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Title: The Taming of the Duke

Subtitle: Essex Sisters, Book 3

Author: Eloisa James

Narrator: Susan Duerden

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-27-12

Publisher: HarperCollins

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 299 votes

Genres: Romance, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Imogen, Lady Maitland, has decided to dance on the wild side. After all, she's in the delicious position of being able to take a lover: a discreet male who knows just when to leave in the morning.

But Lady Maitland is still under the watchful eye of her former guardian, the wildly untamed Rafe, the Duke of Holbrook. He believes she is still in need of a "watchdog". She laughs at the idea that someone so insufferably lazy and devoted to drink can demand that she behave with propriety.

It's Rafe's long-lost brother, a man who looks precisely like the duke but with none of his degenerate edge, who interests Imogen. To Imogen, he's the shadow duke... the man who really should hold the title. But when Imogen agrees to accompany Gabe to a masquerade - whose masked eyes watch her with that intense look of desire? Who exactly is she dancing with? The duke or the shadow duke? Rafe... or Gabe?

Critic Reviews:

"RITA Award-winning James' latest addition to her Essex sisters series is truly delectable. James' writing is graceful and witty, her plot delightfully clever, and her characterization - including the captivating Miss Gillian Pythian-Adams - is nothing less than brilliant." (Booklist

"James's considerable talents for clever prose and tight, breezy plotting are on full display, promising a perennial delight in each coming adventure of the Essex sisters." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

read it first, then bought the audio

Any additional comments?

This is a great story. I love romances where the hero/ine is/are flawed. This is certainly the case in this one. Somehow you respect them more for being flawed than otherwise. The hijinks they get up to come across as pretty believable and at times very amusing. Erotic without being too graphic, tender without being mushy.

Very engaging

I have read two of the four books in the series and have loved them both. I especially like triumph over an addiction and anything related to Dukes so this book was particularly delicious to me. The topping to this cake is EJs passionate scenes. She has a gift for writing. A VERY entertaining book

This hero deserved a better story.

What did you like best about The Taming of the Duke? What did you like least?

The hero - Rafe, is one of the best romance heroes of all time. Honestly. I think the description is very misleading - he isn't "wild and untamed" in the usual sense. Instead he is unkempt, depressed, drunk and going to seed, but in spite of all this, he is a genuine sweetheart, and if you dig flawed heroes, you should do yourself a favor and read this book (it helps if you read the two preceding ones, "Much Ado About You" and "Kiss Me Annabel," too, since this book starts in the middle of an ongoing story).

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most interesting: Rafe and his problems. The least interesting: everything else about this book. The story was weak - I believe the author likes to include a lot of literary references, but in this case, I felt it really weakened the story. The heroine was okay, but the fundamental love story is weak here and I didn't buy any of it.