The Duke's Unwanted Temptation

The Unwanted Wives #1

by Daphne Byrne

“How did you find me?”
“There is nothing I can’t find if I want it badly enough.”

The Duchess of Sutherford has not seen her husband ever since their wedding day, two years ago. Now, she decides, it's finally time to live on her own, and forget about him altogether.

It's been two years since Devlin, the Duke of Sutherford, was forced to get married. Convinced that his wife was better off alone than with a monster like him, he has been living as a recluse away from London ever since. Until he learns that Theresa left their home, forever...

Now, certain that this his only chance at saving his marriage, Devlin must do something he never beg for forgiveness. But as much as Theresa enjoys the sight of a Duke on his knees for her, trusting him again will take much, much more than that. Even if the mere sight of him sets her insides on fire...

*If you like a realistic yet steamy depiction of the Regency and Victorian era, then The Duke's Unwanted Temptation is the novel for you.

An enchanting regency romance of 80,000 words (around 400 pages), written by Daphne Byrne and published by Cobalt Fairy.

No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a strong happily ever after.

Get "The Duke's Unwanted Temptation" today to discover Daphne's splendid new story!

Genres: Historical Romance, Regency

358 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 7, 2023

Reviews

[Grisette · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

Tedious. Dull. Flimsy plot. I am sorry to say all this but was tempted so many times to dnf this. When finishing a book is a chore instead of a joy... And me who had such great hopes from the blurb 😥!

Things I liked:

💐 I was surprised that there were so many nuggets of wiseness spoken/ thought by various characters. Nuggets that sounded right, made sense, and were expressed concisely. Which shows that the author actually has a decent pen (hence, I am a bit dumbfounded that the story was a failure).

💐 The H was a gentleman. Slow and a bit foolish, but respectful and patient nevertheless.


Things I hated:

📚 The absolute flimsiness of the central plot killed me. The H was fearful of the potential powerful love that the h inspired him on his wedding day, so he runs away from her for two years 😓😬. As stupid as that. There was supposedly a painful family past to explain his fear, but that too was exploited too flimsily to have any weight. Follows 70% of the book where he makes very slow, gentlemanly amends. I would not have minded if it had been a short read, but 404 pages with a thinner than thin main plotline? Unforgivable for my nerves. Criminal even!! The plot tried to redeem itself with some last minute greedy cousin drama, but nope too late, because nothing can erase the tedium of on purpose purplish prose, on purpose repetitious idea filler paras, and, slow, mundane and never ending stupid convos between characters. *sigh*

📚 Virtually no angst, no tension. The h might be reluctant to trust him again, but she almost instantly allows his presence and slow efforts back in her life. Instead of amends, it read more like tortuous courting but in the most boring, heavy tone possible and drowned in too bubblegum pink feelings.

📚 Uncharming main characters that did not inspire anything to me. They were not bad characters, just lacklustre, benign ones. Worst, the side characters were mostly all grating, esp. the loud bff and her daughter.

📚 Improbable insta-feelings on both sides right on their wedding day when they saw each other only a few hours (no marriage consummation btw) followed by 2 years of being strangers! And it got old quickly how both of them are so beautiful! Does Physical Beauty = Insta Fall in Love 🤨🙄?

📚 Personal nitpick: Where is 'Home'? Where was the h staying for 2 years? Where was the H meanwhile? Is Home the same as the house he lives with his grandma? Is it or isn't it in London? Couched as so vague concepts, with no clarity. Somehow these trivial details bothered me throughout the book.

I think reading this book right after Exit, Pursued by a Baron was a big disservice to it. Because after reading a well-crafted, fresh HR story, how could this poor plot ever compare? Bumping the GR rating to two stars only because I still have in mind at least one HR book which is much worse. But I will certainly not re-read this or attempt another one from this author.

[🤍 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️’s

“𝓗𝓮 𝓽𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓼𝓲𝓷, 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓫𝓲𝓭𝓭𝓮𝓷.”

Tropes:
🤍 Slow-burn
🤍 Marriage in Trouble
🤍 Regency Romance

This overall was an and easy and quick read. There was separation period between the heroine and hero which created a little angst which is a trope that I am a sucker for. I found that I would despite the slow burn, the hero and heroine didn’t have as much chemistry as I would have liked. Despite this it was an enjoyable read overall!🤍

[Rebecca Weston · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF..ugh..horrible writing!

The idea and storyline had promise. Get this girl an editor! Her writing sounds like a middle school creative writing assignment. Far too much modern language for the genre and inaccurate details for the time period. Zero depth for WAY too many chapters.

[Diedre · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. A little slow. If you enjoy that slow burn this has it. It was good. It didn't have quite the emotional pull that I like, but I did enjoy the writing. I think the H's motive for removing himself from her kind of put him in the category of a beta so who wants a man like that? However, he did redeem himself as the story progressed.

[Cheryl Hobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poor editing

Story line is average, ,seeing as they have been separated for two years I felt that there should have been more explanation on Declan's life and reasoning before he pushes his way in. Proof reading would have picked up that hid grandmother changes to his mother and back again a few times. Not sure if I will bother with her other books.

[berenice whittington · Rating 1 out of 5]

Twaddle long winded

A story that could be told in 16 pages. Dragged out,
A very bad case of will they won't they with no drama. Over blown flowery descriptions. I gave up 2 thirds through then i read the end and the epilogue.

[Debora Blake · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whinny

Who my is the best description I can do give to Theresa and Devlin. The story is just repetitive and does not move along very very well. I was not able to finish this book as it was getting very annoying.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Romance

This was a good book. I haven’t read Daphne’s books but I liked this and I am a California girl too. I have English in my DNA but have never been there. Devlin and Theresa had to learn to trust each other and not someone else’s words.

[Lidia Cantrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. This is the first time I’ve not finished a book. Even if it’s not great I at least try to finish a book. I decided this was not worth my time. Childish writing, immature characters in the end I did not care what happened to any of the characters. Quit the book at 25%. Really terrible writing

[Jeanie V.]

KU

[Evelyn Derenzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful!

Loved the plot, the characters, the intrigue, and the romance that ebbs and flows throughout the story. This is a definite read.

[Margerm, Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF I've tried to read this book twice. I forced myself to keep going without success. Got one third of the way through and I have no interest in what happens to the H and h. Abandoned wives is one of my favourite tropes but the writing style is so lacking in building tension. The H and h go from zero to 100 in their first reunion in their lust and appreciation for each other. He reflects on how much he enjoys her company when putting books on a shelf. There is no banter, no wit, no character reveal. Giving up on this one.

[Dr Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

POOR STORY

I felt the plot of the story was particularly weak. There was absolutely no communication between the couple. The husband wanted to make amends for his behaviour but failed to explain why he’d abandoned his wife for over two years and bought her flowers instead! Seriously??? Also, a dodgy villain makes an entrance to disrupt things but again the story plot was particularly implausible. Disappointing read and so I got bored towards the end and struggled to finish it.