Back to some romance

Sins of A Wicked Duke
By: Sophie Jordan

Write up:

She works to live . . .

One would think the last place a beauty like Fallon O'Rourke could keep her virtue was in the Mayfair mansion of London's most licentious duke, the notorious Dominic Hale. Yet Fallon—who's endured nothing but lecherous advances since her father's tragic death—is perfectly safe there . . . disguised as a footman! Beneath the notice of the dark-haired devil with his smoldering blue eyes and sinful smile, Fallon never imagines her secret will be discovered. But how long can her deception last when she begins to wish she is one of the many women traipsing in and out of the sinful rogue's bedchamber?

He lives to sin . . .

Most men envy the duke, never suspecting his pleasure-loving ways are a desperate attempt to escape, however briefly, the pain of a past that's left him with a heart of stone. Only one woman can break down his defenses. Only one woman can win his love . . . if she reveals her secret and succumbs to the sins of the wicked duke.

With romances, I tend to get recommendations because romance can seriously be hit or miss. I don't like to take chances. When a romance is bad...it's bad. So I take my recommendations from people whose tastes have never failed me. But this book is one of the few that I picked up on a whim while buying some other books, mainly because of the cover which is beautiful. So I was a bit reluctant to start it. The good news is that I did not regret this whim.

Fallon is a character you don't see often, our heroines are almost always great ladies of high society...but Fallon is from low birth, a gardener's daughter. She works for a living, and takes care of herself in a society not made for unmarried ladies. After her father's death she is left alone and sent away to a school for young ladies, by the master of the household where her father worked, where she is trained and educated to be a governess. But after leaving the school, she loses position after position due to the grabby hands of the high born men...all of which she gets blamed for as if she did something wrong. She finally gets sick of it one night and fights back, losing another job. That night she meets Dominic...it does not go well and he proves himself to be a serious whore and libertine. After he too gets a bit too familiar..she decides that her looks are a liability and she concocts a plan to get a job without being molested....becomes a man! But, twist of fate, she gets a job in Dominic's household as a Valet. And the adventures begin.

I enjoy the "dressing as a man to get by" plots. For me they never get old, and this one is just as enjoyable as all the others...though not as brave as some got in regards to the relationship between the main characters. Some push the envelope, but this book does not attempt and just gives us a fun, easy story. Dominic finds someone, a scrawny boy no less, who makes him start questioning himself and his actions, and Fallon meets someone who makes her realize that life is more than work, and to let of her anger and bitterness. It a fun read..like good chocolate.

Overall: B