A review by jackiehorne
The Duke of Dark Desires by Miranda Neville

3.0

I was looking forward to this final volume in the Wild Quartet, featuring the least reputable of the male friends: Julian, once outcast art dealer, now unexpected Duke of Denford. After his mother remarries and absconds with her new seafaring husband to America, dumping Julian's two half-sisters on his doorstep, Juilian finds himself in need of a governess. Lucky for him, a gorgeous woman shows up on his doorstep, too, in search of work. More interested in seducing Miss Jane Grey than in finding out about her past experience, Julian quickly hires the woman. Julian has no idea (but of course, readers do, given the his/her POV switches) that Jane Grey is really Mlle. Jeanne-Louise de Falleron, oldest daughter of a French aristocratic family who were all killed, in part because of Julian's carelessness and greed as a young man. "Jane" is set on revenge, determined to kill the Mr. Fortescue who betrayed her father, and hopes that taking a place in the Duke of Denford's employ will lead her to him. Readers know that Julian and the betrayer are one in the same, which makes the tension mount as rakish Julian finds himself growing interested not just in Miss Grey's body, but in her mind and her heart.

I'm usually a big fan of Neville's stories, but I had real difficulties with this one.

Spoiler

15-year-old Jane/Jeanne-Louise had to choose between going to the guillotine or becoming the mistress of a radical Frenchman. Given this history, Julian's seduction attempts left a really sour taste in my mouth; would a woman who had been forced to prostitute herself find sexual harassment on the job at all appealing? Yuck. I also found Jane a woefully passive, and woefully stupid, avenger; she does little to find her Mr. Fortescue, and takes forever to realize that he and Julian are one in the same. And Julian, of course, turns out to be not quite as cynical as we all thought him to be, a bit of a disappointment to me!

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