A Duke to Remember

She was like an addiction, something that he was powerless to resist, even though he understood just how dangerous she was. He’d never experienced anything like it before, and it disturbed him beyond words.

Elise deVries excels at pretend. Her chameleon ability suits her well as a part-time actress, and in her position at Chegarre & Associates. Chegarre & Associates who fixes the problems and scandals of the wealthy. No one is better than Elise at undercover work or at finding those that do

She was like an addiction, something that he was powerless to resist, even though he understood just how dangerous she was. He’d never experienced anything like it before, and it disturbed him beyond words.

Elise deVries excels at pretend. Her chameleon ability suits her well as a part-time actress, and in her position at Chegarre & Associates. Chegarre & Associates who fixes the problems and scandals of the wealthy. No one is better than Elise at undercover work or at finding those that don’t wish to be found. And in order to fix her most recent case she needs to find the missing Duke of Ashland.

Noah Ellery disappeared from London aristocracy when he was very young. After escaping his captivity he left for the country, living a peaceful life, intent on never returning to London. But when he helps the beautiful Elise from a river, he doesn’t realise that she’s come to find him to confront the past he left behind. Can Noah overcome the damage caused by his past and take back his place as the Duke of Ashland, and can he keep the woman he has come to love?

“When I’m with you, like this, without an audience, I forget myself. I forget the role I am supposed to play, forget the lines I am supposed to deliver. With you I can step from the shadows,” she said quietly.

No one writes unconventional HR heroines better than Kelly Bowen. Elise was amazing and I loved the fact that she used to be a soldier, that she doesn’t need a man to protect her, and how talented she was as a tracker and with a gun. She has been pretending for so long, that she feared she had forgotten who she really was. Until she meets Noah, who makes her forget the job she has to do, who makes her forget to pretend that the attraction she feels is not there. He makes her wish for things that she never thought she would have.

“You’re so much more than just a girl with a gun.” He said it fiercely and with such passion that she felt her stomach drop and her pulse race. “I see you, Elise DeVries. No matter what clothes you might wear or what mask you might assume, I see your courageous heart and I see your beautiful mind. I see your compassion and your hope, your resilience and your strength. If you do not know who you are, know that I do.”

I adored Noah. He was so sweet and I loved how he blushed when he was embarrassed. I also loved how protective and strong he was when it was needed. My heart just broke for all he had to endure because his father and mother thought him imperfect as a child and tried to fix him. And I loved how Elise made him realise that his flaws which he was punished so cruelly for was just that … a flaw. Everyone has flaws, it’s nothing to be horrified or ashamed of.

“Because when you left, you took my heart with you.” Not waiting for her to respond, he caught her face in his hands and kissed her softly. “You took my soul, you took my very life with you. And I can’t live without you.”

I loved the instant attraction between Elise and Noah, and the fact that both of them are survivors and because of this they understood how the other felt about what they had to do to survive, to protect those they cared about. I also loved that Elise wasn’t a virgin, and the sexy times were wonderful. The romance was just fantastic, so sweet and intense.

Kelly Bowen always writes such captivating plots, and I loved the one in this story. It’s truly horrifying how women and those not part of the aristocracy were treated back then, and seeing how easy it was for people to be admitted to Bedlam and the horrifying things they were subjected to there was appalling.

“And good assassins, the kind that can make murder seem like the most innocent of accidents, are heinously expensive. At least my favorites are. Highway robbery if you ask me, but then again, one gets what one pays for.”

I loved the secondary characters in this book, especially Elise’s brother Alex who owns a club, and who has a scar across his face. And then there’s the mysterious King, who is infamous among London’s underworld. A man who has no past and who trades in rare antiquities. I have been fascinated with him since the first book, and after learning pieces about his awful past, I NEED his book!! Pretty please let him get his own book……….

This was another winner by one of my favorite HR authors. If you love unorthodox heroines, sexy heroes who aren’t afraid of going after what they want, intriguing plots and fantastic romance then this author is for you. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

“This was where she belonged. No matter who she might have been or who she might yet become, she belonged to this man. In her search for Noah Ellery, she had found something she hadn’t even known she’d been looking for. Here, in the security of his arms, she had found a sanctuary, uncluttered by secrets and artifice. Here she’d found only a feeling of rightness and a bittersweet ache in her chest that told her that her heart was no longer hers to give.”

“This was where she belonged. No matter who she might have been or who she might yet become, she belonged to this man. In her search for Noah Ellery, she had found something she hadn’t even known she’d been looking for. Here, in the security of his arms, she had found a sanctuary, uncluttered by secrets and artifice. Here she’d found only a feeling of rightness and a bittersweet ache in her chest that told her that her heart was no longer hers to give.”