Reviews

From Duke Till Dawn by Eva Leigh

kaylincreason's review

2.0

This regency romance begins two years after the Duke of Greyland shares a passionate night, and a large sum of his money, with destitute widow Cassandra Blake. Still recovering from his broken heart, and wondering where the woman could have gone after disappearing from his bed, Greyland is shocked to run into Cassandra at a gaming hell in London. As it turns out, Cassandra is not the respectable lady she pretends to be, but a born-on-the-street, rough-and-tumble rogue who swindles wealthy marks to survive. When the Duke learns her secret, his fiery love turns to white-hot scorn, but the two of them cannot deny their passion for long, especially when Cassandra seeks the Duke’s help after her business partner runs off with the money she needs to finally “go honest.” In From Duke Till Dawn, author Eva Leigh takes fire and ice and makes steam: the fiery nature of Cassandra unleashes something in the picture-perfect Duke, and vice versa, and their passion is animalistic. Surprisingly, there is quite a bit of character development in this novel as well, and the characters’ connection develops naturally, with each revealing hidden depths. The plot sometimes relies too much on backstory--the reader sees very little of the Duke and Cassandra’s first meeting, making it hard to believe he is lovesick after two years. However, once the plot sheds its requisite dressing, it turns into a wild and satisfying romp through the streets and sheets of London.

turophile's review

4.0

Eva Leigh is becoming a favorite historical romance author for me. Class conflict, questions of forgiveness. Much to love (and more to be written if one remembered to review right after reading). I'll look for more in this series! 3.75/5

melbsreads's review

3.0

Trigger warnings: theft, lying, kidnapping, incarceration of a parent (in the past).

Meh. I've read four other books by this author and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. So I went into this one assuming it would be the same way. But it just...wasn't.

I didn't really care about the "we sort of fell for each other a couple of years ago and then she vanished and wait what she's a con woman??" plot. I didn't really care about whether Alex and Cassandra ended up together. I didn't care if she found the dude who screwed her over. I. just. didn't. care.

I think ultimately I like more humour in my romance books?? IDK IDK.

traciquiroz's review

3.0

3.5 stars. Felt like it took forever to get to the actual plot of this story. The last 100 or so pages were great but prior to that was just a lot of fluff, felt very surface level with the characters until the end

bookmarkaret's review

medium-paced

3.0

vanitas's review against another edition

4.0

3.5⭐

juliamariereads's review

so much fun. i will definitely read more from this author!

bustabluth's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

3.5

joreadsromance's review

4.0

Very absorbing romance
4 stars

I’m pretty sure that this is the first book I’ve read by [a:Eva Leigh|8886093|Eva Leigh|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1439934306p2/8886093.jpg] - but it definitely won’t be the last. From the very first page I was hooked. I found myself trying to sneak in a few pages whenever I got the chance and even was quite pleased for a long hospital wait as it meant I had uninterrupted reading time!

This is a slightly unusual premise for a historical romance. We’ve normally got a virginal heroine - probably a lady or at least gentility - and heroes with varying degrees of experience and varying social class. This book pits a duke against a swindler raised on the streets. And one whose first meeting with him was when she fleeced him! I was a bit wary, if I’m honest. Would I like a heroine who wasn’t truthful and honest?

The answer is yes. Very much so in fact. Cassandra is a strong yet vulnerable heroine and while she had done things in her past that were less than savoury - she had a perfectly legitimate reason in her very survival. I loved her honest feelings for Alex and really wanted her to not just survive, but find her happiness, too. When she found herself straddling two worlds and belonging to neither - my heart broke for her.

Alex is my favourite kind of hero. Brooding and grumpy but also dedicated to, and willing to fight for his love. And boy did he love Cassandra. Especially at the beginning, it was swoon worthy stuff and gave your stomach that delicious clutch. As I said, he was strong and (likably) arrogant but he felt unworthy of being loved - and that gave me another reason to root for the pair.

The story was fast paced and very well written. There were only a few very minor Americanisms (sidewalks and blocks being two things that did jump out at me) and I felt the story was nicely absorbed in the time period (which is 1817, by the way).

The love story was great, as was the enjoyment as the two moved from lust and obsession into love. I did feel that once Cassandra moved into Alex’s home, the sexual tension tapered off a little. I would have liked to see some more scenes of simple domesticity between the pair, especially with Alex’s feelings on how people saw him. I was also a little disappointed that they covered up Cassandra’s true identity to pave her way into society. The whole book was about finding your true self and finding someone to love you for who you really are. It just felt a little wrong to then say we’ll now just pretend you’re someone you’re not.

But fear not, it was still a happy ending and the book as a whole was a very worthy read. I’m looking forward to the next in the Scandalous Ladies of London / London Underground series which I’m hoping includes the books of Langdon and Ellingsworth.

A recommended read. 4 stars.

racheldida's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5