Duke of Sin (Maiden Lane)

Bridget Crumb is a very efficient housekeeper, as professional as she is emotionally detached from her employer, Valentine Napier Duke of Montgomery. However, when the villainous employer in question begins a game of wits with his mysterious housekeeper, she finds herself, despite her best intentions, becoming drawn to the enigma that is the Duke of Montgomery. Likewise, the more Val tries to outmaneuver his housekeeper in their mental chess game, the more fascinated he becomes by the woman hiding away underneath her prim garments and appalling mobcap. Despite his attraction to her, Val is interested in nothing but seduction because he is incapable of love. Or at least, that is what he thinks...

I was very dubious going into this book because I have not been that interested in the Duke of Mongomery (the book's romantic lead) in the preceding novels where he appeared. He just came off as sleazy and calculating, leaving me to wonder "why does this villain deserve a happy ending?" much less why would I be interested in reading it? Despite my misgivings, I read the book anyway out of loyalty to my love of Elizabeth Hoyt's books, and, to my surprise, found myself falling under the spell of the villain hero right along with the sensible Bridget.

Was he every bit as wicked and self-serving as portrayed in previous books? Yes. Did I find my mouth hanging open at some of the truly horrific things he did in this book? Yes. Was he so complex and tortured that I couldn't help seeing the deeply flawed nature that made him into such a sympathetic hero? Yes.

The reason this book works is because Elizabeth Hoyt committed to the premise of her villain hero. She didn't try to explain away his deplorable actions or sweep his thirst for power under the rug. Instead, slowly and layer by layer she used the heroine to peal back the devastating layers of circumstance that brought him to the state he is in. As Bridget exposed the heart-wrenching events that shaped him into the hard as diamonds creature he is at the start of the book, I couldn't help but feel sympathy for him and hope Bridget helped him find the redemption she knew he was capable of. Despite his horrible actions, his affection and openness with Bridget helped bring to the surface that little bit of light left in his soul. If he had been wicked through and through, he wouldn't have been worthy of any happy ending at all. However, Hoyt was able to weave enough threads of caring and concern throughout his wounded soul, so subtle he can't recognize them himself, that we as the reader are given the complex portrait of a man who wants desperately to love and be loved. Even if he doesn't realize it, we do, and, as as a result, can't help but want him to find it.

Is he completely reformed by the end of the book? No. Does his love for Bridget make him a man worthy of a happy ending? I think so. Should you read this book and give the unconventional hero a chance? A definite yes.

This is the first book of Elizabeth Hoyt’s that I’ve read. I understand it’s part of a series, but the book stands well on its own. However, it also intrigues me to pick up the beginning of the series and see where Valentine’s tale began. He’s an intriguing character. If it became a movie, I could see Robert Downey, Jr. or Johnny Depp in the lead (if they were younger—sorry movie stars, for the age crack). Valentine has the sort of insouciant aplomb of these actors…and while he sashays about his business, he’s also a very bad man. Think purple and gold embellished wrecking ball.

There’s something about the unapologetic joy he gets from his misdeeds that compels. And to characterize his actions as misdeeds is to madly downplay them, however, he revels in his intrigues. It’s refreshing in this age of no responsibility to see someone operating so forthrightly, giving no excuses or explanations and fully accepting his choices.

It makes the reveal of why he’s doing these things even more redeeming.

And it’s his housekeeper, the inimitable Bridget Crumb who’s allowed to peel the layers, baring Valentine more starkly than his parading nudity ever did. She is his “burning”. A woman whom he can’t deny. A woman who intrigues, and makes him long for the heart he’s declared absent.

Bridget has a good heart, and incorruptible morals. But, she’s no prude or shrinking violet. She goes toe-to-toe with Valentine, besting him in many areas…and he can’t get enough. While rooted in morality, she doesn’t deny herself her attraction to Valentine, and she revels in the steamy, sensual lovemaking. Nothing is held back. They are compatible in their uninhibited pleasure, in the joyous, heated, give-and-take of sex. And while otherwise these two start at opposite ends of the spectrum, they slowly pull each other to the middle like magnets, until they are inseparable.

In the hands of Elizabeth Hoyt, this villain is very human. He’s heartbreakingly tragic without seeing himself as a victim. And her heroine is a woman of passion and conviction, never doubting her perception of the man within, and unwavering in her determination to stand by that perception.

It’s brilliantly done.

I wanted to like the Duke of Montgomery and Bridget, I really did, but alas could not really care about them when I finished this book. Way too gross, a very hurried ending. I got the impression it was too big of a job to make the Duke into a better human being and was told of his horrible childhood so that it would be a good enough excuse for his bad behavior! Sorry didn't work for me.

"Duke of Sin' is another great addition to Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series. I recommended to a friend of mine that she read this series by Ms. Hoyt; so she started with the beginning book. Now she is also a devoted fan. Since she purchased this book my friend has read 'Duke of Sin' at least five times. She told me the other day, "I can't get over how the story was crafted so brilliantly and in such a compelling manner." I think that most readers of the series were wondering how Ms. Hoyt would develop the Duke of Montgomery into a main character that people could on some level sympathize with in a relatable manner. Earlier Ms. Hoyt told her social media fans that she would not have the Duke suddenly transform into a traditional hero. She was true to her word and didn't do that, but she nevertheless made him a compelling character that readers could more easily understand, and gave him a memorable story.

Fascinating Fascinating FASCINATING!

I love a good bad boy book. I love Persephone/Hades stories...ore heroes who are evil but are then redeemed. This book is...gasp!...different! Val is bad....and stays bad...and you can't help but love it.

Quick synopsis - Maniacal Duke is entranced by his housekeeper who has her own secrets (by-blow of hoighty toighty lady). She knows he's bad...she can't help but love him. He doesn't understand why he's so attracted to her and they end up with a HAE....but not in the usual way.

First off I give Elizabeth Hoyt credit...she can do dark AND funny...and Val is a good mix of both. There's angst but not too much. It's overshadowed by Val's attempts at blackmail/intrigues. To say I loved this is an understatement. It's the best of the 10 part series of excellent books. The prose is beautiful. The love story is poignant. And the Hero is a manipulative genius without a conscience. Fascinating...and wonderful.

Valentine Napier has appeared in previous Maiden Lane books. Always unscrupulous, always unrepentant. He meets his downfall in his thoroughly practical housekeeper, whose mother he is blackmailing. Just one of many. Bridget spends her spare time searching for the letters that he has taken, to return them to her mother. He catches her in the act. And thus begins a cat and mouse game. He cheats. She falls for him anyway.
I love every book in this series. And now, I find myself a bit poorer as I have just purchased her entire backlist.

I love Elizabeth Hoyt novels, they're the best in historical romance as far as I'm concerned! This novel is not her best in my opinion, as it doesn't develop the characters quite as much as her other stories and the love match is awkward at times. However, I found the characters compelling and kept wondering how she was going to get these two together. She made it happen and even made me care for the Duke of Montgomery, which if you've read the other books in the Maiden Lane series, you'll know is no small feat. Great job and I can't wait for the next volume.

if you've followed Valentine, the duke of Montgomery in the series you'll understand his behavior. There were unsettling things in the book physically and otherwise but I was mesmerized and couldn't put it down. I loved Bridget so determined so independent and so strong. This is a romance unlike any other. If you want a sweet, uncomplicated one this is not for you. but if you want to suspend reality and read witty dialogue go for it.

This book surprised me. I read a few romance novels a week. For the most part I've become bored by the repetitive, tired, overused plots. This story had something different. It was dark, interesting, well paced, and gave me several moments where my stomach dropped a little in anticipation. Any book that can do that is a great one! I highly recommend giving this book a read.

This book contains many disturbing descriptions of violence and perversion, and contains no romance, in my opinion. The "hero" is severely damaged and not a masculine, romantic lead at all. In fact, he's frequently the bad guy. I usually enjoy Elizabeth Hoyt's work, but this was a big disappointment.

This book made me physically ill, why the 5 stars ? Well its horrendousness was written so well the writing alone deservers 5 stars! The Duke is an imbalanced sociopath most of the book he is portrayed as such,very well though,clearly you feel you have entered the twilight zone . The heroine annoying,passive and dead inside,of course she would be perfect for this fever ranting eye shining mad man . Yes he had the abuse of his childhood to deal with but here we do not have psychological scarring ! No here we have a duke who kills directly guts and many people at that,beds heroine who often horribly shocked accepts situation quickly and directly after shocking situations that would have normal people in therapy! A duke that hangs around naked,laughs sinisterly loud all of a sudden or lays about depressed quoting shakespearean form of speech , truly a broken mind! Though Hoyt for the most part does the madness brilliantly near the end overdoes it and it turns cosmical!
Yes, Ms Hoyt has put in the usual irritating trademarks of her style , like the dog and every possible movement it makes repeated to death, the heroine and her ugliness , corse hair , fat fingers and toes repeated to death too, normal plain face,only Hoyt's heroes are yummy though they all look more Greek then British Dukes, no heroine is attractive mostly ever! The grammar 'had waked' grrrrr! The word 'duke' repeated to death , the burning one ( heroes description of her) repeated to death too!The housekeeper concept and her tarty tongue, tiring! Hated also the whole arab situation not interested really!Sickened by the pedophile situation and killings, did not need that in my romance escape !No turn on in the love scenes, though original in some way , knowing the Duke was mad left me cold! But the Duke and his madness dominated the story to make him so real you could almost see him and that for me is excellent writing . Be warned though this is not a romance this is an experience of what a madman with power in that era was probably like even though through no fault of his own!5 stars NOT FOR THE BOOK but for a very well written mad Duke!If you have watched The Whicker Man with N.Cage it leaves you with the same sick feeling in the end!Had half a mind to return but felt guilt over the writing so did not!

Well written, as are the rest of Elizabeth Hoyt's books. This book describes a much more believable (and not so initially likable) duke in many ways - instead of the modern day sanitized, politically correct versions we are so often presented with. Though he carries the burden of immense psychological trauma she helps him to find his way through it.

“I am vengeance. I am hate. I am sin personified. Never mistake me for the hero of this tale, for I am not and shall never be. I am the villain.”

FINAL DECISION: Unique, compelling and gorgeously sensual, DUKE OF SIN is a book about the happy ending for a villain. It asks a lot of readers who might be expecting his redemption in a traditional fashion, but the book allows Val to remain his wicked self while making him someone that readers can root for.

THE STORY: Valentine Napier, the Duke of Montgomery, is immoral, a rake, and some would say evil to the core. He is also a blackmailer. Bridget Crumb is Val’s housekeeper who is seeking the information that Val is using to blackmail illegitimate Bridget’s aristocratic mother. Val and Bridget begin a game of feints and weaves as each works to outsmart the other. While Val may never been heroic, Bridget cannot help but be attracted to the emotionally scarred, lonely man.

OPINION: As amazing and unique as Val himself, DUKE OF SIN does the almost impossible job of redeeming a villain without turning him into a nice guy. Readers who come to this book expecting that we will find that the man who orchestrated the kidnapping and almost forced marriage of a heroine in a prior book will turn out to be misunderstood or pretending or acting under another pretense will be disappointed. Val is an immoral man who commits murder, blackmail and kidnapping — after he meets and begins to fall for the heroine.

‘His Grace was urbane male sophistication personified — but anyone who therefore dismissed him as harmless was a rank fool. The Duke of Montgomery was as deadly as a coiled adder discovered suddenly at one’s feet.”

Val is fascinating in the same way that a snake is fascinating. He is dangerous, sneaky and does only what pleases him without any concern for what is right or wrong. Val’s reasons for developing his peculiar nature are fully revealed here (although readers of SWEETEST SCOUNDREL have been given some knowledge). Hoyt does an admirable job of explaining Val’s development without excusing it. Val is not a nice guy even though he does nice things some times. He is mercurial and damaged.

“I find committing to one side leaves out a world of possibilities.”

Readers of the series know that Val has one person that he cares about — his half sister Eve. She has sometimes been able to restrain Val’s worst instincts. As this book opens, however, Eve has found happiness with Asa and that leaves Val somewhat adrift. Val unrestrained from any moral compass is terrifying indeed.

At this precise moment, Val becomes captivated by his housekeeper who he knows is up to no good.

“She looked at him soberly, and despite her martyr’s eyes, she seemed to make no judgment of him, which, if nothing was refreshing.”

It might have been tempting to match the wicked Val with a sweet innocent, but Hoyt instead given Val a practical, crafty woman who has a strong sense of right and wrong and yet is not judgmental. Deprived of her legacy because she is the product of her mother’s indiscretions, Bridget has made a good life for herself and is loyal. Her willingness to place herself in harm for the woman who essentially abandoned her demonstrates her pure nature. Bridget knows the way of the world and thus she is a good balance for Val rather than being overwhelmed by him.

“Blackmail was a nasty, vile crime and the duke was a nasty, vile man.”

“He couldn’t remember when last he’d had an opponent whose response he couldn’t predict. It was rather refreshing.”

The relationship between Val and Bridget begins with Val testing and playing with Bridget the way a cat plays with a mouse. He enjoys the interplay between them because she challenges them. In fact, although Bridget is Val’s housekeeper, she quickly interacts with Val as an equal. The two duel with one another and try to outwit the other.

“She’d outmaneuvered him. And that? That hadn’t happened in a very, very long time.”

They end up engaged in a deeply sensual relationship with one another through their familiarity with one another. Emotionally engaged with one another, their sparring acts as intellectual foreplay for them. Hoyt goes deep into the emotional lives of these characters as Bridget by inches slowly becomes more to Val then something to play with. Through their relationship, Bridget becomes the moral compass that Val himself lacks.

“She’d said she loved him. Loved him. What a strange and wondrous thing. And how it hurt, this love! What pain it caused, like tiny knives in the veins. He didn’t think he liked it much, but he’d endure it, yes he would, if only she’d return and stab him again.”

Val and Bridget’s relationship is blunt and not sweet in the way that many romances are, but the sometimes violent imagery fits Val’s character. He is not a man with tenderness and gentleness in him. And yet, there is something sweet and innocent about his love for Bridget even if it is somewhat twisted as well.

The book is hot but it is always grounded in the emotional connection between the characters. I am a big fan of the way that Hoyt explores her characters and the highly sensual and lyrical way she writes. I am a huge fan of the Maiden Lane series. This book is one of the most complex because of Val’s role in the series. (Remember he IS the villain). This book kicks off what might be the final trilogy of the series and so several new characters are revealed here.

This book is so good and has so many layers that I read it twice before writing this review because I got sucked into the book the first time and couldn’t even begin to write my normal notes. Definitely one of the best of a great series.

WORTH MENTIONING: Hoyt always does a great job integrating animals into her novels. Pets play a pivotal role in this book and Pip is adorable.

CONNECTED BOOKS: DUKE OF SIN is the tenth book in the Maiden Lane series. The book can be read as a standalone although knowledge about Val is given in the books since DARLING BEAST and there are secrets revealed which impact on the series since the beginning.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

Vale and Bridget are a wonderful combination together. Vale and his arrogance is no match for the very direct Bridget. This book I truly loved reading. I can honestly say I have loved all of Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane Books.

I was excited to read about the duke of Montgomery but this match up just didn't have the sizzle or the charm of some of the others. Never sensed a connection between these two. Hoping the next story is a bit better.

Remarkable story, with a certain degree of redemption for our evil Duke . Readers of the rest of the series will agree, this is a tough redemption, he is a charachter one loves to hate, though we never fully see his evil fully until this book, we've only seen glimpses. This book explores not only his bad deeds, but the reason he has become some self serving. And frankly, I'm not sure he's fully redeemed, just a work in process. The story is very well done, and certainly quite a passionate story. I think we see him evolving throughout the story, and truly was mesmerized by it. The story of Bridget is also one of transformation as she comes to grips with her own birth and her birth mothers story. They are two damaged souls finding one another.

I have greatly enjoyed this Hoyt series, but was disappointed with this one. Val was a little too creepy and I have never been enamored with arabic religion or tradition, so that bit was a personal turnoff for me. Looking forward to reading The Duke of Pleasure, however. I think the Duke of Kyle might be a little more up my alley.

The Maiden Lane series has been the most extraordinary foray into historical romance ever, and this book is "over the top" bizarre. Add to that, so extremely well crafted that, if the RWA doesn't nominate it for a Rita next year, I'll eat my reticule.

I love this series. Great stories of love, redemption, and adventure told with even more lovable characters. Elizabeth Hoyt is a wonderful and talented writer and I look forward to each of her new books. She takes me far away for a while as I fall right into the plot. And just as quickly, I'm sad that it's over!