Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt

Out of the whole series, this book is one of the better ones. Think Batman but set in the 1700s. 

Same premise. 

Maximus Batten, Duke of Wakefield, is an orphaned as a boy and has vowed revenge. He also vowed to bring pride into the house of Wakefield in honor of his fallen father. So, that means, he needs an appropriate wife of particular lineage.

And….this is a perfect way to introduce an impoverished heroine who just happens to be the paid companion of his targeted wife to be. Artemis Greaves was gently born, but life has led her to a life of quiet poverty. Even though her cousin was a much better prospect, Maximus is sinking fast like a lead weight. Maximus now has to fight off what he really wants, for the sake of what right for the family as dictated by society and culture of the day.

Pssst...that’s not exactly original. And you’ve read at least 20 books with the same story lines....

If the author is kick ass and the editor is also, then the story line will always be new to me. 

It was heartbreaking to see Artemis fall in love knowing that Maximus’s obsession with restoring his family’s honor would always keep them apart.

It was equally heartbreaking to see Maximus intentionally hurt the woman he loves when his instinct is screaming at him to do otherwise.

Yep, plenty of feels in this one. Oh, and there’s a villain. It didn’t feel like it was thrown in as Maximus was as obsessed as finding his parent’s killers as he was with keeping Artemis.

 All in all a deeply satisfying novel.

Sincerely, Carter by Whitney Garcia Williams

HINT: If you get your books from Amazon. Always, always, ALWAYS, try a sample. It will save you the headache of reading a truly awful book. (And insulting the author by offering them to find a new editor or career) It doesn’t work 100% of the time but my chances of reading a burn-it-burn-IT-WITH-FIRE book reduced significantly since I started.

So, utilize that power my friends. Use the force.

With that said, I knew by the first 5 pages that I had a gem.

What can I say about this book except…

I have a ton more of these but you get the idea.

My first love in romantic story lines is the “unrequited love” scenario.

My second love…is best-friend-turned.

This is the second one.

I know… I know… Been used a thousand times before. But really, as the great Pink once said, So, What?

The book was smart, funny, and really tugged at me. Ate this up in one sitting and woke up with a book hangover.

Well worth it.

The book goes back and forth between Arizona and Carter’s point of view which I love. I don’t like first person books too much but I like it when it has more than one person’s voice in it. I also like when the author leads me to feelings and scenarios through dialogue and gestures. I hate it when I’m lead there through overly descriptive narratives. It makes me feel dumb. Readers are smart people. We can assume A LOT.

 I also love the fact that she puts their letters to each other as they grew up. It makes the reader understand why the abrupt 180 in their relationship. From platonic, ew-cooties friends to WTF was that?!!!

They have been building up this passion for years and like Mt. Vesuvius it just takes off with a life on its own.

Oh and the sex scenes….

Carter… I didn’t know that about you but DAMN! More please.

What I didn’t like… no epilogue. But I know what the author was going for so it’s okay. I’ll accept it for artistic purposes.

Other than that…. Fan-fucking-tastic.