How the Scoundrel Seduces (The Duke's Men Book 3)

I have been anticipating book three in the Duke's Men series since this series began. Sabrina Jeffries doesn't disappoint. She has the ability, as a seasoned author ,to answer all the reader's questions and to tie it in at just the right moments, so that the reader realizes..."Ah, I see how this plot is all coming together now." In my "book" (no pun intended) that is necessary in order for me to give a book 5 stars.I will start by saying that I fell in love with Tristan Bonnard in book one. I have a thing for the underdog. His circumstances conspired against him and his sister, Lisette but that never stopped him from turning a wrong into a right. They were the bastard/natural children of a Viscount. Their father's legitimate children, George and Dominick Manton,took two different paths in accepting their siblings. George developed hate and Don developed love and compassion for their half siblings.Lady Zoe Keane was introduced at the end of the last book. She was owed a favor by the Duke's Men (which is really know as Manton Investigations, run by Don). after she interrupted them while trying to avenge and apprehend an enemy. She kept her mouth shut.Now Lady Zoe is calling in her favor. The chemistry between her and Tristan and both character's being stubborn, leads to humorous quarrels between them, as they try to up-do the other. Zoe speaks her mind and her mouth gets her in trouble. Even though it was annoying at the end of the last book, it worked like a charm here.Lady Zoe has a secret but it isn't even "her" secret. It is the secret that her father and aunt kept upon her mother's death. She realizes that she doesn't look like her "family". Could she have been adopted? Is she really Lady Zoe? In what manor can Manton Investigations help her to get her answers when she isn't even taken seriously by them?Ahh... Wouldn't you like to know? Of course you would.********************** SPOILERS BELOW ************************************************Lady Zoe is Romany. We know the term as being a gypsy. However, at the end of the book the author explains the misconceptions that society had at that time with the English not understanding their ways and how they were discounted as people, much like the American Indians. All prejudices are based on misunderstandings.Once the truth is discovered, will she lose her title? YES, I said TITLE because it was rare for a woman to inherit property that wasn't entailed, let alone entailed. Will it go to a male relative instead? Not if Tristan has anything to say about it. As I mentioned above, Tristan will right any wrong that he can. Fate brought two bastard children together and he won't let her lose her happiness, the way his way taken from him years ago.Then enter Zoe's father, who really isn't and the secrets come out. If she marries her cousin, she can't lose her estate because he is next in line if the secret is discovered. What happened to Drina, her birth mother and why was she abandoned?**************** end of spoilers**************************************Everyone has secrets in this book. As the author unravels each and every one will the reader feel compassion towards what we were led to believe, or will we forgive and understand their motives?To be determined...by you!! This was a wonderful story and I felt so much emotion for both Zoe's adoptive father and some of her other relatives that I didn't include in the spoiler section. I won't give away any crucial details of the story because you will be happy to find them out on your own.

This is the third of the Duke's Men series and the least liked. Im not really sure why. It was difficult to finish reading the first time and I had just began the interview at the beginning of the story before I remembered how uncomfortable I was reading it before. So I stopped.The story and its subplots revolves around the possiblity that an heiress in her own right may not be the natural daughter of her parents, but instead the daughter of a Romany battered wife discovered and raised by the people she believed to be her parents. The plot is complicated by the goal of her father and aunt to marry her off to a total stranger-a cousin who would inherit should it be proved that she wasn't the natural daughter and heiress. The story setting is in Yorkshire and involves the Romany group that Tristan had sold Blue Blazes to setting up the subplot to locate that band and discover what Milos knew about Hucker and the evil George.As in book 2, I didn't like the female main character. I got the impression that the writer was trying to create a character that was decisive and daring who had been trained and schooled to inherit a title and estate but instead she impressed me as too young, too unworldly, too flighty, too headstrong without regard to consequences and forced by the writer to appear to be daring. Personally and I prefer an older, more knowledgeable female that has had experience making her own choices like Lisette. That she is paired up with Tristan, my least favorite of the Duke's Men, isn't a plus either. At time I found the text wordy, the descriptive phrases too superfluous to serve much purpose except as filler, and the push-pull between the the two read to me, as forced and unrealistic considering who they are supposed to be. I just couldn't get past the first few pages of the book during a second read.

A good follow up to the rest of the series.

good read

Excellent series

As usual Sabrina Jeffries never fails to write a captivating novel. I could not put this book down. If you need to get away from the humdrum routine of day to day, this is the book to do that.

Wonderful writer