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And so we come of the end (~ish) of the Maiden Lane series by Elizabeth Hoyt. The twelfth, and final full length book in the series is Duke of Desire. This is also the final book, obviously, in the Lords of Chaos storyline.
After meeting Iris in Duke of Pleasure, I was excited to see her as the heroine for this final book. We start off bombastic once again, with Iris being held captive at a special revelry by the Lords of Chaos where she is to be sacrificed. The snag comes when they announce she is the Duchess of Kyle. She corrects them, to their disappointment, but they want to move forward instead. Raphael, the Duke of Dyemore, is there to be reinitiated (ish) and decides that since she didn't marry Hugh, he can finally have her for himself. Raphael is the epitome of the scarred hero. Not only is one side of his face horribly scarred from a knife cut that was meant to get his eye, but as his father used to be the leader of the Lords of Chaos was abused sexually (as well as emotionally) as a child. Thankfully his aunt took him to Corsica right after and was able to save him. Unfortunately we learn for certain that there were other sons and daughters of the Lords that weren't rescued from their fathers. Raphael is given Iris, but told to kill her after his fun.
To save Iris, Raphael suggests they get married, especially since she shot him during her unbeknownst rescue. This book was 5-stars when dealing with the romance. I loved how Iris kept pushing for a real marriage with Raphael and just wanted to understand him inside and out. After her previous marriage that left her away from her husband most of the time, she was hoping that her next marriage would be for love. Since that doesn't appear to be the case at first, a part of her is heartbroken. I loved how accepting she was of how things ended up and kept adapting and trying to make the best of everything. She pushed Raphael, and even when he made it a point to say he wouldn't go all the way with her and give her a child, she suggested they do other intimacies instead. She just wanted that closeness.
Where this book fell flat for me was the Lords of Chaos. First off, it really bothered me that it wasn't more resolved. It would've been okay if they just took down the leader and just had the stragglers, but it was left as more of a "there will always be someone to take his place." I get that's how the world really works and it's difficult to really eradicate criminal groups. This is fiction. I want not only an hea for my couple, but the series as a whole. They finally found the full list of names, but it was in the last freaking chapter! It just really bothered me. I also feel like with how evil the Lords were, it almost could've been it's own spin-off series. The last few books kind of got away from St. Giles and the actual Maiden Lane, which is fine, but it felt almost like main feeling the books pivoted too much. I just was left wanting more for the final book. I don't know if she knew she was going to do a novella after this one, but I would've liked more of a wrap up in the epilogue or a revisitation with the families we've been following for 12 books.
I am also planning on reading the final novella, which is listed after this one as 12.5 and then my Maiden Lane binge will be done. I'll do a brief rundown of the series and my overall thoughts in that review (I'll link it when posted). The romance in this was great though and there were some great steamy scenes that were almost more intimate since it wasn't full on intercourse. If you love a scarred and damaged hero, this book will definitely float your boat.
Have you read Duke of Desire?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: Duke of Desire, Elizabeth Hoyt, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 308 pages, published in 2017
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