Eleven Scandals to Start to Win A Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean

Enjoyable romance and good end to the series

4 stars

Juliana Fiori may be the sister to a powerful Marquess but that doesn’t mean she’s a simpering English miss. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth as trouble and scandal seem to follow her wherever she goes and the ton delights in making her the subject of their gossip.

Simon Pearson, the Duke of Leighton doesn’t have room in his perfect, ordered life for scandal of any kind. He is too focussed on his reputation, title and keeping his secrets well hidden. But Juliana presents a temptation that he can’t quite resist and when she promises to show him passion – he might just find he’s not as above love as he first thought.

This is the third and final book in MacLean’s Love By Numbers trilogy and one that I’ve been very much looking forward to. I don’t suppose it needs to be read in order but I think you would understand more of the back story (and be aware of Juliana and Simon’s history) if you’ve read the first two books – Nine Rules to Break When Romancing A Rake and Ten Ways To Be Adored When Landing A Lord.

From the first page I was hooked by this book. I loved Simon and Juliana from MacLean’s first two books and couldn’t wait for them to get their own story. Juliana was the feisty Italian that I came to expect and Simon was even more of the disdainful, arrogant duke than he first appeared.

The story kept me interested and I couldn’t put the book down. Until about the middle. Then, for some reason, I became a little disenchanted. Simon and Juliana seemed to be on a neverending cycle of her doing something scandalous, him being disdainful and neither of them ever bending, learning or changing. It picked up again towards the end and I liked the ending although, if I’m honest, I didn’t feel that I ever got to completely understand the characters, their love or their motivations.

I’ve still given this book 4 stars because I’ll admit that since I was so looking forward to this book it probably could never have lived up to my expectations. Add to that the fact that it could never beat the exceptional Nine Rules to Break… and I’ve probably given worse books more stars.

Overall I still really liked this book and would recommend it to someone who enjoys a good ol’ Regency romance. It’s well written, engaging and I’m sure you will enjoy it. I’ll also eagerly be waiting for MacLean’s next book and the start of The Fallen Angel’s series, A Rogue By Any Other Name.