When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath

March 28th, 2014 Kimberly Review 72 Comments

28th Mar
When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath
When the Duke Was Wicked
by Lorraine Heath
Series: Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James #1
Genres: Historical Romance
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star

They are England’s most eligible bachelors, with the most scandalous reputations. But for the right woman, even an unrepentant rogue may mend his ways… Lady Grace Mabry’s ample inheritance has made it impossible for her to tell whether a suitor is in love with her—or enamored of her riches. Who better to distinguish beau from blackguard than her notorious childhood friend, the Duke of Lovingdon? With no interest in marriage, Lovingdon has long lived only for pleasure. He sees little harm in helping Grace find a proper match. After all, he’s familiar with all the ploys a scoundrel uses to gain a woman’s favor. He simply has to teach the lovely innocent how to distinguish honest emotions from false ones. How better than by demonstrating his wicked ways. But as lessons lead to torrid passion and Grace becomes ensnared in another man’s marriage plot, Lovingdon must wage a desperate gamble: Open his heart fully—or risk losing the woman he adores…

When the Duke Was Wicked is the first novel in the Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James series by Lorraine Heath. I love strong, witty, heroines and sexy misunderstood, flawed rogues and Heath pulled all of my heart-strings. Mini review: hilarious, romantic, hot and bittersweet, Heath made me melt.

We meet Lady Grace Marbly, whose dreams of finding real love are seeded in much more than childhood fantasies. Between her inheritance and her secret, she has difficulty sorting through her suitors. She turns to a childhood friend and former crush the Duke of Lovingdon. He has no intentions of  marrying again and his fondness for Grace has him agreeing to give her lessons. The tale that unfolds is delicious, danger and hilarious. It also has some tender moments that wrecked me.

Take a beautiful, strong, and intelligent heroine with a secret that makes her fear rejection. Mix in a wounded rogue who hides his pain and guilt in a bottle and loose women. Add a pinch of attraction, a few lessons and some humor. The resulting brew will leave you laughing, sighing and maybe even shedding a few tears. I adored Lady Grace and her friends. She is bold and adventurous. Lovingdon was wonderful, and his story touched me. It was such fun seeing him fall. Grace and her friends made me giggle as she passed on the advice she learns. Secondary characters added to the tale and solidified my opinions of our couple. I was equally impressed by Grace’s parents. They were involved without being meddlesome and offered their daughter sound advice, love and support. The tale progressed wonderfully with just enough drama to keep me on my toes and heat enough to curl them. The ending was climatic and heartfelt and damn if my eyes didn’t become all watery.

When the Duke was Wicked was a delightful tale that I inhaled in a single day. I cannot wait for Once More, My Darling Rogue the next book in the Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James series which is set to release in August 2014.

 

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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

72 Responses to “When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath”

  1. Lindy

    Great Review Kim! This sounds like such a wonderful story. I love the idea of the lonely Duke giving her lessons, and then falling in love with her. The story sounds steamy indeed. Plus, I love that it had humor, and made you feel.

  2. anna

    Oh I do love those wounded rogues. I’ve not tried her yet but looks like I really need to!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      I got this from Addicts, so you should have it 🙂

  3. Rashika

    This book came to my attention when one of my friends read it and loved it so I am super glad to hear you enjoyed it as well!! 🙂

    Lovely review, Kimba!! 🙂

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Ooo can I could confirm how delightful it is! 🙂

    • kimbacaffeinate

      *blushes* No, thank you Ms. Heath I adored this tale, and characters 🙂

  4. Andrea

    Ohhh…this sounds delicious! Hilarious, hot and bittersweet is a winning combination in my book. And I’m so curious about the moments that wrecked you.
    Thanks for the sweeeet review!

  5. Victoria (aka Zemfirka)

    Happy to know it both hot and humorous! 🙂 Shall check it out.

  6. Amir

    I haven’t read a historical romance in forever! I think my last ones were Anna Campbell’s Courtesan series. This sounds good and I have never tried anything from this author and since its a first in the series, I’ll add it on my TBR 🙂 Great review Kimba!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      I will be reading this author again..such great characters 🙂

    • kimbacaffeinate

      This was delightful Brandi 🙂 have a wonderful weekend!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      No..that would be how I reacted to Twisted..lol This was a good cry!

  7. Debbie Haupt

    Kimba, what a great cover it looks like the cover of a Women’s magazine from that era. When aren’t Duke’s wicked.
    Great review. I’m not a huge fan of historical romance especially where the heroine is barely out of diapers.
    Do you think I’d like this one?
    Thanks
    deb

  8. Michelle

    I love the cover. I’m always a fan of humor in historical romances. 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it Kimba!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      thanks Michelle this was delightful. Have a fantastic weekend!

  9. Heidi

    I like that there is plenty of humor in this, that always improves a read in my opinion.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Oh I agree Heidi, I love books that make me giggle and smile 🙂

  10. Candace

    Aw, this does sound delightful! I love this “strong, witty, heroines and sexy misunderstood, flawed rogues” – YES PLEASE!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Must have been internet lag, both comments showed up. I deleted one. This was a fun read, and I laughed and smiled!

  11. aurian

    Lovely review, nothing new in the story line of course, but I do love this trope, and it all depends on the authors writing style if you like a book or not.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Believe it or not the secret is one I have never come across. At least not in a historical novel.

  12. Cyn

    I’ve been thinking of checking out more Lorraine Heath, glad to see this one was a inhale-in-one-day kind of read! It definitely sounds fun and I love an strong, adventerous heroine & a hero that can make you melt! Will definitely have to give it a go. Thanks for the review!

  13. Lupdilup

    Ha! All had to see was that cover and the rating, ran to audible and got it, I’m downloading as we speak, I looked real quick through your review, I’ll be back tomorrow when I’m finish with book 🙂
    Thanaks!!

  14. Finley Jayne

    I’ve started reading more historical romance books and When the Duke was Wicked sounds like a lot of fun-adding to my tbr list 🙂

    • kimbacaffeinate

      It made me smile Finley and I love reading them between darker books to cleanse my palate and I do love a good Duke!

  15. Carmel

    I kinda want to read this one now just so I can meet Heath! He sounds dreamy, and I do love a strong heroine.

  16. Mary

    Oh, those scandalous men. Who can resist? Not me. Especially when there’s humor thrown in AND a hot duke!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      seriously right? LOL I do love my Dukes, Rogues and Scoundrels!

  17. Glass

    I am not big fan of historical romances, but maybe someday I decide to try to read them too. I’m glad you enjoyed reading this book.

  18. Sharlene Wegner

    Oh, I can’t wait to read this! I bought it 2 wks ago, but trying to read some older books this month. LOL! Glad you liked it!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Well this was two months old..but I know what you mean *eyes TBR piles.

      • Sharlene Wegner

        Oh, 2 months, eh? I guess I can use it for the TBR challenge, then? 🙂 Time is running out!

        • kimbacaffeinate

          Yes you can use it, but it came out Feb 25th. I however have had it in my tbr pile for two months…bwahahaha!

  19. Felicia the Geeky Blogger

    I loved this one too! It was so good and I told Lorraine (she is in my book club–how cool is that) that I about squeed when I realized it was the kids! Seriously I was all kinds of giddy!

  20. Wintry Darling

    KIMBA. I have too many books to read already, stop making me want to read the books you’re reading. But this one sounds delightful! How can I resist? I love witty heroines. Oh, dear. Onto the TBR list it goes….

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Some days I feel the same way, as I one -click buy across the blogosphere. Have a lovely weekend Wendy!

  21. Jessica

    Oh, how I love to find new HR to try! It’s become my new favorite palate-cleanse read, but I’ve only been reading them for like a year, so I don’t have many authors that I can default to. More and more TBRs . . . 😉

    • kimbacaffeinate

      OMG, Jessica that is what I use it for too. I cannot do the same genre back to back. So I will go..mystery, contemporary romance, thriller, historical romance, urban fantasy etc, etc, etc.

  22. Christy

    Ah, the humor is a major selling point for me, and I love good secondary characters. The cover is so pretty, it looks like a painting.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      One of these days I am going to just send you one and force you to read it. It must be a Regency. *evil grins*

  23. Melliane

    I love historical romances and it’s nice to discover some new author mainly when the stories are like that. I confess I’m curious to read about the lessons, I’m sure it’s really fun. Thanks for the lovely review!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Oh the lessons were delightful and the secret was something I have never seen in a historical novel