When I am on a mini-break from work, I do not want heavy reads. When I am consuming a bottle of wine and decide, HEY LET’S READ A BOOK, I know that I want sexytimes and adults and GOWNS (and yes I totally did tweet that after finishing off a bottle of wine, while reading this book). No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean adds another notch to the metaphorical bedpost of awesome romance novels written by MacLean. Seriously, if you are new to historical romance, start with MacLean, she is a guaranteed good read with heat and heart. Basically if you want to know how I felt about No Good Duke Goes Unpunished you can basically stop at me saying I LOVED IT, because yes, I loved it and the rest of this review is going to be me talking on and on and on about how much I loved this book.
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished is the third book in MacLean’s The Rule Of Scoundrels series. This book is all about Temple, the big fighter and one of the partners of the Fallen Angel club. Temple is kind of scary and has a reputation for being the ‘Killer Duke’ of London. Essentially what happened is that twelve years ago, he killed Mara Lowe, his soon to be stepmother. Only, Temple has no recollection of the night except a beautiful girl with exotic eyes (heterochromia what up) and waking up in a bed of blood. So yeah, Temple does not have a great reputation in society and ends up forming the Fallen Angel. One day, a woman comes to Temple with a proposition, he help her with her brother’s debts and a few other things, and she will clear his name. How will she clear his name? Well, the woman, Mrs. MacIntyre, is actually MARA LOWE, she’s not dead yet. So, anyways, there’s this kind of hate between her and Temple and obviously this is a romance so that hate flares into something like attraction.
Temple, the hero and the love interest, is kind of my favorite so far you guys. Well, he’s up there with Cross. Temple is big and tattooed and kind of scary. He is consistently objectified by women when he fights. Yet, beneath his scary appearance, he is a good guy. I just really like the way his character comes across, like there’s layers and what you see on the outside is not what is on the inside. Also, he doesn’t quite come across as a jerk to me and well, there were some characters in this series that DO come across that way. So, what I am saying boils down to SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON.
I think I can talk about Mara for much longer because she made a huge impression on me. First off, her backstory, omg you guys all of the sobs. ALL OF THEM. You will see when you read this. Second off, this girl fakes her death and you know what, she owns her mistakes. She admits that she was wrong and that what she did was a mistake. She takes ownership and actually genuinely tries to rectify what she did. However, it’s not like she spent those twelve years twiddling her thumbs. No you guys, she takes on the secret identity of Mrs. MacIntrye, a widow who runs a boy’s home. That is right, she runs a home for the illegitimate sons of nobility. She also has this brother, Kit, or Christopher, who is bad news bears. And you guys, Mara is so strong. You’ll see as you read this that she gives it right back to Temple and the two are a fairly equal match as far as tempers and wordplay and such go. I just, I love that Mara does not back down ever. She rocks.
As this is a book by Sarah MacLean you probably already know that I got ALL OF THE FEELS. You probably already know if you’ve read her stuff before that there will be smiling and laughing and sighing and tears. I managed to dislike Bourne with this book, I think I am still upset about the first book but you guys he is such a jerk in this one. Whatever though, because you are going to be all up on the emotional roller coaster of Temple and Mara and it is going to be so worth all the emotions and the ups and the downs and the time reading it. Legit, No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean is an excellent addition to the Rule of Scoundrels series.
Disclosure: Review Copy Provided Via Edelweiss and Publisher
Other reviews of No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean:
The Book Barbies – “This book basically blew my mind”
Book Binge – “I couldn’t put this book down”
Caffeinated Book Reviewer – “I recommend you read post haste.”
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And are you not excited for THE NEXT BOOK?
Speaking of. Did you get the full epilogue for this? I know the eARC I read didn’t, so I picked it up from the library once it was published and read it all over again. So worth it.
I AM SO EXCITED. I just can’t hide it.
I did not get the full epilogue. I think I am going to wait until it’s discounted on Kindle, because her books usually are every few months and then just buy it.
I am glad to hear it’s as good on a re-read.
So I’ve read three Sarah MacLean books now. And I like them. But I’m not MADLY in love, either. It’s not that I don’t like romance, because I do. Particularly historical romance. I mean seriously, Julia Quinn is like my favorite author ever! By the way, have you read her, because if not, you TOTALLY should!
But anyway, I like Sarah MacLean’s books, but I’m not in love. I guess it’s just my personal preferences. I’m not exactly sure what it is about her books, but I never seem to be as in love with them as the majority of people are.
I have only read the first book in the Scoundrels series – the first one. I liked it (and seriously that cover!! Actually all the covers for these books are super pretty). I kind of want to read this one because Temple! But I’m just not sure if I will like the love story.
But yay for ALL THE FEELS, and long weekends, and wine, and romance novels. 🙂