Beautiful Lady Constance is in a bad place. Her
legitimacy has been splashed across the ton. Apparently
her mother had an affair with her now step-dad and had
two kids. For some reason, even though months have passed
after the scandal, the ton is still whispering about it
and indirectly snubbing her. In a fit of defiance, she
wants to dance with the 'Scandalous Lord of Sin' and may
be learn something from him in how to deal with the
gossipy ton.
Lucan Wynwood has set the plan in motion to ruin
Constance in an elaborate plan of vengeance against her
brother. An eye for an eye or in this case, a sister for
a sister. Only he did not take into account the
attraction he feels for her nor the fascination he has
for her unpredictable reactions or that he would feel
remorse for what he is about to do to her. But will he
fall in love with her and leave his plan of vengeance or
will he ruin her, leaving his only hope for happiness
behind?
SINS OF A DUKE left me with mixed feelings. At times I
wanted to stop reading completely, other times I hated
Constance, and sometimes I began to like it enough to
continue. Ms. Reid has written Lucan as pretty much a
straightforward man bent on revenge. He needs to know
that the men behind his sister's death suffer the same
way she did before she died. While he does not want to
kill them, he wants to utterly destroy them by destroying
what they hold dear. Despite his friends cautioning him
about the possible consequences and that Constances
brother is different, he remains mule-headed till almost
the second to last chapter. Though after knowing the
details
behind his sister's death, the final confrontation left
me feeling unsatisfied. Honestly I would agree to Lucan's
initial opinion and argument because justifying that Duke
of Calydon was young and foolish is not enough reason to
be excused. Lucan is a good man who did not want to
completely ruin Constance despite his need for revenge;
whether it is due to revenge or lust, I do not know. I
like to believe, even if he had not fallen in love with
her, he would have still felt the remorse of using an
innocent.
Lady Constance on the other hand, I had a love-hate
relationship with. At one point she despairs over
being ignored and whispered about, but with Lucan she
says
she does not care for the society. Then she mentions
something about loving the village and kids from the
orphanage, but in none of her POV or actions do I see her
missing that life. Then comes her family. Each and
everyone one of them married for love and her mom even
sired two kids while married to someone else and yet they
dare want her to marry someone who backed out at the
first sign of trouble and clearly came back only for her
dowry. I could see many double standards in Constance and
her family and was glad to see when she did say it to
them. The eventual HEA left me a bit deflated. Something
felt missing; most likely the fact I had trouble fully
liking or connecting with the heroine nor feeling very
sorry for her.
SINS OF A DUKE is a well written story with a dreamy
heroine who is supposed to be an innocent but lacks
proprietary. Even her rebelliousness seems forced. I had
more time feeling sorry for
Lucan's sister. Still the revenge plot had a different
reason and style for
revenge than what I have read
previously in a historical romance. I love the
confrontation between Lucan and
Calydon. Pick up SINS OF A DUKE if you crave something
different in this genre and can overlook the above
mentioned issues.
She would be his perfect revenge... All of the young ladies whispered about the Duke of Mondvale in hushed tones, their eyes following his tall, dark figure with barely disguised lust. For the newly-ostracized Lady Constance Thornton, he is magnetic and altogether desirable. Irresistibly so. Since her reputation is already ruined in London society, why shouldn't she be impudent and dance with the scandalous "Lord of Sin"? Little does she know of his plans. The beautiful and innocent Lady Constance is no mere plaything for Lucan Wynwood. She will be his revenge. By ruining her, he will have his vengeance against her brother. Except that the Lady Constance is full of surprises... and now she could well be the ruin of him.
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