Daring the Duke

Lords of Intrigue #2

by Anne Mallory

DARING THE DUKE (APB) Anne Mallory When we last saw Stephen Chalmers he was recovering from the attempt on his life by a ring of royal traitors. Since then he's successfully inherited a title, but he's yet to discover the identity of the mysterious rescuer responsible for saving his life. He's also yet to discover the secret identity of the criminal he's been hunting for an infamous thief who disappeared from the London scene years ago, only to return recently and act more brazenly than ever. And though he doesn't have the thief in his clutches yet, he's closer than ever. Orphaned and responsible for her younger sister, Audrey Kendrick had no choice but to turn to a life of crime in order to survive. It wasn't long before the clever, beautiful young woman became England's most notorious thief. Her true identity had never been discovered, not even by Stephen Chalmers, the disarming young Duke who had followed her for years. 0060762233 $14.95 178x111mm 384pp January 2006 Release

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Espionage, Regency Romance

375 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

Some people have always known they wanted to write. Others fall into it and discover its inherent joy. I’m somewhere in between. As an avid reader, writing a novel had always tickled the back of my mind. There seem to be a lot of people who say, “Someday I’ll write a book.” For me, the feeling tickled, moved into an incessant knocking and finally became a dull roar. All I needed was to make that “someday” into “today.”

I’ve always considered myself a creator, so transitioning to writer was not as grueling as it might have been. From creating two minute stories for people on the street, to creating jewelry, crafts, stained glass, pottery, music, crazy art projects… the list of things I like to create (and buy all the necessary materials for) keeps getting longer amidst my family’s exasperated groans. I love to start something from scratch, and then mold and shape it into a finished project. Writing books provides a challenge I accept with relish (and a bit of hair pulling). Building a world, populating it with characters and giving them a script and satisfying ending - what more could a creative type ask for?

I’ve always loved romance novels, ever since I started sneaking them from my Mom in elementary school. I mean, what’s not to love? Rakish men and smart, feisty women, adventure and mystery, the love and loyalty between two people. Give me a roomful of romances, some Agatha Christie, some Edgar Allan Poe, the Harry Potter series and an armful of other fantasy novels, (and steady meals with chocolate) and I’m in heaven.

And heaven is what I consider a particular cottage on an inland lake in northern Michigan during the summertime. If you are headed “up north” this summer, maybe I’ll see you on the way…

Anne Bytes (or pseudo trivia)

Started writing on September 11th, 2001 as an escape from the day (needed an escape with a happy ending).
Thinks that 11pm is a perfectly normal time to begin reading a 400 page book.
Escaped from Alcatraz (story here).
Got a hole-in-one on a Par 3 and was just happy to have beaten her Dad on a hole for once. After a quick rotating hip dance, she was surprised to see her Dad still looking from the tee to the hole where the ball had bounced once and dropped in. His mouth was hanging open. Anne’s response? “What?” (In coding terms, Anne != golfer. That’s “Anne is obviously not a golfer” for you normal people).
Loves tubing (behind a boat) and roller coasters (Cedar Point, here we come!).
Loves paddleball, especially “extreme” paddleball. In the normal variety of paddleball, she helped score 432 hits with Cousins J and Mg one summer day.
Played at Carnegie Hall and was so excited she launched her violin bow across the stage when she got to the picking section of the piece. Thankfully said bow was recovered in time to start bowing once more.
Saw a Great White Shark in real life (at Monterey Bay Aquarium, thankfully).
Wrote her first (and only until Masquerading) book in sixth grade. It was a thriller/mystery centering around two sixth grade detectives. Her Mom assures her it is still well loved (read: stashed in the attic).
Began Masquerading the Marquess on Good Friday 2002, sold it on Good Friday 2003.
Considers herself a hobby collector. Friends and Family like to call her hobby “pack ratting.”
Can relate to the line in Office Space, “Um, I’m gonna need you to go ahead and come in tomorrow. So if you could be here around nine, that would be great. Oh, oh, yea… I forgot. I’m gonna also need you to come in Sunday too.”

Reviews

[RomLibrary]

When we last saw Stephen Chalmers he was recovering from the attempt on his life by a ring of royal traitors. Since then he's successfully inherited a title, but he's yet to discover the identity of the mysterious rescuer responsible for saving his life. He's also yet to discover the secret identity of the criminal he's been hunting for years: an infamous thief who disappeared from the London scene years ago, only to return recently and act more brazenly than ever. And though he doesn't have the thief in his clutches yet, he's closer than ever.

Orphaned and responsible for her younger sister, Audrey Kendrick had no choice but to turn to a life of crime in order to survive. It wasn't long before the clever, beautiful young woman became England's most notorious thief. Her true identity had never been discovered, not even by Stephen Chalmers, the disarming young Duke who had followed her for years.

[Katyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

***4.5***

So I stayed up waaaaaaaay too late to finish this last night. Bad me. But that should tell you just how much fun it was!

I really enjoyed it, and as seems to be a trend with Mallory books, the plot was brilliant and twisty, and fun to follow as it unfolded.

Audrey was intelligent and fearless, loyal, and just plain awesome. It was fun to see a female badass in a historical. And Stephen... what can you say about Stephen? I loved him in the last book, and he's brilliant as the hero in this book.

I marked it down just a teeeeeny bit at the end, because I thought that maybe things came together a bit too abruptly, and I would have liked a little more time spent on the resolution. But seriously, it was tons of fun, and I wish Mallory spent more time exploring the Olympians, because I loved the glimpse into that world.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5 Stars*

Once again, there was something missing for me in this book. I honestly think it's because it's one of this author's first books. It felt a little smoother than the first at times, but it was still missing the spark I usually feel with this author's work.

I picked this book up immediately after finishing the first, Masquerading the Marquess. Stephen seemed like such an interesting character that I couldn't wait to read more about him! Luckily, he didn't disappoint and his heroine, Audrey, lived up to my expectations too.

Audrey by turns impressed and irritated me. I loved all the details about her career. It was absurdly easy for Stephen to catch her, but luckily the author gave us the excuse that this was not her plan to explain that away. This enabled me to still be able to accept that she had been too slick to catch a year ago.

I loved how mature and strong she was. She had confidence in herself and was always planning. It was very nice. But I also found her lack of growth and closed off attitude toward Stephen to be irritating. I know she didn't trust easy, but I got tired of it dragging on for the whole book. I needed to see her give something back to Stephen. It felt rather one sided as it stood.

I loved watching the teasing and banter develop between the characters. This is where I feel the author really starts to polish her later style.

I felt that once again things started to feel a little shaky as the plot came together. It was a little too abrupt and felt somewhat convoluted at times. The book could do with some tighter plotting and fewer characters running around.

I really wish that more detail had been explained about Audrey and Stephen's past. I felt that things were alluded to in her thoughts that were never resolved. I also wanted to know if her retirement tied into another event. The timing seemed to match up a little too well for it to be otherwise.

These first two books will not go down as favorites of the author, but I don't regret acquiring them at all. If you read this and felt that it was just a bit lacking I would recommend trying one of her newer books before making up your mind to write her off!

[C Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Lords of Intrigue, and I prefer the first to this one.

It has a promising start, I appreciated the humor, the elements of a convincing plot and good storyline were there. The problem? The characters.

Audrey Kendrick has resurfaced as "Hermes", a notorious thief who doesn't leave a trace, and somehow she started making mistakes. Stephen Chalmers already knows her identity, but toys with her for awhile. He courts her and all that until they get close, mysteries are revealed, conflicts resolved, and everyone is happy.

Unfortunately, there was no character development, especially Audrey. I understand from her background on how she came to be, she has difficulty trusting anyone save for her sister Faye, who's in Newgate prison, and the reason why Audrey is thieving again. Someone has her on a leash and it's a never-ending cycle. Frankly, she should know better. I hate that she didn't trust Stephen until the end. I know Faye is her only living relative and she's everything to Audrey, but it really took the whole novel to set her free and I hated that. Ms Mallory could've sped things up a little and added more development in Audrey and Stephen's story. I felt that it's quite raw and they didn't have a good foundation.

I would have rated this a little higher if it had a prologue and epilogue, and the love scenes were described in passing. It's like the author feels awkward writing them. It's PG-13 for my taste. Don't get me wrong, Anne Mallory's writing style is fluent and she writes good story lines, but this one just dragged. I want to read her other works and I hope they're better than this.

[Piratequeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out to be a very formidable novel with an air of suspense. But it went stale after half of the book, leaving much to be desired. The tension simply died for me in the end. there should've been an Epilogue. To show how he managed his financial problems. A burning question for me is and still remains as to how did she come to loose her innocence... more to the fact if she was a virgin to begin with.
Overall the book left me with a....
" That's it??????..." lol.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't understand the low reviews on this book. I am beginning to think this is my favorite author! I like this type of book with a little mystery/action in it. The Heroine in her books is much stronger than typical books in this era.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daring the Duke is the second book in Anne Mallory’s Lords of Intrigue series. The book revisits the charming Stephen Chalmers, a secondary character from Masquerading the Marquess. Having found Stephen more entertaining and three-dimensional than the supposed “hero” of the first book, I was looking forward to reading a novel with him at its centre. I’m happy to say that I was not disappointed.

I have to give Mallory kudos for crafting two such different and yet complimentary leading characters in this novel. As a leading lady, Audrey Kendrick was a mischievous and talented thief whose actions were driven largely by the need to protect her sister. Personally, I found the thief/savior combination made for a strong, independent character, with just enough vulnerability to ensure that she was endearing to the reader. Stephen was the story’s unconventionally playful and nerdy spy character. He was neither dark nor brooding. Instead, he was tender, protective, moral, and guided by his heart as much as his head. It was nice to see a character that exhibited all of these qualities and yet remained a strong leading man.

Mallory set an instant, yet believable chemistry between her hero and heroine that developed so incrementally that it felt both natural and inevitable. If I could liken their relationship arc to anything, I’d say that it was less like a flash fire, and more like the smoldering of hot coals. When Audrey and Stephen finally got together, it was both sweet and intense. The romantic in me couldn’t help but sigh aloud…

Now to the aspect of the book that I didn’t enjoy so much: the climax. One thing that I’ve noticed about Mallory’s work is that she consistently and needlessly overcomplicates the climax of her books. Early in Daring the Duke she makes it clear that someone else – someone more powerful and vindictive – is pulling Travers’ strings. In my opinion, Travers actually makes for a pretty chilling villain in his own right, and I often felt as filthy as Audrey did after scenes involving him. Unfortunately, instead of recognizing a good idea when she has it, Mallory buries Travers’ importance under first one villain, and then another (both of whom I find far less compelling than Travers). By the time all the layers of the onion have been peeled back, I’m more irritated than intrigued.

Verdict: A vast improvement over the first book in this series, it is clear that Mallory’s ability to craft characters and believable chemistry grew in leaps and bounds between her freshman and sophomore novels.

[Elis Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yup, if you read Masquerading the Marquess you've probably guessed this one's about Stephen Chalmers, Calliope's surprisingly accommodating accomplice. In the last episode he was obsessed with finding the person who saved him after he nearly drowned in the Thames.



In this episode, he's keen to find Hermes and Icarus, sneak-thieves who robbed tonhomes awhile back, then vanished. Hermes has reappeared recently, but now seems to be targeting shipping documents (we are never clear why, nor are we told how Steph knows that it's Hermes).

I doubt anyone will be shocked to learn that Steve's savior and Hermes are one and the same, so I'll spill it here. And anyway, he figures it out early in the story.

Audrey Kendrick has been forced out of retirement by a man named Travers, who had her and her sister (Icarus, a/k/a Faye) imprisoned under fake names. After Audrey had a taste of the horrors of Newgate, Travers pulled her out, but Faye's still in there, and in order to save her, Audrey now has to steal as Travers commands.

Steve's interest in Audrey threatens to screw the pooch



… in fact I wasnever quite sure why it didn't. The attraction between Steve and Audrey comes as no surprise, but somehow it never quite worked for me. Audrey, especially, comes to the table with a lot of baggage and the emotional connection was never quite "there." Mallory is astute enough to acknowledge the obstacles, which makes the denouement work. But I wasn't as caught up with the characters as I was in the last installment, so this loses half a star.

Still, it's fine adventure, and I rooted for the romance even tho I never quite felt it. On a scale of 1 to 5 stars, this comes damn close to four.

[daemyra, the realm's delight · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious to read, felt like work from the very first page. I truly wanted to like the story, but I was not engaged. Lords of Intrigue is not worth reading, barring What Isabella Wants, but even that, it's still very much an early work by Anne Mallory - a charmer but plays it safe, therefore it doesn't knock the socks off. Now that I've polished off Mallory's backlist, save your time for The Bride Price, Three Nights of Sin, For the Earl's Pleasure and In Total Surrender.

[Keri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book, but for some reason it didn't have the same feel as the first book. It was a light read, but the subject matter wasn't particularly light. AM usually gives more depth to important scenes, but I didn't feel it this time. So while it wasn't my fav, it wasn't the worst book I have ever read and I look forward to picking up the next one.

[Jo Reads Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun romance
4 stars

Audrey Kendrick has been forced to return to her life as London's most legendary thief - a title she thought she'd managed to leave behind until a family crisis draws her back into the underworld for one last mission.

Stephen Chalmers, the new Duke of Marston is a spy charged with capturing the thief who is terrorising the town and jeopardising government secrets. When Stephen unmasks Audrey as the thief - she is in danger of losing more than her freedom to him. And when a greater danger moves onto the scene the pair realise that the best way to survive might be to work together even with the risk that they might fall in love.

I really enjoyed this book - it was a fun romance with plenty of action to keep you interested and wanting to keep turing the pages to see what will happen next. Stephen is your typical suave gentleman spy who cannot help but be charmed by the unconventional, feisty heroine Audrey. Their romance is believable although possibly slightly overshadowed by all the action.

There was quite a lot going on and although the plot is not overly complicated there are so many characters and plot points that you do have to pay attention to understand what is happening. I would also suggest that you have read Anne Mallory's first book Masquerading the Marquess before you read this book as there are many references to events and characters from that book that not having read it might make things slightly confusing.

However I would still give this book 4 stars as it is an enjoyable read and one that I would recommend. I will definitely be reading more of Anne Mallory's books in the future.

[penelopewanders]

I read the first of this series a long time ago, and don't really remember it. I have the impression that this is a case where it would have been good to read it again or not to have left such a long gap between books. It's been eleven years, to be precise, but the first is long since traded and I only recently decided to buy this one so as to be able to read the next ones in the series on my TBR shelf.
The main character here is a street thief who has meant to mend her ways, but with her sister held hostage, has to do one last job... which keeps being prolonged. A seemingly omnipotent hero who is actually very nice, too... not bad.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the same rating I liked this story less than the first in series mostly because of the logics of the intrigue; even if not much of the book the romance was more realistic than the criminal plot...too bad the writing didn’t made it for a better rating, you can see the author still learning...

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is good. It started off a little confusing but it picked up and made sense within the first few chapters. The code names also get confusing however is definitely worth the read. It can be read as a stand alone but I read it as the whole trilogy. My only wish is she comes out with a fourth one, it would be interesting to follow Faye's story line.

[Dania F · Rating 1 out of 5]

So much wasted potential. The author had a clever storyline in mind and constructed interesting ish characters. But the entire book feels hurried. Unpolished. Like a construction site. No believable blooming relationship. No awwww shucks romance moments. This reads like a rough first draft at best.

[Zoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not like Stephen. Condescending and manipulative for most of the book, the one redeeming moment was when he opened up about his feelings first and was vulnerable. For 99% of the story, he was an ass.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sex is boring, the romance is tepid but great hero and heroine.

[Willa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed more insight into Stephen's character. Without it, the central conflict of trust and betrayal lacked heft. Also, I should have read the first book first - this doesn't stand alone very well.

[scarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I loved Audrey and I liked Stephen but I didn’t really believe the romance? The story was alright - it had potential but I think there were just too many things happening here. I wish we had more time with Audrey - I kept wanting to know more about her.

addendum: ahh, I've been thinking about this more today . . . did the romance work better than I thought at first? Stephen never gave up on Audrey when she wouldn't trust him and I dunno that IS romantic! She thought she was able to get ahead of him and, actually, it was he that was always two steps ahead but like not in a jerky way . . . in a "I understand this person and why they are doing these things" way. Anyway, I think the book was a little too plotty for me when I really wanted more romance because the glimpses of romance were. so. good.

[Loudice · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite in the series! I love both characters!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humm... Not bad overall there was plenty of action and suspense. I did manage to guess who the villain behind the villain was but only just before it was reviled. I have to say that the heroine annoyed me just a bit, she was kinda cool in the whole amazing thief sort of way. But, if she had just teamed up with the Duke to begin with everything would have gone a whole lot smoother. Though I suppose that was what made the story. Over all I'm giving this one 3 stars.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this historical romance. I liked the love story as well as the main characters. The mystery was engrossing and not easily solved. Unfortunately, there really wasn't anything that stood out to me in this book like in most of Mallory's later works.

For more of my reviews, please check out my blog

[LemontreeLime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one, but i think there could have been a little more development of the back stories. Several gonzo elements of the story were presented and interfered with my suspension of disbelief.

[Sol Santamarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice! Funny. Entertaining. Sexy. I'd have liked a bit more banter, but it was witty enough.
The characters are interesting, and there is some evolution to their relationship, beyond the usual clichés.
All in all, a nice read.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regency

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

blah

[MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3½ Stars

[Madam Claire of Whistley Woo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little boring. I have about 100 pages left, and I'm done.

[Shefa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It lack the depths in other books. Somehow the story floats only at the surface.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful story of the aristocrat and the street urchin working together to overcome villains.