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A Certain Reputation
Trying to get by when her husband dies in disgrace, Anne de Montforte must defend herself against local gossip, a father-in-law who tries to take her sons away, and a lord who wants to take advantage of Anne's tarnished reputation.
The Duke of Danger
Dazzlingly beautiful Anne de Montforte was besieged by scandal. Her titled husband had died in disgrace, and she was left with two small children to raise alone. Censorious society whispered that she was a wanton woman, and the handsome, heartless Duke of Buckingham was determined to prove that those rumors were true. There was no lord in the realm more irresistible than he, or more ruthless in getting what he wanted.
Anne had to defend her honor against this man who thought she had none. She had to protect her children against a furious father-in-law seeking to take them from her. And most difficult of all, she had to defeat her own growing desire for a duke who used all of his talents to undo her....
The Duke of Danger
Dazzlingly beautiful Anne de Montforte was besieged by scandal. Her titled husband had died in disgrace, and she was left with two small children to raise alone. Censorious society whispered that she was a wanton woman, and the handsome, heartless Duke of Buckingham was determined to prove that those rumors were true. There was no lord in the realm more irresistible than he, or more ruthless in getting what he wanted.
Anne had to defend her honor against this man who thought she had none. She had to protect her children against a furious father-in-law seeking to take them from her. And most difficult of all, she had to defeat her own growing desire for a duke who used all of his talents to undo her....
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 22, 2019
Preeti, you are so much kinder than I am, or maybe I am just cranky. I am definitely in the minority.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
SPOILERS!!!!!
Three stars if I can travel through time and into another dimension and stab the hero!
The widowed heroine is an intelligent and strong woman determined to keep her son and presumed daughter together in the face of her evil FIL's machinations and threats to take her son away because she is a slut. How does he know she's a slut? Letters, rumors and, ugh, really because it suits him.
Evil FIL sends the Duke of Asshole, his nephew, to seduce her so the FIL can get his hands on the heir he needs. The Duke having no soul, nothing else to do, and, what the heck, the h is hot, agrees to do it.
Months later in the Dukedom, the h still has not succumbed to his seduction. Nope, not until his equally awful sister arrives with a stupid potential Duchess in tow does the h lose her brain function. Bad timing for a night of passion, missy. The sister looks down her snooty nose at the h as does her entourage until one of the h's cousin comes for a visit and lets the cat out of the bag that the h is actually the granddaughter of an Earl. The sister is thrilled, kind of, but the Duke of Asshat goes mental because he has now figured out the heroine's evil plan. Being the granddaughter of an Earl rather than just some lower class floozy who finagled his cousin into marriage means that the heroine has been planning on trapping His Awesomeness in marriage. She must have been waiting for his sister to drop by unexpectedly so she can close the deal. The hero says things no hero should say to the woman he beds much less loves than leaves with his sister. The stupid sister tries to make amends right before she leaves, but the heroine wants none of it. Bless your trampled on little heart.
Adding disaster to damage, the evil FIL comes in and rants and raves, and vies with the H for cruel, nasty words. I started to get a bad feeling when the heroine became so concerned for the horrible man. Instead of letting him stroke out after he called her a whore, she goes for the doctor. Then she finds out that her son heard the monster's raving and set off for the Duke of Asshole to save the day. The Duke arrives and says more mean things because he's even more stupid than his sister and the wannabe Duchess. He FINALLY stops slut shaming the h enough to hear that her son has left, and they leave to find the boy.
Sunavabitch, Duke Winchester style, the Duke of Asshat tosses out a, "You should have told me!" as his half-baked apology, and the up to now strong heroine half apologizes and says that keeping that knowledge in her back pocket was her ace in the hole if she had to run to her cousin, the current Earl.
What started pretty good with good writing just went down the rabbit hole with the Duke's arrogance, presumed superiority and out and out nastiness.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
SPOILERS!!!!!
Three stars if I can travel through time and into another dimension and stab the hero!
The widowed heroine is an intelligent and strong woman determined to keep her son and presumed daughter together in the face of her evil FIL's machinations and threats to take her son away because she is a slut. How does he know she's a slut? Letters, rumors and, ugh, really because it suits him.
Evil FIL sends the Duke of Asshole, his nephew, to seduce her so the FIL can get his hands on the heir he needs. The Duke having no soul, nothing else to do, and, what the heck, the h is hot, agrees to do it.
Months later in the Dukedom, the h still has not succumbed to his seduction. Nope, not until his equally awful sister arrives with a stupid potential Duchess in tow does the h lose her brain function. Bad timing for a night of passion, missy. The sister looks down her snooty nose at the h as does her entourage until one of the h's cousin comes for a visit and lets the cat out of the bag that the h is actually the granddaughter of an Earl. The sister is thrilled, kind of, but the Duke of Asshat goes mental because he has now figured out the heroine's evil plan. Being the granddaughter of an Earl rather than just some lower class floozy who finagled his cousin into marriage means that the heroine has been planning on trapping His Awesomeness in marriage. She must have been waiting for his sister to drop by unexpectedly so she can close the deal. The hero says things no hero should say to the woman he beds much less loves than leaves with his sister. The stupid sister tries to make amends right before she leaves, but the heroine wants none of it. Bless your trampled on little heart.
Adding disaster to damage, the evil FIL comes in and rants and raves, and vies with the H for cruel, nasty words. I started to get a bad feeling when the heroine became so concerned for the horrible man. Instead of letting him stroke out after he called her a whore, she goes for the doctor. Then she finds out that her son heard the monster's raving and set off for the Duke of Asshole to save the day. The Duke arrives and says more mean things because he's even more stupid than his sister and the wannabe Duchess. He FINALLY stops slut shaming the h enough to hear that her son has left, and they leave to find the boy.
Sunavabitch, Duke Winchester style, the Duke of Asshat tosses out a, "You should have told me!" as his half-baked apology, and the up to now strong heroine half apologizes and says that keeping that knowledge in her back pocket was her ace in the hole if she had to run to her cousin, the current Earl.
What started pretty good with good writing just went down the rabbit hole with the Duke's arrogance, presumed superiority and out and out nastiness.
July 10, 2018
All of Emma Lange's usual touches - a beautiful falsely accused, misunderstood h and a ruthless and judgemental H with powers to decide her fate and future. In this case, she’s a widow with two children to look out for as well.
Her dead husband’s cousin, the H, a duke to boot is asked by her father-in-law to take away her son from her as he’s the old man’s heir - by force, lure or proving her an unfit mother. They believe her to be a conniving tramp who trapped her husband. The H, unable to bribe her switches gears and invites her along with her children to his estate and she accepts as their present dingy accommodation is quite unsuitable for young children.
So begins the campaign. The H has instructions to seduce her and show her out for the kind of woman she is and the h intends to find out the H’s motives regarding her son and prepare for fight or flight as needed.
The book gets a bit slow from hereon as the h and children settle down and the duke plays an indulgent host. He wants her as his mistress (regardless of other issues) but she coolly holds her own. I wished for some drama like an ow dropping in and spicing up things but things carry on as such for a while.
A wannabe ow does drop by along with his sister and things turn up a bit. The h/H become close and things seem hopeful but a very contrived mu happens and the H turn unnecessarily cruel and humiliating.
The ending is quick and all’s forgiven even without an apology being offered.
Her dead husband’s cousin, the H, a duke to boot is asked by her father-in-law to take away her son from her as he’s the old man’s heir - by force, lure or proving her an unfit mother. They believe her to be a conniving tramp who trapped her husband. The H, unable to bribe her switches gears and invites her along with her children to his estate and she accepts as their present dingy accommodation is quite unsuitable for young children.
So begins the campaign. The H has instructions to seduce her and show her out for the kind of woman she is and the h intends to find out the H’s motives regarding her son and prepare for fight or flight as needed.
The book gets a bit slow from hereon as the h and children settle down and the duke plays an indulgent host. He wants her as his mistress (regardless of other issues) but she coolly holds her own. I wished for some drama like an ow dropping in and spicing up things but things carry on as such for a while.
A wannabe ow does drop by along with his sister and things turn up a bit. The h/H become close and things seem hopeful but a very contrived mu happens and the H turn unnecessarily cruel and humiliating.
The ending is quick and all’s forgiven even without an apology being offered.
May 2, 2008
And another new to me author to end this week of traditional regency reading. I'm happy to say it was a good read and I hope to read a few more of her books in the future.
She was no better than she should be, according to the Duke of Buckingham's uncle. She had somehow tricked the Duke's ne'er-do-well cousin into marriage under havey-cavey circumstances and now refused to hand over her son to his grandfather's custody after her husband's death. Still, she certainly would be no match for the powers of persuasion of one of the most handsome lords of the realm.
Anne de Montforte is not at all what Trevelyan de Montforte expects her to be. Her valiant defence of her deceased husband and determined refusal to give up her son touches something in his heart, even as he embarks on a well-planned seduction to prove her an unfit guardian. And now the duke finds himself caught in his own trap as he unexpectedly falls in love with the lady instead.
When Trev meets Anne she is receiving money from a cousin so assumes she is the courtesan his uncle believes him to be. He fails to convince her to let her son be educated by his grandfather but she accepts an invitation to visit his estate with her children as he tells her that's part of the world they should be living in. I quite liked that despite Trev believing the worst when he gets to know Anne better and spend time with her is sufficient open minded to see that she can't be as bad as he thought. Not only that but she is also a wonderful mother to Nell and Alex. Lange is very good at showing how their relationship develops, how they get to know each other better and they start to have feelings for each other. Anne is strong heroine who holds her own against Trev when he tries to be offensive and overbearing. The secrets of Anne's past are revealed slowly when Anne starts to feel she can trust Trev.
However she left one detail left unsaid that when Trev finds out leads him to a towering rage and to say some very harsh things to Anne. in this part is my only complaint of the story. For such a strong heroine I think Anne have had the chance to answer back and confront him regarding some of things he said. Instead when they are reunited again is because Alex has gone missing and there's never a chance for Trev to actually grovel and ask forgiveness as they end up joining forces to find him and the revelation of the truth comes about in a rather low key scene. I think it needed a stronger ending.
Grade: B
She was no better than she should be, according to the Duke of Buckingham's uncle. She had somehow tricked the Duke's ne'er-do-well cousin into marriage under havey-cavey circumstances and now refused to hand over her son to his grandfather's custody after her husband's death. Still, she certainly would be no match for the powers of persuasion of one of the most handsome lords of the realm.
Anne de Montforte is not at all what Trevelyan de Montforte expects her to be. Her valiant defence of her deceased husband and determined refusal to give up her son touches something in his heart, even as he embarks on a well-planned seduction to prove her an unfit guardian. And now the duke finds himself caught in his own trap as he unexpectedly falls in love with the lady instead.
When Trev meets Anne she is receiving money from a cousin so assumes she is the courtesan his uncle believes him to be. He fails to convince her to let her son be educated by his grandfather but she accepts an invitation to visit his estate with her children as he tells her that's part of the world they should be living in. I quite liked that despite Trev believing the worst when he gets to know Anne better and spend time with her is sufficient open minded to see that she can't be as bad as he thought. Not only that but she is also a wonderful mother to Nell and Alex. Lange is very good at showing how their relationship develops, how they get to know each other better and they start to have feelings for each other. Anne is strong heroine who holds her own against Trev when he tries to be offensive and overbearing. The secrets of Anne's past are revealed slowly when Anne starts to feel she can trust Trev.
However she left one detail left unsaid that when Trev finds out leads him to a towering rage and to say some very harsh things to Anne. in this part is my only complaint of the story. For such a strong heroine I think Anne have had the chance to answer back and confront him regarding some of things he said. Instead when they are reunited again is because Alex has gone missing and there's never a chance for Trev to actually grovel and ask forgiveness as they end up joining forces to find him and the revelation of the truth comes about in a rather low key scene. I think it needed a stronger ending.
Grade: B
October 22, 2018
I’ve found a new author to love!
Once again a wonderful sigh-worthy story with a lovely heroine and a swoon-worthy Hero. I loved the slow burn of their romance.
Available on Open library.
Once again a wonderful sigh-worthy story with a lovely heroine and a swoon-worthy Hero. I loved the slow burn of their romance.
Available on Open library.
April 26, 2013
Wow! Intense, angsty, fantastic. A real emotional punch packed into a short "traditional Regency". The 2 main protagonists start out with a strong dislike towards each other, mainly the fault of the hero, who starts out as an extremely unlikable character, but they both change, reveal their better sides and grow towards each other. The hero almost throws it all away near the end in a very nasty and mostly unjustified rant at the heroine, but he manages to redeem himself quite nicely by the end.
December 14, 2013
An emotional story of a young mother's struggle to withstand the power of her vengeful father-in-law to gain custody of her children. Wrongfully adjudged a "strumpet" and a "doxy", the heroine's genuine goodness and innocence ultimately shines through the veil of lies and wins the heart of a wealthy Duke.
April 26, 2019
3.75
It was fantastic till last 25%.
Hero who was very suspicious became understanding. Then at end became so very irritating and behaved atrociously.
Heroine was great, loved her. Felt ending was abrupt and hero was absolved very quickly.
It was fantastic till last 25%.
Hero who was very suspicious became understanding. Then at end became so very irritating and behaved atrociously.
Heroine was great, loved her. Felt ending was abrupt and hero was absolved very quickly.
April 5, 2019
An excellent regency. A few minor quibbles in plotting and anachronistic terms, but other than that very enjoyable.
October 24, 2021
This was the best thing I have read by this author. I wanted to give it four stars but I can’t get past why these women are willing to forgive the so-called heroes.
September 16, 2010
Who does angsty bitterness better than Lange. Mix up pride, darling twins, a proud, impoverished widow and a powerful duke and you have an absorbing tale indeed.
Even though this is more a 4 1/2 stars, it's very much on my re-read circuit.
Even though this is more a 4 1/2 stars, it's very much on my re-read circuit.
April 13, 2014
A well written regency. Quite angsty with the heroine a really nice woman continually misjudged by the hero. If any book ever needed a good grovel this would be it, after the hero wigged out near the end. I feel that this book was let down a bit by the lack thereof. I did enjoy it though.
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September 16, 2010the book was about love
July 15, 2015
Well written, but I disliked the hero.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews