Daring the Duke | Anne Mallory | A New Voice To Watch In Romance!!!

Daring the Duke | Anne Mallory | A Worthy Sequel

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Daring the Duke

	Daring the Duke Anne Mallory Avon, 2005 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

DARING THE DUKE (APB)

Anne Mallory

When we last saw Stephen Chalmers he was recovering from the attempt on his life by a ring of royal traitors. Since then he's successfully inherited a title, but he's yet to discover the identity of the mysterious rescuer responsible for saving his life. He's also yet to discover the secret identity of the criminal he's been hunting for years: an infamous thief who disappeared from the London scene years ago, only to return recently and act more brazenly than ever. And though he doesn't have the thief in his clutches yet, he's closer than ever.

Orphaned and responsible for her younger sister, Audrey Kendrick had no choice but to turn to a life of crime in order to survive. It wasn't long before the clever, beautiful young woman became England's most notorious thief. Her true identity had never been discovered, not even by Stephen Chalmers, the disarming young Duke who had followed her for years.

ISBN: 0060762233

ARP: $14.95 178x111mm 384pp

January 2006 Release

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A New Voice To Watch In Romance!!!

One of the best historical romances I've read in years. I was hooked from the beginning. Great characters with lots of suspense and romance. Hard to put down. The plot and characters seemed fresh, the pace was quick, and it was a totally engrossing read. A sexy hero, a feisty heroine, a mystery, and a passionate romance...put them all together and you get "Daring the Duke", a historical romance you don't want to miss. Anne Mallory developed Audrey Kendrick and Stephen Chalmers's personalities and motivations very convincingly, to the point where you feel as though you know them well enough to be friends by the time you finish the book. One of the things I liked best about this book is the way the author wove the emotional storyline with such a light touch -- I was engrossed with the relationship between the hero and heroine and truly felt as if I knew them both. Daring the Duke was an emotional roller coaster, and I felt all the pain and joy they did. Wonderful love story, great characters with an emotionally scarred hero and strong but vulnerable heroine, unique setting, intriguing plot, edge-of-your-seat pacing, heart-tugging emotion, excellent writing, intense sensual love scenes, and a superb ending. I was so engrossed, I read it in a day. The love scenes are ample & steamy, and the plot is a good one. A fast paced book with an intricate plot that I cannot help but enjoy. Daring the Duke a strong (but not obnoxious) heroine who is in no way ordinary, a back story which is compelling but doesn't get in the way of the love story, and of course a wonderful hero. It was written with an amazing level of intensity and feeling that my heart was pumping furiously with both the palatable passion and the keen sense of danger infused in the story. Steven is a mighty good man. He is HOT HOT HOT! This was just the kind of romance novel I love. Wonderful characters. Characters that seems real because they are not perfect-something most novels like this lack. I absolutely loved this book. The author has a great gift in her ability to develop characters. I must have laughed a hundred times and I absolutely couldn't put the book down until I was finished. I found Anne Mallory writing fresh, and her lead characters fully developed with their personalities very well crafted. I can't wait to read more books from Anne Mallory. I hope she comes out with a new one soon.

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A Worthy Sequel

Masquerading the Marquess introduced us to a new author, Anne Mallory, whose knowledge of the Regency period in England is certainly vast. She must be a scholar of note, for her grasp of social and romantic customs is as deep as it is wide. We loved the first book, and we wondered how Ms. Mallory would be able to top the ultra-romantic and intriguing set up that she established. For in the first book her heroine, spunky Camille Minton, worked undercover as a cartoonist or caricaturist for Regency gossip columns while pretending to be a dowdy chaperone! For one thing, few books set in the Regency acknowledge the fact that, unpleasant or not, many women had to work to make a living. Plus, Camille's cunning cartoons were a clever way for author Mallory to describe most of her characters without that tedious job of over-description. The suspense came from asking ourselves when would the Marquess she loved find out she was a "working girl"?

Here the heroine works as a thief--a dashing thief like the Scarlet Pimpernel! Audrey is romantic, decent, hard-working and ultimately does the right thing, but we wince for her virtue and we worry about whether or not she will land the one man who will make her happy--which will it be?

Not by choice but because of a blackmailer who plans to expose her to the "ton" (fashionable crowd of Beau Brummell) and to hurt her sister's reputation if she does not comply with his insane demands. It's like Topkapi or Rififi or any number of suspenseful crime caper movies, blended in with the Regency love affairs we love to follow in Avon romances. DARING THE DUKE ups the emotional ante of the first novel by Mallory, engaging us with her sympathetic characters while making us understand why they sometimes flirt with the law.

I wonder what title will come up next for Anne Mallory? ROMANCING THE REGENT? PURSUING THE PRINCE? VIOLATING THE VISCOUNT? Only time will tell!

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Historical Mystery Novel

'Daring the Duke' by Anne Mallory is historical romance mystery novel based in 1824. Audrey Kendrick is a famous thief who is now being blackmailed to save her sister. Audrey has history with the new Duke Stephen Chalmers but he does remember her saving his life. The Duke finds out who Audrey is and the chance is on ..... This was fun quick read. . I would recommend this novel and The Lady Lies by Samantha Saxon.

Enjoyable read and great characters

The characters made this book. They were very likeable and I wanted them to have a happy ending. I didn't find the story riveting but I liked it well enough and will be ordering Roth's story. The ending was a little confusing to me when all of the pieces were being put together. I was thinking, "Now who is that?..." Perhaps if I had read the first in the series I may have been aware more of who some of the villains were..I guess. But overall the story was entertaining and I will continue to read this author.

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Kind of slow...

I expected great things based on the five stars reviews here, but I wasn't very impressed with this book. It actually took me over a week to finish it. Normally I'll read a good book straight through in a day or two, but I kept setting this one aside for more interesting books. It's plot was unique enough to have me coming back to it eventually, but I was never in a big hurry to see how it ended.

I thought the plot and the characters had real potential, but there needed to be a little more detail and depth in order to give it that sense of richness of a great romance.

The story seemed to be told on a superficial level, in that we were told the bare facts about what was happening and who the characters were. There was simply not enough descriptions or depth to create a really dynamic story. Usually I feel that romance novels err on the side of giving too much detail that bogs down the story, but in case I think more detail was needed in order to hook the reader. For example, there were plenty of secondary characters who I would have liked to see more of, but they would only appear for 1 paragraph to 1 page at a time. Not enough time for us to care about these more minor characters, or to get to know the protagonists through interactions with others.

That being said, I did see real potential with this story as it had a unique plot and appealing characters. I think with a little more depth it could have made for a really great crime caper and a great romance. This was the first book I've read by this author, but despite being less than impressed, I would definetly give her another shot in the future to see if she's improved.

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reviews: page 1, 2

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