Falling Into Bed With a Duke by Lorraine Heath (The Hellions of Havisham #1)
Released: October 27, 2015
Historical Romance
Avon

Reviewed by Mandi

The heroine steals the show in this book, but let me first talk about our hero, Ashe. (he isn’t so shabby himself!)

The Duke of Ashebury is a very handsome man. His passion in life is taking brilliant photographs, and it all stems from a very devastating childhood. His parents were killed in a railway accident, leaving him behind to deal with immense grief. Along with twins who also lost their parents, these three are shipped to the Marquess of Marsden’s estate, to be raised. Marsden lost his wife prior to all of this, and is now a broken man. While he takes in the three young ones, feeds them and gives them shelter, they pretty much are left on their own.

As adults, they are knows as the three hellions. Ashe, being a duke, has every lady’s attention at every gathering, although at night, he likes to frequent a very naughty nightclub – one where men and masked women gather for sex. Since the ladies wear masks, their identities can be safe from disgrace of the ton. This is where our hero meets our heroine.

Minerva knows she is firmly on the shelf. She is a spinster and pretty much  nothing can be done about it. And although she accepts this fact and is realistic about it, inside it makes her sad. She has never been kissed. A man’s bare skin has never touched hers. She wants passion in her life and a little daring romance. Minerva is very wealthy – her father owned and then sold a well-known gaming hall. Her parents adore her, and support her. She grew up speaking her mind, arguing about current events and never one to giggle behind a fan. This of course makes the men who come to her just for her dowry cringe. The men she meets only want her for her money, not for her plain looks or her spirited discussion. Minerva has turned down more than one marriage proposal, refusing to marry and be bored the rest of her life. But romance – she isn’t sure she can live without that, so she decides to go this risqué nightclub to lose her virginity. She wants to be touched by a man, and darn it – she is going to make it happen.

She puts on a mask and ends up catching the eye of Ashe. She knows Ashe from other social engagements, although he doesn’t recognize her with her disguise. They go upstairs and then Ashe asks something peculiar of her – he wants to photograph her legs. She thinks this is a perversion and dismisses it. He then realizes she is a virgin and the whole night goes to hell. But there is something about her that captivates him  – and as Ashe runs into Minerva at other balls and such, he starts to get the suspicion that she is his masked beauty.

I will admit when the sex club first came onto the page, I rolled my eyes a little. Don’t we have enough sex clubs in present day romance? Can’t we have mysterious carriage sex or something?  But, I warmed up to it once I realized it wasn’t going to overtake the story too much. Although not confirmed, Ashe is pretty certain of his mysterious masked lover quite quickly, but he doesn’t want to scare Minerva off. Ashe is scared to love – his guardian became a broken man after the love of his life died, and Ashe does not want that for himself. He has fun with the ladies, and fun with photography. While he travels around the world and shows off his photographs, the ones of women, he keeps all to himself. Minerva is a very self-assured woman, but also not afraid to admit she has some vulnerabilities. She wants to experience passion, but is very nervous about the whole thing. She wants Ashe to photograph her, but lying in bed exposing parts of her leg no man has ever seen before makes her so very vulnerable. I love that she finds the courage to try new things, and pushes against society norms. Just because she is a woman doesn’t mean she shouldn’t like sex or other intimate things.

Ashe takes his time with her, not wanting to push her too fast. One thing that did bother me a bit is the fact that Ashe runs into financial trouble, and Minerva’s big thing in life are men wanting her just for her dowry. It was just so predictable. Ashe doesn’t tell Minerva about his financial woes, then you can probably guess the rest. I wish that had not been the big conflict at the end. I also think Ashe could have been a bit more love-sick at the end. There are times I really thought he reallllly wanted Minerva’s dowry, not her just her heart. He convinces me by the very end, but it was close.

The two brothers that grew up with Ashe after their parents died have a big role in this book too – I assume they get books as well. Good start to a new series.

Grade: B

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