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Duke of Desire  By  cover art

Duke of Desire

By: Elizabeth Hoyt
Narrated by: Ashford McNab
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Publisher's summary

RITA finalist, Duke of Midnight, 2014

RITA Finalist, Sweetest Scoundrel, 2016

RITA Finalist, Darling Beast, 2015

A lady of light

Refined, kind, and intelligent, Lady Iris Jordan finds herself the unlikely target of a diabolical kidnapping. Her captors are the notoriously evil Lords of Chaos. When one of the masked - and nude! - lords spirits her away to his carriage, she shoots him...only to find she may have been a trifle hasty.

A duke in deepest darkness

Cynical, scarred, and brooding, Raphael de Chartres, the Duke of Dyemore, has made it his personal mission to infiltrate the Lords of Chaos and destroy them. Rescuing Lady Jordan was never in his plans. But now with the lords out to kill them both, he has but one choice: marry the lady in order to keep her safe.

Caught in a web of danger...and desire

Much to Raphael's irritation, Iris insists on being the sort of duchess who involves herself in his life - and bed. Soon he's drawn both to her quick wit and her fiery passion. But when Iris discovers that Raphael's past may be even more dangerous than the present, she falters. Is their love strong enough to withstand not only the Lords of Chaos but also Raphael's own demons?

©2017 Elizabeth Hoyt (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

2012, RT Book Reviews, Best Historical Romance, Nominated

2014, RITA finalist, Duke of Midnight, Runner-up

2014, RT Book Reviews, Historical K.I.S.S. Hero, Winner

2016, RITA Finalist, Sweetest Scoundrel, Runner-up

2015, RITA Finalist, Darling Beast, Runner-up

What listeners say about Duke of Desire

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THE ABSOLUTE WORST!

WOW! This is one of the worst books I have ever read. Especially in the Maiden Lane Series.

Here is a list of items I found so very wrong with this book.

1. Raphael: He has to be the worst "hero/main character" ever written. The continuous brooding was so extreme. He was mean and hateful and basically a total jerk. Never smiled or laughed.

2. Raphael: Another hero who thinks he is going to be just like his daddy and refuses to have a baby. He must end his blood line this he state several times in a menacing, sneering tone of voice which the book identified so kudos to the narrator for making it happen).

3. Raphael: Regardless of the scarring on his face, he was just an ugly person. Regardless of what happened to him as a child, he was an ugly person with the the worst personality, if one could call it a personality.

4. Iris: Really? How on earth can she possibly even like this man? He is a jerk to her.

5. The story line: Yep it sucked, and it was drug out between the brooding "hero".

6. The story line: Just Terrible.

7. The Lords of Chaos: Stupid, unless your going to write an amazing story surrounding the capture and destruction of this "cult". Not amazing. Any hope of great story was ruined.

8. The end of the Maiden Lane Series: Disappointing. Terrible. Bad Characters. Bad character development. Bad story line. An extremely, annoying, frustrating, painful listen.

9. The end of the Maiden Lane Series: THERE WAS NOTHING MAIDEN LANE ABOUT IT.
The first 4 books were amazing then the rest of the books following were all stand alones and not all that good.

Here are the items I did like:

1. The dog.

2. The Narration.

What I would like to have happened to end the Maiden Lane Series:

1. An amazing ending would have been for all the previous Ghosts of St. Giles and some of the spouses to appear and devise a fantastic plan to take down and destroy the lords of chaos in an amazingly epic ending.

2. NO character like Raphael.

Okay so there you have my feeling on this book.

As for the narration. It was fantastic. Ashford McNab did such a great job on the voices and the emotions that were written I actually hated Raphael. If the author called for gritting sneering responses from Raphael that is exactly how she read it. Superb narration. Too bad the story sucked and the character of Raphael sucked so bad.

I sure hope Elizabeth Hoyt goes back to writing good books again, because the last few have been hit or miss for sure. Sorry EH this was not good.

I literally sighed with relief when this book ended it was so painful to get through.

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8 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Glad I'm done with this book..



Jeez! Are authors ever going to stop writing about Beauty and the Beast type books? There’s either a heroine who’s too plain, too plump, too unattractive, that has a drop-dead gorgeous hero falling in love with her OR a hero with a scarred face, like this one. Time for something new. I’m tired of reading about a scar that bisects his brow and messes with his smile.

Also, this book was so dark that it really needed to come with warnings.

I read this first 5 books in the Maiden Lane series but the more the Ghost of St. Giles was taken out the less interested I was in them. Then I saw where this was the last Maiden Lane book and decided to get it. To me it's a terrible story. I mean, Raphael didn't even smile until somewhere in the last 4 pages and he kept telling Iris he was no good and then that he was evil because of his father's tainted blood. Wow, how many times have I read that in a romance novel. I can't tell you all the dark things that went on in this book, because audible doesn't like it, but you can see my complete review on Goodreads.

There were at least 4 sexual and sex scenes in this and the F-bomb was used 3 times.

As to the narration: It’s always a pleasure listening to Ashford McNab. Her reading voice is great, as well as her emotions.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

No Duke of Desire

Never met a Duke so undesirable. Uncommunicative, authoritarian and unwilling to listen till the end.

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8 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

No Ghost, No Maiden Lane,

Although I liked this story, I was disappointed that there was no new Ghost of St. Giles, no Maiden Lane and no Unfortunate Infants and Foundling Children's home. I think this is the last book in the series and so for it not to have the three main items which made up the series, is a bit disappointing. This doesn't really fit into the series very well in my opinion. I liked it - I was just hoping for more.

Elizabeth Hoyt always write a good story and the love scenes are the best. Of course if you are into the Maiden Lane series - you have to listen to this book!

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6 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Disappointed

I find myself wanting to apologize for this review. I've had hours of fabulous listening from the pen of Miss Hoyt. Unfortunately, not this time. I couldn't relate to the characters, did not like the storyline, and did not enjoy the narrator.

This book bears absolutely no resemblance to earlier Maiden Lane books, most of which I have thoroughly enjoyed. I can't help wondering where Miss Hoyt is taking the series.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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SPOILER ALERT ( I am Not a fan of this one)

First - Ashford McNab is amazing! She has great timing and inflection and tone - just perfection!

Hoyt - WHAT HAPPENED! I LOVED Maiden Lane and all 11 books before this one. The end of the last book was a clue about a very dark turn, but I still feel I was unprepared for just how in-depth this book would go into the land of pedophilia, rape, and trauma. I feel like this book should have come with a **** trigger warning****.

I loved this series for the strong heroines and the vivid characters. Iris is strong - but there is such a disconnect in how the story progresses. (HERE is the SPOILER alert for those of you who don't want to know - stop here) She is saved by Rafael and he insists they marry. Then without any further character development, she is utterly insistent upon bedding him and making it a "real marriage" all the while kind of acknowledging that she doesn't really know him and shouldn't trust him. Over and over she tries to make it a "real marriage" and is utterly loyal and devoted to him without any type of story or character development. It was so odd which made my attachment to her - thin - she just wasn't there for me.

Personally, I loved the romance and adventure in the other books but this one - I am sorry it was too dark for me. (at least for me to deal with based on the reasons I enjoyed the other books).

I am returning this book because being a trauma survivor myself - this is not something I want to listen to.

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Boring..

I’m sorry but I love the Maiden Series but this one was just boring to me. I know it was dark because of child abuse and I still looked for the good in the rest of the story. but the H and h were the two most uninteresting people. I just hope this is not a start of this series going downhill.

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What happened to this series?!

This had been a great series ..... but has slowly disintegrated into this. I rarely write this negative review but .... listener beware. This book is filled with child molestation themes. It doesn't matter that the main character suffered this and sympathies are with him. The relationship between Rafael and Iris ... if it can be called that .... is so overshadowed by his father "loving" him and grooming him and molesting him as a boy that it's hard to muster any interest in his love life as an adult. We get that he is out to destroy the lords of chaos. Good. Reference to why would have been enough. I didn't need details of the molesting or the molesting and harm of other children to help me "picture" why he wanted them destroyed. I feel that the author would have been better off writing some type of counseling or self help book for victims of molestation.

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Love EH & the series, but TOO DARK

I feel like the Maiden Lane Series (which I have listened to twice) kinda started to get off track with the last several books. They were still great, but almost more of an off shoot or series within a series.

This is a DARK ONE! A few of the last books w ere dark, BUT this is a bit more over the top. I like the drama and danger and evil EH puts in her books, but this one almost took away from the romance. And let's face it...I'm reading for the romance...not to be repulsed & horrified by the rest of the plot. That's why I had to only give the story 3 stars...the bad evil things over powered the good sweet love story.

Ashford McNab IS Maiden Lane for me...shes GREAT! Just hearing her voice start to read the series feels like wrapping up in my favorite blanket by a warm fire with hot cocoa...perfect!

I am SO SAD this series is over... (I hear there is a novella) I have loved the journey through Maiden Lane and will probably listen again...and again!

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Sorry to see it end

I found the last 3 books in the series, very dark in their storyline. A great series and I will miss the writing and performance. Hoyt/Mcnab are one of the best in audio books.

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