No Good Duke Goes Unpunished: The Third Rule of Scoundrels

Another amazing story from one of my current favorite historical writers! I have loved MacLean's books since her debut, Nine Rules To Break When Romancing a Rake, but I really think that she has taken a major step up with this series. Her focus on the Fallen Angel club has provided some intriguing characters, plenty of drama, and social commentary which I always enjoy in historical romance. I think her strongest skill is her characterization from the main ones to the side characters. Everyone has a purpose in the overall story and they are all fully developed. I feel like most of them could just hop off the page and walk around. She really understands the human experience and creates characters whose personalities are so in sync with their lives. I also love that she isn't afraid to push the envelope and provide readers with flawed people to root for. The titular hero for No Good Duke Goes Unpunished is Temple, the muscle behind the Fallen Angel club. He is a lord who was exiled from proper society after being accused of murdering his father's bride the day before the wedding. What I found so interesting about Temple was the maturity that is shown from the flashbacks to the current day. He was the typical wealthy heir who enjoyed the high life in London until his unfortunate fall from grace. His reaction to the entire situation was interesting and I admired the fact that he was able to create a new life for himself. I also thought it was interesting that he was never sure whether he was a murderer or not and he could never fully trust himself. I found Mara to be a hard heroine to like at first. The fact that she is the reason why Temple's life was changed so much doesn't endear her to most romance readers. I knew that there had to be a good reason for what she did, but it seemed like it took a long time for the truth to come to light. I did think that MacLean did a good job slowly revealing Mara's personality and how she used the boys's home to showcase her true goal in life. The development of Mara and Temple's romance was slower than I usually find in historical romance, but it made sense for this type of story. These are two people whose lives were drastically changed from a single moment in the past and they are both still trying to find a place to belong. Neither of them are very trusting of others (Temple because of society's exile and Mara because of her family) so there are some definite issues that need to be resolved before true happiness can occur. They primarily connect through their physical attraction to each other at first which makes sense when you think about how they met all those years ago. But, they do start to slowly get to know more about one another and they figure out how much they actually do have in common. As with most MacLean romances, I was blown away by the side characters and how much they made a mark on this story. I continue to love the relationship between Temple and his fellow Fallen Angel owners (Bourne, Cross, and Chase. Readers have already seen Bourne and Cross get their happy ending, but it was nice to see them have such a significant part in the overall story line. Chase is the more mysterious of the three and readers learn even more in this book that make me excited for the next installment in the series. I also found Mara's assistant at the boys's home to be an intriguing character that I would like to see take center stage sometime in the future. Overall, I really enjoyed No Good Duke Goes Unpunished with the well-developed main characters, slow-burning and satisfying romance, and the interesting side personalities. The setting of the entire series continues to be something that stands out as well. I definitely cannot wait until the next book comes out next year!

3.5 stars Book 3 in Rules For Scoundrels series. I liked it better than book 2 but not as much as book 1. This is my third book by Sarah MacLean. Unfortunately, with this series at least, I feel like Ms. MacLean is following the same outline for each book. She did switch it up with this one and have the heroine be the one to pull away at the end before coming back and showing a big act/declaration of love. Also, with this book and the previous one, I've really enjoyed the beginning (first 4-5 chapters), found the middle slow and drug out, then really enjoyed the end (last 4-5 chapters). There was more angst in this one, or maybe it was the same amount but because it's my third book in a row, it felt repetitive. As for what I liked, I did find myself being really excited about this story in the beginning. I found myself smiling and excited to see it play out. She set up the fake death and then Mara's admission of life, very well. I fully expected Temple to be angry and mean to her in the beginning, but somewhere in the middle, I felt he was mean to her for the sake of being mean. She'd shown much remorse and had done everything that he'd required of her, and I felt like he took serious advantage of her and her body, and almost emotionally abused her somewhere in the middle. I did love how fierce Mara was! She refused to cower, tremble or accept defeat when Temple would ridicule her and disrespect her. I was VERY happy that once Temple accepted his love for her, she became his entire world and he basically said, "screw the ton! I'm gonna be with the woman I love!" He also groveled in the end and made her feel worthy again. I was definitely SHOCKED by the very last line of the book! I gasped out loud! I got lucky in the fact that I didn't read the synopsis of book 4 until after I read all of book 3. If you read the back cover synopsis of book 4, you haven't been completely spoiled, but if you haven't read it yet, WAIT! Don't read the synopsis til you've read all three books first! You will thank me later! I'm really glad that Ms. MacLean has written this amazing twist into the series, because where I was unexcited about book 4 (afraid it would be the same kind of story as the last two) I now can't wait to read it! There's several uses of the F word in this book. At least six times. Surprising for a historical romance novel. One scene of oral sex in the middle. Several heavy kissing and petting scenes throughout. One long, detailed sex scene in third to last chapter.

I surely liked this book, but with a few reservations. I hate to judge a book on the author’s previous hits but this is not the best of the series. That said, I still think that Sarah MacLean writes rings around most other authors in the genre and this book is still a very good read. The romance was slow developing and the chemistry between the H/h was certainly sizzling. But it left me wondering “why?”. Yes, she wanted to make amends but only if he gave her something, that being her brother’s gaming loss forgiven. It was a bit confusing but she also wanted money from Temple. He wanted revenge in the form of outing her to the Ton and humiliating her. Neither of these reasons seemed to justify the sizzling attraction between the two. And yet…the story kept me turning pages to see what would happen next. Would these two actually fall in love in spite of all the reasons against that result? What did actually happen on that fateful night? Why did she become foster mother to all those orphans? Yes, I do recommend this as a good read. And I will be in line to read Chase’s story in the next book.

The basic premise was excellent and very unique! However, the execution was all over the place. It ranged from top-of-the-line writting to more like the first book from this author. There were FAR too many short paragraphs of sometimes a SINGLE word. Using short (even single word paragraphs) has a it's place and can be very powerful. But when they are overused they become irritating. The first 60 or so pages started out very encouraging but then we had about 150 to 175 pages that desperately need rewriting. And then starting with just before the serious injury the 'hero' received the book started to improve and ended on a high note. A reworking from about page 125 through about 300 would elevate this book to 4 stars out of 5 and maybe even a little higher. I do have to admit that Chase's secret, which is disclosed on the very LAST page, caught me completely by surprise! I will get the next couple of books from the library for this author instead of buying until I'm sure what level this author normally writes on. I would rate this book 5.5 to 6.0 out of 10 stars - the potential was there for a very good book as a good editor (or maybe just more experience for this author) would have elevated this at least one whole star. This book just misses being recommended by me.

This is not Sarah MacLean's best work. The initial premise is awful and difficult to forgive. Most of the action occurs in the characters' heads, which is exhausting, repetitive, and a bore. Ms. Maclean excels at clever dialogue and funny character interaction, and the parts of the story that feature that are superior. Her writing is excellent and the book will review well despite its flaws; I found this much-anticipated release disappointing. I always worry at this point in my writers' careers: does the big contract and the pressure to publish kill the creativity? I felt, while reading, that MacLean didn't really love this story, either. Despite that, her earlier works are so superior, I already find myself waiting for Chase's story in 2014. For me, MacLean filled the voids created by Lisa Kleypas when she stepped away from historicals, Quinn when she finished the original Bridgerton books (best ever), and E. James when she inexplicably lost her magic. While I'm impatiently waiting for the next Elizabeth Hoyt installment, there is a silver lining: newcomer Sherry Thomas' skills are developing nicely, and her recent publications can entertain us while we continue to mourn the loss of clever Kleypas. I still nourish hopes for her return to regency.