Maiden Lane #11
Elizabeth Hoyt
Historical Romance
Published in 2016
H/h - Hugh Fitzroy, the Duke of Kyle/Alf (...is a girl)
Setting: England, 1742.
Read in January, 2017.
My rating:
[spoiler alert]
So
happy to say that I’ve been following the long running, much loved
Maiden Lane series by Elizabeth Hoyt almost since the beginning! I
discovered Ms. Hoyt’s books back in 2011 and haven’t looked back ever
since. And we’ve certainly come a long way with this one! Duke of Pleasure
is the 11th installment and I have to say it was, uhh, not what I was
hoping for. Actually not sure what I was looking for since Alf, the h of
this story, was not a character I thought would have a book of her own,
let alone a full-length one. I mean she’s ‘Alf’, the little urchin who
masqueraded as a beggar boy to live in the dark and filthy St. Giles
where she grew up. No one knew who she was, or even, that she was a
girl. She had no family to speak of. Had no life beyond St. Giles... she
didn’t even have a full name FGS! I totally thought that Hippolyta
Royle, the richest heiress of England, was going to have a full-length
novel; instead she got a novella. :/
Anyway, now that that’s
outta my chest.......... Personally, this is probably the only
long-running series of which I’ve been a part of almost since the
beginning, so I’m a little overwhelmed here. I don’t think a recap of
all the other 10 installments is possible so I’d ask that you start from
the beginning, Wicked Intentions. Besides, if you haven’t read
the series from the beginning, you really shouldn’t be reading this
review. The installments connect each-other with ongoing events, or
characters, or an event that was hinted at on one installment and you
will find it taking shape in another. So yes, true to Ms. Hoyt’s style,
it’s a very interconnected series and you may find
information confusing at times.
Maiden Lane originally was based
in Georgian-era St. Giles and revolved around a shadowy character with
Harlequin costume and a mask to protect his identity; the famous Ghost
of St. Giles. He was a legend among the locals; some thought him a
friend, while others thought him the bad guy. But no one really knew who
he was and what the hell he was doing, running in the dark alleyways of
St. Giles every night, evading the law enforcement send out to catch
him. The series also originally started with 4 Makepeace
siblings—Temperance, Asa, Silence and Winter, with 2 other Concord and
Verity already married and living separately with their families. The
siblings used to run an orphanage badly in need of financial help,
passed down to them by their deceased sire. The Makepeace siblings had
their stories told in the first installments—Wicked Intentions (Temperance and Lazarus, Lord Caire - #1), Scandalous Desires (Silence and Charming Mickey, the river pirate - #3) and Thief of Shadows
(Winter and Lady Isabella - #4). Concord and Verity weren’t around
much; the few times, they were included largely by mention. Asa had made
a few cameos here and there but he was always the mysterious one, until
things started getting unraveled by book 6, with Asa having his own
story, FINALLY, in book 9 Sweetest Scoundrel, with Eve Dinwoody as his match.
The
middle books center around various secondary characters still connected
to this series some way or the other; whom you will still see even
after their HEAs. Book 10, Duke of Sin, tells us the story of
the whimsical (some beg to differ and calls him ‘insane’) Duke of
Montgomery AKA Dear Val (as I called him :P), one of those peeps. He
used to be quite the shadowy character until the revelations in Eve’s
book, who also happens to be his half-sister. Val’s also connected to
Asa, which is how he was introduced in this series.
Now Alf has been around, like REALLY around for a long time, ever since book 4 I think. But it wasn’t until book 5, Lord of Darkness,
Godrick St. John’s story, where Alf made her mark as a secondary
character helping him find a kidnapper of children. St. John is also
Lord Caire’s closest friend, and now married to Margaret, who is the
sister of Lord Griffin Reading, hero of book 2. You get my drift? How
this series and its characters are entwined?
I also have to
mention this: contrary to what we first thought, there were 3 Ghost of
St. Giles; one taking over when the previous retired. And they didn’t
know each-other either at first. The full story of how these ‘Ghosts’
came to be in St. Giles, their backstory with the original mentor (since
long passed) and their motto is revealed in their own books. The first
Ghost was Winter Makepeace, the next being Godric St. John, a revelation
that surprised us all. Apparently he wasn’t just a lonely,
grief-stricken widower we thought him to be all along! But after his
hasty marriage to Margaret, he also put away his Harlequin mask. Around
that time, a third Ghost came into the spotlight, who turned out to be
The Duke of Wakefield, Maximus Batten. Max is also Lady Hero’s elder
brother (Lady Hero is the love of Lord Griffin’s life and now happily
married to him). I can’t tell you the amount of excitement came with
these revelations because we were always waiting with bated breath to
find out if our guesses were correct or not. I definitely did! :D
Anyway,
back to my review... It wasn’t until Val’s book (#10) that Alf was
reintroduced in this series. We find her snooping on his behalf, gaining
information in and around St. Giles, which she did like a pro. She was
quite the prominent part of that book. Val, with his shrewd
observational skill, had already deduced that Alf was no boy, but he let
the girl continue on with her masquerade as long as it helped his own
endeavor.
We’re also introduced to Hugh, the H of Duke of Pleasure,
for the first time as one of the acknowledged bastard of the King. He’d
just suffered a tragedy; his wife died a few months ago leaving 2 young
boys to care for. Hugh is also one of the few men the King trusted with
the uglier secrets of the Crown. Tasks were given to him to get rid of
people and things, equally. In short, Hugh had taken care of many of the
Crown’s dirty secrets on behalf of his exalted father, whom he’d met
only a handful of times. Lately though, Hugh had been thinking of
retiring to take care of his sons. His plan was going in the right
direction too but when another ugly situation reared its head, he was,
again, summoned to take care of it much to Hugh’s utter dislike. But an
order from the King can’t be ignored, no matter how he was related to
him. While investigating this particular case, Hugh meets this young boy
‘Alf’. Alf, it was rumored, knew a lot about St. Giles, where Hugh’s
investigation led him to.
In a way, book 11 is very connected to
book 10 because the case I’m taking about actually first came into the
light in there. Val’s father was the member of a secret club with all
sorts of disgusting and perverted goings on. The club was so secret that
the members didn’t always know each-other. They met under robes and
masks to do their ‘ritual’s, which involved alcohol, orgies and more
often than not, children. I’m not even going to try and explain the
latter. Val wanted that club destroyed since he hated his father and
every single POS who was the part of that club, which is how he got
entangled in this mess. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to eliminate all
the members. When news reached the King that someone close to him is a
part of that club which can return to bite their collective asses, it
falls onto Hugh to investigate it further in hopes to destroy it
totally. This is how Hugh started keeping an eye on Val. It’s also how
he tracked down Alf, who was seen leaving Val’s house quite frequently.
Alf and his first meeting didn’t go well but Hugh was determined to
bring the boy to his side for garnering more information.
I mentioned The Ghost of St. Giles because, in the beginning of Duke of Pleasure,
Hugh is attacked by a band of goons, obviously sent to murder him. He’s
a big man, well trained in boxing, yet he probably couldn’t have taken
care of that many against one unless The Ghost of St. Giles made an
appearance. It was rumored that the Ghost was back after a hiatus but
Hugh wouldn’t have believed it until he saw with his very own eyes! That
‘him’ turned out to be a very shocking ‘her’ the moment Hugh is thrown
against the Ghost in the fray and he very deftly discovered a pair of...
breasts. :P Oh boy! But the best surprise was yet to come—a kiss,
directly from the Ghost, after they were safe. WOW!! Now THAT’s
something Hugh wasn’t expecting, more so the fact that the Ghost’s kiss
could actually arouse him to a point that he couldn’t stop thinking of
her. Yes, it’s been a while since he’d had a woman but still. Wtf??! :/
Hugh
became the butt of joke among his men when he cracked the news, but
that didn’t make that female Ghost any less mysterious or enthralling to
him. The fate of his ongoing investigation was also hanging heavy on
his mind. It seemed now he was also in danger, which I suspect, is
expected when you’re dealing with a club like the one he was
investigating. But Hugh’s main concern was his little boys. Both were
still dealing with their mother’s passing, which has been ruled out as a
riding accident. Everything happened so quickly, it was too hard for
the 8yrs. old Christopher or 5 yrs. old Peter to understand any of it.
While his eldest boy was sullen and moody most of the times, Peter was
becoming quite difficult to manage with his temper tantrums. His mood
was going downhill with each passing day and Hugh would often wake up in
the middle of the night hearing him scream blue murder. He’d rush in to
offer comfort but it wasn’t helping. The worse was the fact that Hugh
knew he was still a stranger to his boys because he left to fight for
the Crown when they were both babies. His marriage to Katharine was
already over by then.
Hugh thought he was in love with Katherine.
It was a very passionate relationship, which turned into barbs and
jibes, regular fights even before their honeymoon was over. Katherine’s
mood was mercurial and she soon found comfort in other men’s arms, a
betrayal Hugh could never forget or forgive. When he figured out Peter
wasn’t his, he simply left and didn’t return until her passing. But for
all her faults, Katherine apparently doted on her sons and always kept
Hugh up-to-date about their life. Even so, Hugh was largely a stranger
to them. Christopher hated his guts because he thought his errant father
will leave them again, while Peter didn’t really understand or knew
what to do since his mother wasn’t there to comfort him any longer. Hugh
had since adopted Peter as his own. He loved him as much as he loved
Christopher, so much so that no one suspected anything until much later
in the story. At this point though, he had no idea how to handle his
boys and improve their strained relationship.
But Hugh must push
on and put an end to this club, and the case altogether, if he has to
concentrate on his family. He wanted nothing more to do with espionage
and Crown’s secret. He wanted to build a strong relationship with his
sons. And to do that, first he has to find Alf and convince that brat to
start working for him now that he’s not working for the Duke of
Montgomery anymore. In a few days, his men find Alf, who pays him a
visit and agrees to help. Hugh becomes rather protective of the boy but
the street urchin wouldn’t take any charity from him so he let Alf work
the way he did best; alone.
So, our Alf was, as I mentioned
earlier, always alone. Her last, vague recollection was of her mother
who just abandoned her on the sidewalk, ordering her to not to follow
her because she was unable to take care of Alf. How heartbreaking! :(
After that, an older boy found her and took her in his own gang. Ned not
only taught her how to survive in the hostile environment of St. Giles,
but also trained her in many other things. He was the one who insisted
she dressed like a boy because that was the only way to ensure she was
relatively safe from grabbing hands, consign to a fate much worse. Alf
has been eternally grateful to Ned, who had, like many other St. Giles
kids, disappeared one day without a trace. Alf still remembered him
fondly and liked to think he just found sudden good luck and moved away,
even though she knew that the likelihood of that was very faint.
Alf
had done what she had to to survive, but she hadn’t ever counted on
feeling things that she shouldn’t be feeling dressed and acting as she
was. A boy. That Duke of Kyle had thrown her world in a complete
disarray. Since that kiss, all Alf can think of is something she’s yet
to know and learn; how to be a woman. Her body is now giving the signs
and she wanted to discover that hidden part of herself. Though her small
figure without much curve still makes her look like a young boy, Alf is
in her early 20s. But nothing changes the fact that she’s insanely
attracted to the Duke of Kyle, been so the moment she laid her eyes on
him. But Alf knows nothing will ever come of that type of longing. He’s
still a Duke, she’s still a street urchin who doesn’t even have a
surname, let alone anything else... and he still thinks she’s a boy.
Heartbreak is what’s waiting for her if she ever gives into that
longing.
But easier said than done. When Alf is attacked,
wounded, she somehow finds Hugh’s home. Hugh takes one look and brings
her in, ordering that she won’t be going anywhere until she’s completely
recovered. It gives Alf an opportunity to know about the man she’s
fallen for. She also meets Hugh’s sons and strikes an instant friendship
that only grew stronger each day. Alf meets Iris Jordan, a young widow,
who used to be Katherine’s close friend and didn’t like her much at
first (jealousy, psst! :P). But that changed soon enough. Iris is a
beautiful, elegant woman and I liked her a lot! She didn’t have a great
first marriage but was expecting to marry Hugh to take care of
Christopher and Peter, whom she already loved and adored.
Along
the way things change dramatically for them all, right after Alf’s true
sex is revealed to Hugh quite unexpectedly. Of course, at first Hugh is
mad, but then he realizes why Alf had to masquerade
as a boy all her life. Iris was so observant that she noticed Hugh and
Alf’s chemistry even before they were ready to acknowledge it. She never
tried to be a barrier there in the whole story.
At this point,
the investigation starts turning in new information, which leads them to
revise their plan of attack on that disgusting club. I liked how Iris
took the whole thing in and even being a lady in every sense of the
word, expresses a wish to help them in the investigation. Part of it
included training Alf into a woman who can carry on in the polite
society. At first, it was for the investigation. But Alf really, truly
wanted to start behaving like a woman. We can only imagine why. ;) She
and Hugh were already getting hot and heavy, but Alf had a world of
baggage (and self-consciousness because of her attraction to Hugh) that
needed to resolve. Iris knew she wanted a better marriage than her
first, and no matter how good a man Hugh is, they don’t have that
chemistry. So she steps aside to give Hugh and Alf their HEA.
But
don’t worry friends! Iris will have her HEA if the excerpt in the next
pages is any indication. The hero is a brooding ‘bad’ guy who has zoomed
in on his target; Iris. We also don’t know if that club was destroyed
completely or if something new will arise from there. I can hardly to
wait to find out what happens next!
Overall, I liked this story,
no doubt about it. Thought Hugh was absolutely HOT! But I had a problem
with Alf. I was unable to visualize her anything other than a street
urchin, a boy at that. *cringes* And it ruined my fun throughout. It was
disappointing that even in her own book there was little backstory on
Alf. I was expecting something about her past would be revealed, where
we’ll finally know who she is or at least get a FULL NAME!
Unfortunately, nada. So in that regard, she, as a character, never
evolved in my mind. I don’t know if I was able to explain it but I
wasn’t sure about her and Hugh’s relationship. Just knowing she was of
an age to be intimate with a man didn’t help. I needed more on her, at
least, more time knowing her as a woman, rather than the Alf we’ve seen
in this series.
I’m still rounding up on 4 stars cause damn, I need Iris’s story right now (it’s still some months away *sigh*)!!!
I guess, with Alf getting her HEA, the story of the Ghost of St. Giles is finally at an end. Or is it? :|
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