SINS OF A WICKED DUKE

Author: Sophie Jordan ISBN: 9780061579172 4/2009 HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
Time Period: Regency

She works to live … One would think the last place a beauty like Fallon O'Rourke could keep her virtue was in the Mayfair mansion of London's most licentious duke, the notorious Dominic Hale. Yet Fallon—who's endured nothing but lecherous advances since her father's tragic death—is perfectly safe there … disguised as a footman! Beneath the notice of the dark-haired devil with his smoldering blue eyes and sinful smile, Fallon never imagines her secret will be discovered. But how long can her deception last when she begins to wish she is one of the many women traipsing in and out of the sinful rogue's bedchamber? He lives to sin … Most men envy the duke, never suspecting his pleasure-loving ways are a desperate attempt to escape, however briefly, the pain of a past that's left him with a heart of stone. Only one woman can break down his defenses. Only one woman can win his love … if she reveals her secret and succumbs to the Sins of a Wicked Duke.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

As much as I enjoy the writing of Ms. Jordan, I am so over women masquerading as men in historical romances. It's an automatic put off for me, no matter how well done the characters, storyline, etc. are. I can never get past the fact that the heroine either is extremely unattractive and masculine, or the hero is well aware the woman is a woman and so he spends his time toying with her affections during the entire masquerade. My problem with SINS OF A WICKED DUKE falls into the "Amazon manly" area of the aforementioned list.

I will give kudos to Jordan for making me have a compelling love/hate relationship with the hero, and for even making me like the heroine and wanting her to succeed. What I cannot get past, though, is what I have already told you I can never get over. The heroine is not fair in face or form, and so I picture her looking like a linebacker the entire time. Call me shallow but when I read romance, I picture the people to be at least somewhat attractive, at least like Lucy Lawless, aka Xena, Warrior Princess, whom I might add would not be mistaken for a man despite her size.

Sorry, but even though I quite like SINS OF A WICKED DUKE, I just don't like the set up.

Shannon Johnson