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A review by lassarina
The Duke and the Lady in Red by Lorraine Heath
5.0
Rosalind Sharpe is a con artist. She finds wealthy men, engages their emotions, and convinces them that she needs money in order to handle some manner of debt, then scoots off with the funds and moves to another town to try the same adventure. She's quite good at what she does - until she meets the Duke of Avendale.
Avendale is a walking scandal, notable for his indulgences in, well, everything. He's also fabulously rich, so much so that he'll never even miss the money Rosalind swindled. Still, a man has his pride, and when he catches her leaving town, he offers her a deal: she can keep the money, and even more, but she'll spend a week in his bed.
One thing I really liked about this book was the relative awareness of power; they both know that this proposition puts her at his mercy, and Avendale is a reasonable person, despite his scandalous behavior. That awareness of the power imbalance flows through the relationship, even as Avendale discovers why it is that Rosalind wanted all that money, and his reaction to that outcome (which I'm omitting because spoilers.) It also flows into the inevitable relationship crisis on both sides, and I loved the way that was done and the way it was resolved. Overall, a wonderful book.
Avendale is a walking scandal, notable for his indulgences in, well, everything. He's also fabulously rich, so much so that he'll never even miss the money Rosalind swindled. Still, a man has his pride, and when he catches her leaving town, he offers her a deal: she can keep the money, and even more, but she'll spend a week in his bed.
One thing I really liked about this book was the relative awareness of power; they both know that this proposition puts her at his mercy, and Avendale is a reasonable person, despite his scandalous behavior. That awareness of the power imbalance flows through the relationship, even as Avendale discovers why it is that Rosalind wanted all that money, and his reaction to that outcome (which I'm omitting because spoilers.) It also flows into the inevitable relationship crisis on both sides, and I loved the way that was done and the way it was resolved. Overall, a wonderful book.