Release Review: How To Love a Duke in Ten Days
Kerrigan Byrne
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Release Date August 27, 2019
These men are dark, bold, and brave. And there is only one woman who can bring them to their knees...
Famed and brilliant, Lady Alexandra Lane has always known how to look out for to herself. But nobody would ever expect that she has darkness in her past—one that she pays a blackmailer to keep buried. Now, with her family nearing bankruptcy, Alexandra strikes upon a solution: Get married to one of the empire’s most wealthy eligible bachelors. Even if he does have the reputation of a devil.
LOVE TAKES NO PRISONERS
Piers Gedrick Atherton, the Duke of Redmayne, is seeking revenge and the first step is securing a bride. Winning a lady’s hand is not so easy, however, for a man known as the Terror of Torcliff. Then, Alexandra enters his life like a bolt of lightning. When she proposes marriage, Piers knows that, like him, trouble haunts her footsteps. But her gentleness, sharp wit, independent nature, and incredible beauty awakens every fierce desire within him. He will do whatever it takes to keep her safe in his arms.
Graphics from author's Facebook page
This was a little different than I was expecting, but not in a bad way. The story not only centers on an unlikely engagement and romance, but also on a devoted group of three redheaded friends. Alexandra, Cecilia, and Francesca have been friends since school and pushed the boundaries of what proper women should be. But something happens that also makes them accomplices to a crime and bonds them together even more.
Ten years later as the girls come together at the request of one friend, Alexandra finds herself in the middle of a situation she never expected. Lady Alexandra is intelligent, eccentric, lonely, fearful, honest, and socially irrelevant. She is an archeologist and thrives on adventures. But her secrets haunt her and threaten to continue ruining her life.
Piers Gedrick Atherton is the Duke of Redmayne but also now known as the Terror of Torcliff. His scars and intimidating nature make him an imposing figure.
This has a bit of that Beauty and the Beast vibe with the quirky, bookish girl and powerful, misunderstood, scarred man. But they also have things in common from their own personal scars, trust issues, fear of rejection, sense of adventure, and distaste for fake and vapid people. A marriage could solve both of their problems. But it takes time to build trust.
Piers is both fiercely protective and possessive, but also has a vulnerable part afraid of loss or being made a fool. And Alexandra feels such guilt and fear, and just wants to keep those she cares about safe no matter her sacrifice. Their communication issues and secrets cause problems and tension. And they are also dealing with external threats. There are plenty of antagonists that could be behind the threats and accidents that these two seem to keep finding themselves in the middle of. But who is the target? Is someone after her, him, or her friends?
This is a historical romance with mystery and suspense. Sometimes the language or the multiple storylines took me away from the romance and their story. There are brutish men, forward-thinking ladies, secrets, danger, hidden agendas, and revenge schemes. The side characters add to both the layered history and web of secrets and motivations. I really liked her friends Cecilia and Francesca, and his half brother Cassius, all of which have had challenging pasts. I hope to see more of them in the next two stories in the series.
Ten years later as the girls come together at the request of one friend, Alexandra finds herself in the middle of a situation she never expected. Lady Alexandra is intelligent, eccentric, lonely, fearful, honest, and socially irrelevant. She is an archeologist and thrives on adventures. But her secrets haunt her and threaten to continue ruining her life.
Piers Gedrick Atherton is the Duke of Redmayne but also now known as the Terror of Torcliff. His scars and intimidating nature make him an imposing figure.
This has a bit of that Beauty and the Beast vibe with the quirky, bookish girl and powerful, misunderstood, scarred man. But they also have things in common from their own personal scars, trust issues, fear of rejection, sense of adventure, and distaste for fake and vapid people. A marriage could solve both of their problems. But it takes time to build trust.
Piers is both fiercely protective and possessive, but also has a vulnerable part afraid of loss or being made a fool. And Alexandra feels such guilt and fear, and just wants to keep those she cares about safe no matter her sacrifice. Their communication issues and secrets cause problems and tension. And they are also dealing with external threats. There are plenty of antagonists that could be behind the threats and accidents that these two seem to keep finding themselves in the middle of. But who is the target? Is someone after her, him, or her friends?
This is a historical romance with mystery and suspense. Sometimes the language or the multiple storylines took me away from the romance and their story. There are brutish men, forward-thinking ladies, secrets, danger, hidden agendas, and revenge schemes. The side characters add to both the layered history and web of secrets and motivations. I really liked her friends Cecilia and Francesca, and his half brother Cassius, all of which have had challenging pasts. I hope to see more of them in the next two stories in the series.
Kerrigan has done many things to pay the bills, from law enforcement to belly dance instructor. Now she’s finally able to have the career she’d decided upon at thirteen when she announced to her very skeptical family that she was going to “grow up to be a romance novelist.” Whether she’s writing about Celtic Druids, Victorian bad boys, or brash Irish FBI Agents, Kerrigan uses her borderline-obsessive passion for history, her extensive Celtic ancestry, and her love of Shakespeare in almost every story.
She lives in a little Victorian coast town on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State with her wonderful husband. When she’s not writing you can find her sailing, beach combing, kayaking, visiting wineries, breweries, and restaurants with friends, and hiking…okay…wandering aimlessly clenching bear spray in the mountains.
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