Duke of My Heart (Season for Scandal, #1)

by Kelly Bowen

Scandal can be handled...
Captain Maximus Harcourt, the unconventional tenth Duke of Alderidge, can deal with tropical storms, raging seas and the fiercest of pirates but he's returned home from his latest voyage to find a naked earl - quite inconveniently deceased - tied to his missing sister's bed. He has only one place to turn. Now he's at the mercy of the captivating Miss Ivory Moore of Chegarre & Associates, known throughout London for smoothing over the most dire of scandals.

Miss Moore treats the crisis as though it were no more serious than a cup of spilt tea on an expensive rug. As though this sort of thing happened on the job every day. Max has never in all his life met a woman with such nerve. Her dark eyes are too wide, her mouth is too full, her cheekbones too sharp. Yet together, she's somehow...flawless. It's just like his love for her, imperfect, unexpected-yet absolutely true.

• ISBN10: 1455536792
• ISBN13: 9781455536795
• Publish Date: 30 June 2016 (first published 26 January 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 6 August 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Forever
• Format: Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

This was funny. I loved Ivory. She was awesome - she was smart and logical and resourceful and funny. She was so practical about everything and it was very refreshing. Plus she was a total badass - none of this waiting around for someone to save her - she came into things with her own plan for getting out. I especially liked the ending - choosing herself over a man? That was freaking brilliant - I loved that the author made her strong and brave and unwilling to compromise on getting what she deserved and that it was Max that had to come around and bend. Too often with book romance - it's only the women willing to yield to the demands. But this was perfection. Max I felt could be too heavy handed at times. He irritated me a bit with some of his comments and particularly the ending -planning to skip out on Beatrice and Ivory really let the story down. To be fair though, I did like Max and he did have his redeeming moments. I really liked all the characters, they were all interesting and complex and everyone worked well together. I loved Gil - I want to read her story. The plot was riveting as well and I found myself devouring the story. 4.5 stars.

[Amanda]

Kelly Bowen has a wonderful ability to craft unique characters within historical times.

After cruising through the Lords of Worth series, I had to read Duke of My Heart, the first book in a new series, as soon as it came out. Bowen is fast becoming a favorite, and Duke of My Heart only cemented that. Already looking forward to the next book in the Season for Scandal series.

Ivory Moore is an Olivia Pope in the Regency era---she solves problems for the ton, keeping devastating secrets hidden. Like Max Harcourt's sister, who's disappeared, leaving a dead earl tied to her bed. When Max's aunt hires Ivory to help, Max is not expecting someone like Ivory.

And Max isn't your typical duke, either. As a third son, there was little chance he'd ever become duke, so he took to the seas. Except he does become duke (I'm not sure there was much in way of explanation for how his brothers die)... but he doesn't feel that he fits in, so he spends much of his time at sea.

While some of the reasons behind Bea's disappearance aren't exactly a surprise, there's still enough to discover as we go. Max and Ivory are similar to each other in many ways, which gives them an obvious connection to each other, and it was fun to watch them succumb to their attraction. They fight it, for the most part, until it becomes too strong to ignore.

The ending is inevitable, yet perfect for Max and Ivory and the story. I would have been happy with more---more Max's story, more Ivory's story, more of them together. But Chegarre & Associates also introduces a couple other interesting characters, who will hopefully have their own stories in this series. Bring on the next book!

[stacey_is_sassy]

The Duchess liked giving orders to the Captain.

I enjoyed Duke of My Heart from the very beginning to the very end. The opening scene sucked me in with the surprising storyline of a dead Earl tied with silk scarves to the bed of a debutante. Ooh, kinky. I don’t normally expect kinky on the first page of a story, let alone a historical romance. I think the opening scene was even more interesting because we look at it through the eyes of Miss Ivory Moore. I liked Ivory from the first page through the last. She’s a strong-minded, determined and intelligent woman who has seen a lot in her life. Taking her knowledge and experience she makes a career out of fixing the problems and sweeping secrets under the rug for aristocrats that can afford her. Her talents in covering up, disguising, hiding out, stashing away and managing to withhold those secrets, has made her services invaluable. This situation with the Earl and debutante will take all her skills, but unfortunately, there is one man who won’t get out of her way.

Maximus Harcourt, Duke of Alderidge, has just returned from a voyage to India. He’s a Duke, but he’s also the captain of The Odyssey. He is used to being in control, giving orders and having them obeyed. When he walks into his 18-year-old sister’s bedroom, finding the dead earl tied to her bed, he can’t believe Beatrice, his sister, had a hand in the situation. Things become even more strange when a beautiful woman starts ordering him about. Their first introduction does not go over well, but he does realise soon enough that the woman knows what she’s doing.

Max feels lost and out of control. He felt he’d done the right thing leaving his sixteen-year-old sister with their aunt. Coming home to all of this, makes him realise that he hadn’t been doing his job as brother well.

Both Max and Ivory butt heads on numerous occasions but there is an underlying attraction that neither can deny. Ivory has had to learn to manage her life to suit her needs as she knows she’s the only person she can count on. Her younger years were spent doing things she’d rather not, just to survive. She does not want to go back to that life. Max devoted his life to the sea after being told at a young age it was the army or clergy for his future. Being the third son, he wasn't needed to learn what a Duke's responsibilities were. Unfortunately, the family duties were foisted on him after his father and twin older brothers died. Instead of returning to London and his duties, he leaves it for his aunt to manage and organise. He never felt comfortable in his role as Duke of Alderidge.

Both Max and Ivory work together to solve the mystery of the dead Earl, where Beatrice escaped to and how she came to be in the situation. Some of the situations they get into made me laugh as Ivory handled them comfortably while Max was completely out of his depth.

Once the connection between Ivory and Max is taken to the next level, neither can deny the feelings that follow soon after. There are some sensual scenes but they are not over the top. The additional characters we are introduced to are very interesting and I would love to see more of their back story and what is in their futures.

Duke of My Heart has action, adventure and intrigue which I thoroughly enjoyed. There were times when I thought the characters actions and language were a little too modern for the times, but the storyline and intrigues distracted me enough to overlook it. I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.

I received an ARC of Duke of My Heart via Netgalley for an honest review.

To buy Duke of My Heart from Amazon - http://amzn.to/1SAPJHl