The Broken Duke

Jess Michaels

Sep 2017 · The 1797 Club Book 3 · The Passionate Pen

About this ebook

The third sensual romance in the 1797 Club series by USA Today Bestselling Author Jess Michaels.

Adelaide Longford is London’s most overlooked bluestocking wallflower and that is fine by her. Being ignored gives her the perfect opportunity to sneak out and secretly take on the persona of the most celebrated actress of the day, Lydia Ford. The thrill of walking the boards and hearing the applause of those who watch her is the most exciting experience of her life. 

Until Graham Everly, Duke of Northfield comes into her life. He is broken after the humiliating loss of his longtime fiancé to his supposed best friend and they enter into a lusty affair which sets her body on fire. Graham has no idea why he’s so attracted to both the bespectacled, prickly Adelaide and the passionate Lydia, but soon he is caught in a dance with them both and torn between which future he wants to pursue. 

When Graham finds out Adelaide’s secret identity will he be able to accept both parts of her? And will he be able to save her from a lurking danger that neither of them could have ever foreseen?

Length: Full-Length Novel (70,000 words)

Heat Level: eyebrow waggle

This book is part of a series (The 1797 Club) but can be read as a standalone novel.   

Ratings and reviews

Graham Everly, Duke of Northfield, was engaged to his best friend’s sister for nearly a decade. He was betrayed by both his fiancee and a man he though of as a brother when the pair were found in a compromising position. Graham doesn’t know how to forgive or forget until he sets eyes on actress Lydia Ford. Lydia walks the boards by night, but by day she is blends in with the walls in ballrooms all over London as Adelaide Longford. Since her parent’s deaths, Adelaide has lived with her stern and at times cruel aunt, Lady Opal. Her only outlet as Adelaide is her friendship with Emma, the new Duchess of Abernathe. Lydia gives her the freedom to be someone else, if even for only a few hours at a time. In the previous two novels, I found Graham to be very stiff and off putting. I was excited to see what kind of woman would take him over, body and soul. For a majority of the novel, Graham is obsessed and torn between what he feels for both Lydia and Adelaide. When Michaels describes the different looks of the two lady personas, I understand how Graham could not tell the two ladies were the same woman. Graham is transformed from the broken, betrayed Duke into a lusty and loyal man he was always meant to be. Adelaide’s upbringing by her maiden aunt was borderline brutal. Her accidental introduction to the theater a few years before opened a whole new world to her. Not only did she find something she loved and was utterly fulfilling, it brought her to her destiny, the Duke of Northfields. I loved the unusual way Michaels brought this duo together and the reintroduction of the villain from the first novel of the series, Sir Archibald. Not only do we get a complex and fascinating love story, we get two villains in Archibald and Opal who cause more than enough havoc for an entire lifetime. It is with absolute honesty that I convey to you that I devoured this novel in one day. I could not stop reading as every page had something worthwhile to absorb. There is not a single paragraph that needs to be skimmed. I had my doubts about Graham’s story, but Michaels blew me away once again. She gave Graham lessons I never thought he would learn and brought forgiveness to his heart and soul. With the discovery of unconditional love, Graham and Adelaide were able to leave the heartless past behind and create a blissful future together. I received this book for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The appeal of a Jess Michaels novel lies in the presentation. Beneath the scandalous lust, the intriguing adventures and the danger that follows in the wake of the main characters, lies a beautifully written work of art. The Broken Duke thrives on staying one step ahead of the readers. Adelaide is a temptress in hiding. A woman caught between two worlds, longing to be noticed and willing to risk all for that chance of notoriety. Her quest brings her to the attention of the one man who could topple her entire masquerade. The heartbreak she never saw coming and the danger she never thought possible, lies in the hands of the greatest love of all. (4.5 stars)

The Broken Duke

About the author

USA Today Bestselling Author Jess Michaels began writing full-time in 1999. In 2003, she sold her first novella and since then she has published over 50 novels and novellas under three different pen names with several major publishers, small presses and via self-publishing. Jess is the author of The Wicked Woodleys, The Notorious Flynns, The Ladies Book of Pleasures, The Pleasure Wars Series and other series and stand-alone titles.