CAROL’S REVIEW: NIGHT OF THE SCOUNDREL BY KELLY BOWEN

(The Devils of Dover #3.5)

Genre: Historical Romance

Cover Blurb (Amazon):

Can he trust her with his darkest secret?

Ruthless. Dangerous. Known simply as King. No one knows his true name or where he came from. And when he learns that the man who betrayed him has returned to London, King has only one goal: vengeance. But first, he must seek out an unlikely ally to aide him in his pursuit…

Adeline Archambault is as mysterious as she is beautiful. Exiled after the French Revolution, she’s determined to reclaim her birthright and deliver the justice that is owed her. King’s offer to help her, in exchange for her assistance, is a bargain she can’t refuse. But will this deal with a devil lead to a future she never dared hope for?

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Ever since reading Kelly Bowen’s excellent Season for Scandal series, I have been anxiously awaiting the enigmatic King’s story. I was, therefore, somewhat disappointed to discover it was a novella but, despite the obvious constraints, Ms. Bowen succeeded in creating a deeply emotional story that kept me engrossed from start to finish.

With a past shrouded in mystery and a reputation for being dangerous, ruthless, cunning, and unpredictable, King has risen to the top of London’s underworld, but is just as comfortable in the upper echelons of London society. His sartorial elegance, genuine knowledge of art and antiques, love of playing the piano, and obvious concern for the young boys in his employ all seem so at odds with his formidable reputation.

I knew that King must have had a dark past, but I never guessed just how dark and heartbreaking it really was. To be so cruelly abandoned to a living hell by those who should have loved, protected and believed in him, I could appreciate just how much King’s past had shaped him into a man he has become – ‘A merciless man who does whatever awful things are necessary to keep surviving.’ He has buried those terrible memories in the deepest recesses of his mind but is forced to confront them head on when someone from his past reappears.

Adeline’s parents, the Comte and Comtesse de Chadonnet, lost everything during the French Revolution and the family was forced to flee. Tragically, after returning to Paris ten years later to reclaim their birthright, her parents were murdered and the culprit never caught. Forced to fend for herself, Adeline is determined to obtain the justice for others that she was unable to get for her parents. When no one else is willing or able to help, clients employ Adeline to recover stolen family fortunes and treasures and bring the culprits to justice whenever possible.

I really admire Adeline’s strength and courage in the face of adversity and her desire to help those who have lost everything. Yes, it’s a way of making a living, but she sees her clients as people first and genuinely cares about them.

Adeline is the perfect heroine for King because they are alike in many ways – both have known the loneliness of surviving in a world where both honour and trust were in short supply. From their first meeting, the attraction between them is palpable and Ms. Bowen creates a sexual tension that positively sizzles. I enjoyed seeing King, who has always been in total control of his emotions and his actions, become completely unravelled by Adeline and vulnerable in a way he never has been before.

I love how they truly ‘see’ and understand each other as no one else ever has. King sees Adeline as honourable, beautiful and clever, while Adeline sees beyond King’s ruthless, cunning and callous façade to a man who protects those he cares for. The scene where he sends Adeline away, believing that she deserves a man as honourable as she, is truly heart-breaking.

It takes some wise words from his close friend, Noah, to make him realise that he has to let go of the past and embrace the future.

“Yet all of those moments are gone. You can remember them or forget them, like them or hate them, but you cannot change them. Only the moments to come can be changed.”

The final chapter was just perfect and so romantic. It was heart-warming to see two people, who are perfectly in tune with each other, finally find the happiness they truly deserve.

Although this novella is part of The Devils of Dover series, King has his origins in Ms. Bowen’s Season for Scandal series. I would highly recommend reading this series not only because it’s excellent, but also because it provides background to King’s character, and insight into his past relationships with Elise Ellery & Noah Ellery, the Duke of Ashland, and Ivory Harcourt, Duchess of Alderidge, the main secondary characters in this novella.

King’s story was so worth the wait and more than exceeded my expectations. Highly recommended.

Originally posted on Goodreads

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CAROL’S REVIEW: A DUKE IN THE NIGHT BY KELLY BOWEN

(The Devils of Dover, #1)

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency, 1819)

Cover Blurb (Amazon):

Duke. Scoundrel. Titan of business. August Faulkner is a man of many talents, not the least of which is enticing women into his bedchamber. He’s known-and reviled-for buying and selling companies, accumulating scads of money, and breaking hearts. It’s a reputation he wears like a badge of honor, and one he intends to keep.

Clara Hayward, the headmistress of the Haverhall School for Young Ladies, on the other hand, is above reproach. Yet when she’s reunited with August all she can think of is the way she felt in his arms as they danced a scandalous waltz ten long years ago. Even though her head knows that he is only back in her life to take over her family’s business, her heart can’t help but open to the very duke who could destroy it for good

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Since reading and loving her Seasons for Scandal series, Kelly Bowen has joined my list of auto-read authors and I have been looking forward to A DUKE IN THE NIGHT, the first book in her new The Devils of Dover series. Once again, she captivated me with an innovative story, interesting characters and a sensual romance.

As a debutante ten years ago, Clara Hayward had all the attributes that should have had numerous suitors falling at her feet – beauty, poise and family wealth. But she had one fatal flaw – her extensive education. No husband wanted a wife whose intelligence and education was superior to his own. This gave Clara the freedom to pursue her ambition of becoming a teacher and, for many years, she has been headmistress of the most expensive and prestigious finishing school in London – Haverhall School for Young Ladies, which she inherited from her mother. Secretly, Clara runs exclusive summer school programmes at Avondale in Dover, leased from the Earl of Rivers, for those young women who have ambitions beyond society’s expectations and the courage to defy convention.

However, after their parents died two years ago, Clara, her younger sister, Rose, and her brother, Harland, now Baron Strathmore, were shocked to discover that their father had left large debts. They had all done whatever they could to keep their heads above water but with Strathmore Shipping, the family business, in jeopardy, Clara takes the decision to sell her beloved school, but is still determined to continue with her summer schools.

Kelly Bowen always writes great heroines and Clara is no exception. She is intelligent, strong and confident – a woman who fully embraces her individuality and has the courage of her own convictions. She is a natural teacher and I admire her progressive and unique teaching methods. I love how she nurtures her students and offers them practical experience in their chosen fields even though it might only be for a short time.

August Faulkner was never destined to be the Duke of Holloway. At the age of fifteen, he was fending for himself on the dangerous streets of London after his inveterate gambler of a father was thrown into debtors’ prison, where August’s younger sister, Anne, had lived too. His driving force was to pay off his father’s debts, have his family released and restore their fortunes and their family reputation.

Over the next fifteen years, through hard work, determination and a keen business mind, August had clawed his way up to become a wealthy and successful self-made man. In his business of buying up failing companies and turning them around into profitable concerns, he had a reputation for being ruthless and determined. Even his unexpected rise to the peerage five years ago has done nothing to curb his ambitions, other than working anonymously through intermediaries to make his purchases.

I understood how those years of struggle and deprivation had shaped August into the man he has become. He is determined to safeguard both himself and his sister from ever having to endure such hardship again, and no amount of money is ever going to be enough.

August understood survival. He had done and continued to do what he needed to so that he would never have to go back. Back to a time when hunger and cold had been enemies.

It is obvious how much he loves his sister and will do anything to make her happy, but stubbornly fails to see that Anne has ambitions of her own beyond just the material things in life.

It’s improbable that, after only one dance together ten years ago, August and Clara would have been so affected that they had never forgotten each other. But Ms. Bowen develops such a tangible chemistry between the two that I never once felt that they were not meant to be together. August sees what a fascinating and extraordinary woman Clara is and respects and admires her. Clara constantly challenges his opinions and I love that he is willing to listen and question his own motives and ambitions as he has never done before.

The truth of the matter was that he didn’t recognize himself any longer. Every vow he’d made to himself, every driving ambition he’d pursued with a single-minded determination sat uncomfortably on his skin now. His old self didn’t seem to fit quite right.

With all the pent-up longing and desire, it is inevitable that they will eventually succumb to their feelings for each other and it’s refreshing to see the heroine taking the lead and seducing the hero.

His heart might have stopped momentarily before it resumed, thundering in his ears with the same rhythm that was pulsing through the rest of him. The sound obliterated everything around him, his eyes riveted on her fingers, which were now trailing over the slope of her left breast, coming to circle her dark nipple, hard and pebbled under her touch. She was watching him watching her, and he had never been as aroused as he was then.

It is patently obvious that they love each other but I knew that Clara would eventually find out that August had bought Haverhall and his proposals for it. I could feel her pain and heartbreak, believing that she had meant nothing to him and was simply a means to an end. It is only through her sister Rose’s intervention that Clara discovers just how wrong she is about August and how much he loves her. For once, I did not even miss an Epilogue because the ending was so beautifully done, and August’s gift to Clara and its significance just bought tears to my eyes.

“You asked me once when enough is enough. You are my enough. You are my everything.”

I really admired August’s sister, Anne, who might have become a beautiful and poised lady but the time spent in debtors’ prison had given her a core of pure steel. A potential romance between Anne and her brother’s man of business, Duncan Down, is hinted at and I hope to see more of them in later books.

Clara’s siblings are both intriguing; Rose is a gifted artist who has been hurt in the past and Hartland, although a baron, is also a practising doctor and obviously has a few secrets. I am definitely looking forward to reading their stories.

Ms. Bowen manages to imbue the story with some delightful humour such as the scene where August is spying on Clara and her pupils from behind a wall, only to be discovered by Lady Tabitha (Tabby) and Lady Theodosia (Theo), the Earl of Rivers’ sisters, who obviously know exactly what he is doing!

“He might have been an apothecary,” Lady Theo suggested to her sister. “Collecting plants and herbs and whatnot.”
“True. Or a biologist,” Tabby mused. “Looking for crickets.”
“Or fossils.”
“Or perhaps examining animal leavings.”

or the scene in the studio where August enters without knocking to discover…I won’t spoil it for you!

MY VERDICT: A great start to what promises to be an excellent series. Definitely recommended.

REVIEW RATING: 5/5 STARS

SENSUALITY RATING: WARM

 

The Devils of Dover series so far (click on the book covers for more details):

  

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