Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

Another book that I desperately wanted to be better than it was. I feel like the blurb on the back cover gives you more insight into Beth's character than the entire novel and while Ian MacKenzie is kind of 100% my type of romance hero (autistic-coded, commanding, and traumatized) I just wasn't getting everything I wanted from this. Also HEAVY content warning for descriptions of Victorian-era incarceration and "treatment" (aka torture) of people with mental illnesses and disabilities.

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cluckieduck's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This started off so promising, but I’m left feeling disappointed with the turn it took. The story & characters hooked me right in through the first few chapters, but overall it lacked the substance I look for in a romance.

I didn’t think Ian & Beth were developed enough or had enough chemistry, and their sex scenes were very basic and almost…off putting in their monotony.

Sad to say it just fell a bit flat overall and I think it’s a 2.5 ⭐️ read for me.

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isitcake's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Good setup for the rest of the series; I really want to read about Mac & Isabella's second chance at their marriage, Hart and Eleanor (who is she?), Cameron maybe finding love (his wife tried to murder him and their son before suiciding!?) and eventually his son Daniel when he grows up. I was surprised that Ian is only 27 and Beth 29 in this book. They act a lot more mature (like mid 30s) but I guess people did grow up faster back then. This book just had really great characters. I liked Ian and Beth. I loved all the side characters including Beth's maid Katie and Ian's manservant Curry. All of the brothers have very interesting valets that they picked out of the gutter.

Beth is about to marry Mathers but Ian warns her off him, revealing that he has a submissive BDSM kink with multiple women. Ian proposes marriage to her but she goes away to Paris instead where she befriends Ian's brother Mac MacKenzie, a gifted artist, and his estranged wife Isabella (they had some falling out 3 years ago although they clearly still want each other). While there a police officer Fellows visits her and reveals his suspicion that Ian murdered 2 whores in London, and asks her to spy on him. She refuses. Ian turns up and she decides to have a liaison with him. This goes on until after one night in an inn Fellows is waiting outside for them to charge Ian with kidnapping. Instead Mac and Curry turn up with a priest and Beth marries Ian. They go to their dukedom, Kilmorgan, in Scotland where Beth meets the oldest brother and current duke Hart. He suspects her of being after Ian, taking advantage of the fact that he's a madman.

Ian suffers from "rages" aka tantrums. All of the MacKenzies do to some extent. After Ian witnessed his father accidentally shake his wife to death during one of his rages, his father sent Ian off to an asylum. He spent several years there where he was beaten, electrocuted, mentally tortured, etc. Once their father died, Hart had him immediately released. Ian is kind of autistic too, he doesn't understand social niceties. After getting out of the asylum he didn't speak for 3 months because he saw no reason to until one day at breakfast he asked if there was any toast. He has a photographic memory and a mind for math. He's a financial investing wizard and can memorize long treaties for Hart. He also has an obsession collecting Ming dynasty bowls.

The plot of the book centers on the murders. Ian thinks Hart did it, Hart thinks Ian did it, both are protecting the other. Beth suspects something is up and she investigates. What happens is the first girl who died Sally had info on Hart that she attempted to blackmail Hart with for money. She threatened to take the money and run, leaving her lover Lily to fend for herself. Lily was pissed and killed her. Ian saw Lily soon after and assumed she was just a witness, and therefore he set her up in a secret house to protect her. This all took place at the house owned by a Mrs. Palmer, who was an older woman that Hart had sexual relations with for a good amount of his life. She was in love with Hart and was known to say she "would do anything to protect him." Turns out she killed Lily to end any chance that Hart could be blackmailed. Beth discovered this in a confrontation where she was stabbed by Palmer. They went to the church of Beth's former husband Thomas (a vicar who she deeply loved who died) where Ian and Hart found them. Rather than hang, Palmer plunged the knife into herself and died. Beth spent a week near death herself but finally recovered. Fellows finally solved this case and put it to rest, but Beth uncovered his secret. Fellows is actually their half-brother! Their father got his mother pregnant, and Fellows was resentful that he grew up in the gutter when he was 2 years older than Hart. If he was legitimate he would have been Duke now. But they all reconcile and in the epilogue Fellows and his mother are welcomed by the family. Also in the epilogue Beth is pregnant with Ian. Ian finally realized he is in love with Beth when she was sick and he thought she might die. He's still worried that a child will inherit the madness but Beth is confident that they have them as loving parents to help.

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livruther's review against another edition

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emotional

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

these characters have my WHOLE HEART. i love them all so much. ian was a little bit sexist sometimes, which makes sense within the historical context, but i prefer my historical romance heroes to be a little more progressive

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