REVIEW: Never Tempt a Duke by Virginia Brown

Never Tempt a Duke by Virginia Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Book Description: 

He could not forgive her deception. She could not resist the desire they shared. When a scandal forces them to marry, their passions lead to dangerous secrets. 

 
Wow. That was quite a roller-coaster ride!

First and foremost, I have to say that the description of this book is just awful. It’s just one line with a short excerpt from the middle of the book. It doesn’t really give you a sense of what the book is about. But, I was in the mood for a historical so I thought I would give it a try.

This book was full of twists and turns. Starting out with the death of their parents, Nick and Alyssa were told that their father inherited a title before his death and it had now been passed on to Nick. The plans for Alyssa were less desirable. And seeing as Nick didn’t want the title and lands in England, he went off on a grand (ish) adventure while Alyssa pretended to be Nick and took his place in England, in their guardian’s home. I have to say that this part was hilarious. All her foibles while trying to be her brother kept me in stitches. I was also biting my nails wondering when her charade would be found out.

The relationship between the Duke (Blake) and Alyssa could be quite vexing at times. I actually enjoyed the dancing around each other parts. When she was first presented to society and later when she turned 21. I just wish there had been more of that. Show how Blake’s view of her changed, show him being jealous of the attention other guys paid her when they courted her. The way the wedding went down…had me biting my nails. Poor Alyssa was blamed by Blake when she had nothing to do with the events. She was just as much of a pawn. But I was extremely glad to see that he didn’t really take his anger out on her…especially in the bedroom.

I found the time jumps to be somewhat disconcerting. There was a jump from Alyssa’s 18th birthday to just before her 21’s birthday. Then, there was another time jump when she found out she was pregnant to the time of the birth. During the first jump is when I would have liked to see more of how Blake’s view of Alyssa changed. And I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of her betrothed during that time. As for the second time jump…I would have liked to see Alyssa and Blake bond over the pregnancy. But we missed all that.

And speaking of missing things, I really disliked the absence of Alyssa’s twin brother Nick. In the beginning it made sense. His absence was how she ended up in England. But I loved the relationship they had once he finally showed up in England and he was missing for a good 90% of the book. And for siblings that were so close, it just felt wrong. Especially with how the wedding happened between Blake and Alyssa. I just couldn’t see Nick abandoning her after that. Yet that’s exactly what he did.

Even with my issues, I couldn’t put this down. It held my interest from page one.

*I received a copy from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*


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