Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A masterful character study exploring the motivations, who we are as people, justice and love. Duran does it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Murder
I LOVED this book [b:Fool Me Twice|18143986|Fool Me Twice (Rules for the Reckless, #2)|Meredith Duran|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1379585048l/18143986._SY75_.jpg|25491311]! I have just started this series by [a:Meredith Duran|1330133|Meredith Duran|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1430846212p2/1330133.jpg] with my #fairylandbuddyreads group and it did not disappoint.
Her books are so good! There are several stories woven throughout and her writing just won't let you put the book down.
This book continues one of the storylines found in the first book in the Rules for the Reckless series [b:That Scandalous Summer|14822924|That Scandalous Summer (Rules for the Reckless, #1)|Meredith Duran|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1364942113l/14822924._SY75_.jpg|20476452]and we meet in more detail Olivia Mather. She has secrets (of course) and she secures employment with the Duke of Marwick's household to bring down a man who is trying to kill her. Evidence to do so if found in the Duke's' hows.
Bt the Duke is a recluse - burned by his former wife who cuckolded him - he shuns everyone and stays in hi room.
So Olivia has more to deal with - he is of course handsome and she soon learns the evidence she is seeking is his room.
Lots to unpack here - why the Duke won't leave his room; what is Olivia seeking; of course the attraction that that grows - and all of the lovely angst that goes with these stories. I also LOVED their banter - they are so good with each other ("Didn't I sack you again?" - the Duke asks - so funny!).
Loved this just so much.
I hope the next in the series is just as good!
Her books are so good! There are several stories woven throughout and her writing just won't let you put the book down.
This book continues one of the storylines found in the first book in the Rules for the Reckless series [b:That Scandalous Summer|14822924|That Scandalous Summer (Rules for the Reckless, #1)|Meredith Duran|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1364942113l/14822924._SY75_.jpg|20476452]and we meet in more detail Olivia Mather. She has secrets (of course) and she secures employment with the Duke of Marwick's household to bring down a man who is trying to kill her. Evidence to do so if found in the Duke's' hows.
Bt the Duke is a recluse - burned by his former wife who cuckolded him - he shuns everyone and stays in hi room.
So Olivia has more to deal with - he is of course handsome and she soon learns the evidence she is seeking is his room.
Lots to unpack here - why the Duke won't leave his room; what is Olivia seeking; of course the attraction that that grows - and all of the lovely angst that goes with these stories. I also LOVED their banter - they are so good with each other ("Didn't I sack you again?" - the Duke asks - so funny!).
Loved this just so much.
I hope the next in the series is just as good!
First Meredith Duran book I've read. Loved the first half of this book, especially the banter between Olivia and Alistairand developing the characters' relationship. Second half of the book focused on advancing the plot, which was ok, but missed the wittiness of the first half. Will definitely give her other books a read
Olivia's mother, Bertram's mistress, dies when Olivia is 17. She heads for London and a typing school. She is met by Bertram's man, who says he is to see her settled, but strangles her and leaves her for dead. She spends the next 7 years on the run, until she applies to be a maid for Bertram's political rival who is a broken man after his wife's death and betrayal. Can Olivia save them both. Rounded up since I didn't see all of twists.
4.5 stars rounded to 5.
I loved this book. I was shocked by how much I was enjoying myself, because the first book in the series was such a mess. That book gave us a fuller introduction to our heroine, Olivia (who had a brief appearance in the prequel novella as well), and ends with her doing something that seems incredibly strange. Olivia's story was the only thing that had me curious enough to read more in the series. It does not disappoint.
Olivia is a mystery and I don't want to spoil her for anyone who hasn't read this yet. She's an enigmatic woman and when we start the story, she's about to commit a crime by stealing something from Alastair, the Duke of Marwick, (after also stealing something in the last book from the heroine). She's a criminal, but she seems to have a very good reason for being one.
Some seem to have found the opening of this to be slow, but I didn't feel that way at all. Her introduction into Alastair's world was wonderful to read. We met Alastair in the last book and he just seemed like a mustache twirling villain- I had no idea how the author was going to turn him into a romantic hero, but she did. Olivia comes into his household, takes it by storm and then just rocks his world fully. She's brave and funny and hopeful and smart and this introduction allows us to see exactly how fantastic a character she is.
With her installed as his housekeeper, we learn the real reason Alastair has sequestered himself away and fully retreated from the world. It's not because his now dead wife cuckolded him but because he feels he'll murder the men who were sabotaging him by sleeping with his wife/getting secret info on him from his wife. It seems like a ridiculously extreme reaction for him to have taken, but it's so well written that I bought into it. The author does not shy from the fact that what Alastair did to his brother was absolutely bananas, she leans into it really, but it's the only spot where she sort of fumbles. She has him chalk it up to madness, which is really the only thing it can be chalked up to because it was completely villainous. I get it- she needed him to be a BIG BAD for that book to work, but it boxed her in and there wasn't any other way to write herself out of it. BUT Alastair lashing out that way at someone he loves and who loves him and has only every supported him does not bode well for his morality and ethics as a human, which means he's not really a trustworthy romantic lead.
Alastair actually has a few problems that make him a challenging hero, but it's hard to hold them against him because he's written so well. He uses sexuality to cow the innocent Olivia and their first sexual encounter is done with him not caring about her consent (he has it, but it's unclear whether he'd have stopped without it). He repeats this behavior several times and even towards the end he spends a lot of time thinking about how he needs to master her and get her to submit to him. The author walks this line very carefully- Alastair's behavior could be viewed as that of a bad guy. We only think he's a hero because Olivia sees the good in him and because we are reading his thoughts and emotions. They don't match his actions at times, though, and so I can't rate him as high as I would like to. In the end, he realizes that he loves her and that he's a changed man and all thoughts of her submission seem to have vanished, but I'm not sure I can really believe that he has changed so completely. He says he's a different man now and in order for this to be considered a romance you have to buy it. I did, but I think in real life, I'd always be worried about someone like him.
It all sounds like this should be a recipe for disaster, but it's somehow just not. It was a real page turner and I was rooting for these two like crazy. I absolutely loved them as a pairing and thought their chemistry was intense and electric. I loved the whole plot of this and all the little twists and turns. At the end of the book it feels like they're equals and that their being together will bring out the very best in both of them. I was smiling like an idiot when I read the last sentence.
I loved this book. I was shocked by how much I was enjoying myself, because the first book in the series was such a mess. That book gave us a fuller introduction to our heroine, Olivia (who had a brief appearance in the prequel novella as well), and ends with her doing something that seems incredibly strange. Olivia's story was the only thing that had me curious enough to read more in the series. It does not disappoint.
Olivia is a mystery and I don't want to spoil her for anyone who hasn't read this yet. She's an enigmatic woman and when we start the story, she's about to commit a crime by stealing something from Alastair, the Duke of Marwick, (after also stealing something in the last book from the heroine). She's a criminal, but she seems to have a very good reason for being one.
Some seem to have found the opening of this to be slow, but I didn't feel that way at all. Her introduction into Alastair's world was wonderful to read. We met Alastair in the last book and he just seemed like a mustache twirling villain- I had no idea how the author was going to turn him into a romantic hero, but she did. Olivia comes into his household, takes it by storm and then just rocks his world fully. She's brave and funny and hopeful and smart and this introduction allows us to see exactly how fantastic a character she is.
With her installed as his housekeeper, we learn the real reason Alastair has sequestered himself away and fully retreated from the world. It's not because his now dead wife cuckolded him but because he feels he'll murder the men who were sabotaging him by sleeping with his wife/getting secret info on him from his wife. It seems like a ridiculously extreme reaction for him to have taken, but it's so well written that I bought into it. The author does not shy from the fact that what Alastair did to his brother was absolutely bananas, she leans into it really, but it's the only spot where she sort of fumbles. She has him chalk it up to madness, which is really the only thing it can be chalked up to because it was completely villainous. I get it- she needed him to be a BIG BAD for that book to work, but it boxed her in and there wasn't any other way to write herself out of it. BUT Alastair lashing out that way at someone he loves and who loves him and has only every supported him does not bode well for his morality and ethics as a human, which means he's not really a trustworthy romantic lead.
Alastair actually has a few problems that make him a challenging hero, but it's hard to hold them against him because he's written so well. He uses sexuality to cow the innocent Olivia and their first sexual encounter is done with him not caring about her consent (he has it, but it's unclear whether he'd have stopped without it). He repeats this behavior several times and even towards the end he spends a lot of time thinking about how he needs to master her and get her to submit to him. The author walks this line very carefully- Alastair's behavior could be viewed as that of a bad guy. We only think he's a hero because Olivia sees the good in him and because we are reading his thoughts and emotions. They don't match his actions at times, though, and so I can't rate him as high as I would like to. In the end, he realizes that he loves her and that he's a changed man and all thoughts of her submission seem to have vanished, but I'm not sure I can really believe that he has changed so completely. He says he's a different man now and in order for this to be considered a romance you have to buy it. I did, but I think in real life, I'd always be worried about someone like him.
It all sounds like this should be a recipe for disaster, but it's somehow just not. It was a real page turner and I was rooting for these two like crazy. I absolutely loved them as a pairing and thought their chemistry was intense and electric. I loved the whole plot of this and all the little twists and turns. At the end of the book it feels like they're equals and that their being together will bring out the very best in both of them. I was smiling like an idiot when I read the last sentence.
There were things I liked about this book and the romance, mostly in the first half, but I just couldn’t take the hero by the end. I get that this is supposed to be kind of Beauty and the Beast-ish, and he’s the Beast, so he’s going to be dark and brooding and monstrous and all that, but it was too much for me to want to root for a romance between him and Olivia. I did really love Olivia a lot as a character and how she slowly worked with Alastair in getting out of his room, and I feel like I could’ve mostly gotten over his early brutish-ness, but a lot of their kissing/sex scenes felt more non-consensual than I would like. I mean, generally I am not super into alpha heroes anyways, but there’s a difference between being an alpha hero and… this. And it’s frustrating because I feel like the story was actually well-written, and like I said, I really liked Olivia as a character and enjoyed the story early on, but those scenes ruined the romance for me.
Spoiler
Like, I think we’re supposed to believe that Olivia is into everything, but, I mean, there’s one scene from Alastair’s POV where she squirms against him and he’s like “Resistance? Too late,” which just… no. That grosses me out. There is no too late!!! If you want to stop in the middle of sex or making out with someone or whatever that’s okay!!!!!!!!! And like, no, she isn’t actually resisting, but the fact that he thinks that just really makes it hard for me to like him at all and want to root for the romance. And then there was a scene later that was even worse where she’s like “Stop it, I don’t want this” and he’s like “But what a sweet body you have” and then tells her she’s a liar AND THEN SHE TWISTS OUT OF HIS GRIP AND LUNGES ACROSS THE ROOM AND HE YANKS HER SKIRT DOWN TO HER KNEES AND DRAGS HER BACK TO HIM AND SHE GRABS A PISTOL AND AIMS IT AT HIM TO STOP HIM. LIKE??? I’M SORRY, IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE ROMANTIC???? Am I seriously supposed to be okay with that????
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars
Olivia is such a great heroine - smart, creative, practical, and a little sassy. And she's flawed so she feels like a real person. And the Duke is the perfect tortured hero. An excellent read!
Olivia is such a great heroine - smart, creative, practical, and a little sassy. And she's flawed so she feels like a real person. And the Duke is the perfect tortured hero. An excellent read!