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Stone Devil Duke

(Hold Your Breath #1)

K.J. Jackson (Goodreads Author)

3.93 · Rating details · 3,325 ratings · 299 reviews

Librarian note: older cover of B00JT1HP5Y.

London, 1819

Marked for death, Lady Augustine Christopherson finds herself scouring the slums of London in a desperate search to find the men who killed her father, and are determined to dispose of her. To protect her family, to protect herself, she is determined to find the men before they find her.

The last thing she wante

...more

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Kindle Edition, 1st Edition, 263 pages

Published April 19th 2014 by AWD Publishing

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· 3,325 ratings · 299 reviews

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Apr 07, 2015 Tracey rated it did not like it

Shelves: abandoned

I made it just halfway through this. I have no idea what all those five-star reviewers were reading; not this. It can't have been this. You can't really blame me for the length of this review; about half of it is highlighted quotes from the book. Blame K.J. Jackson. (I do.)

This … is the story of Lady Augustine (Aggie) who is trying to single-handedly find the men who ruined her father's life, and her own. (At about 16% I made my bet on who the ringleader was. At about 27% I won the bet.) Natura ...more

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Aug 22, 2015 Trish R. rated it it was amazing

Wonderful..

Wow! Aggie went out at night loaded for bear. And once Devin found her there was no way she was going out alone anymore. I could certainly see her hunting those men from her point of view but she really did need someone to protect her. Even disguised she WAS going into the worst part of London, after midnight.

There was some sexual tension in this book, which I like, and some nicely written sex. So, if you’re looking for something clean this book is not for you.

There were some glar ...more

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Aug 16, 2015 Tracy T. rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this story. It was great and so different from the usual Historical Romance. A lot happening all the time. Murder, mystery, torture, kidnapping, romance and hot and steamy sex. What more can you ask for!

The heroine, Aggie was just awesome, not taking any crap anymore she strikes back! Wielding six pistols and mad as hell. She was smart, strong, funny and just a great character.

Our hero Devin has his own demons he is fighting. He is smart, sexy and determined to help our heroine ...more

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Jul 15, 2018 Evelyn Grabas rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Usually, you fall in love with the "hero", but I disliked him intensely. What an arrogant, egotistical, cold, mentally unbalanced clod. And this was only partway through the book. By the time I finished, if I had a pistol, I would have shot him. He treated Aggie unforgivably, starting with her brutal deflowering and continuing on until his distrust of her winds up with her being brutally tortured - and then, he is disturbed because she doesn't acknowledge that he finally says "I love you" until ...more

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Feb 07, 2015 Edwina " I LoveBooks" "Deb" rated it did not like it

HORRIFIC TORTURE ON THE HEROINE!!

This is my first and my Last book by K. J. Jackson!! What is wrong with people writing such horrific torture on women or anyone. I read Historical Romance for the romance an a glimpse into the past. Not Torture and abuse of the lead character. There is enough women being abused in real life. This is a real problem especially in the U.S.. I don't want to read about it in my Romance stories.. What is so sad is this story started out very good but then the horrific ...more

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Jul 26, 2015 Cazzychaps rated it it was amazing

I really liked this story. The heroine (Aggie) was brave and took on her father's murderers with swashbuckling flair. Devin (the hero) gets mixed up in her problems by mistake and from then on feels compelled to help her get out of danger. They've both been through hard emotional hurdles which makes them quite interesting as characters too.
I enjoy some action in my stories - especially adventurous leading ladies so that suited me fine. The writing flowed and apart from a little bit of modern dia ...more

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Feb 09, 2015 Joan Osborne rated it it was amazing

Exciting page turner

This is the very first book that I have read by K.J. Jackson and it definitely won't be my last. This book has a mysterious villain, a rakish but endearing Duke and a courageous and brave heroine along with a passionate romance. I absolutely loved Devin and Aggie and it was fun reading along as they found themselves falling in love with each other. Their conversations had me entertained and the story had me engaged from the very first page. Can not wait to read the next two b ...more

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Mar 15, 2015 Danielle Carpenter rated it really liked it

Action

Lots of action in this one. A strong woman who has been through more pain then I can imagine. A Duke whose life of innocence ended at eleven. Two unconventional people who learn that love can heal.

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May 08, 2019 Coco.V marked it as to-read

Shelves: freebie

🎁 FREE on Amazon & on iBooks today (5/8/2019)! 🎁

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Dec 31, 2018 Angie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, historical-romance, snuggable-romance, own-on-kindle, adult-romance

Devin liked things simple. No superfluous chitchat. No posturing. The minimum in everything, from his attire, to the very few people he allowed in his life. Simple in, simple out.

4.5 stars!

My 2018 reading year has surely gone out with a bang ending with this amazing novel! I have such a long list of historicals that I want to get to eventually so choosing which novel to start next is always hard, but I am so glad I made time for this one. I admit it took me a while to connect with Devin and Aggie in the beginning as their pasts were both clouded in mystery for story-telling purposes, but as the story progresses I found myself entrenched more and more in their intertwining stories.

She had been too brave, too scared, too strong, too smart, too hard, too calm--too damn everything, for too damn long.

When we first meet Aggie, she is dressed as a hack driver with soot covering her face, male trousers, and a cockney accent to match. By chance, she picks up Devin--whose carriage has just broken down--and is transporting him through London's streets when she happens upon the men who are trying to kill her. One year ago she witnessed her father's murder and is now the next target on their hit-list as she is able to recognize the killers' faces. She has been forced to be responsible for the well-being of not only herself but her younger sister and catatonic mother as her brother has been presumed dead for some time. She has resorted to using herself as bait in order to lure her father's murderers out so that she can rid herself of this threat once and for all.

This wasn't simple. Not simple at all. But for the first time in his life, simple didn't hold quite the allure it usually did. There was something about complicated that suddenly seemed fitting.

And this is how Devin, the Duke of Dunway, finds himself in the middle of a shootout with Aggie as the target. He has a horrible past and an (undeserved) reputation of his own but finds himself intrigued by Aggie's situation and unable to abandon her in her hour of need. His backstory is one of the most tragic I've read for a historical hero (right up there with Griff from Any Duchess Will Do) and my heart just hurt for him. However, I didn't like/agree with some of his highhanded actions towards Aggie--especially towards the end--so he was by no means perfect. But neither was Aggie as she makes plenty of mistakes and missteps as well.

She had given everything to him. Her body. Her heart. Her trust. All he had to do was give her a chance.

Overall, this novel was a bit of a rocky start for me, but I couldn't help but be pulled in by the story and characters. There was plenty of angst, action, bloody violence (KJ does NOT hold back!), misunderstandings, love, hope, tragic backstories, and some sweet and lovely moments between Devin and Aggie who both overcome so much to find love and trust in each other. The ending was a bit brutal but I felt it added so much depth and heart to the novel. Definitely recommend this one, and I will be checking out more of KJ's books!

My Devin Williams Stephenson, the stubbornly sweet and possessive Duke of Dunway, and his love Aggs..

...more

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Jun 04, 2018 Jackie rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical, read-digital-copy, read-free-kindle-edition, historical-romance, historical-society, historical-settings, unconventional-heroine, read-in-2018, unconventional-hero

Quite simply, upon finishing I was left smiling.

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Oct 13, 2015 Chelsea rated it liked it

Shelves: romance-historical, romance-dukes

More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.

Historical romances frustrate me more than any other genre, because in no other genre do I find such a wide array of quality with so few indicators as to what's going to be good and what's not. Why? Because they all look the same. I am a sucker for a girl in a pretty dress (even if the dresses are hardly ever period-accurate) and so whenever they come up, I continue to fall for them. Every. Single. Time. As for this one? Well, it fell pr More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.

Historical romances frustrate me more than any other genre, because in no other genre do I find such a wide array of quality with so few indicators as to what's going to be good and what's not. Why? Because they all look the same. I am a sucker for a girl in a pretty dress (even if the dresses are hardly ever period-accurate) and so whenever they come up, I continue to fall for them. Every. Single. Time. As for this one? Well, it fell pretty much in the middle, quality-wise. Let's go!

The plot follows Aggie and Devin. Devin the titular "Stone Devil Duke," as he is widely known throughout the ton, though there isn't really a reason for him to be known as such. At one point, it's said that it's because of something he witnessed when he was younger--but then it's said that pretty much no one knows about that, so why it would be such a widespread nickname, I have no idea. Aggie is a young lady of quality who spends her nights dressed as a cabbie and loaded down with pistols as she hunts for the men who killed her father and scarred her. She doesn't usually pick up fares, but Devin ends up in her cab and gets pulled into the mess and then, of course, finds himself completely unable to leave.

I didn't find Aggie and Devin's relationship plausible. Characters in historical romances often have near-instantaneous connections, but this one felt off even when taking that trope into consideration. Aggie wants absolutely nothing to do with Devin, and yet when she finds herself stuck with him, she suddenly surrenders pretty much her entire quest to him because their relationship is, very abruptly, more important to her. She has no real reason to think that Devin will actually follow through on his promises to her, as he's done nothing to show that he would. In fact, given that she sees him talking to one of her attackers at one point, she should have every reason to suspect that he might be in on the whole thing--what a plot twist that would have been! But no, Devin and his compatriots are nothing but what they appear to be. For his part, Devin basically marries Aggie because he has to-slash-because he wants to have sex with her. Fair enough, I guess. But still, I didn't think these two had any real connection until after they were married, at which point they proceeded to have hot sex (which was well-written, I felt) and the mystery which occupied so much of the first part of the book abruptly fell by the wayside, only to be neatly tied up in the space of two chapters later on.

The mystery was the other thing that bothered me. When the background for it finally comes out, it makes sense--but it takes forever until that background comes out. Additionally, there's no real "mystery" to the component of Aggie's brother, who is gone and then just reappears without anyone having any success at figuring out what happened to him--not even a little. Not much of a mystery if there aren't any clues. And then the villain... In my view, a mystery should provide you with clues to figure out who the villain really is. This didn't. It just suddenly comes out, and everyone is like, "Oh, it's him," and then they go on with their lives. Blah.

The writing here wasn't bad. The dialogue seemed a bit stilted in places (a good deal of places) but the rest of it was okay. The sex was good. The characters' backgrounds and the setup was good. I'm just not sure that I really liked how the main story was executed, dropped, and then picked up again; I feel like the threads could have been twined together a bit more artfully. This was okay, but it wasn't something I devoured, and it's not something I'll be reading again.

2.5 stars out of 5. ...more

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Sep 14, 2015 J. Kahele rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-romance

I love strong women, especially ones in an era where it is not acceptable.

Aggie is a strong female character who takes on her father’s murderers without a second thought. Devin soon finds himself mixed up in Aggie’s problems and although he has every right to walk away, he feels the need to protect her.

This story kept me up all night and tiredly I am writing this review. This was an engaging read from the start to finish.

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Aug 04, 2015 Amy rated it really liked it

Must have

I stayed up all night til I was finished. It was fantastic. So often, the wedding comes at the end but this encompassed so much more. It was different and delightful. My budget is begging me not to impulse buy the next two but it is so hard to listen. Jackson just got put on my must read list for life.

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Dec 26, 2017 Debbie DiFiore rated it liked it

Shelves: historical, it-s-a-series, bought-waiting-on-kindle

Just okay

I liked both of the main characters very much but the story line of lagged after their marriage. The ending was great and I liked the epilogue very much. Just the middle part was a little slow. And I hated Killian because I read the second book first.

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Apr 16, 2017 Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical

Aloft, cold Duke forces himself into a stubborn, unconventional débutant deadly troubles. Not only are they trying to stop a psychopath whose hunting her but they have demons from the past ripping at their passionate yet fragile relationship.
The main characters are smart, strong willed at times wily. It is a real page turner though at times gruesome. I'm interested in following the series as we have already been introduced to these intriguing fellows. ...more

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Jan 12, 2020 Judi Easley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: all historical romance readers

Recommended to Judi by: ..

Shelves: on-kindle, recommended, lit-adult, read-in-ebook, romance-historical, lit-womens, romance-hot-steamy, from-purchase-at-current-price

First thoughts: Wow, I got so caught up in this book after a sort of slow beginning. Before I knew it, it was over and I wanted more!

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Aug 08, 2017 Lynn rated it really liked it

Romantic, but a little violent. Still a good summer read.

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Apr 21, 2018 J♤Đ£ rated it really liked it

The thing I love most about this author is that she actually puts together an interesting plot with well rounded characters. Bravo. Great book.

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Aug 23, 2020 Nancy Kilpatrick added it

Recommended to Nancy by: bookbub

I was really loving this book until about halfway through or more. The story was great, the writing wonderful. And then somehow towards the end, there seemed to be a lot of drawn-out scenes, copyedit errors, and long long speeches of a very modern approach. I was even prepared to accept some of the wording that didn't fit the period, like 'Wow!' But by the finale, it just became one of the many ordinary period romance novels. I really thought I'd found a terrific writer with a novel idea and for ...more

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Jun 22, 2014 BookMaven rated it really liked it

Hold Your Breath is Right

Lady Augustine Christopherson watched her father die. She must find the five men who have marked her for death, before they find her. She saw their faces, and they know it. The night she comes up against four of them, she finds a stranger at her side to help her. She finds out later it is the Duke of Dunway. He tells her he will continue to help her, but can she trust him with all her secrets? Her life and the lives of every member of her family would be in even more dan ...more

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Nov 03, 2014 Slytherin Rose rated it really liked it

Shelves: my-reviews

Genre: romance/historical
Author: K J Jackson
Book: Stone Devil Duke
My Star Rating: 4 out of 5
Will I read I read it again? YES

I was given this book to read and give an honest review. This review is my honest opinion and I have fully read this book.
Lady Augustine Christopherson (Aggie) is not after revenge BUT she is after the 5 men that killed her father. When she watched her father die in front of her she saw the faces and evil eyes of his killers. She wants them dead. But they want her dead. A ...more

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Aug 01, 2015 Anna rated it it was amazing

Hold your breath...

When KJ said "hold your breath" she really meant it..the whole book had you from the beginning you were kept holding your breath wanting to know so many answers to why and how Aggie and Devin were getting so ... and then out of the blue you can't help but laugh, then cringe, then silently scream at the way Aggie is tortured by dreams and actually being tortured.
This happened to me once started I could not put the book down till I fell asleep and as soon as I woke up I was back ...more

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Jul 25, 2014 Michelle rated it it was amazing

Worthwhile read

Worthwhile read

Be cautioned. The heroine is very atypical for this recency book. Once you can get past the fact that she sneaks out as a hack driver for nightly hunts of her father's murderers and can wield pistols better than most men, this story is captivating. However, be warned that the heroine does get repeatedly injured and even tortured. Many of the descriptions are hard to read for those of us who are squeamish. But, the fact that it makes you squirm let's you know if is d ...more

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Oct 15, 2015 Vicki rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ebook-regency

Very exciting regency

This was a great and exciting book. There were mysteries, murders, heroes and love.

Aggie has the weight of her family on her shoulders and is out to find and destroy the murderers of her father. Devon, the Duke called the stone devil stumbles into a dangerous situation and becomes acquainted with Aggie.

They have different ideas as to how to address this problem Aggie has. Devon wants Aggie to trust him to take care of it for her. Aggie feels she is in this alone.

A wonderf ...more

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Jul 30, 2015 Martha Moody rated it really liked it

This was a story that held your interest until the end of the book, with a sweet love story surrounding it. Aggie and Devin were wonderful characters, especially Devin. He was one of the sweetest male characters I've read in a while. He was pulled into her life and from that point forward became her "knight in shining armor." Their love story was sweetest from his perspective, and it was wonderful after hearing of his tragic growing up that he found such a great love, both giving and receiving f ...more

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Jul 12, 2015 Debra rated it really liked it

This was a excellent book

It was different but wonderful please reader what we read in reviews and make a decision on them if bad is not fair. Sometimes the reviews are correct more than offensive they are not. So please take my advice for I have read more books in this era from different writers then anyone would believe. Read it give your own review you will not be disappointed. K.J bravo May God continue to gift you with writing books as wonderful as this. Now for the other two books I look fo ...more

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Jul 21, 2015 Liz rated it it was amazing

KJ Jackson is one of my new must read authors. iBooks had a free copy of this story and I loved it so much that I promtly purchased the others in the series to read. The storyline, seriously fantastic. The reason it is so fantastic is due to Ms. Jackson being such a wonderful storyteller and has such a refreshing twist on the standard Regency novel. I couldn't put this book down and finished it in a day. This apart of a series and this one may be my least favorite. But don't get me wrong, the le ...more

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May 11, 2014 LaTanya rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

K. J. Jackson is a new author for me and I truly enjoyed this book. A heroine who is strong but not a shrew and a hero who had some faults. She also did not waste 2/3 of the book on silly misunderstandings that could have been solved in 3-4 pages. Also, this book mainly focused on the 2 main characters but she did have minor characters that she can develop further in novels to come. All in all, for $.99, this was indeed, a good read.

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Jun 10, 2014 Ms M rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-loved-it, favorites

Love a kick-a$$ heroine story

This is the 1st book out of 3 and definitely worth every minute of it. Not your typical Recency's story 18's or 19's tomboy-act-heroine not wanting a husband's thank goodness. It's developing story of 2 strangers in the midst of survival, good plot, full of actions, and a wee of raunchy sex scenes. Perfect combo of H/h so did the 3rd one. Unfortunately the 2nd book was very disappointing. ...more

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