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.
One-Eyed Dukes are Wild by Megan FramptonAlso in this series: When Good Earls Go Bad, Put Up Your Duke
Series: Dukes Behaving Badly #3
Published by Avon on December 29th 2015
Genres: Historical Romance, Regency Era
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Avon
ISBN: 0062412787
When does proper behavior deserve a deliciously improper reward?
The scandalously unmarried Lady Margaret Sawford is looking for adventure—and is always up for a challenge. Her curiosity is aroused by a dangerous-looking stranger with an eye patch, an ideal companion for the life she longs for, no matter what Society might say. So when the piratical gentleman turns out to be a duke—and just as boringly proper as any other nobleman—she can't help but incite him to walk on the wild side.
Well-heeled, well-mannered, and well beyond any interest in society's expectations, the Duke of Lasham is tired of being perfect. Margaret's lush beauty and gently laughing eyes are an irresistible temptation to embrace the imperfect—and her. But if a little misbehavior is appealing, unleashing his wild side is completely seductive—as long as the lovely Margaret is the object of his passion.
One Eyed Dukes Are Wild is the latest release of Megan Frampton’s series Dukes Behaving Badly. I will admit I was super excited to pick this one, because I had enjoyed the previous books so well. This one opens up with a daring heroine and a reserved duke. They both have a instant attraction to one another, however love is never simple or easy. The story is well written and at first I enjoyed the verbal interaction sbetween the characters and I really enjoyed seeing the way this story ended up playing out. It was quite fun to see how opposite both Margaret and Lasham are from each other, but how well they seem to fit….and with each chapter we see how well they click.
I did feel that the heroine was a bit too “contemporary” for my tastes though. There were many qualities I liked about her, but she didn’t seem to be well fitted for a historical and the hero was a bit tame, the cover tends to be a bit misleading on that score though. Even though I love the cover, it doesn’t really match the characters in the story as well as I would have liked. The flow of the story was steady, and even though there were some moments I had trouble connecting with, overall it was a enjoyable read that I would recommend to those readers that like their historical romances lighthearted and fun. Megan Frampton writes a unique story that I found to be delightful and full of charm and a sweetly moving romance.
1844
A London ballroom
Too many people, too much noise
Lasham took too big a swallow of his wine, knowing his headache would only be exacerbated by the alcohol, but unwilling to forgo the possibility that perhaps, for just a few minutes, his perception would be muffled, blurred a little around the edges.
So that he wouldn’t be in a state of constant keen awareness that he was the Duke of Lasham, that he was likely the most important person wherever he happened to be—according to everyone but him—and that he was under almost continuous surveillance.
The ballroom was filled with the best people of Society, all of whom seemed to be far more at ease than he had ever been. Could ever be, in fact. He stood to the side of the dance floor, the whirling fabric of the ladies’ gowns like a child’s top.
Not that he’d been allowed anything as playful or fun as a top when he was growing up. But he could identify the toy, at least.
“Enjoying yourself, Your Grace?” His hostess, along with two of her daughters, had crept up along his blind side, making him start and slosh his wine onto his gloved hand. Occurrences like this weren’t the worst part of having lost an eye—that obviously would be the fact that he only had one eye left—but it was definitely annoying.
“Yes,” he said, bowing in their general direction, “thank you, I am.”
The three ladies gawked at him as though waiting for him to continue to speak, to display more of his wondrous dukeliness for their delight. As though he were more of an object than a person.
But he couldn’t just perform on command, and his hand was damp, and now he would have to go air out his glove before bestowing another dance on some lady he would be obliged to dance with, being the duke, and all. Because if his glove was damp, it might be perceived as, God forbid, sweaty, and sweaty-handed dukes might mean that the duke had gotten said sweat because he was enthralled with the person with whom he was dancing, which would lead to expectations, which would lead to expect a question, and Lasham knew he did not want to ever have to ask that question of anybody.
It was bad enough being the object of scrutiny when he was out in public. At home, at least, he was by himself, blissfully so, and taking a duchess would require that he be at home by himself with somebody else, and that somebody would doubtless have ducal expectations of him as well.
“Excuse me,” he said to the silent, gawking ladies. He sketched a quick bow and strode off, trying to look as though he had a destination rather than merely wishing to depart.
Great review! I read one of Megan Frampton’s novella and really enjoyed it. The title of this book really got my attention and made me chuckle just a bit. I am sorry that this one didn’t quite live up to your expectations. I am glad that it was still an overall nice read.
I often get a bit bored with the spitfire heroines in historical romance. I don’t dislike them, but I feel like they are rather common. I’m glad you did enjoy this even if the heroine was a bit too modern and the hero a bit on the bland side.
Lovely review! Thank you for hosting!
Crystal, Tasty Book Tours
currently reading this one, but to be honest I myself am having a difficult time with it, I hope I enjoy it more
The title of this book makes me giggle like a middle schooler. 😛
I kind of like contemporary feeling heroines in historical romances for some reason. So , I might need to check this out.
I definitely understand what you mean about Margaret feeling contemporary. But, there was just something about this book that I found so adorable and fun. I especially loved the hero! Great review!
I have been there, sure women can be modern in those times, but sometimes yeah, a bit too contemporary
Even if the heroine is like that it’s great to have a story like that, always interesting to have unique stories!
Oh, what a let down that her pirate is a conservative duke. Haha! But then he fools her. Sounds fun!
I’m gearing up to read lots of historical romance this year, so this series fits the bill. I’m not sure about this heroine here, since she doesn’t seem to fit the time period. Hmm, I’ll have to see. Great review!