This book was just okay. It was full of intrigue so much so that it overshadowed the romance. It was heavy with mental speculation and I skimmed a lot but I did finish. Smugglers give Kate as a gift to Rohan, the Duke of Warrington.
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For centuries the Duke of Warrington's family has been cursed by the death of loved wives, Rohan Kilburn is determined that this will not be his fate, women are a temporary dalliance, prefereably already married or widowed with no interest in marrying him. Until Kate Madsen is given to him by his villagers in an attempt to mollify his wrath at their continued involvement in wrecking. However Kate isn't what they pretend she is, she's unwilling, this night, to be his. Finding himself attracted he doesn't want to be caught in a relationship with her, mostly because he finds her very attractive, and that could spell her doom.

It's pretty typical and I could see some of the plot twists coming a mile off, still, very readable and entertaining, I loved Kate as a character. ( )

The fishing village attached to Warrington's estate is actually filled with smugglers who've been ignored in favor of transporting secret messages for The Order. Some of the younger smugglers start trying to make money the fast and dirty way, but crashing ships into the rocky coast. When a Coast Guard agent tells Warrington about his people's goings on,he heads back hoe to scare them back into line. He then stumbles into an additional plot that ties his young smugglers to The Order's arch enemies - The Promethians.

Romances make me giggle, but they're fun and I enjoy them. They're like a palate cleanser for the brain! And yes, The Inferno Club series has a very silly premise, but I enjoyed My Wicked Marquess and had assumed that My Dangerous Duke would be equally as fun. It had it's moments, but I just couldn't get past the plot developments.

I like both Kate and Warrington (I liked that he was superstitious), they were not the problem. I liked that Warrington found out quickly that Kate was not a prostitute; I'd been a bit worried that this discover would be drawn out and was relieved when it wasn't. Then, GASP!, Kate might be related to The Enemy. Oh dear, is this going to be drawn out also? Oh no, not really, ok fine. Then begins a very Indiana Jones/ Laura Croft type escapade to find a lost treasure! And believe it or not, this is where things got silly and occasionally ridiculous. I know at this point it's a bit unfair when I complain about the story being unrealistic, but come on! This was just a tad too much.

On Foley's website she has the tagline "Pure Escape", and that's what her books are. They're fun, I like the characters, I just wasn't a fan of this particular story. And seriously, it was the whole hidden cave thing at the end that seemed too much like Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade that was my breaking point.

Will I pick up book 3? Probably, because I did like the characters, and I like to finish series. I just might wait to get it from the library.

Verdict:
I like the characters, I like the ridiculous premise, I like the way the author writes, I just didn't like this installment very much. I give it 2 stars. ( )

I've read Foley's work before and liked it enough that I picked this one up just based on her name but was somewhat disappointed.

The prose read as if someone else had written it. Parts were stilted or ridiculous and the text felt disjointed. Is there a ghostwriter? "He knew how to wield the oversize weapon with which Nature had endowed him." REALLY?

The pacing was definitely off. Much time is spent convincing us that Rohan is a fearsome warrior who doesn't believe he deserves love but then he quickly starts to "gaze longingly" or "cup tenderly". The whole Alchemist's Tomb at the end seemed like an Indiana Jones mash up of pointless devices and booby traps for no logical end. Simpler is usually better.

Credibility issues: Kate supposedly grew up isolated on the moor with just books and an old sailor for a caretaker. She is apparently a genius b/c she read tons of sophisticated books and knows Greek. From whom did she learn it? She apparently never went to the village and has no friends. I guess she never bought groceries or went to church?

This is not this author's best work. ( )