Holy plot madness. Kerrigan Byrne should be crowned the Queen of Plot Twists because I literally did not see any of this deliciously delirious drama coming. Amnesia, pirates, murder, tattoos, kidnapping - and that’s just the beginning. Then she threw in obsessive love, treasure hunt, and certain familiar faces, and my Victorian Rebels-loving head almost exploded. I absolutely loved how Lorelai and the Rook fit into this crazysauce world.

All of the Victorian Rebels are insanely devoted to their ladies and the Rook is even more so. A vicious, hardened killer feared by everyone, the Rook would burn down the world just to make Lorelai happy:
All this time, had Lorelai Weatherstoke been the Rook’s one weakness? Did she have in her small, elegant hand, the one thing the whole world feared didn’t exist? The Rook’s fabled heart. If so, she’d just become the most dangerous woman in the world.
As always, the dangerous demonic hero can only be tamed by his one true love. Just like the Blackheart of Ben More and the Assassin, the Rook is helpless before his Lorelai:
"Out there, I am Captain and I am King. In this chamber, you rule me. You command me... You own me."
I'm afraid to discuss any more for fear of giving away too many spoilers, except to say that this was an amazing installment of the Victorian Rebels world; one that tied up so many unforeseen threads. I'm really in awe of the author's world building.

Also, Kerrigan Byrne is one hell of a tease with her epilogue and provocative side characters. I can’t wait for more Victorian Rebels!!

4.5 stars

Note: I voluntarily read and reviewed this ARC generously provided by Netgalley

I received a free copy from netgalley for an honest review. The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo is the sixth book in a series by Kerrigan Brynn. You don't have to read the previous books by series in order to enjoy this one although it couldn't hurt. I have read all of six books in the series and I love each and every one of them I love the way this author kind of developed her characters that are really strong and try to overcome difficult past with the love of a good woman of course. The Duke with the Dragon tattoo tell us the story of Rook who has been including other stories. Rook was rescued by Lorelei when they were teenagers once I got separated Rook made a promise to Lorelei to always return to her. "There are only two indisputable facts in this world: The sun will set in the west, and I’ll come for you. Always.” I love The Rook and I love Lorelai and I highly recommend this book and this author.

This book was EVERYTHING I ever wanted and didn't know I needed. Everything.

Kerrigan Byrne brings it again with The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo. Nothing is as it seems and it's a wild ride. We've met or seen glimpses of the mysterious Rook in other Victorian Rebels books. He's a hardened criminal, only hardened through the experiences he's been forced into. Lorelei fixes broken things. Broken animals. Broken people. She herself is broken from her experiences in the past. Her warm heart and open spirit is a true testament to her character.

Their love is hard won. Through so many trials and tribulations, they stand together as they figure out their way. Truly, this book was an experience. I couldn't put it down.

I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the Victorian Rebels series, or basically anything Kerrigan Byrne will write. This is going to be one of my top books of 2018.

This was a surprisingly moving and touching story of second chances and reformation. I loved all the characters and there was a perfect blend of emotional connection between the Rook and Lorelai as well as passion.

The Duke With the Dragon Tattoo features a dark, dangerous pirate and the innocent that holds his heart. Broken herself and left with a permanent limp, Lorelei rescues anything in need from orphaned animals to lost dark souls. Fourteen year old Lorelei finds Ash under an ash tree, burned with lye and barely alive. Her family falls to her pleas and brings the injured stranger home for her to nurse back to health. Ash does not remember who he is but knows he is ruthless with blood on his hands. Still he finds love and a sense of home with Lorelei until betrayal steals him from her side. Since the sun stills sets in the west, Ash fulfills his promise to always come for her even across twenty years and many oceans. With a little murder and kidnapping to halt her forced but pending nuptials, Ash spirits her away to his pirate ship for some nuptials of their own. Lorelei finds the new Ash hard, broken, and cold. Now the battle is on to find Ash's heart in a fast paced and often violent tale where family is not always blood and treasure is not always gold or precious stones. The story feeds the reformed bad boy images we all love and ends with a sweet HEA that is both sexy and happiness inducing. My voluntary, unbiased review is base upon a review copy from Netgalley.

After the long buildup to the infamous Rook’s story, both the character and his love story were quite different from what I was expecting. Given his notoriety as a ruthless pirate, I thought there would be a lot more action and adventure, but it starts off with an endearing (and very extended) flashback and then spends most of the second half with a lot of talking and internal dwelling. The Rook’s reputation as a badass pirate never really is put on display except through glossed over stories from his twenty years apart from Lorelei. Lorelei, for her part, is a very different heroine from Byrne’s other leading ladies in this series. I hoped that she would grow a backbone and call the Rook on his BS, but instead she remains almost frustratingly naive and cowed by everyone around her. This makes sense initially given her violent upbringing, but I had hoped for more character growth from her as the book progressed.

I still very much like Byrne’s writing style and her unapologetic darkness in some of her characters. Moncrieff’s anticipated story in a future installment looks to be very interesting. I also liked that we got to see more of Farah and Dorian/Dougan, and that a few surprises were thrown in about other longstanding characters. I figured the Rook’s identity during his short appearance at the end of the prior book but seeing it all fit together was fun and interesting.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing an ARC for review!

I devoured this book in two sittings, staying up WAY past my bedtime to finish. This series is sooo good and this book has given me the biggest book hangover! It’ll be tough to find another romance to beat this! Gah- I just loved it so much!

First Thanks to Netgallery for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

So this is the first time I have read a book by Kerrigan Byrne. I have to say I really enjoyed her writing style. When I read this book with the MC had a Tattoo. I had to read. I can only recall one other book I have read in Historical Romance with one of the MC's have a Tattoo. That alone got my attention. Then the whole amnesia thing was the closer.

So the story is Lorelei Weatherstroke is a shy abused cripple. her brother is just terrible and her father is a wimp and never stands up for her. One day she driving in a carriage and sees a naked dead man....or she thinks was dead till she sees him move. Her family stips and recuses the man by bringing him back to there home and Lorelei and a doctor nurse him back to health. When he finally wakes up he can't remember who he is or who beat him. They both pick him the name Ash. they are both young Lorelei is 14 at the time. they fall in love but a kids love...or.

A lot happens between this and when the book really gets going. I don't want to ruin it for anyone. But when The Rook comes into Lorelei life big changes come.

I have never read book by this author so that goes to say I never read the other books in the series. I had no trouble following the story. I didn't feel like I was missing anything about the story. I do wonder is Lorelei sister in-law getting a story? I would definitely read that.

4 to 4.5 Stars

This book is absolutely amazing. The story is about love, hurt and finding each other. Ash is lifted for dead and Lorelai finds him and saves him. Her brother is horrible and sends him away and Ash becomes The Rook. Lorelai was Crippled as a child by her brother. The Rook has returned after 20 years. I will not give anymore spoilers because I want you to enjoy the book as much as I did.

This is the first book by Kerrigan Byrne that I have read, and I didn't realize it was book 6 in a series. No matter. It flowed perfectly as a stand alone, and was captivating from the start. It has monsters, and cruelty, and passionate love, and intrigue, and pirates, and so much more! The story kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved it! I will definitely be reading the rest of this series!

I never expected to like this book, but I did.
So, here’s to surprises, keeping an open mind and never giving up on an author!

I’ve read the first four books of this series, liking each installment less, finally decided to forgo on book 5 although everyone raved about it, and then I received an unsollicited ARC from NetGalley. I debated whether or not to download it, finally did (curiosity won out), and started reading this book totally expecting to be irritated by something by page 10...

And then the 4 stars happened. Everything that bothered me about the previous books was blissfully absent in this one.

No instalove or physical attraction to the hero’s dark side. Instead a well build-up attraction between the two leads prior to any violence.
No heroine looking for a perceived soft/human side of a violent criminal. Instead a heroine apalled by the violence and having trouble reconsiling the 17-year-old boy she knew to the man she’s now dealing with, with discussions about every issue that matters.

Great Historical romance a mysterious stranger,a devil of a brother and a innocent crippled girl.
Lorliae find a wounded half dead stranger nurse hi back to health a bond begins then he mysteriously disappears.
Years later a stranger appears and saves her from an unwanted marriage is he really a stranger?
Good drama ,mystery intrigue and romance.
Really enjoyed story and characters.
Voluntarily reviewed.

Ahh, Ms. Byrne. This is one of the first 5 star historical romances I've read in a long time. The story flows, the conversations and thoughts are intelligent, there's mystery, there's allure, there's chemistry, there's resilience, and the leads are people we can understand, fall for, root for, and wow, when they come together, we as readers swoon.

The Rook is mean. He's ruthless. He's a nasty pirate with no recollection of his past. But his and Lorelei's past are connected and he's not forgotten about her, even twenty years later - vowing to come back for her.

The man who returns is not the same man she fell in love with as a teenager. This one is hardened, soulless, and angry. But inside there's still hope, and Lorelei glimpses the man he once was. The man she helped during his convalescence in her home.

And we learn more of his history, how everyone in the Victorian rebels are connected, and we're given foreshadowing into the next book. Which, I can't wait to read. I adore this series and I adore this author. She's an automatic buy for me.

I devoured The Duke with The Dragon Tattoo. I could easily say that The Highwayman and this one are my favorite in the series!I can't stop my self from keep falling in love, with the world she has created!A world of danger,lust and passion.

I loved the plot from the beginning, I was intrigued to see what will happen.There were moments it was emotional.The connection between Lorelei and Ash was amazing!They started being sweet when they were young and when they meet again after years it was full of tension and passion!There were some really hot moments between them!

"Are you wet for me?
"I-I'm..."
"Let me make you slick and slippery,"
"Make...what?"
"Let me make you writhe.And beg.And scream.I will exhaust you with ecstasy.You will come apart in my hands,beneath my mouth."

Kerrigan Byrne keeps surprising me with this series!I can't wait to see what she has next for us!

I was really excited coming into this book! I enjoyed the book THE HUNTER in this series, and the second chance romance that the blurb advertised just drew me in. THE DUKE WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO also had another trope I really enjoy in romance books: healing the love interest! While the first half of the book was a huge hit for me, the latter half kind of felt lackluster. There’s a beautiful romance that uncovers in the first half, but the second half turned darker (which is certainly a theme in this series) and cumbersome. I was starting to get disenchanted with the romance, but it was saved by the sweet ending.

In the first 20% of this book, we follow Lorelai and the Rook in their youth, while she was 14 and he 18. The Rook was a prisoner who was left for dead, but Lorelai and her family found him and eventually nursed him back to health. During this time, an undeniable attraction sang between those two as readers follow their young love and attachment. I REALLY enjoyed this scene, because it rang so true and pure. It’s the kind of wholesome love that just makes your heart ache.

“She was his prayer in the night. His song in the dark. His past and present. His future.”

But Lorelai’s brother, Mortimer, is not a good man. When he sells Rook to a ship as a slave, the future Rook and Lorelai dreamed of is shattered. From then, Rook has to become the devil to ensure his safety and survival – and, his eventual return to Lorelai. However, this return comes perhaps twenty years too late.

“There are only two indisputable facts in this world: The sun will set in the west, and I’ll come for you. Always.”

Fast forward, and Lorelai is a spinster on the wrong side of thirty who is still submissive to her evil brother. The Rook makes his way back to her, finally, and kidnaps her on his pirate ship. Okay, perhaps not the most convincing of ways to remind her of their innocent attachment in youth. But he’s no innocent. He’s had to murder, barter, and betray his way across the seas back to her, and he wants her with a ferocious passion. The only problem is… does Lorelai still feel the same for him?

After the abduction, I kind of fell disenchanted with the romance. The Rook lives up to his name as he delivers ultimatums to Lorelai and almost forces himself on her. And while he ends up making her make the decision, I was side-eyeing that behavior. I know there had to be a way to show the Rook being cruel and dispassionate, but I hoped it wouldn’t be at the expense of our heroine. Lorelai, to her credit, stands up against him and holds her ground. But at this point of the book, things started getting repetitive. Certain discussions happened every other page, and the plot literally halted at one point in favor of these repetitive thoughts and dialogue. If not for the ending, the book would have honestly ended with a bad note for me.

I guess I would recommend readers to come into this one not looking for much of a plot AT ALL, but more of a focus on the intense romance and characterization. Lorelai herself is a sweet and sunny contrast to Rook’s dark disposition, but Rook’s violent and hardened past is probably what stood out to me. Despite being crippled and abused by her evil brother, Lorelai finds optimism and love with the wounded animals she takes care of. Rook, on the other hand, is drawn to her angelic tendencies, all the while knowing he himself deserves to be in Hell. And these contrasting personalities that burn oh-so-bright despite their differences is a relationship dynamic that I really love.

I ultimately enjoyed THE DUKE WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, although the middle left things to be desired. I really need to go back to this series though, because although it can be very dark and intense, the romances are sparkling with tension and passion. I would say historical romance readers should try this series out, because the premises are very refreshing compared to many others out there!

Trigger/Content Warnings: alcoholism, physical abuse, gruesome violence, sexy times

Thank you St Martin's and Netgalley for the review copy!

What an amazing read. So much anguish and heart. Two people who couldn't be more different but perfect fit r each other. This series is finally coming full circle and yet adding new people in fall in love with.

This is the sixth in the Victorian Rebel series by Kerrigan Byrne. TBH, I fell in love with this series from book one! In this book, The Rook and Lorelei first meet when she saves his life. They truly fall in love, but circumstances and villains tear them apart. Fast forward twenty years and they meet up again, but the Rook has no memory of his past.
I love how Kerrigan weaves the lives and histories of these characters together. I love the heartbreak and renewal of their love. I love how she brings the story with the past books in the series together. The books in the series are stand alones, but become so much richer when read in order.
As long as KB keeps writing, I will keep reading!
I received an ARC from Netgalley and rated sincerely and objectively.

Received for review from Netgalley and I just had to dive straight in ! Sorry but a book about a notorious pirate just fired up my imagination particularly as the author has previously teased us with the Rook as a peripheral character. If you have a soft spot for pirates ( who hasn’t?) and a hankering for a bodice ripping romance then this is the book for you.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the whole series although sadly this one perhaps lacks action and danger but nevertheless this captive and captor story had me engrossed as previous characters are brought in which oddly enough seemed to my mind to bring a few storylines to fruition. If I’m brutal it lacked a little because I do prefer more snark from my heroines but there’s such sweetness and obvious love here that I’m not marking it down. The Victorian Rebel series has been a fabulous read but there’s a character here who I dearly hope will get his happy ending and dare I suggest I know who will tame him ? Yet for now it’s all about Lorelei and her Ash and the love that they share “always”.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

"There are only two indisputable facts in the world: The sun will rise in the west, and I'll come for you. Always."

FINAL DECISION: My favorite book since the first two in the series, this book took my breath away and I fell in love with the main characters. Passionate and dramatic with humor and underlying sweetness, the story fulfilled all the promises that began in the first book of the series.

THE STORY: The notorious pirate is known only as the Rook. A man without a past, without a name. Twenty years ago, he awoke in a mass grave and was pulled from death by Lorelei Weatherstoke. The Rook was once given the name of Ash by Lorelei who nursed the young man back to health and began to dream of a future with him. Until the moment that they were betrayed in an act which separated them for two decades. Now the Rook has returned for his revenge and to claim the woman who he has never forgotten. Lorelei, however, finds that the young man she once loved has now become someone that she should fear and flea at all costs.

OPINION: The first romance book I ever read was A Pirate's Love by Johanna Lindsey in the 1980s. Since that first taste, I've always had a soft spot for pirate heroes and I have read a lot in the intervening years. But many of those pirate hero books are problematic bodice rippers. The book (whether intentional or not) is a re-imagining of the old trope.

Here, the Rook is a notorious, dangerous and murderous villain on the high seas. He has done horrible things, but we also get to see the events which sent him on the path he is on. Significantly, however, this is not excuse but understanding. Like the other heroes in this series, the Rook has been damaged by his past. Poverty, desperation, physical and mental torture, rape and constant violence has created a man with only one weakness -- the sweet and innocent woman who cared for him and brought him back from the dead.

And this is why the power dynamic is so different in this story. The Rook can abduct Lorelei and keep her captive on a ship where his word alone rules, but he cannot impose his will upon her. Both because Lorelei is stronger than one might expect (after having survived her own trials) and the Rook cannot possess the woman he wants if he crushes everything about her that he desires. Lorelei, however, will also not be placed on a pedestal for the Rook to admire from afar. She is a woman who wants to make her own stand by the man she loves.

There were so many good moments in this book that had humor, drama, mystery, murder, betrayal and a deep and abiding romantic love between the main characters. There are significant appearances by characters from prior books. Although I had figured out some of the Rook's secrets, the reveal was so well done that I had a great sense of relief in that something from the beginning of the series was finally fulfilled. (I have to add that I love that long time readers of the series get closure on some issues without impeding new readers enjoyment).

This book reminds me of how amazing the first two books in this series was. Indeed, although the last three books were good, this book feels like the completion of a trilogy that began with the first two books.

This book goes immediately on my keeper shelf.

WORTH MENTIONING:Sometimes I read these books with great despair because almost every book introduces characters for whom I would love to read their story, but as the author turns to a new series, I fear that some of these stories might go untold. .

CONNECTED BOOKS: THE DUKE WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is the sixth book in the Victorian Rebels series. This book can be read as a standalone, but is much more satisfying after reading the entire series. This book pays off stories that began in the first book in the series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to help in preparing this review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Review will be posted on blog on August 28th.

I was offered this book in an email but wasn't aware it was the last book in a series since the synopsis or page or even the email stated that. I don't read books out of order. I wish they would add numbers to books so people know if it's a series. It seems like something I would like but I will keep it until I can read the other books.

I am sure if you read the other books in the series you would love this. Enjoy! :)