Single-minded and ruthless, Ewan, Duke of Marwick, has spent a decade searching for the woman he never stopped loving. A long-ago gamble may have lost her forever, but Ewan will go to any lengths to win Grace back… and make her his duchess.
Reconciliation is the last thing Grace desires. Unable to forgive the past, she vows to take her revenge. But revenge requires keeping Ewan close, and soon her enemy seems to be something else altogether—something she can’t resist, even as he threatens the world she's built, the life she's claimed…and the heart she swore he'd never steal again. (Pub Date: Jun 30, 2020)
3.5, but rounded up because the plot was really interesting.
First of all, unlike most historical romances, this probably can't be read as a standalone. I mean, it's not like we had a cliffhanger before and you won't get the story from this volume alone. It could work as a standalone, but you will notice too clearly that you're missing details. I can attest that because my memory sucks and I had to go back on the previous books to check some stuff. So you could try, but I think the fun of this book is finally reaching Grace and Duke's story.
In case you still want to start from here, we saw glimpses through this series of how the four siblings—well, the three and Grace, who wasn't blood-related—were raised together to be put against one another by their evil father. When Ewan, the winner of the "contest" and thus the heir of the dukedom, learns (thinks) Grace is dead he becomes crazy and bloodthirsty against his brothers, trying to kill them and everyone else for two books and many years.
While trying to stay off the radar, the remaining three build an underground empire in Convent Garden, where Grace is the queen and she trades in pleasure and fantasy to the women in high society. So what will it do to Ewan to learn Grace is actually alive, after everything he's caused? Can he redeem himself for both the recent years and what happened so many years ago, when he betrayed his brothers and the love of his life for the dukedom?
I found this backstory both intriguing and confusing during the two other books so I'm glad to learn it was a bit on purpose, that since we only had Devil's and Beast's points of view, we actually couldn't know the whole truth. This is the book we finally find it out. And as MacLean states in the end, she called to herself some big challenge of redeeming someone as cruel as Ewan. I didn't like him at all. And she succeeds. I won't say I'm overflowing with love and pity for him now, but she did manage to, in a convincing manner, make him into a credible main character. It was a three-book-long bet, so wow. How many historical romance writers take all the trouble?
Because of all that, you should know that while the execution was ultimately not that exciting, being not that much of a page turner, the depth the characters brought was new. Also, action. Sarah MacLean has been flirting with action scenes for a while now, especially in this series, but with both characters being good fighters it shouldn't have surprised me we had them actually dueling one another. I'm personally not into fights, but I appreciated the unexpectedness of it.
Sarah MacLean is still my favorite historical romance author and this book proved me she's working hard to keep the post. I do recommend the series as a whole, as it could call even to those who are not that into romance, but if you're already following the Bareknuckle Bastards, you have to read this.
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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