One-Eyed Dukes Are Wild: A Dukes Behaving Badly Novel

It took me but a few paragraphs to remind me why I love Megan Frampton’s books so much! Lady Margaret Sawford is firmly on the shelf, and she assumes her slightly scandalous reputation with flair. Mind you, the scandals are not as bad as it they could be, but still she did refuse to marry the despicable Lord Collingwood, and she does write a – very successful – newspaper serial. Because her parents shunned her after the Collingwood debacle, she put her unusual talent to good use: she is extremely good at playing cards, and as she requires funds to survive, as well as help women in distress, that’s how she makes a living. The Duke of Lasham is being his very undukely and recalcitrant self in a London ballroom, but Margaret sees him, looking slightly dangerous, with an eye-patch that makes him look positively piratical, and she must make his acquaintance, and the poor Duke never knew what he got himself into. I love that each chapter begins with an episode of “Georgiana and the Dragon”, written by A Lady of Mystery, that is Margaret. And in fact, it does mirror the story of ONE-EYE DUKES ARE WILD. And what a fabulously entertaining book it is! Margaret is fearless, independent, passionate; she sparkles, in the eyes, er, eye of the Duke. She cares nothing for propriety, whereas Lasham has made it the point of his whole existence, but he finds her irresistible, and she is! He cannot express himself, she is a woman of words; he has spent his whole life doing nothing but his duty, but she is bent on showing him that life is more than that. Megan Frampton weaves words into glorious sentences to craft an insanely witty and romantic tale. Her sublime prose is dazzling, the dialogues clever, and the characters enchanting. Ms. Frampton, in all this frothy magnificence, still makes us realise how perilous life could be for women of the Victorian era. And about how the Duke lost his eye? Gentle readers, I am not about to reveal this delicious piece of gossip. Megan Frampton sparkles, glitters, and shines like no one else! I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lady Margaret is on the shelf, on her own, and she likes it that way. She plays cards better than any woman I've read about in historical romances, is far more outspoken than some young miss looking to rebel against her parents, rescues women in distress, and doesn't give one inkling about propriety. After all, it never did anything for her except almost condemn her to a lifelong commitment to a man she didn't care to marry. Almost. The Duke of Lasham is everything Margaret thumbs her nose at. He is the epitome of propriety. He is the ideal Duke. He is responsible, unwavering, busy...and boring. And very unhappy though, it seems, he has no idea why. He has everything a man in his position could want and need. So why feel that way at all when the world was at his fingertips? Margaret and Lasham make an unlikely pair. His eye patch made him appear intimidating but Margaret found out that was only intimidating thing about him. Well, his title was too but that's neither here nor there. Margaret appeared every inch a refined lady until Lasham "rescues" her on one of her missions to help an abused woman. There's a wildness to her that stays can't contain. Society's expectations of proper misses doesn't phase her; she ignores them completely and does what needs to be done, which, for reasons he can't name, doesn't sit well with Lasham at all. This is probably the first historical romance I've read where the female lead exhibits more modern behavior. What I mean is, she is what I'd find in a contemporary romance, not an historical one. Odd, yes, but not a detriment for me. A warning to those of you looking for fast, hot, and, well, hot. This isn't it. Lasham and Margaret's story is very slow. They begin as strangers and move onto friends. The attraction simmers then burns. Their love grows as Lasham takes one cautious step after another as he lets Margaret show him how to live life without losing himself in his title. A great story from beginning to end. The romance is subtle and, for me, wasn't as important as Lasham's discovery of who he should be and who he could be was. Received from Edelweiss via Tasty Book Tours for an honest review

I like the sexual tension between them, but I expect for more heavy lovemaking in this stories.... finished it in 3 hours.... not really worth it especially for a sexual scene hunter like me, so yeah... storywise, good elaboration and setting, but lack of purpose of the story. ..