Reviews

Four Dukes and a Devil by Elaine Fox, Sophia Nash, Jeaniene Frost, Tracy Anne Warren, Cathy Maxwell

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thatcrazybooklover's review against another edition

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3.0

Loved some of the stories...

heregrim's review against another edition

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4.0

Loved the interplay of the characters in the Irish Duke, it was fun to see courtly politics be turned into something I found amusing.

The ghost story The Duke who Came to Dinner was alright, if a fairly typical short story of two strangers falling in love in seconds.

Love Devil to Pay as a homage to the movie Fallen, because sometimes Time is not on your side.

Catch of the Century and Charmed by Her Smile were similar in plot and story structure, but both went in wildly different directions to get to the same point. I had a great time comparing them inside my head.

simplyparticular's review against another edition

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1.0

None of the stories were particularly spectacular and I won't be searching any of the authors out. They were all trying to pack to many plot lines into short stories. I prefer anthologies with 3, rather than 4 or 5.

ssejig's review against another edition

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3.0

"The Irish Duke" by Cathy Maxwell-After creating her business on the fact that an Irish duke is the lowest of the dukes, so who would want to marry him, Susan Rogers is confronted by the Irish Duke himself who sets out to prove that he may be the lowest ranking duke, but he's still a duke.
"The Duke who Came to Dinner" by Elaine Fox-Light touch of ghostliness in this story where Gray Gillam starts out the story naked on a bike (dog stole her clothes while she was skinny-dipping) and ends up making a match with the only person who sees her streaking ride.
"Devil to Pay" by Jeaniene Frost-An interesting story about a female vampire who tries to help a man posessed by a demon. More of the quiet-type vampires in this story, less rage-y and blood-sucker-y.
"Catch of the Century" by Sophia Nash-Victoria Givan just wants to get her charges off to their apprenticeships but first she's accosted by an drunk and thrown off the stagecoach, then a duke nearly runs her over, and now she finds out that their cottage is not yet ready and she'll have to stay at his ducal manor.
"Charmed by her Smile" by Tracy Ann Warren-India Byron is trying to escape an over amorous suitor and decides that one of her brother's friends will do well as a shield. But will close proximity lead to love?

frahhn's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed the mix of sub-genres in this collection. 1 contemporary, three regency, and one paranormal.

joreadsromance's review against another edition

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3.0

Slightly lacklustre romance anthology
3 stars

THE IRISH DUKE by [a:Cathy Maxwell|67037|Cathy Maxwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1320954990p2/67037.jpg]
Pretty Susan Rogers is a 26 year old spinster who helps the young ladies of the ton find suitable husbands - so long as they are not Irish Dukes. So who should appear at the beginning of the season to find a wife but an Irish Duke, Roan Gillray, who seems to have set his sights on Susan herself.

This was a sweet story but lacked believability due to the short length. It was still an enjoyable, well-written story that will make you smile.

THE DUKE WHO CAME TO DINNER by [a:Elaine Fox|88584|Elaine Fox|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
Gray Gilliam has come to sleepy Wellfleet, Massachusetts to spend a summer changing her life. But that's before she goes skinny dipping, a dog called Duke steals her clothes and her hot neighbour, Sam Gregory, sees her stark naked!

This was a good, fun-loving story with good characters and a cute dog. I couldn't really decide the purpose of the ghost in the story but apart from that I enjoyed it.

DEVIL TO PAY by [a:Jeaniene Frost|669810|Jeaniene Frost|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1310062695p2/669810.jpg]
Blake Turner has been possessed by an evil demon and the only way to get rid of it is to die. But now he's met gorgeous vampire Elise, he suddenly realises he desperately wants to live.

I am really not into vampire/demon stories and this one didn't change my mind. It was interesting with a good ending but it really wasn't a romance story.

CATCH OF THE CENTURY by [a:Sophia Nash|240488|Sophia Nash|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1359596520p2/240488.jpg]
When John Varick, Duke of Beaufort nearly runs down Miss Victoria Givan in the middle of a country road, he has no idea that by offering her and her teenage charges a lift to their destination, he might be risking his bachelor status.

I enjoyed this story and the characters in it but towards the end the story started to brim with characters from previous Nash books. Having never read her before, I found this annoying and spoiled the story for me somewhat.

CHARMED BY HER SMILE by [a:Tracy Anne Warren|259488|Tracy Anne Warren|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1302210411p2/259488.jpg]
Miss India Byron is being plagued by the unwanted attentions of a rather insipid suitor. So she enlists the help of Quentin Marlowe, Duke of Weybridge to pretend to pursue her in the hopes of deterring the love-struck lad. But is it really pretend after all?

I could have lived with the tried and true plot if it had a little pizazz, but it was actually quite bland and boring. I also didn't believe that it was anything more than infatuation and lust between the couple. Disappointing.

The good thing about this anthology is that it has a wide selection of very different types of story. Unfortunately, personally I didn't find any of the stories particularly thrilling and although a few of them were fairly interesting, I don't think I'll be going out of my way to read any of the stories again in a hurry. 3 stars.