What the Duke Desires (The Duke’s Men, Book 1) by Sabrina Jeffries
Historical Romance published by Pocket Books 18 Jun 13
Maximilian Cale, Duke of Lyons, is no stranger to grief. His brother Peter was kidnapped when they were both young boys and then later reported killed in a fire. His father, unable to cope with the grief of losing his first born, went mad, to be shortly followed in death by his mother. Having finally put all his grief behind him and his life in perfect working order, Max is plunged into intrigue and mystery when he receives a letter suggesting that his brother is, in fact, alive and the rightful duke. Rushing to confront Tristan Bonnard, the author of the letter, Maximilian is instead confronted by Tristan’s sister Lisette, who uses this opportunity to trick him into hiring her as a private investigator and partner to solve the mystery.
Disguised as two ordinary people to protect both their reputations, they set off in a public coach. At the outset they run into Lisette’s neighbors and quickly declare themselves newlyweds setting out on their honeymoon. As they travel through the English countryside, they find themselves building a web of lies to answer all the questions the nosy neighbor asks and then in dealing with the advice from her husband, they also find the ice between them melting. This is one of the best moments in the book.
Lisette has suspected that they’re being followed at the coaching stop where they boarded, but pretty soon her suspicions become reality. It appears that her past has caught up with her. Between Lisette’s quick reflexes and Max’s resources, they evade all pursuit and arrive in Paris, only to find that Tristan has disappeared and no one seems to have heard from him in some time. Seeking and solving clues, they follow Tristan’s trail all over France and back into England to a quarantined ship in London’s harbor. During this time their initial attraction has deepened into a solid relationship.
Max finds that no one’s life is a bed of roses. Lisette is the illegitimate daughter of a viscount, treated like a princess by her father. When her father dies, his vengeful heir takes his revenge on his father’s second family by forcing them to abandon all the privileges and comforts they’ve been accustomed to and return to France. It never ceases to amaze me how jealousy and ambition warps human beings and makes them worse than the animals we all claim we are so much better than. As Max understands Lisette’s pain, he realizes that while his life was pretty rough, there are other people in this world who also face tough situations and survive.
Max and Lisette came together very early and the chase and mystery keep the reader engaged, along with their deepening relationship. When the author stages the inevitable parting close to the end, I thought Max’s gesture to win forgiveness from his lady love by sacrificing the very thing that he thought was precious before he met her is very touching.
Clearly this is the start of a new series, and I am looking forwarding to reading stories about some of the other characters we meet in the book. This story is vintage Sabrina Jefferies, where she engages the reader by writing a powerful, romantic story.
Grade: B
Summary:
Maximilian Cale, the Duke of Lyons, accepted long ago that his kidnapped brother was dead. When a cryptic note from investigator Tristan Bonnaud claims otherwise, Max seeks out Tristan’s sister, Lisette—and is infuriated to learn that Tristan has also mysteriously vanished. Have the siblings perpetrated an elaborate hoax? Or is the fiercely protective beauty as innocent as she claims them to be?
Fearful that the powerful duke will destroy Tristan’s career in his zeal for the truth, the clever Lisette convinces Max to accompany her to Paris in a joint search for their loved ones. But their journey takes a seductive twist when they pose as an ordinary husband and wife—not an English duke with a tarnished family name and the illegitimate daughter of a viscount—and discover an exhilarating passion free from the damning secrets of the past. With the line between danger and desire enticingly blurred, they discover that some mysteries, like those of the heart, are answered tenfold in the bliss of a true and trusting love.
Read an excerpt.
