Author: Sabrina Jeffries
Original Title: What The Duke Desires
Release Year: 2013
Literary Genre: Romance
Setting: England and France, regency
Series: 1° of Duke's Men series
Vote: 10+/10
I adore Sabrina Jeffries, she's really
good, her style is distinguishable and lively; her stories are not
that predictable or ordinary (and considering the genre is definitely
a good thing). The pirate lord, The forbidden lord and A lady never
surrenders are splendid and this romance, the first of the Duke's Men
series (which by the way looks rather promising), is as good as them.
Tristan and Lisette Bonnaud are the
Viscount Rathmoor's illegitimate sons, born from the union with his
mistress, the french actress Claudine; the Viscount has always loved
his bastard children as much as the legitimate ones and is her
mistress his true love.
After the Viscount's wife death (with
whom he has two other sons: the heir and sly George and the good and
kind Dominick), he tells Claudine that they will marry so that
Tristan, Lisette and herself can be seen as respectable people.
Unfortunately Rathmoor won't honour his promise, always finding
excuses for his lack; when he finally dies because of a tragic
accident, George, who deeply hates his step-brothers, has now the
chance to ruin their lives: he banishes the three Bonnauds and accuses
Tristan of horse theft; Dominick, who instead always loved his
step-brothers, defends them and because of that the new Viscount banishes and
disinherit him too, forcing him to leave his studies.
TWELVE YEARS LATER:
Claudine and her two children, soon
after Rathmoor's death, came back to France; Tristan was forced to
run away from England, where the charge still stands, and now he
works for the french national police, the Sureté, where also Lisette has been employed, becoming the agency chief's (Mr. Vidcoq, really existed) favourite and that permits her to cultivate her passion for investigation.
After
their mother's death, Tristan decides to send Lisette back to
England, where she is happily welcomed by her step-brother Dominick,
who in the meantime has founded a private investigation agency;
Lisette takes the opportunity and starts working with him but both her
overprotective brothers only permit her little sister to work in the
office, considering the rest too dangerous and her still too
inexperienced.
One early morning, while
Dominick is traveling to Scotland, Lisette receives a sudden visit
from the Duke of Lyons, who with a threatening behaviour asks to see
her brother Tristan, accusing him to be a liar; he soon realises
that the girl won't be frighten by his threats and on the contrary
she seems stubborn in her attempts to wittily deflect his urgent
questions about where her brothers are; the unespected result is that her
behaviour affects and fascinates him immensely.
Lisette
is herself worried about Tristan, she hasn't received any letter
from him for some time and so she decides to offer her help to find
him. Maximilian, who is initially reticent to accept her offer,
finally agrees to collaborate: only Lisette has the
indispensable informations to find Tristan in France.
Their
journey from the beginning proves to be quite “difficult”: among
the other things Max, a kind and thoughtful man but sometimes a bit
quick-tempered, doesn't want to compromise the girl's honour, but
then, his deep attraction to Lisette, who fascinates him not only
with her beauty but also with her attitude which never stops to amaze
him, makes his attempts to stay away from her really arduous.
When
the attraction turns out to be mutual and the feelings they share
strongly increase, the secrets they both hide threaten to subvert
their lives and their story together. Maximilian is going to face
unexpected accidents and painful discoveries, which could change
completely his life, he might also lose his title...
Really
beautiful, I truly loved the story, it gained my attention since the
first page and there isn't a boring moment in the whole book. Lisette
e Max are wonderful, I appreciated that she isn't perfect, she
understands that maybe she overestimates her investigative knowledges
and despite the disappointment she accepts it and allows Max to help
her; this doesn't mean that she isn't smart, on the contrary, more
then ones she proves an admirable judgment ability.
Maximilian
is also a beautiful character, I found definitely good that it isn't
the common (and normal) social status the reason why he thinks he
can't live his love with Lisette. Their moments together and their
interactions are funny and touching.
Also
the other characters are really good and I suppose they will have
their own books, I'm speaking of Tristan, Dominick and Victor.
Well,
this is surely another amazing Jeffries' series, I can't wait to read
the next romance of the Duke's Men (When the rogue returns).
Buona lettura!
M.E.G.
The Duke's Men series: 1. What the duke desires (Maximilian, Lisette)
2. When the rogue returns (Victor, Isabelle)
2/5. Dorinda and the doctor (Percy, Dorinda)
3. How the scoundrel seduces (Tristan, Zoe)
4. If the viscount falls (Dominick, Jane)
prequel: 'Twas the night after Christmas (Pierce, Camilla)
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