The Duke

Rating:
Summary: Excellent -- Excellent!!!
Review: This is the 3rd or 4th time I've read this book. I had just finished reading the Lord of Fire and Lord of Ice and decided I needed to read the beginning. I have loved these two characters every time as I have dearly loved the Knight family, including the story about Lizzie. When are we going to be able to read about brothers Alec and Jack.

Rating:
Summary: loved it
Review: Gaelen Foley is the newest name in historical romance, and from the rave reviews on amazon.com I saw that this is one book that I would not want to miss. "The Duke" was my first by Gaelen Foley, and although I enjoyed it, the book left me with many conflicting feelings.

On the positive side, Gaelen Foley is an excellent writer, and it is obvious that she has really done her research. The book was extraordinarily well written, with an emotional yet elegant style that draws you fully into the story. For those who said that there are grammatical errors and that the book was not well edited - I don't think so. I think those errors were meant to be there. Commas, periods, etc. are only meant to be there if it helps you say what you mean, and if by changing some of the rules of grammar you can make a stronger emotional impact, well, that's the writer's perogative. The background and historical details were well done, too - Gaelen Foley managed to give us a very good idea of the social and economic issues of the time.

But the part that left me shaking my head was the dialogue and characterization. The dialogue was so utterly modern, there wasn't even the slightest attempt to make these people even sound English, let alone Regency era. After reading Judith McNaught, Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen - well, it grates on the nerves. And the h/h - Hawk and Belinda - there are so many inconsistencies in their characters in only the first half of the book that I was tempted to close it right then and there. Luckily for me, I did continue, because it certainly was an absorbing read, but the character inconsistencies never resolved themselves to my satisfaction.

Both Belinda and Hawk seem different people at different times. First there is Belinda, virtuous orange seller, then there is Belinda the accomplished courtesan. The transformation was so quick, it was almost hard to believe. Then there is Belinda the mature, understanding, smart, and good-hearted girl - then there is the Belinda who acts almost like a child - which is it - is she mature, or not?

And the character of Hawk is ten times worse. To be honest, if I were to place the Duke by his actions and words, I would think of a nineteen year old. A very good, very eager to do the right thing, yet somewhat immature and naive nineteen year old. And yet Hawk is supposed to be a Duke, the hero of this story? There are so many times where Belinda seems to be mature and insightful, she is always smarter than him, always seems to understand people when he doesn't, that the Duke comes across as a bit of a bumbling idiot. A really nice, sweet, GOOD bumbling idiot.

Hawk is supposed to be the paragon of virtue, the Duke who his so shiny that he is way above reproach. Yet he suddenly acquires the most flashy and provocative of mistresses - and although we are told that he is not planning on consummating their union, this is still very much out of character. In my experience, people who live their lives in this way are even MORE worried about what people will think than about actually doing *wrong* themselves, and this is exactly the kind of situation that perhaps can appeal to a romantic eighteen year old (everyone thinks that I am doing something wrong but meanwhile I'm above reproach), but I don't suppose the Duke is eighteen in this story.

There are just too many things he says or does that are at odds with his persona of the paragon Duke - someone who would zealously guard his reputation above all else - to make this story believable. He falls for a married lady, and nurses the illusion of "pure love" - something a very young, or hopelessly naive man would do. He hires a mistress - in a very public way - and he talks to her with tremendous courtesy and respect. We have only Belinda's word that he looks down on her - I can't find a clue from the way he talks to her. My understanding is that these *paragons of virtue*, even if they were to avail themselves of the services that "mistresses" offer, would still look upon this class of people with contempt - you only have to read a couple of Edith Layton's books to get an illustration. The fact that this is hipocritical does nothing change their attitude. And then when it comes to their big love scene - Hawk, a self propressed prude - seems to have an awful lot of knowledge of exactly what to do to Belinda to get her over her fears. Hmm... this in an age where sex manuels were actually illegal to print, and from a man with very limited experience? I don't think so.

Which brings me to the love scenes. . . although of course the best I've read, they seem to be superimposed on the story rather than flow from within the characters of the story. These are two inexperienced people, they both haven't slept *around*, yet their encounters are perfect - no akwardness, no not sure of yourself - which is, come to think of it, so out of character for the Duke himself. While these two people made a grand performance, that's just what it was - a performance for an audience. Which does not make it less enjoyable, just unrealistic.

And there were so many parts of the book where I simply winced - I'll print just one example to show what I mean.

"How dare you force her into a marriage she doesn't want?" he roared at him. Um, this is Regency England. I don't even think there was a CONCEPT of getting the brides consent before the marriage, or if there was, it was confined to the lower classes. A man would NEVER have made a statement like that in Regency England without turning into a laughingstock. And besides, the bride never actually really objected! (And considering that he was the prospective bridegroom, you'd think he would know!)

So all in all, while "The Duke" was an excellent story, very emotional and very gripping, the innapropiate dialogue and inconsistent characterization kept me from enjoying this story to its fullest. If these kind of things don't bother you, and you love a well-crafted, really emotional story - then Gaelen Foley is a must read for you.

Rating:
Summary: great story
Review: This was lent to me with well founded recommendations. I like the characters and the story was interesting. The only possible disappointment was the some-what hokey ending.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best - EVER!!
Review: I did not expect to love this book so much. I usually do not like heroes that are so stiff and straight laced without a real rouge background and devil attitude. So Robert really surprised me. He just became so human and so involved with Belinda and slowly but surely he was no longer judging her but getting to know her and finally for the first time in his life he was out of his comfort zone -- he was totally in love. Unfortunately he still had to act like a stuffed shirt and almost at the end lost everything to the TON and all those that expected him to do the correct thing but whether he was forced to realize on his own or whether Juliet's real true love declaring himself at Almacks -- whatever Robert came through in a big way and he didn't just ask for Bel's hand -- he did it in a big way - so there would be no doubt in his true love!! Looking for the others in this series!

Rating:
Summary: On my "must buy" list
Review: There are a few small problems--minor character inconsistencies, clunky plot points, and a few grammatical errors--but overall The Duke is a fabulous book. Bel's dilemma is heart-wrenching; how can a gently bred woman turn to prostitution? Necessity. But she chooses an avenue that allows her to retain some dignity. How blessed she is to pair up with staid, honorable Robert, a man who sincerely believes he must be perfect even if that means he is miserable and alone. Robert's love heals Bel, as she breaks down the walls that protect the kind, passionate, romantic man beneath the facade of the Paragon Duke.

The reader aches with Bel as her life disintegrates around her, hopes with her as she finds salvation in Robert, and cries for her when her heart breaks. Sometimes you could smack them both, but Foley makes the emotional turmoil behind their decisions (right and wrong) very clear. In addition, Robert's inner war between honor and love cause them both pain before he realizes what's really important. His "conversion" is a joy to behold.

The reviews seem to run the gamut on this book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I think it may be my favorite in the series. Ignore the minor problems and immerse yourself in the depth of emotion Foley creates.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been so much better
Review: This is the first book of Gaelen Foley's that I have read and I ordered it because it turned up so often on reader's list of favorite books. It is an entertaining and engaging tale, but ultimately I found the book frustrating for a number of reasons, predominately due to inconsistencies in the character's behavior. Most problematic for me was the character of Bel--was she a plucky, innocent lass trapped in a bad situation or a poised, sexually-bold courtesan? Her decision to become a courtesan after her rape experience was bizarre, in my opinion. As was her willingness to initiate all sorts of sexual acts with Hawk (the repressed duke hero) when she was essentially a virgin except for the rape. The scene where she and Hawk troop out of the carriage (after an eventful ride!) in front of all the servants with their clothes half pulled off made me cringe. Far-fetched to think that the servants would ever treat her with anything but disdain after that episode.
Hawk's behavior is also inconsistent and unrealistic. A reputed model of propriety, he moves his mistress into his own home, then into his country home *with* his younger sister and her young friend, has professional parties at his home with his mistress as the hostess, etc., etc. Pretty rackety behaviour by 19th century standards.
The murder mystery part of the book was also a bit hard to swallow, in my opinion, and a rather clunky plot device to bring the hero and heroine together.
All that said, the book was well-written and I did like the development of the romance between Bel and Hawk, particularly the (very realistic) emotional trauma of realizing that marriage and happily-ever-after was probably not in the books for a paragon duke and a very high profile courtesan.
The theme of love between a courtesan and a gentleman is similar to that of Judith Ivory's wonderful "Sleeping Beauty" (with particular similarities in the denouement!), but I found Ivory's characters more believable and engaging.

Rating:
Summary: Are we reviewing the same book?
Review: I can't believe all of the positive reviews that this book has received. I sincerely hope that I am not the only one troubled by the inconsistencies in the plot. I constantly found myself throwing the book down in frustration and disbelief. The main characters Robert and Bel were nothing but two hypocrites who deserved each other. Robert is a paragon a faultless man in the world of regency England until the love of his life (another man's wife I might add) dies and he suspects foul play. Bel is a virtuous ex- school teacher who has fallen on hard times and now makes her living selling oranges (how trite). The two meet when Robert decides that he wants to avenge his "lady love's" death and decides to use Bel as bait and thus the story goes downhill fast. I don't even know where to begin there were just so many times when the characterization would be inconsistent. It was already a stretch for me to accept that the story line was built around Robert avenging the death of another man's wife that isn't noble or even romantic, but the characters progress throughout the entire book doing things that made little or no sense at all. For someone who was so virtuous as to sell oranges instead of marrying a man whom she didn't love Bel embraced the whole courtesan lifestyle much too easily. Also for Bel to be so traumatized by her rape I find it comical that she can perform oral sex with ease but panic at the sound of clinking silverware. As for Robert the paragon who is determined to maintain respectability it's amusing that not only does he move his mistress into his house, gives her free reign over the servants but also let's her host a dinner party attended by members of Parliament. And Robert is such a gentleman that he agrees to marry someone else and then asks Bel to be his mistress making it quite clear that he has every intention of cheating on his soon to be wife. The book wasn't enjoyable at all and was full of hypocritical inconsistent characters that made it impossible for me to care about them and angry at myself for reading about them.