Cover Image: Daring and the Duke

Daring and the Duke

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Member Reviews

I don't know why but I just can't fall in love with Sarah McLean's writing. I know I'm in the minority here but I did not finish this.

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I was really looking forward to reading this book after enjoying the previous two novels. I was curious to see how the author would redeem a 'villainous' hero. I really appreciated the backstory of the character's past but I wanted to spend more time learning about Grace. I didn't think I got to know her character well unlike Devlin and Whit. I also thought the redemption happened too quickly. While not not my favorite in the series, it was a solid conclusion to a very entertaining series and I can't wait to see what Ms. Maclean has up her sleeves.

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I just love Sarah MacLean, and her books are so much fun. They are steamy, the connections between the hero and heroine are always so authentic and believable, and the writing is always so funny and engaging! I had my hesitation about the hero in this one, as he wasn't my favorite character in earlier books, but I ended up falling in love with him as I do all of MacLean's heroes. Such a great historical! Thank you Netgalley for the review copy.

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This was the first I've ever read by Maclean and even though I haven't read the others in the series, I enjoyed it.
I liked the steam level and the strong female lead. I didn't like the violence, although I feel like that's my fault for reading a novel in the 'Bareknuckle Bastards' series and not realized it would have so much fighting, blood and bruising in it.
The longing of both Ewan and Grace felt real and their redemption/forgiveness arc resonated. The storyline was complex but I was able to follow it and felt really happy at the end when all 4 characters found the peace, happiness and love that they all deserved.

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I found this to be the weakest of the Bareknuckle Bastards books. The writing and characters were, as always with a Sarah MacLean book, excellent. But the timeline was weird, the wrap up was too tidy, and honestly there weren't the standard number and quality of sexy times. But Grace is an incredible heroine, and seeing the characters from previous books was delightful. If you love Sarah MacLean, definitely read this one.

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Hands down one of the best books I've ever read. Sarah MacLean blew me away. Every word was perfection. Grace and Ewan's story has solidified itself in one of my top five books of all time. I can't say enough good things about.

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I enjoyed this series and was happy to read Grace and Ewan's story. I felt satisfied with the conclusion of this series but this book seemed to have some plot points for me that I couldn't get past. I was overwhelmed with the constant repetition. I also felt like for all of this to take place after 20 years was unbelievable, 10 years would have been more realistic. The best part for me was Grace. She is a strong female character.

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This is where the whole series has been heading, and is by far my favorite book in the series.

Grace and Ewan... Where to begin?
It's hard to say much without giving away spoilers from previous books or the plot of this one. The basics are: young loves, to enemies, to lovers (that's not a spoiler, it a romance novel and HEA is expected). After events from their adolescence, Grace, Devil and Beast have been hiding from Ewan. He's finally found them and is intent on setting things straight. Grace wants revenge and will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means keeping Ewan close.

This is an enemies to lovers story and has been building to this climactic conclusion from the start of book one. One thing I can say is I love a redemption story. I also love that the redemption isn't totally out of left field, it has slowly been hinted at and building since the beginning. Another note, damn Sarah MacLean can write some "dirty talk." Some of it wasn't even dirty so much as it was intense. Just saying. It is admittedly at times over the top, but damn!

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Sarah MacLean consistently delivers beautiful and sultry romance with HEAs! This final installment of The Bareknuckle Bastards is no exception and does not disappoint!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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

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…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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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