eyes.2c Reviews

The Duke of Danger     (The Untouchables #6)     by Darcy Burke                            Not a sentiment to encourage love and romance. But when  Lionel Maitland, Marquess of Axbridge, kills Lady Emmaline Townsend's husband in a duel she finds that her husband has left her nothing but debts. The 'Duke of Danger', an unfair label given  Lionel by  the 'wallflower' young women  before they became more intimate with some of that group. To be fair they do wince when those nicknames are now mentioned in their presence, Lionel has an unfortunate reputation for duelling. His opponents end up dead. Hence his  sobriquet. Those deaths  haunts him . He is a man of honor and each death eats into his soul. His latest victim,  Viscount Geoffrey Townsand,  is the husband of  Lady Emmaline Townsend. Unfortunately Townsend's wound turned septic, he...

The Duke of Desire (The Untouchables #4)   by  Darcy Burke                                Ivy  Breckenridge  is a woman with secrets. When she and  Sebastian Westgate, Duke of Clare, or rather,  the Duke of Desire, so named by Ivy and her friends, meet at a house party something zings. (Really, these house parties seem to be designed, in novels at least, to be hot beds of gossip and extra martial, or not so extra marital, intrigue.) I really liked West and Ivy. Ivy on the outside is a blue stocking who holds her feelings in check, for good reason as we painfully discover. West is attracted to Ivy and even more so as he comes to appreciate, not only her hidden beauty, but her intelligence and devotion to her charity work. Ivy and West both have to come to terms with their past before they can move forward. Ivy gives in to her feelings for the Duke of Desire and in...

The Duke of Daring (The Untouchables Book 2)  by Darcy Burke I never seem to tire of the 'girl dressed as a boy' trope. Why? That picture or idea of a girl going against the mores of the times and discovering a new freedom is exhilarating, particularly when set in times where women were segregated and socialized into given roles. What harsher critic can there be than the 'ton' doing their damnedest to harness the maidenly energies of young woman into their 'proper' places and roles. Lucinda Parnell is  a  fiercely independent woman. A perennial wallflower who's closest friends are of a similar ilk. Having discovered that she has no dowry left, no access to funds, Lucy determines to make her own way, to get off the marriage mart roundabout. She conceives of a scheme to earn enough money to make a modest home for herself and her grandmother. To fund it all she turns to the method by which her father had lost her dowry--gambling! And it's...

The Forbidden Duke (The Untouchables #1)   by  Darcy Burke   I enjoyed Titus and Eleanor's story. A woman ruined and repudiated at the bidding of another. Eleanor Lockhart, or rather Nora, ten years ago was caught kissing a careless rake who had hinted at marriage but reneged when they were discovered. Little did Nora know that Titus, as leader of the group, had encouraged this outrageous behaviour. When  Titus St. John, Duke of Kendal, realizes the worthlessness of these pursuits he forswears his hedonistic life and only appears during the season for one reason--the ball held by his beloved stepmother, Lady Satterfield. Titus only ever dances one dance, and that with a nonentity. Over the years this behaviour has earned him the dubious title, the Forbidden Duke. To dance with him is to be elevated to 'interesting' Nora's living circumstances have changed. She seeks a position as a companion and Titus's stepmother employs her. She has decided to give N...

To Seduce a Scoundrel  (Secrets & Scandals)  by  Darcy Burke  Well the story certainly starts with a rush when the misplaced confidence of our heroine, Lady Philipa, leaves her and the reader in the middle of scenes of debauchery , leaping (well being hoisted over)walls and attacked by ruffians. Lord Ambrose Severin (our indecent gentleman) is the anguished, guilt ridden hero and Lady Philipa Latham is a headstrong, young miss, whose parents feel that she must marry, soon. Given her spurning of a previous suitor this is becoming all the more important. Of course, the fact that her parents are seemingly embroiled in extra marital affairs does colour all her actions. Mind you her mother's unbelievable actions lead to Phillipa's entangled and possibly devastating position.   Unfortunately, the story for me did not live up to all it's early promise. That being said, I would still recommend it as a continuation of the series and catching up wit...