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sarah_moynihan's review against another edition
4.0
'Ten years ago Ivy Breckenridge’s life was ruined. She had to reinvent herself, and now, after painstakingly making her own way in the world, she’s nearly forgotten the dreams of home and family she’d once nurtured. Until one man peers into her soul and awakens every one of her hidden desires. But no matter how good he makes her feel, she can’t trust him—alone by choice is better than alone by necessity.
With a notorious reputation for training married women in the art of passion, Sebastian Westgate, Duke of Clare, is reviled by some and celebrated by others. He doesn’t allow anyone close enough to see past his charming exterior. When Ivy uncovers the man beneath, the seducer is suddenly the seduced. Enraptured by her mind and spirit, he wants more but revealing his darkest secrets is a price he won’t pay.'
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3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.
The Duke of Deception is the third book in Darcy Burke's The Untouchables series and is a historical romance.
First and foremost I want to mention what bothered me to get it out of the way. I'm disappointed that Aquilla's wants for her life seem to have so completely changed from the last book. In The Duke of Daring Aquilla is the only member of her friend group who seems to truly hope for and be actively seeking a marriage and even tries persuading Lucy into keeping an open mind about marriage on more than one occasion. But here in The Duke of Deception Aquilla is actively avoiding marrige like her two dear friends and even contemplates on how she could be the 'duchess of deception' "since she'd spent four and a half Seasons seeking a husband with no intent to actually marry." Now I can understand wanting to pretend to be seeking a husband to stay with the Satterfields and away from her family life, but pushing a dear friend toward marriage if she truly finds it so awful? That seems quite out of character and I don't respect her deceiving her closest and most trusted friends.
Due to that, I was pretty annoyed with Aquilla early on in this book and didn't feel very sympathetic to her character when she continued to keep the truth of her intentions from those that cared about her. I understood her reasoning, but they would have supported her and so her stressing over it seemed needless to me and disrespectful to those important to her. But when she began leveling with those around her, I did began to respect her character more.
I understood Ned's reasoning behind keeping important information from Aquilla, he was trying to pretect his family from censure and attack from the ton. The safest way to do that was to keep that information back until he knew he could place trust in the person he was going to spend his life with, everything was checked out there for me. But he kept the information for longer than he should have, just have the difficult conversation! I will say though that the way George was portrayed seemed a bit off to me. Especially the way things came about when he met Aquilla and the events following directly thereafter.
I'm looking forward to learning about Ivy's backstory in the next book, The Duke of Desire. I recommend this series, especially if you really love a series.; there are twelve books in this series, The Untouchables, so there's plenty to enjoy.
With a notorious reputation for training married women in the art of passion, Sebastian Westgate, Duke of Clare, is reviled by some and celebrated by others. He doesn’t allow anyone close enough to see past his charming exterior. When Ivy uncovers the man beneath, the seducer is suddenly the seduced. Enraptured by her mind and spirit, he wants more but revealing his darkest secrets is a price he won’t pay.'
__________________________________
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.
The Duke of Deception is the third book in Darcy Burke's The Untouchables series and is a historical romance.
First and foremost I want to mention what bothered me to get it out of the way. I'm disappointed that Aquilla's wants for her life seem to have so completely changed from the last book. In The Duke of Daring Aquilla is the only member of her friend group who seems to truly hope for and be actively seeking a marriage and even tries persuading Lucy into keeping an open mind about marriage on more than one occasion. But here in The Duke of Deception Aquilla is actively avoiding marrige like her two dear friends and even contemplates on how she could be the 'duchess of deception' "since she'd spent four and a half Seasons seeking a husband with no intent to actually marry." Now I can understand wanting to pretend to be seeking a husband to stay with the Satterfields and away from her family life, but pushing a dear friend toward marriage if she truly finds it so awful? That seems quite out of character and I don't respect her deceiving her closest and most trusted friends.
Due to that, I was pretty annoyed with Aquilla early on in this book and didn't feel very sympathetic to her character when she continued to keep the truth of her intentions from those that cared about her. I understood her reasoning, but they would have supported her and so her stressing over it seemed needless to me and disrespectful to those important to her. But when she began leveling with those around her, I did began to respect her character more.
I understood Ned's reasoning behind keeping important information from Aquilla, he was trying to pretect his family from censure and attack from the ton. The safest way to do that was to keep that information back until he knew he could place trust in the person he was going to spend his life with, everything was checked out there for me. But he kept the information for longer than he should have, just have the difficult conversation! I will say though that the way George was portrayed seemed a bit off to me. Especially the way things came about when he met Aquilla and the events following directly thereafter.
I'm looking forward to learning about Ivy's backstory in the next book, The Duke of Desire. I recommend this series, especially if you really love a series.; there are twelve books in this series, The Untouchables, so there's plenty to enjoy.
ireadgoodbooks's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
4.5
lrwlee's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this story. Just the right amount of action and intimacy without far fetched plots. Nicely done.
nellesnightstand1's review against another edition
5.0
The Untouchable series has had some very unique hero's, this one is no exception. Just when she decides to leave the marriage mart Aquilla Knox meets Edward of the Earl of Sutton. He's been putting young misses through their paces to see if he can trust them. He has a secret he must keep. He has earned the reputation of the Duke of Deception and Aquilla doesn't trust that he's going to follow through on his courtship.
This one was a great story. Truly enjoyable.
This one was a great story. Truly enjoyable.
winterreader40's review against another edition
4.0
This is Aquilla and Ned, both accomplished liars, meet by accident and forget to be their usual deceitful selves, romance and hijinks ensue.
nellesnightstand's review against another edition
5.0
The Untouchable series has had some very unique hero's, this one is no exception. Just when she decides to leave the marriage mart Aquilla Knox meets Edward of the Earl of Sutton. He's been putting young misses through their paces to see if he can trust them. He has a secret he must keep. He has earned the reputation of the Duke of Deception and Aquilla doesn't trust that he's going to follow through on his courtship.
This one was a great story. Truly enjoyable.
This one was a great story. Truly enjoyable.
mdalida's review against another edition
3.0
I should wait a few days to do any review so that I can see how memorable a book is once the glow has worn off... and I can see now why this book has merited an average rating so far. It's charming, but repetitive in that the other books in the series had too similar of premises: Duke of whatever, so far above my station, notices me and falls in love. Meh...
This one caught me a bit more because it dealt with something other than balls and dresses - it dealt with severe mental illness and the heavy tornado of emotions that come for the individual and the family. I liked seeing the interactions between the brothers; it touched my heart to see such tenderness. I know many ppl like the "manly man" Alphas that strut across so many pages of romance, but I melt for those emotional, sensitive, resilient Betas. I wouldn't classify this hero as a Beta per se, but his tenderness for his brother and his regard for Aquila was beautiful to me.
Aquila. What an unfortunate name. It was jarring every time I read it. I kept saying, "Tequila" in my head! Anyway, I was but disappointed in her.. I didn't understand at the end, after he'd revealed his secrets, did she kinda just brush over her main painful history? It was anticlimactic and unfulfilling. She seemed to start off quirky and smart enough, but then lost luster for me.
Except for that first sex scene -- LOVE! ❤️ haha possibly one of the best I've read, and not for steaminess or inventiveness or passion. But for ingenuity and capturing the fun of Play! I laughed and loved it.
I was disappointed in the whole arc with Lindsell - like, why did his story become so absurd? It was laughable.
I've heard the next one is good, so I'll give it a try. This was a comfort read; simple, fun, non-taxing fluff. Seemed to hit some high points for me while at other times missed the mark.
This one caught me a bit more because it dealt with something other than balls and dresses - it dealt with severe mental illness and the heavy tornado of emotions that come for the individual and the family. I liked seeing the interactions between the brothers; it touched my heart to see such tenderness. I know many ppl like the "manly man" Alphas that strut across so many pages of romance, but I melt for those emotional, sensitive, resilient Betas. I wouldn't classify this hero as a Beta per se, but his tenderness for his brother and his regard for Aquila was beautiful to me.
Aquila. What an unfortunate name. It was jarring every time I read it. I kept saying, "Tequila" in my head! Anyway, I was but disappointed in her.. I didn't understand at the end, after he'd revealed his secrets, did she kinda just brush over her main painful history? It was anticlimactic and unfulfilling. She seemed to start off quirky and smart enough, but then lost luster for me.
Except for that first sex scene -- LOVE! ❤️ haha possibly one of the best I've read, and not for steaminess or inventiveness or passion. But for ingenuity and capturing the fun of Play! I laughed and loved it.
I was disappointed in the whole arc with Lindsell - like, why did his story become so absurd? It was laughable.
I've heard the next one is good, so I'll give it a try. This was a comfort read; simple, fun, non-taxing fluff. Seemed to hit some high points for me while at other times missed the mark.
sassysmutlover's review against another edition
5.0
This is my favorite so far in this series! There are issues in this one that you normally don't see in historical romance and I love it. They had chemistry from the moment they met and their wedding happened quickly to protect her, but you could tell they loved each other before they even knew it. I loved when they visited the hospital and the proposal. Only one scene had me screaming towards the end, but it worked out perfectly.
Aquilla is someone that I loved from the start. She may not want to marry and comes from not so good home, but she is strong and everyone loves her. I absolutely love her methods for keeping men away and she is very good at her acting. She did what she had to when it came to her family and saving herself.
Ned will make you fall in love with him the moment you learn his secret and the work he does. I loved that he kept putting ladies to his test until he met Aquilla. He doesn't hold back when he doesn't like someone or something they say, but he does it in a way that doesn't cause a scene.
Their passion leaps off the pages. I wanted to smack her father and brother for how they treated her and their own wives. At first, I didn't like her mother, but once I realized why she was that way I felt for her. I love his aunt like crazy because of how she helps him and that she doesn't seem to shy away from anything.
Aquilla is someone that I loved from the start. She may not want to marry and comes from not so good home, but she is strong and everyone loves her. I absolutely love her methods for keeping men away and she is very good at her acting. She did what she had to when it came to her family and saving herself.
Ned will make you fall in love with him the moment you learn his secret and the work he does. I loved that he kept putting ladies to his test until he met Aquilla. He doesn't hold back when he doesn't like someone or something they say, but he does it in a way that doesn't cause a scene.
Their passion leaps off the pages. I wanted to smack her father and brother for how they treated her and their own wives. At first, I didn't like her mother, but once I realized why she was that way I felt for her. I love his aunt like crazy because of how she helps him and that she doesn't seem to shy away from anything.