The Wicked Ways of a Duke by Laura Lee Guhrke

There's groveling and then there is groveling and I think there needed more groveling in this story.

The Duke of St. Cyres (pronounced like Sincere) has been saddled with a title and a truckload of debts he could have done without. He had always been a rake and a never do good, and he liked it! Now all of a sudden has responsibilities he cannot afford. His only recourse is to marry an heiress.

Prudence Bonsworth is an heiress. Well... she was a seamstress but a fortune falls into her lap when the father she never knew leaves her an immense inheritance. Fortune hunters crawl out of the wood work but her innocence blinds her to the motive behind all her new admirers.

I must say that there has been very few heroes that I found complete slime buckets until St. Cyres. The first sign of vile behavior was when he rescues a maid from the unwanted attentions of another peer (in the presence of Prudence) and then later we find he has taken said girl to bed himself! It was a "Holy Crap" moment. Then we see him deny knowledge of Prudence's fortune while he woos her so she will not dump him into the role of a fortune hunter. He manipulates her into an engagement like a Pro! If I was not so disgusted with his actions I would admire his gall!

Okay, there is some strong reasons why St. Cyres has become the man he is, but still...

I really like the way Guhrke shows us how raw the Duke's wounds are and even though there is not many of those moments of complete happiness, Prudence brings him the sense of peace he needs and he falls in love with her. I love that even though Pru was completely blinded by Rhys deception, when she did discover it, she didn't lay down and fall apart, she took hold of her life and moved on.
I wish there had been more groveling at the end, as I mentioned earlier in my post, but I found the book on a whole a very good read and Rhys did redeem himself there at the end.

Grade: B-

She's No Princess by Laura Lee Guhrke

Sir Ian Moore is the older brother of Dylan (whom we met in His Every Kiss) but they cannot be the more opposite. Dylan was always the carefree, artistic type while Ian always strived to meet his father's expectations. He is a diplomat and the career suits him because he never lets his emotions show, he always does what is right and his honor is unquestionable... until he meets Lucia.

Lucia Valenti, not only is the illegitimate daughter of a prince, but also is the daughter of one of the most notorious courtesans in London. She had been unacknowledged by her father for most of her life, although he did school her, but when she is caught with a blacksmith at her school, she is sent off to a convent where not even the nuns could keep her down. Now she embroiled her younger sister in scandal and her father has had enough! He sends her to Ian, so that he can get her married off.

Lucia will not marry for anything other than love and schemes her way into having Ian agree to let her choose her own husband among the list of men he has approved. Ian has no clue as to what is coming over him as he keeps letting Lucia get her way. He is tempted beyond belief and his wall of indifference just keeps getting chipped away by the rebellious Italian!

I loved seeing Ian get all ruffled and out of shape. Guhrke has great talent in painting a picture of the scenes she is describing and I could clearly see Ian all polished and stiff, getting his hair tosseled by Lucia. The book really drew you in from the start but I could not say the ending left you sighing. I felt as if it ended too abruptly.

I feel as if the book was misleading at the end when it came to Ian's feelings about his career. He tells Lucia something at the end that was just not indicated by his actions and his thoughts at the end of the book. It seemed as if the author was in a rush to end the tale with a pretty pink bow. I would have also like to see more interaction between Ian and Lucia, since every time they did spend time together it was a storm waiting to happen.

Grade: B-

The Marriage Bed by Laura Lee Guhrke

The times I have read about John and Viola Hammond's relationship (in both Guilty Pleasure and His Every Kiss) I admit to having developed and affinity to their situation. It seems that Viola despised her husband passionately and John could care less about his wife. I really could not see them ever reconciling yet that is exactly what Guhrke set out to do in this book.

John Hammond has led a life of carelessness but he is finally facing his responsibilities when he finds he needs an heir. John always thought that his title would pass on to his cousin Percy and then his son, but Percy goes ahead and dies of scarlet fever! Now he has to find a way to reconcile with his wife Viola to assure an heir that will secure his viscount title doesn't pass onto his other idiot cousin.

Viola had been hurt by this man in the past when she discovered that he had not married her for love but for the money her dowry brought. She shut him out of the marriage bed then and he sought refuge in other womens arms. He now wants her to forgive his transgressions of the past so that she will allow him to return to that marriage bed to beget the heir he needs. Well, she will have no part of it. Yet, society dictates that if her husband comes to claim her, he has the legal right to take her away, and take her away he does, forcing his presence in her life and unsettling her with her wit and laughter.

What John had not realized was that more than making love to Viola, he missed the love Viola gave him so freely and he is determined to gain access not just to the marriage bed but into the heart of his wife.

On the down side of this one is that Viola was not a very likable character, she caused the riff in her marriage by her stubbornness and her lake of faith in the relationship she was starting to develop with her new husband . Then John went off and didn't fight for her adding fuel to the fire. I had a hard time believing that after so many years of hating her husband Viola just suddenly accepted him and yet Guhrke made the journey of these two back to each other so enticing that I could accept the spontaneous acceptance of Viola's husband back into her life and that alone made it a great book.

Grade: B+

His Every Kiss by Laura Lee Guhrke

The first book I read by Guhrke was Guilty Pleasure and I fell in love with her work. When I picked up this one which takes place among the same characters from that first book, I thought maybe Guhrke might have been a one hit wonder but I kept reading despite the VERY slow start. It picked up after 100 pages.

Dylan Moore was a composer who after suffering an accident (fell off his horse) he can no longer hear music to compose. He is suffering from migraines that block out his muse. He is about to take his life when a destitute violinist interupts him and chastises him for attempting the suicide. To his surprise he finally hears music in her presence but she runs away from him before he discovers who she is... He looks for her over 5 years but has no luck until he runs into her again when he is at a ball and she is a musician playing.

Grace has had her share of being a muse when as a young girl she ran off with a painter destroying her reputation. She eventually married the lout but when his inspiration drained he turned to drink and eventually made her life miserable. She refuses to go through that again but Dylan offers to hire her to be a governess to his daughter Isabel (who he has just met) and in the process also serve as his muse. She wants to refuse but she is down to her last shilling and so her finances don't allow her to be picky so she accepts the position as governess.

When things got difficult, I found that Dylan was too fast to judge. But I think he did a good bit of groveling and his efforts in using his influence to repair her reputation and her relationship with her brother made him deserving of her.

Grade: B-