If this book was a fanfic it would have the tag, angst, followed by, ANGST, and then wrapped up with, ALL ANGST ALL THE TIME. I was very interested to see how MacLean was going to turn the villain Of the previous two books into the romantic hero to wrap up her Bareknuckle Bastards series. I’m not totally convinced I completely bought the turn around but the plot was well-paced and balanced enough that it didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the book. Also present was the author’s signature sharp dialogue and humor. A good end to a fun series.

Although I enjoyed this book, I much preferred the other two in the series. Well written, fun story--it just didn't connect with me as much.

I loved this book, and I thought it was a fantastic ending to a trilogy! The characters were really well developed, the story was interesting, and I liked the overall romance as well! Sarah MacLean is an author I haven't read much from, but she keeps me interested, and I cant wait to read more from her! She has a fantastic sense of humor, and she creates really interesting character!

I love these modern style historical romances. Very steamy and very full of drama and intrigue.  The female characters are phenomenal and interesting, I really enjoyed them.  The male main character, though, as usual with Sarah Maclean’s books, is a bit too “alpha male” super aggressive for me. They really do walk the line of being Abusive with their domineering behavior.

What’s not to love about this historical fiction romance? Daring and the Duke is the third book in this series, and just as delightful as the last two books.

I loved this strong female lead we have in Grace and it definitely brought the steam! 

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the free book. All opinions are my own

…and I said to RomanceLandia, “Give me a tortured, love starved villain. Nourish and feed his agony with the pain of things lost. Make his every breath a quest for the destruction of everything and everyone which denied him his most precious and cherished need and desire. And then have him gaze upon that thing he thought gone forever…know that it is real and beautiful. That he is unworthy of the gift of its existence in his life. And redeem him with his own destruction.”

And Sarah MacLean said, “Hold my beer.”

Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean is a unique historical tale. This one is much more bold in ways most historical novels are not. The ladies are just as good if not better at physical fighting than the men in this book. I enjoyed watching a woman destined to be a duchess fight it so much. All that title ever gave her and her friends was nothing but trouble. 

They were abused, homeless, and starving due to the title and that one man that holds the reins over their heads. The same devil who turned one of them against the others. All the new Duke wanted was for the love of his life and his brothers was their safety. But the older Duke knew how to abuse and trick the young man into doing his dirty work to divide and conquer over the kids. Years go by after the unforgivable circumstances and the bastards want revenge against their brother. One lady wants to extract the revenge from the man she once loved...

This book was heartbreaking, emotional, and daring like its name. Sarah MacLean is a talented writer. I enjoyed reading her latest novel. However, it just wasn't the same as her previous books. The novel was a bit more rugged on the edges and tougher than the normal reads. But it was still well-written. I am a huge fan of her books and still look forward to reading the next grand adventure.

What a finale! The ultimate hero redemption novel. He grovels, he growls, he pays his penance, he puts it all on the line. I wasn’t sure how she’d pull it off, but Sarah MacLean redeemed him beautifully without compromising the heroine’s badassery. A truly satisfying conclusion to a wonderful series.

A  fine read. The setup and set pieces tip a bit too far into melodrama for my taste. It's easy to follow as a stand alone, but readers of the previous entries in the series probably harbor more warmth for the cast of characters.

4/5 stars

Not my favorite in the Bareknuckle Bastards series, but this love story between Grace and Ewan was still so great. I really appreciated how Sarah MacLean wrote Grace as a badass woman who can take care of herself but who cares so fiercely for everyone around her, it isn't even funny. I also didn't expect to come to terms with Ewan as a love interest but she did an excellent job convincing me of his goodness, as well. 

As always, I love the setting of Covent Garden and the cameos with Grace's brothers and their respective wives.

Sarah MacLean is an amazing author, and I hated having to wait so long for the final book in her Bareknuckle Bastards series. The wait was worth it though, because this book was great. I loved getting to learn more about Grace and Ewan after getting bits and pieces from the first two books in the series.

"The only thing he knew was that he wanted to learn with her. He wanted a future, and all they had was the past."

This is definitely a series where you have to read the first two books to understand what's going on here. The book starts right where Brazen and the Beast ends, and then jumps ahead a year, and if you haven't read the other books I feel like this one will be v confusing.

Like I mentioned above, I was really excited to finally get Grace and Ewan's backstory. It's been teased throughout the first two books, but so much was missing, and I needed this book so I could finally read about what happened between the two. Honestly so much of my excitement about this book was finding out what happened between the two, as well as seeing how Ewan could possibly redeem himself (surprising no on, he does).

Not only was I excited to learn more about Grace and Ewan's relationship, I was excited to get to know both characters better as well. In the first two books we see and hear about how Grace is a headstrong woman who's done whatever she's had to do to protect herself. She's still this headstrong woman, but we get to see her be vulnerable as well, and it made her this amazing well rounded character. Ewan was also great. I didn't know how Sarah MacLean was going to redeem him, but she did. I loved reading how much groveling he had to do to redeem himself to Grace, as well as to his brothers.

"He wanted her to know he could destroy worlds at her bidding, if only she'd ask for it."

I also really loved how much interaction we get from the characters from the previous books. I loved seeing everyone together and as a family and seeing how much they all care about each other. Not only were their interactions so heartwarming, but they were funny.

"'It's Hattie's theory,' whit grumbled. 'I don't like it...as he exploded her'. 'Again,' Hattie said quite happily, 'I was only slightly exploded.'"

Overall this was a great book and Sarah MacLean did not disappoint with this finale. I cannot wait to reread this whole series and to read what she writes next!

This couldn't have possibly lived up to my expectations, and so it didn't. Don't get me wrong — it was a heck of a redemption story and smolderingly hot in places, but it was also irritatingly brooding and oddly repetitive with far less action than I remembered from the previous books in the series. Actually, much like the bareknuckle bastards themselves, each book is better as part of the whole series and this rating might be higher if I had read them all together in one go. I like Grace, and I don't hate Ewan or think he was unredeemable, which I know some readers struggled with. I mean, I think most of us had his early story figured out, right? and strongly suspected going in to this one that he had sacrificed his own happiness and sanity to save Grace and his brothers? His obsessiveness did make me uncomfortable at times, but MacLean masterfully pulled him back from the brink time and time again by having him demonstrate in word and deed that he understood consent and respected Grace and her space. It just really got bogged down for me. But if you like your second-chance, grovelling romances to be full of angsty brooding, then this one's for you!

This was such an incredible ending to The Bareknuckle Bastards series. I was skeptical that Ewan would be able to redeem himself, but redeems himself he did. Not only that but I think this is my favorite book of the trilogy.

The chemistry and connection between Ewan and Grace jumps off the page. Their history together is strong and emotional making their time together extra intense. The sex is hot and I think the theme of women finding and taking their pleasure is particularly important. Even though this story takes place more than 150 years ago the lessons still feel relevant and timely to today.

DNF at 10%. This is me and my reading brain right now. I can’t get into this but that doesn’t say anything about the book. Thank you to Avon for the free review copy.

The conclusion to Sarah MacLean’s Bareknuckle Bastard series delivers everything readers could want and more. Grace and Ewan loved each other as children, but an unforgivable betrayal from Ewan tore them apart and sent Grace into hiding. Years later, Ewan arrives in London as the eligible Duke of Marwick and Grace, who is the true heir to the title Ewan claims, reigns over the kingdom she’s built in Covent Garden. Ewan is a villain in the first two books in this series, but he is determined to win Grace back. MacLean puts him through the wringer in Daring and the Duke—giving readers a grovel novel unlike any other as Ewan lets go of the power he once used to try and find her and instead works to transform himself into a man worthy of her. I hardly have the words for Grace, who is tough as steel and uses her fierce strength and fearlessness to protect those she loves. She’s equally protective of her heart, and won’t dare let Ewan back in if he cannot show that this time he’s chosen her above all else. Though Grace and Ewan are both known for their hard edges, the love between them is unbelievably tender, and the quiet vulnerable moments between them make this book shine. TLDR: Perfection.

I have been dying for Ewan, the Duke of Marwick, and Grace’s story ever since I read the last book, Brazen and the Beast. There was so much hurt and emotions, you could feel it through the pages.

Ewan’s father was an evil man. He forced Ewan to make decisions that changed Grace and his brothers’ lives forever. So my stomach was in knots most of the time. The Bareknuckle Bastards have created this life for themselves, without the Duke’s help. They don’t need him or want him. They don’t want the heartache again, especially not for Grace. The brothers have protected her from him and they don’t want to see her hurt again.

No matter 20 years or 20 days, being separated from Grace has taken it’s toll on Ewan. He’ll do anything to find her and explain what happened all those years ago.

Grace has learned to live without him. She’s had a lot of experience making due. But she’s merely surviving, not living. She fulfills everyone’s dreams but her own. When the Duke finds her, her world is flipped. Everything she thought she knew about that night long ago, was wrong.

I loved these characters. They grew up together and know when to push each other and when to hold back. Watching them find their HEAs was definitely not easy, but in the end all things worked out.

My wish was granted (Thank you!) and I was able to read an ARC and this is my honest review.

I’ll caveat this review by saying that I read maybe 20 romance novels a year.  I’m not an entry-level reader, but I’m not completely fluent in the community either.  Also, I read this book without having read the previous two in the series, largely because this particular volume was recommended to me by Adele Buck, and I was able to get an ARC. 

I really enjoyed this book, and I can tell it’s definitely one of the more carefully crafted romance novels I’ve read.  The hero of this book has been the villain of the last two, which can get tricky, but MacLean makes sure everyone gets painted with a complex brush (eh, well, except for the ogre of a father, but… I’ll let it slide).  

I enjoyed reading about Grace/Dahlia’s role in London’s criminal underworld, and actually I wanted more of it.  We mostly stay in the women’s club she owns, and while there is a good amount of boxing I wanted to hear more about the three Bareknuckle Bastards growing up fighting (I expect this is in book one).  I also appreciated that the sex scenes spend a LOT of time on communication and enthusiastic consent—I don’t think I’ve seen that done this well before.  

There were a few scenes that felt a little disjointed to me as I was reading them, but I think this was me and my mindset coming into it, not the book itself.  The tone of this book is flirty, teasing, a chase.  Every now and then I thought I saw action and fighting coming and then… it would dissolve into a flirty chase.  There’s nothing wrong with that—I think my wires are just a little crossed by a little too much Dungeons and Dragons and quarantine action movies.  Go into it with the idea that the characters here don’t actually want to hurt each other, they just want to make others work for it a bit.

I have to say, I was very disappointed in this final installment of the Bareknuckle Bastards series.

I had a hard time connecting with many of the characters, who all seemed very self-involved and oblivious to the needs of others. The writing was repetitious and, frankly, boring -- which is completely unusual for Sarah MacLean. I typically love her books, and enjoyed the prior two in the series. 

What really did it for me though is that I never felt that Ewan was actually redeemed. He killed five people and terrorized the three Bastards for years, and yet, we're supposed to forgive him.

Sarah MacLean’s Daring and the Duke (Avon) is the last book in her Bareknuckle Bastards series and focuses on 19th century London’s “seedy underbelly” through main characters Grace and Ewan. This highly anticipated romance touches on more than just love. It explores women’s roles in the patriarchy, defines the concept of dukedom, and shows how close (and yet how far) the rich and the poor are from each other.

If you’re new to the series, the Bareknuckle Bastards are sons and a daughter of the old Duke of Marwick. Because the Duke’s only true heir is a girl (and can’t be duke), the Duke brings his three illegitimate sons from lower-class Covent Gardens to his estate and pits them against each other for the title, with the losers slated for death. The siblings, however, don’t know that. They grow close, the boys linked by blood, all of them linked by  secrets and circumstance.

In the end, Ewan becomes duke, and the others, Grace, Whit (the Beast) and Devil (Devon) barely escape with their lives. The three survivors head to Covent Gardens, growing up in its gritty streets becoming bareknuckle child street fighters to earn money. Book one showcases Devon — better known as Devil, while book two’s focus is Whit — nicknamed the Beast. This book highlights Grace, known now as Dahlia—the queen of Covent Gardens.

Having prevailed in the child street-fighting rings, Dahlia is now the owner of a women’s pleasure club, one of the most popular in London, with many women of the aristocracy on its membership rolls. The club scenes and interactions are fascinating, showing the reader a world that they may have never seen before — one where sex work is decriminalized, and women enjoyed brothels as much as men. While Dahlia and her club are fiction, this era — just before Queen Victoria’s reign — and the fact that these women’s clubs existed is historically accurate. It also shows how resourceful women had to be (and still have to be) just to live in a strictly patriarchal society. The fact that Dahlia mastered traveling by rooftops and led the finest spy network in London is no coincidence. 

But when Ewan shows up twenty years after the thrown-together group split, it brings up all kinds of loose ends. There are questions to be answered, wrongs Ewan has to atone for, and ultimately thwarted love and broken promises of a future together.

As kids, Ewan vowed to make his step-sister Grace his duchess once he became duke. Now that Grace has grown into Dahlia, she wants nothing to do with dukedom — which Ewan technically stole from her. What used to represent money and freedom for all of them, now is the worst thing that could happen to any of them. But being a duke cannot diminish the connection and attraction Ewan and Grace have for each other.

Daring and the Duke is full of action, loaded with spectacle and steaming with rekindled love between its hero and heroine. Arguably the best of the Bareknuckle Bastards series, this historical romance is one exciting page-turner.

I usually enjoy a good 'bodice ripper', but unfortunately this book did not do anything for me.

I loved that Grace was such a strong character - a strong, fearless woman that made her own place in the world and her own 'kingdom' to rule over. She surrounded herself and ran her empire with more strong women. Her main goal was to give women the power that they were robbed of in their own lives. 

I just never felt a strong connection between Grace and Ewan. I can't really out my finger on what was missing for me. I really do wish that it had captivated me more, as I usually love historical romance and have enjoyed other book by this author.

Thank you to Avon books and NetGalley for my copy of the book to read and review.