Man, I loved the premise of this book, but the execution was a total slog. The conflict between the hero and the heroine is so stupid! Just TALK to each other, oh my god. For fully three quarters of the book the hero lets the heroine think he just ditched her on their wedding night and ran off with her cash... for no good reason. Literally all he had to do was explain, "my evil cousin had me hit over the head and shipped to Australia so he could steal my estate, here is my unnecessarily complicated revenge plot, are you on board," and hey presto, problem fixed, time for sexy revenge plotting! But no. And then the actual revenge is wrapped up so speedily, it's absurd. I'm really annoyed that the heroine, who is an awesome lady scientist farmer from Scotland, was wasted on this book.

Amazingly brilliant! I could read this story over and over again without getting tired of it. It's such a sorrowful and hopefully romantic story all at once that pulls at the heartstrings of its' readers! I highly recommend this touching story.

Holy Moses, this book was everything I wanted and MORE!!! I devoured this book within hours - everything about this story captivated me, from Anna’s determination to Liam’s battered soul. These two were meant to be and nothing, not even oceans or evil souls would keep them apart.

Good story line, and great Characters. Thanks to Netgalley for this free copy. I highly recommend this book.

With a few hectic weeks of work and moving, I needed a book to escape into while unwinding at night. Romantic historical fiction is my cup of tea for this and The Sins of Lord Lockwood did a great job at providing that escapism.

I haven't read the previous novels in the Rules of the Reckless series, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the sixth novel in the series. Liam and Anna had good chemistry. I love strong women in my historical fiction (the wallflowers are fun but give me a bold, cheeky, independent woman who slays the old school stereotypes any day). Lockwood was also a great character and it was good to see snippets of their past mixed in with the present.

This was a great book to escape into for a few hours and I'm glad I saved it for this month when real life was so crazy.

Lord Lockwood is back! Liam Devaliant, was every woman’s dream and he had plenty falling at his feet. Even unimpressionable Countess Anna Forth fell (off a cliff rather than his feet) only to have Liam rescue her. After putting her misgivings aside, Anna married Liam and the two were off to their honeymoon.
Before departing the couple had an argument and an enemy of Lockwood’s chooses that time to enact his wicked plot and kidnap Liam. For 4 years Liam has survived unbelievable torture and once he escapes his hellish prison is back in London to seek revenge.
Anna has just assumed Liam married her for her fortune and then left her. Embarred she returns to her childhood home until she hears Liam has returned and has not had the decency to inform her.
Anna won’t take the abandonment lying down and she has some demands she has waited 4 years for.
There are secrets and hurts Liam and Anna are keeping from each other. Will they find the strength to be honest about their past to hopefully have a future?

This was a hard book to read because of Lockwood’s tourcher both mentally and physically. The light was that he had found Anna prior to his kidnapping. She was the best partner to see him through his darkness. The strength of Anna was the highlight of the book for me. I absolutely loved her!

Available now: The newest in Meredith Duran's Rules for Reckless Series

**** 4.5 stars: Everything you'd want in a historical romance from one of my favorite authors.

Recommended readers:
If you like historical romance
If you like Meredith Duran (she's one of my favorites)
If you like Stephanie Laurens

Here's my Rankings:
4/5 for characters
4/5 for plot
4/5 overall

REVIEW FROM BOOKS FOR HER:
Meredith Duran is one of my favorite historical romance authors, so I expected to enjoy The Sins of Lord Lockwood and wasn't disappointed. Duran's flair for drama, passion and intrigue always make for fun read - as I expect from this genre.

Lord Lockwood was believed to have abandoned his wife Anna of one day - in her eyes and society's. In his eyes, he's primed for years of revenge from a massive deception and time spent aboard doing manual labor. Duran creates a fun, entertaining cast behind the dark Lord of Lockwood - and as always a tough, passionate lady.

Available now: The newest in Meredith Duran's Rules for Reckless Series

I loved this book. I thought that Anna may have been a bit hard on Lockwood at first. I also thought that Lockwood should have reconnected with her when he first came back if he truly loved her. Cant wait to read more

I really loved the characters in this book! Both the hero, Liam Devaliant (Lord Lockwood) and his estranged wife Anna were written with depth and nuance. I also enjoyed the way the story was told starting with the reunion of the couple and then going back slowly and in flashbacks telling the story of the courtship and how they came to be married and then separated. This book stirred up a ton of emotion through the reading, and I felt every moment of it and enjoyed the ride. While I haven't read many of Meredith Duran's books, I think I may go and have a look at what else she has written!

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

We finally get to see Liam Devaliant, Lord Lockwood get his own story. Liam is young, handsome and charming. Woman falling at his feet. He can have his pick of ladies, unfortunately, he needs a fortune to restore his legacy. He needs to court a young lady who has a large dowry.
Anna knows that there are fortune hunters stalking her for her dowry. She has no intention of letting any man near her money or the island that is her responsibility and honor to keep safe and profitable. To keep her people safe she must marry. When she meets Liam she is not fooled to think that he wants her for herself, he needs her money.
Liam charms and woos Anna and they agree to marry. They are both surprised by the tender feelings that are growing between them. Anna lets her guard down and is willing to give Liam a chance to prove that even though he needs her dowry, they can make their marriage work.
On their wedding night, they have an argument about his debts. They are spending the night on a ship that will sail to Paris the following morning. for their honeymoon.. Liam decides to take a walk along the wharf to cool off. He never returns. Anna thinks he has left her. She goes home to her island and tries to forget her husband.
Liam did not leave her of his own free will. He was kidnapped that night and transported to an Australian prison camp and then taken to a place where he is tortured, both mentally and physically.
Three years and eight months later Liam is back in London. Anna is spitting mad and goes to his townhouse to confront him. He is not the same man that she married. He is angry, moody, rude and wants nothing to do with her. She wants to know is where he has been since he left her. He keeps pushing her away, she won't have it. When she finds out what happened to him she is horrified. He didn't leave her. He knows who was responsible for the horror of the last three years and is bent on revenge. He doesn't care if he lives or dies in the process. No matter how he tries to keep Anna at a distance she refuses to leave him. She wants nothing more than to help him heal and make him want to live again.
This story is a sweeping epic of pain, strength, courage and how love can overcome anything even a broken soul. A truly heart-wrenching journey that will test Liam's faith in himself and life itself. Can he let himself give up on his vengeance a life with Anna?
I love how strong both Liam and Anna were. Anna fought and refused to let Liam stay in the darkness of his mind. This was a truly emotional roller coaster read for me. I cried for what Liam had endured and how Anna was his light and led him out of despair and back to her.
Meredith Duran is a truly amazing writer who can craft a story that you will never forget. She is one of my favorite Historical Romance Author and this is my favorite book of hers so far. Do not miss it!!

Loved it - had to go back and start the whole series from the beginning.

Great book. I would definitely recommend . Sexy and funny

4.25 stars

This book is, to me, Meredith Duran at her Meredith Duran-iest: conflicted, tortured characters with almost insurmountable issues who are dreadful at communication. If you like that kind of thing, you'll love her. Even if you don't, you'll probably like her anyway, since her writing is terrific. The prose is never clunky or overwrought, the bedroom scenes are unbearably romantic and not tawdry, and the relationships are very, very intense. I love it. Her characters are always complicated, so there are times when I find myself hating the hero, then learning something about him that makes me agree with him and hate the heroine, and back again. Her characters are so richly and imperfectly drawn, it's pretty tough to pick a side.

Small minuses: A *little* bit too much back-and-forth tearjerking and indecision, and an extra tortured relationship that was a little too prolonged in coming to a head, then, oddly, resolved itself almost too easily for non-compelling reasons. Also - I wish the author would go a little easier on the italics. :)

I loved the previous Rules of the Reckless books but hadn't read them in a little while, and I wish I had re-read them before I read this one (the story runs simultaneous to some of the events in Duke of Shadows). So after I finished this one, I went back and re-read Fool Me Twice (still my favorite MD book) and Duke of Shadows. I would recommend that other people read those first before this one.

All in all, another great book from Meredith Duran. Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC via netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The sins of Lord Lockwood is exactly what I look for in a historical romance. A tortured hero who has to overcome his background and the leading lady you can't help but root for.

As great as a Lisa Kleypas book!

I swear that, like Lisa Kleypas, Meredith Duran possesses the kind of top notch romance writing talent that keeps me enthralled with every word. This full-length novel also has the subtlety and intelligence of Courtney Milan! I devoured this book. I could not wait to pick it up again whenever I had to set aside this masterpiece. The story unfolded in surprising ways. From the book description, I was not able to predict how the first few chapters would go. I thought, “What is going on here? What is Liam’s strategy?” I enjoyed the flashbacks of how they met and courted, which made a lighter counterpoint in between chapters of the more dramatic, darker situation in the couple’s present time of 1861.
I loved the magnetic, mysterious pair of characters. Anna, the Countess of Lockwood, is a wonderfully strong-willed woman who devotes her time to science when she is not confronting her reappearing husband. She reminded me of some of Courtney Milan’s best female characters. On their wedding night, Liam (Lord Lockwood) was kidnapped by his cousin and shipped to an Australian prison island. He was tortured and almost died. He managed to survive three years until the characters in the previous book figured out where he was and rescued Liam. Lockwood is suffering from PTSD and some very strong angst and anger. He used to be a pleasant, charming rogue; now he is changed so much that he and his wife don’t know each other anymore, but he still longs for her.
Duran has rich, exquisite prose with a flare for expressing complicated, subtle feelings. This novel is also a swirling maelstrom simmering with passion and intrigue.
There are intensely passionate and intimate love scenes with some very light bondage. Liam is not a dominating jerk, thankfully. There was no cheating, either. This is the fifth book of a series but you can read it as a stand-alone. I highly recommend this to all of the romance readers who like a little spice and darker themes.
I received a free advanced reading copy from the publisher via Netgalley, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

Here is the link to my review at Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2267153563

As i was reading this book, I wasn't sure what I felt about it. It was very dark and depressive. I am also not a fan of going back and forth between time periods.
But Meredith Duran knows how to tell a story. Before I knew it, I was totally engrossed in the story. This was a story of survival, endurance, faith and loyalty. The hero disappears on his honeymoon night. Kidnapped and shipped off to a penal colony in New South Wales. The heroine thinks he married her and ran off with her money. 4 years later he returns, suffering from PTSD and looking for revenge for the person who had him sent to the penal colony.
The heroine, thinking he's been off on a grand tour for 4 years, wants nothing to do with him, but she wants a child.
So the rest of the story goes on to tell how the h and H over come the struggles to deal with the past, live in the present, and try to make for themselves a future.
In the end, I loved this book and would recommend it to everyone.

The Sins of Lord Lockwood by Meredith Duran

The sixth book in the Rules of the Reckless series

3.75 stars

Lord Lockwood once lived a charmed life, but his life was drastically altered on the night of his wedding and became a nightmare when he was kidnapped and thrown into a boat headed to Australia. Branded a convict and forced to work as a slave, the things he sees and experiences forever changes him. The wife he left behind, Anna, has always thought they Liam abandoned her. When they are reunited it becomes obvious that things are not what they seem and that Lockwood’s quest for revenge is reaching its highest peak. Will Lockwood survive or be defeated once more by the man who ruined his life? This was a fun historical romance that I was not expected to really enjoy. I thought that I might like it, but it far surpassed my expectations. I think what makes this novel so enjoyable is the topics that Duran tackles. She doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of history and her incorporation of the Australian convicts was incredibly fascinating. I’ve never seen an author bring this aspect of history into a historical romance before and it was a hard subject to read about, but one that I greatly appreciated because it was a new aspect to a story that has been told numerous times in this expansive genre. Duran’s writing style is also fast-paced and gripping. This is always, in my opinion, the best style of writing to have for this genre. I don’t want to read a HR novel that is boring and feels like I’m slugging to get through. HRs should be fast-paced in Duran excels in this area. In fact, I would say she excels too much and at times, completely misses informing readers of important sections. It could be jarring every now and then, but her pacing was done well enough that it wasn’t too troublesome.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 3.75

The main male character is Lord Lockwood. I think Lockwood is a very strong character. He has a hulking presence within the story, but also a character. I really admired the direction his character took and how he was struggling to cope with the events he experienced. It was an interesting look into PTSD, but my biggest qualm was the his PTSD seemed to be cured by one conversation at the end of the novel and that just isn’t realistic and it also sends out the message that love heals all wounds, so find yourself a partner and that’s just unrealistic. I did really enjoy Lockwood’s character and he was my favorite thing about this novel.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 4.5

The main female character is Anna. Anna isn’t nearly as likable as Lockwood, which is odd but this novel is very centered on Lockwood and the page that Anna gets portrays her to be slightly annoying and insufferable. She isn’t horrible and I’ve come across worse heroines in romance stories, but she isn’t particularly strong and I believe if this novel wasn’t so heavily centered on Lockwood and more so on her, it would be a bland one.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 3

The Villain- We know who the villain is from the start, but that doesn’t take away from this novel’s plot. It’s really fun to see Lockwood’s quest for revenge and the power struggle that occurs between these two characters. Plus, the final showdown was not at all what I expected it to be.


Villain Scale: 3.5

There aren’t a whole lot of prominent side characters in this novel. There are side characters, but none of them really shine and I would have loved if a couple more of them had been fleshed out and given larger roles.


Character Scale: 3.5

Overall, this is a really fun historical romance novel that tackles darker themes and focuses on more than just the romance. The romance is there, but it wasn’t what sold me on this story and I think many readers will feel the same way. I definitely recommend this novel to romance fans looking for something fast-paced and less romance-centered.


Plotastic Scale: 4.25

Cover Thoughts: Her feet look awkward, but I want that dress.

Thank you, Netgalley and Pocket Books, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.