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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I have a love/hate thing with second chance stories. Mostly because so much of it requires me to wallow in hurt and anger feelings for so long. That said, Day of the Duchess was one that really wretched my heart out (in a good way) so I was willing to follow Sarah Maclean down this path again. And it delivered. The last 4 chapters made it all worth it.
I particularly liked that MacLean really dug into the idea of women as power, women as the future. And worthy of the HEA without compromising or losing themselves.
Even with the solid ending this is more like a 4/4.5 stars for me. The middle I found a bit repetitive and slow for me. A lot of the same information from the previous two books is repeated here, but it was too much of a recap for me, and I skimmed a lot of it.
I particularly liked that MacLean really dug into the idea of women as power, women as the future. And worthy of the HEA without compromising or losing themselves.
Even with the solid ending this is more like a 4/4.5 stars for me. The middle I found a bit repetitive and slow for me. A lot of the same information from the previous two books is repeated here, but it was too much of a recap for me, and I skimmed a lot of it.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My least favorite of the Bareknuckle Bastards series, Daring and the Duke is a well-intentioned effort to make me like Ewan/the Duke of Marwick, but after his dastardly deeds in the first two books...it's a little difficult to buy into his deserving Grace.
Also the fact that Grace's whole life's work is about letting women be free and empowered in her space but her sisters-in-law are never seen there is a problem. I get that they're mothers and don't have a ton of need for a brothel but that's not just what Grace's club is, and you want me to believe that Hattie and Felicity don't take nights off to hang out with their cool sister-in-law???
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Twenty years ago Grace Condry felt the sting of betrayal and heartbreak as her childhood love, Ewan took up the mantle as the Duke of Marwick. Grace fled with her found family and they survived on the streets in Convent Garden, working their way up and making a name for themselves as The Bareknuckle Bastards. But still Grace can't run from her past, and it doesn't help that Ewan has been making trouble for them the past few months (and trouble is just a nice way of putting it). Seems Ewan is really living up to the Mad Marwick moniker others of the ton have taken to calling him. But Grace has been hiding for twenty years and it's proved futile. If she truly wants to move on, it might just be time to face the past and mend a broken heart.
Daring and the Duke is absolute perfection. I feel like HEA's that are normally built up in the background over the course of a series and finally coming to a head in the final installment frequently don't live up to the expectations that I unavoidably set. I think Daring and the Duke is the first time I've ever been 100% satisfied with the way a romance has proceeded.
It pulls together a truly heartbreaking redemption arc and second-chance romance. Sarah MacLean knew when to bring the ebb and flow of Grace and Ewan together over the course of the story and when to give them space.
There's so much history between these two, and honestly, I was skeptical that Sarah MacLean could satisfactorily redeem Ewan based on his actions in the previous two books. But I felt like he was redeemed and I felt like readers finally got to get the full story of what happened in Dev, Whit, Grace, and Ewan's childhoods all those years ago. While it doesn't excuse his actions and many of the decisions he made, there's still a sense of growth that shows that he is not the person they believe him to be, that he can change, that he will do better.
For her part, Grace has to decide if she can trust and with that trust comes sharing the life she's built, but with understanding that it's not to stifle who she's become, but to, hopefully, make her stronger.
I loved each interaction between Grace and Ewan and as stated before, Sarah MacLean cleverly paces them throughout the book, just teases readers enough to want more, but not so much that it feels repetitive or like it's dragging on too long. In fact, the only thing I could quibble about is not wanting the story to end quite so quickly.
I appreciated that the focus is on Grace and Ewan but that doesn't preclude Dev and Whit from getting to put in their two cents as well, and I just love the bond between them and Grace, and hope it's one day there for Ewan as well.
I'm going to be honest, this book gave me the best book coma, and while I'm excited to see what Sarah MacLean has for readers next, I honestly can't imagine moving on from this series too quickly. Methinks a re-read is already in order. If you haven't read this series, you can certainly read each book on its own, but I feel in this case, Grace and Ewan's story is stronger for having been built up throughout the other two books. It packs more of a punch and leaves you even more satisfied. It definitely goes on my so far best of list for the year!
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Daring and the Duke is absolute perfection. I feel like HEA's that are normally built up in the background over the course of a series and finally coming to a head in the final installment frequently don't live up to the expectations that I unavoidably set. I think Daring and the Duke is the first time I've ever been 100% satisfied with the way a romance has proceeded.
It pulls together a truly heartbreaking redemption arc and second-chance romance. Sarah MacLean knew when to bring the ebb and flow of Grace and Ewan together over the course of the story and when to give them space.
There's so much history between these two, and honestly, I was skeptical that Sarah MacLean could satisfactorily redeem Ewan based on his actions in the previous two books. But I felt like he was redeemed and I felt like readers finally got to get the full story of what happened in Dev, Whit, Grace, and Ewan's childhoods all those years ago. While it doesn't excuse his actions and many of the decisions he made, there's still a sense of growth that shows that he is not the person they believe him to be, that he can change, that he will do better.
For her part, Grace has to decide if she can trust and with that trust comes sharing the life she's built, but with understanding that it's not to stifle who she's become, but to, hopefully, make her stronger.
I loved each interaction between Grace and Ewan and as stated before, Sarah MacLean cleverly paces them throughout the book, just teases readers enough to want more, but not so much that it feels repetitive or like it's dragging on too long. In fact, the only thing I could quibble about is not wanting the story to end quite so quickly.
I appreciated that the focus is on Grace and Ewan but that doesn't preclude Dev and Whit from getting to put in their two cents as well, and I just love the bond between them and Grace, and hope it's one day there for Ewan as well.
I'm going to be honest, this book gave me the best book coma, and while I'm excited to see what Sarah MacLean has for readers next, I honestly can't imagine moving on from this series too quickly. Methinks a re-read is already in order. If you haven't read this series, you can certainly read each book on its own, but I feel in this case, Grace and Ewan's story is stronger for having been built up throughout the other two books. It packs more of a punch and leaves you even more satisfied. It definitely goes on my so far best of list for the year!
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this one - Sarah MacLean's Bareknuckle Bastards is my favorite of hers yet - but it rang a bit hollow for me. It did successfully wrap up all the loose ends left in the first two books, but I wanted something more. I wanted more Grace as an independent woman. More of Ewan groveling and making up for the harm he caused in the first two books - because even if their basis for hating him was a lie, he still harmed them and killed several people. I feel like that gets swept under the rug a bit. They were too lovesick, too focused on one another at the expense of the rest of the world. And just a bit too repetitive. In the end, I felt like Felicity and Hattie had more personality than Grace, and that was disappointing.
The third and final book of the Bareknuckle Bastards is finally here and does not disappoint. It's full of angst, sensuality, tension, action, revelations and of course an awesome HEA. This book was different of the first two of the series, more serious. Ewan and Grace had a past, a tragic one. There aren't many funny scenes, but we have more sensual ones. The big scene towards the end (not this one, the other one) is so amazing and we see just how much (if we had any reservations left after all) Ewan loves Grace.. The Duke of Marwick must be rolling in his grave. I'm looking forward for Hell's Bells next year.
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse
I much preferred the other two books in this series. Trying to redeem Ewan after spending those two previous books as a big baddy villain fell flat for me, though I loved loved Grace as a character along with the female-centered business she created in MacLean's lively and well developed Covent Garden setting. Super fun to see glimpses of Hattie and Felicity enjoy their HEAs, too.
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No