The Duke of Desire by Jess Michaels
Tracy’s rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: The 1797 Club, #9

Release Date: September 18, 2018

2.5 stars rounded up.

Katherine, Lady Gainsworth and Robert, the Duke of Roseford have a past, too bad he doesn’t remember it.

Katherine is finally out of mourning for her late husband and is ready reenter society, but her reemergence is under a black cloud. Her husband died while they were in bed and most of the ton is shunning her. Those who aren’t are rakes and rogues bent on bedding her. Enter Robert, the biggest rogue of them all, he makes a bet with one of his roguish friends that Katherine will be his lover. His plan hits a bump when he approaches her and is stunned by the venom she directs at him.

Katherine hates Robert, she blames him for ruining her life and when Isabel gives her the heads up about the wager, she hates him even more. But Robert isn’t willing to give up and pursues her. When a miscommunication has them both invited to the same house party, things begin to heat up between them – she might hate him, but she still wants him.

They grow closer and some secrets are shared, she begins to think that she was unfair in her judgement, until she overhears him talking to the friend he made the bet with. She is crushed and when he tries to explain, she finally reveals why she hated him for years and leaves. Robert is heartbroken and disgusted with himself. He isn’t sure what he can do to win her back or if he even deserves her. But when he gets advice from an unlikely source and admits he loves her, he knows that he will not give her up without a fight.

The book was well written, but it just didn’t work for me, I failed to feel a real connection between Katherine and Robert, I didn’t really feel like her reason for hating him was justified and his reasons for being a rake just felt contrived and vague. I didn’t hate the book, but it is my least favorite of the series and I wouldn’t recommend it. That said, the previous books in this series have consistently been 4 & 5 stars reads for me, so to have read 9 books in a 10 book series before finding one that didn’t catch my fancy is quite impressive!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*