Book Review: No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean

Title: No Good Duke Goes Unpunished
Series: The Rules of Scoundrels, Book 3
Author: Sarah MacLean
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: November 26, 2013 by Avon

In NO GOOD DUKE GOES UNPUNISHED, the mysterious Temple is at best an inveterate womanizer who ruined his father’s future duchess, and at worst, a cold-blooded killer who murdered his future stepmother.

No one has seen Mara Lowe since she disappeared from her bedchamber on the morning of her wedding twelve years ago—leaving behind a drunken Temple. Despite vehement claims of innocence, Temple was exiled from society, stripped of his funds and left to survive on his own.

He is the brawn behind the Fallen Angel club, and has given up on ever returning to society, until the missing Mara shows up and begs for his help.

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: Excellent historical romance with outstanding characters and a strong romance that I devoured.

The Set Up: Temple is the bare-knuckle bouncer of the most popular gaming hell—and he’s also known as the Killer Duke. Twelve years before, Mara is to marry Temple’s father but she disappears and Temple awakes naked in bed covered in blood. But Mara has returned to bargain with Temple for her brother’s fortune and Temple is determined to make her pay for disappearing and costing him his reputation.

Why I Read this Book: I am a total groupie of this author. She wrote my favorite historical ever, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, and I anxiously await every new release.

What I Liked: I simply adore both leads and their romance. Temple has always felt too large for his ducal life so when his father reviled him for Mara’s perceived death, Temple became a fighter and enforcer. He’s never been beaten in the ring and how this plays out with Mara is excellent writing with its strong romantic tension. I was fully prepared to dislike Mara for disappearing and letting everyone brand Temple a murderer but as her motives and fears were slowly revealed, I understood why she did what she did. But the best thing about both these leads is their absolute acceptance for their life decisions. Both Temple and Mara could have blamed each other or their life’s circumstances for their trials but they don’t. Temple accepts that Mara isn’t responsible for him turning to violence and the social isolation that’s caused; likewise Mara accepts she made very poor decisions and she’s lived to regret them and make amends. I love how mature both leads are and think other romance fans will appreciate this as I did.

The romance is fraught with tension as Temple first wants to punish Mara and then Mara wants to punish herself. This felt organic to their characters and situation and it didn’t drag or feel forced. Like most of this author’s books, this isn’t the most erotic romance I’ve read but it was intense because it was so well connected to the leads’ emotional intimacy. And the sex scene in the boxing ring KO’ed me!

What I Also Liked: This is book three in the series and I love to revisit the other two couples. The four heroes in the series are best friends and run the most popular casino, each utilizing their talents to make the casino the best in London. These men support and care for each other and I loved seeing that. The heroines from the previous novels have small parts as well and I adore getting to revisit them.

The plot of how Mara and Temple deal with re-introducing Mara to society so they know Temple isn’t a killer isn’t rocket science but it was interesting. I especially love what Mara has done in the intervening years and how Temple reacts to what she’s done. Mara’s brother is classic historical romance stereotype but he totally works to progress the plot.

What I Didn’t Like: I need book four, Chase’s story NOW! I think the author is having her first baby (via following her on twitter) so I wish her an easy postpartum and a baby who sleeps a lot so I can have my next book ASAP!

IMO: This author has become one of two or three authors that I measure all my historical romances against. No Good Duke Goes Unpunished is another stellar example of why.

 

J9’s Rating:

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