Good Dukes Wear Black by Manda Collins
Series: Lords of Anarcy
Historical Romance
Released: April 5, 2016
St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Reviewed by Sheena

A writer for the Ladies Gazette, Miss Ophelia Dauntry’s passion is her pen. So when she sees a fellow writer kidnapped before her eyes—and the trail of evidence leads to the Lords of Anarchy—Ophelia vows to find her friend and take down the notorious London driving club in her column. But before she can argue her case, she needs the inside scoop from its newest leader: Piers Hamilton, the Duke of Trent.
Headstrong, handsome Trent joined the Lords of Anarchy after a decade in the British Army. He’s made it his business to tame the misbehavior within the driving club—and the infuriatingly attractive Ophelia is only getting in his way. The deeper she digs into the case, the more she puts her own life at risk. Can Trent convince Ophelia to trust him to seek justice…and find protection, and passion, in his arms?

Good Dukes Wear Black was such a fun and energetic read! Bully boys, and a historical “driving club” and independent ladies made this novel stand out completely!  This is my first Manda Collins book and surely I have been missing out on a fresh and entertaining historical romance voice.  Ophelia was hysterical.  She was also smart as a whip and relentlessly courageous. Trent was a solider cum club leader who had his own ideas and agenda when it came to how he saw the Lords of Anarchy changing, growing even.  The last thing Trent needed was to become embroiled in a missing lady, kidnapping scandal that would further tar his club’s name and irrevocably set back the Lords of Anarchy’s progress.

Can we just pause at the LOL that is this driving club’s name! I simply never tired of the tongue in cheek that teases throughout the novel!

“The club members were acquainting themselves rather well among polite society…especially considering the last party the Lords of Anarchy had actually hosted was an orgy.”

Ahem. Yes, these men were your rouge’s rouge and unapologetic in their rakish conquests.  The Duke of Trent certainly has his work cut out for him with this bunch, good thing that his years of service in the King’s army prepared him to wrangle  the rowdy bunch!

Ophelia is a young woman after my own heart. She is an intellectual because she wants to be.  She writes (clutches pearls) for a (gasp) news publication (the nerve of her!) because she chooses to use her voice- betrothal possibilities be damned.  Her devil-may care tongue is sharp and gave the novel a wonderfully comical edge.  Not only is she stubbornly spurning an engagement with an uber boring suitor her mother is pushing upon her, but she is also witness to her friend’s kidnapping, in a scene that is utterly ridiculous, in the most charming way, far too fun to spoil.

The nabbed lady is the wife of a member of the Lords club and Ophelia wastes no time in going straight to the Duke for help and answers!  It is revealed that she and Trent have known each other in a passing manner, friends of mutual friends, twice removed if you will.  Their strained familiarity causes them to clash more often than not, Trent often finding himself nursing one wound or another from Ophelia’s  snarky quips and falling in love with her all the while.

The writing in this book is witty and amusing.  As my introductory novel to author Collins, I was very pleased to experience such an inviting romantic story.  I loved the different take on this time period and the juxtaposition between the  stuffy, pompous ton with the rabble rousing and naughty looseness of the Lords driving club.  Collins really did her work with this novel.  The plot is focused and the cast characters add the right amount of color and support to allow Ophelia and Trent to absolutely shine.  I could feel the love resonate off the pages.  Ophelia and Trent circle round another, learn to trust one another and despite ultimatums and the threat of danger to her life, they carve out time to really get to know and love one another.  Insta-anything does not work in my historical fiction worlds.  Something about the grandness of period pieces, almost demands a flowering sort of, sweeping journey to the HEA.

Immediately after finishing Good Dukes Wear Black, I researched more works by this author and to my great pleasure there are two more books in THIS WORLD that I now get to immerse myself in.  This novel is a sure hit for historical romance fans who like a little levity to their tales and a little danger in their Duke.   Set firmly in the past but feels current in a cool fresh manner, Good Dukes Wear Black is a must read!

Grade: A

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