I received this book for free from Avon in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
For The Duke's Eyes Only by Lenora Bell Also in this series: What a Difference a Duke Makes, One Fine Duke
Series: School For Dukes #2
Published by Avon Books on September 18 2018
Genres: Historical Romance, Regency Era
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Avon
If adventure has a name...it must be Lady India Rochester. The intrepid archaeologist possesses a sharp blade and an even sharper knack for uncovering history's forgotten women. Unfortunately, she has one annoying weakness: the dangerously handsome Duke of Ravenwood. Former best friend. Current enemy. And the man who dared to break her heart.
Daniel Bonds, the Duke of Ravenwood, is a thrill-seeking antiquities hunter who only plays by one rule: Never fall in love. He's in it for the fortune and glory. At least that's what he wants the world to think. He's sworn to hide his tangled web of secrets, especially from the one woman he cares about and will protect at any cost.
But when a priceless relic is stolen from the British Museum, the rivals must align forces. Racing to recover the stolen antiquity and avert an international disaster? All in a day's work. Avoiding their buried feelings? More and more impossible. For love is about to become the greatest treasure of all.
The grand adventure begins...now!
*May Contain Spolers*
For The Duke’s Eyes Only is the second book in the latest series by Lenora Bell. Here we have a story that features a second chance romance, some adventure, secrets and danger and some laughs. I will admit that I was a bit nervous in reading this book here. I really wanted to like this a ton, and I will admit I did get a kick out of this story in many ways. But unfortunately it wasn’t a five star read like I was hoping for….but does that mean it was a bad book? HELL NO…it was REALLY good, just a couple things that brought the rating down a notch.
Our story begins with our heroine, India Rochester, digging in the ground with her friend Daniel, who is also her betrothed. They are the best of friends, looking for treasures, plans on having adventures around the world together and finding lost treasure and artifacts of all kinds. But then Daniel receives word that his father has been killed and a traitor to the country and must go to a special school in Scotland. At first Daniel and India write to each other for a while but then Daniel betrays India in the worst of ways, closing off her heart to him completely and now its been fifteen years since they were children playing and running free.
Lady India, is a Archaeologist and very passionate about her career. She has traveled all over on her digs and adventures and is planning a big one set for Egypt. And she is more than ready. But while in London, she poses as a man and infiltrates a male secret society for ancient artificats since women are forbidden to be part of it. And while out exploring, she stumbles across what is supposed to be the Rosetta Stone…only she knows that its a fake and Daniel of all people find her and now his boss wants her to accompany him on a mission to France to find the real one which has been stolen.
Daniel has been working as a spy for many years, ever since his father’s death and being claimed a traitor, he knew his father was set up and wanted to clear his name. So he went through a brutal training when he was young, which forced him to give up everything and everyone he ever cared about including Indy. He has never stopped loving her, but he has to keep an emotional distance, because working as a spy….emotion can be the death of you. But he can’t tell what he does for a living, but he has to keep Indy out of danger and tries to but he also understands her more than anyone else does. He understands her passion and zest. Will they find the theif of the stone….and will they find their happy ever after despite the past mistakes made?
He knew how to make her laugh. He knew how to wound her. He was her one and only weakness. He always had been.
I simply adored this book quite a bit, it was a delight in many ways. The first beginning scene, you truly feel the connection that Indy and Daniel have with each other even as children. They both have the same passion for knowledge and ancient artifacts and have their own dreams of their version of their future. But the life gets in the ways and they become enemies over the years. And now they will have to work together to solve a great mystery and bring a criminal to justice and hopefully prevent a war between England and France.
I love you because…I always have. And I always will.
The bantering between the couple was simply fantastic, and I had a blast with these two. They were so entertaining and I loved how quick-witted they both are and they really understand each other in certain ways that even they don’t even fully realize. Daniel wants to protect Indy because he knows the dangers of this type of work….he almost died a year before from this work and is just trying to prove himself to his boss so he can be out in the field again. But Indy is determined to get this mission done, even though she doesn’t know everything that is really going on. She is kept in the dark at times so I understood why she could be a bit ….DRAMATIC….alright they are both dramatic in different ways. I expected this since we do see some dramatics in the first book “What A Difference A Duke Makes” –book one of the School For Dukes series. I did feel that Indy could be a bit naive at times and just wanted to go head first into this mission without thinking things through. But she has such a interesting personality that fascinates the reader that surprisingly this element didn’t bother me so BRAVO to Lenora Bell to creating a heroine that I normally don’t care for and found myself wanting to be friends with this independent lady who is unconventional and true to herself.
I had no problems with the hero, I could see things from his point of view and why he acts the way he does. We don’t see what he goes through in his brutal training that he received, but I can just imagine how bad it must have been. And we also see what a close bond he has with his CO…who lost his family because of the job so we see that he doesn’t want to lose Indy because of his choice to clear his father’s name and do something bigger than himself…to make a difference and make the world a bit safer. He sacrfices quite a bit and I know that he may seem overbearing at times, but you also see that he does it out of concern for Indy. He has seen quite a bit evil in the world so I can see why the fear does get to him at times.
The flow of the story was a bit slow at times especially in the middle, but I can guarantee that the beginning and ending are very fast paced but at times the pace slows and so I had to keep with it at times. I am not sure if it was due to a bit of frustration with some of antics by Indy or if the plot just slows a bit. I also found that there are some unresolved issues in this book like for example View Spoiler »
Overall I found For The Duke’s Eyes Only to be a laugh out loud, curl your toes and excite your senses love tale….it has adventure, wit, intrigue and some smexy times to sigh over….PURE DELIGHT!!
About Lenora Bell
Lenora Bell is a third generation Alaskan and her hometown still has no traffic lights or fast food, but the public library is going strong!
An English teacher with an MFA in Creative Writing, Lenora has traveled the globe using music to bring smiles to classrooms. She currently lives in Switzerland with her carpenter husband and two naughty tiger-striped kitties.
In 2014 she won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® Award for Best Historical. She's thrilled to be debuting with Avon Books in 2016!
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