How To Love A Duke in Ten Days

Kerrigan Byrne

Aug 2019 · Devil You Know Book 1 · Sold by St. Martin's Paperbacks

About this ebook

A Kirkus Reviews 2019 Best Romance Novel, the first in an exciting new series by USA Today bestseller Kerrigan Byrne!

They are a dangerous duke, a fierce lord, and an infamous earl—dark, bold, brave men who know exactly what they want. And there is only one woman who can bring them to their knees...

Famed and brilliant, Lady Alexandra Lane has always known how to look out for to herself. But nobody would ever expect that she has darkness in her past—one that she pays a blackmailer to keep buried. Now, with her family nearing bankruptcy, Alexandra strikes upon a solution: Get married to one of the empire’s most wealthy eligible bachelors. Even if he does have the reputation of a devil.

LOVE TAKES NO PRISONERS

Piers Gedrick Atherton, the Duke of Redmayne, is seeking revenge and the first step is securing a bride. Winning a lady’s hand is not so easy, however, for a man known as the Terror of Torcliff. Then, Alexandra enters his life like a bolt of lightning. When she proposes marriage, Piers knows that, like him, trouble haunts her footsteps. But her gentleness, sharp wit, independent nature, and incredible beauty awakens every fierce desire within him. He will do whatever it takes to keep her safe in his arms.

“Romantic, lush, and suspenseful.”—New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Enoch

Ratings and reviews

Well, for the second time this year, I have a two-part review, another five-star review that wasn't. HOW TO LOVE A DUKE IN TEN DAYS has one of the most breathtaking epilogue and first chapter of a book I have read in years, regardless of the genre! Those few pages hold more drama and excitement than most thrillers. The three female characters are so sharply defined, you feel you know them already, and what highly appealing characters they are! And it only gets better from there, as Kerrigan Byrne weaves a very intricate plot around these three amazing women. How does one express one's ecstasy at being properly shown that your heroine is brave and resourceful, that she is one to be admired! Ms. Byrne does it with assured style and considerable panache: we experience every emotion and gesture through vibrant descriptions, stunning imagery, and dynamic writing. The writing in HOW TO LOVE A DUKE IN TEN DAYS is phenomenal, the vocabulary exquisite, the flow impeccable, and the characters so extraordinarily crafted, they immediately became real to me. Unfortunately, after this wondrous magnificence which consumed me came the dreaded *misunderstanding* around the halfway mark, which I had not anticipated because the story was going so well. Alexandra could have told Piers a partial truth. I think the author lost a golden opportunity to write a four-hanky scene in the way she chose to deal with the secret Alexandra had withheld from Piers. What could have led to memorable and very emotional scenes turned out to be, as far as I'm concerned, very anticlimactic. I was disappointed with how Alexandra acted with Piers. He's justified in being angry, and he is not to blame. I feared much unpleasantness, but it was partially set aside for some seduction. The usual he hates her, he doesn't trust her, but he wants her. Neither did she seem to mind how he had treated her. I wasn't onboard, my interest dwindled, and I started reading distractedly. I found myself not caring much anymore because the lack of communication goes on and on; why not tell him it was ten years ago! It had the potential for an extremely moving story without that misunderstanding. Pity. I found myself not caring about the romance, the mystery, I just wanted the book to end. The traumatising event was handled well. As for the happily-ever-after, I'm not convinced. I don't believe Piers will ever entirely trust Alexandra, and with him being jealous... Apart from one, the villains were no big surprise, and there was a whole lot of melodrama. The epilogue reveals a tad too much, to my liking, and as delirious as I was to read Cecelia's and Francesca's stories, now I don't feel the need to read Cecelia's book. Some things are better left unsaid...

How to Love a Duke In Ten Days opens with an intense scene that certainly pulled me into the story. From that point, I had to know what would come of Alexandra and what her future would hold. We do know a bit of that going in just from reading the blurb, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Kerrigan Byrne balances darkness and light so well, and she draws her characters equally well. There's no sitting back and watching this one unfold. The writing style pulls you in and makes you experience the emotions along with the characters. The chemistry between Alexandra and Piers is off the charts and I love that Alexandra is such a strong woman. The story is almost fairy-tale like, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.

Overall nicely done. The prologue is very dark and violent. The rest is not quite so dark (fortunately) however murder attempts are made; the question is who is supposed to be the victim. There are nasty relations, some great friends, and a lot of jealousy. Call it a pet peeve, but I extremely dislike dialogues being interrupted by overly long thoughts or memories of the characters. In one rather heated scene, Piers thinks back to his parents marriage while arguing with Alexandra. While these memories provide some information which helps the reader understand Piers and his angry reaction, the length of the interruption is so long I was tempted to skim (I didn't) but went back to re-read the earlier portion of the dialogue. This cost a star. I received a free advance copy via netgalley and voluntarily post my review.

About the author

Whether she’s writing about Celtic Druids, Victorian bad boys, or brash Irish FBI Agents, USA Today bestseller Kerrigan Byrne uses her borderline-obsessive passion for history, her extensive Celtic ancestry, and her love of Shakespeare in every book. She lives at the base of the Rocky Mountains with her handsome husband and three lovely teenage girls, but dreams of settling on the Pacific Coast. Her Victorian Rebels novels include The Highwayman and The Highlander.