I was a little hesitant about this book, as I could not see a good redemption for Ewan after falling in love with Devil and Whit and Grace. I should have known to have faith in Sarah MacLean always! This book is a great redemption/groveling story without compromising Grace's strength and independence. I could read a whole series about what goes on in her club, and all the characters who come through. This book delivered on everything I needed from Grace and Ewan's story.

Going into this book, I despised Ewan for what he had done and honestly? I didn’t think there was anything MacLean could write to make me like him... and then-

Daring and the Duke was sheer perfection. There’s absolute groveling, possibly a good chance at redemption, and OMG!!! the best second chance romance I’ve read in years!

Ewan and Grace’s story was everything I didn’t know I wanted and then some!

I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley and Avon books. This is my honest review.

Wow! Just wow. Sarah MacLean has outdone herself with this book. The third book in the Bareknuckle Bastards series/trilogy (?) and it was definitely the best. I loved Grace, the Queen of the Garden, and the hero Ewan. This is what romance writers should aspire to write. Well done!

I'm such a fan of this series and I am so pleased with this last book to round it out and end it all! Sarah MacLean's writing so so fun and sexy and witty, there is no difficulty in enjoying this book. Grace and Ewan are an interesting and complex pair of characters and with such a deep history full of love and betrayal. I so loved this book and loved the sensuality of it all. A great romance read!

This is the epic conclusion to MacLean’s Bareknuckle Bastards trilogy. After promising Grace he would always be there for her, Ewan committed the ultimate betrayal by trying to kill her for a title. Years later, Grace is now the Queen of Covent Garden. Ewan has believed Grace is dead and has terrorized his brothers for the last two books. Now that he discovers she is not dead, he has to deal with the ramifications of all of his horrible actions and has to try to win the forgiveness of not only Grace, but his brother’s and Covent Garden as well.

I know next to nothing about video games, but every time I finish a new MacLean book, I imagine her leveling up upon completion of each book. This book is masterfully written. Each sentence, each word is intentional and is utilized to ensure you feel the depth of emotion these characters feel. Ewan and Grace’s story tore me up! The stakes in this book are so high. Ewan literally cannot make one misstep, or he is done. MacLean starts this book with an uphill battle to redeem Ewan. He has done horrible things and MacLean ensures he faces consequences for his actions.

Grace is amazing. She owns a club for women that’s purpose is to provide pleasure for women. The club itself is saying so much about how men feel when women take control of their pleasure. With this book, I feel MacLean has completely taken the standard roles of men and women in romance and flipped them on their head. Grace is the first one to dole out Ewan’s punishment, Grace is the one that has to have a talk with her brother’s to understand her feelings for Ewan. This book is pure romance gold. Out of all of MacLean’s series, I think I would choose to live in the sphere of the Bareknuckle Bastards and while I will miss them greatly, I cannot wait to see what world MacLean imagines for us next!

Beautiful writing and a great cast of characters. I loved that it was a redemption love story! I wasn't sure how Ewan could be redeemed, but it happened and it was wonderful.

The third book in the Bareknuckle Bastards series tells the story of Grace and her childhood love, Ewan. As children Ewan, Devil, Whit, and Grace were united against the Duke of Marwick, until Ewan betrayed them. The Bareknuckle Bastards spent the next 20 years hiding from Ewan and his wrath. Well Ewan is back, he has finally found what he is searching for (Grace) and, despite living in fear and wanting revenge on him for 20 years, Grace soon succumbs to old feelings.

I didn't love this book; it never sucked me in the way a good romance will. Instead I struggled to come to terms with the fact that Ewan was presented as the villain who brought about the deaths of 5 people in the previous book and we were just supposed to care about him all of a sudden? Also, this book has a lot of inner monologues of characters often reinterpreting the same things over and over. Sometimes the inner monologue would be so lengthy I'd have to go back to pick up the conversation when the characters stopped reminiscing and picked up the scene again. Finally, I expected Grace to show a little more spirit and resistance. but instead one touch or kiss from the Duke and she is a goopy pile of emotions who completely forgets about why she shouldn't be in the love with the Duke.

He's daring, she's the...

The Queen. Of Covent Gardens, that is. Grace Condry/Dahlia/+ Secret Name rules the gardens. She and her two brothers, Devil and Whit built their empire with their fists, fighting to survive, then thrive. But her story starts with her legal father, an evil duke and his three bastards, they were all born on the same day. Her story really began twenty years earlier, when she and Devil and Whit were forced to flee with their lives from Ewan, now the Duke of Marwick.

Ewan is the Duke of Marwick. He's daring, hopeful, loyal and steadfast. He's the perfect book boyfriend. He's every woman's fantasy. Now, twenty years later, plus a year, he and Grace are physically together. Like magnets, they are immediately drawn to each other the moment they are in each other's presence.

What I loved? This book flips their roles in a lovely twist. It is unapologetically a revisionist historical, one we desperately need. Daring and the Duke is every woman's fantasy of want and need and hope and not one bit a man's fantasy (thank god). She's the queen and he's her throne. This is Sarah MacLean's most sensual book to date and with complete and fully realized characters. A fitting end the to the Barenuckle Bastards series.
Highly recommend.

This was a great ending to this series. Gracie and Ewan's story did not disappoint!! I liked that Grace was a strong woman. And she put Ewan in his place several times. The ending was unexpected...and I liked it!!

This book is the exciting conclusion of the Bare Knuckle Bastards trilogy and I strongly recommend that you read the other two books in this series first. The novel starts with Grace holding Ewen, the Duke of Marwick, hostage in her ladies club. The Duke quickly realizes that his captor is Grace and that she is not dead as he had been led to believe. For Ewen, this is a game changer. This knowledge sets the duke on a new course in life to win over the woman he has always loved. As the reader knows, Ewen has been the villain in the last two novels so the reader needed to be won over by Ewen in order to feel that he is worthy of Grace's love. Sarah MacLean has accomplished this and more by making Ewen a truly swoon worthy character that is willing to go the distance to prove his worth. Grace is a colorful heroine that possesses grit and humor. I definitely recommend reading the conclusion to this fun trilogy.

No one writes supreme romantic period angst with the deftness of Sarah MacLean. Ewan and Grace's relationship is an absolute mess at the beginning of the story, to the point where I couldn't fathom how MacLean was going to lead them to a satisfactory conclusion.

Ewan has betrayed Grace and his brothers beyond redemption...or has he? One of my favorite things about this story is how unbelievably tough Grace is. She survives a childhood full of horror and betrayal and learns to fend for herself and even thrive by her literal fists. I've never come across a heroine like her, and thoroughly admire her authority, business acumen and physical strength.

The Hero and heroine's relationship is epic, and the supporting characters are almost equally as interesting, as is the setting; I could practically smell the body odor of the crowds in the rookery, they are described so well. I couldn't put it down. Four stars.

*I received a review copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

I was a bit skeptical of this book at first because of how much Ewan has been shown to be the villain in the other two books, and i wasn't sure how he'd be able to redeem himself or be seen as a sympathetic character. I think that ultimately MacLean did a good job with making that seem reasonable.

The good: I could feel the complex emotions between Grace and Ewan and their conflicting feelings of love and hate really well. And of course it's always nice to see the characters from the previous books and to get to know Grace more.

The bad: at times the book was too dramatic and over-the-top, but it also seemed to drag.

This wouldn't necessarily be my top MacLean book recommendation, but she was able to make it work.

I was so excited for Ewan and Grace's story. I thought MacLean did a great job of turning Ewan into a sympathetic character. This is a series that most public libraries should own.

A review video will be up on my youtube channel for release day.

I am slayed. This book destroyed me in the best way. I did not know how MacLean would redeem Ewan but she did and I cried a lot. I cried so much at the ending. It was beautiful it was painful, high stakes and couldn't put it down levels I haven't experienced in a long time.

This book shows so much writing growth and the ability to create a trilogy that delivers in every single book is top tier writing. I can not wait to see what else Sarah writes.

I was highly skeptical of MacLean’s ability to redeem Ewan, the villainous brother and duke from the previous books in this series. But I’m happy to report that she succeeded, although it was a long and emotional process. (How did she do it? You’ll just have to read and find out.)

Grace has spent two decades looking over her shoulder, fighting for her life on the streets of London. She and her brothers, the Bareknuckle Bastards, have risen from nothing to rule the seedier side of the city. One day, the man she’s running from comes back. For her.

Some of MacLean’s books are pretty funny. This was not one of them (not that it was trying to be humorous). I was wrung out after I finished it, but completely satisfied with the conclusion. Grace is a badass, brilliant heroine and I’m glad she got the story she deserved!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC.

Sometimes wishes do come true! I got the notification last night I was approved for this ARC and I read it in less than 12 hours. I don’t know what it is about Sarah Maclean’s romances, but they always grab on to me and never let go.

Grace aka Dahlia might be my favorite of her heroines. She was a bare knuckle fighter when younger, wears breeches and runs a club exclusively for women. She employs women as her workers that include the club security and oh how I would love some novellas about Veronique and Zeva.

Ewan, oh Ewan, very few authors can redeem a villain from their series successfully and I feel like Maclean did a wonderful job with this. I love a good redemption arc and I also loved him worshipping grace. The sex scenes are hot as usual because this is Sarah Maclean and of course we get appearances from our other bare knuckled bastards and their amazing wives.

And if you read her authors’s not it looks like a new series is in the works called Hells Bells. Is that going to be about the bastard’s daughter?!

He is worthy, and I am so relieved. I was scared after loving Devon and Felicity and Whit and Hattie, that Ewan and Grace would never meet my expectations. There was no way the irredeemable could be redeemed. Ms. MacLean did what she does best, putting the heart in the romance. No matter how wonderful or hot the love making is, it must have that heart for me to invest in the characters. It was such a lovely end to one of my favorite series.

I loved this book. MacLean is as usual a master at depicting conflicts and difficult relationships. She had a great challenge in making us forgive and redeem Ewan, but she did it! I love how Ewan is not afraid to admit that Grace is his only weakness and how his love for her has developed once he knows her as Dhalia too.

I am struggling mightily to figure out what to say about this. It's really hard for me to care about a hero that was an absolute shitbag for two books. I mean, a really bad murdering murderer shitbag. Who tried to kill the heroes of those two books. For probably 3/4 of the book I was rooting against them?

Honestly, when he left her at one point I had the thought, ah, maybe this'll be the rare romance where the happy ending is that he never comes back. Folks, that ain't good. Spoiler alert, he comes back.

It's a very sexy book. It's very well written. The heroine is pretty delightful except for her love for the murdering shitbag. So I don't know. Certainly not my fave Sarah MacLean by miles and miles.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the digital ARC.

I just finished this and it did not disappoint! If you have been following the series, Ewan and Grace were apart for literal decades because of their entire backstory, and Ewan does some pretty terrible stuff to Grace’s family and their turf in Covent Garden once he comes back into town in the first two books. I would say the first two books help with the background a lot for this, but it could be a standalone. I was so eager to see how Ewan would redeem himself, and of course he did! So much angst and groveling, which was basically my expectation for this couple and their backstory. Sarah MacLean always comes through with the best couples to read! I need to read this one over and over.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the chance to read and review an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.