Title/Author: Falling Into Bed With a Duke (The Hellions of Havisham) by Lorraine Heath
Publisher/Date published: Avon, October 27th 2015
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley
Goodreads summary: After six unsuccessful Seasons, Miss Minerva Dodger chooses spinsterhood over fortune-hungry suitors. But thanks to the Nightingale Club, she can at least enjoy one night of pleasure. At that notorious establishment, ladies don masks before choosing a lover. The sinfully handsome Duke of Ashebury is more than willing to satisfy the secretive lady's desires — and draws Minerva into an exquisite, increasingly intimate affair.
A man of remarkable talents, Ashe soon deduces that his bedmate is the unconventional Miss Dodger. Intrigued by her wit and daring, he sets out to woo her in earnest. Yet Minerva refuses to trust him. How to court a woman he has already thoroughly seduced? And how to prove that the passion unleashed in darkness is only the beginning of a lifetime's pleasure?
So yes, I am very much actually writing a review again, nobody panic!
Ahem.
So as a rule I tend to enjoy Lorraine Heath's books, they're full of romance-y goodness and basically just make me one happy girl. And the premise of this one sounded SO good, so I was definitely ready to settle down and just fully immerse myself in Falling Into Bed With a Duke.
And that is what happened. I mean, I pretty much just read most of this in one blissful afternoon in which I just had a really strong motivation to keep sitting on the couch and see if everything would work out for Minerva and Ashe in the end. I totally loved that Falling Into Bed With a Duke has a very bold, very strong heroine and she's not taking risks just for the sake of it, but because she's weighed the pros and cons and decides to go through with it. She believes that she's firmly on the shelf and will therefore never know what it's like to be with a man in the biblical sense, so she decides to try this outside of wedlock, obviously a very big no-no in that time. And I thought she actually was pretty smart about this, hiding her face behind a mask. The only thing that sort of puzzled me was how she could possibly Ashe wouldn't recognize her outside of the club, when she kept putting herself in his way. But yeah, in light of the plot moving forward and such, it was kinda necessary.
I was slightly jolted every time Ashe's sort of reliving his parents' deaths came up, because I can get having a vivid imagination and these images popping up the first while after their accident. But after so many years, if he hasn't been there, it felt a bit weird. I'm not saying it can't happen, but I'm just slightly skeptical about this. I did really like that he's got dyscalculie, which is quite possibly not recognized enough these days, and it surely wouldn't have been back then. It added another layer to his character and made me want to shake him for not telling anyone about his troubles.
The chemistry between Minerva and Ashe was amazing! And I loved that Lorraine Heath didn't go for the insta-love, even if they did have insta-lust. The love part really came after they started getting to know each other outside of the Nightingale Club and it was so incredibly sweet to watch! And also, the sexytimes were very sexy indeed. And I totally loved how they worked out their differences and how Ashe grovels because he has wronged Minerva. I'm a sucker for a guy doing the groveling. Also, I SO much love both the appearance of Minerva's brother and her father, they have the alpha male protectiveness thing going on and it's awesome. But mostly I loved how her parents both just want her to be happy and don't really care if she marries a duke or a baker, as long as it's who she wants to be with.
But most of all, I just loved the hero and heroine and was in full support of their romance developing and for them to start their happily ever after!
My rating: 5 stars
