sixcatsinacoat 's review for:

Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean

3.0

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I have to say, I was very disappointed in this final installment of the Bareknuckle Bastards series.

I had a hard time connecting with many of the characters, who all seemed very self-involved and oblivious to the needs of others. The writing was repetitious and, frankly, boring -- which is completely unusual for Sarah MacLean. I typically love her books, and enjoyed the prior two in the series.

'...[E]ven if I could forgive the boy you were, what of the things you did as a man? Devil. Whit. Hattie. Five boys in the garden - you may not have pulled the triggers or lit the match, but they are gone because of you. You threatened our livelihoods. Our home.' She narrowed her gaze at him.
'You say you've changed.'
He had.
'You say you are a better man.'
He was.
Wasn't he?
'But I'm not sure it matters.'

What really did it for me though is that I never felt that Ewan was actually redeemed. He killed five people and terrorized the three Bastards for years, and yet, we're supposed to forgive him

because he does some manual labor, washes some clothes in the Garden, and gives out $10,000. Ewan has "money beyond imagining", so what's $10,000 to him? It's not an amount that's going to cause him much pain to give away, if it makes him look good.

Ewan and Grace are so consumed with sex that neither of them ever seem to display any real remorse. Grace forgives him instantly because she wants to sleep with him and Ewan says he is sorry, because he wants to sleep with her.

.

I was given this book by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.