Last Night with the Duke: The Rakes of St. James (The Rakes of St. James, 1) Mass Market Paperback – March 7, 2017

Last Night with the Duke was an enjoyable start to a new regency romance series with a delightful romance, excellent supporting characters and an adorable dog named Napoleon.The Duke of Griffin’s past has finally come back to haunt him when rumors begin to swirl that his twin sisters will be pulled into a scandal during their debut season in order to punish him. As one of the Rakes of St. James, Griffin expected his reputation to follow him, but he never thought it could hurt his sisters. To help keep an eye on things, Griffin hires a chaperone to accompany his sisters to events. Esmeralda Swift was initially reluctant to take on the job as chaperone to the twins, but now that she’s accepted she’s determined to do a good job. Griffin and Esmeralda didn’t expect the attraction that sparked between them and will have to decide just how much they’re willing to risk for love.Esmeralda is the granddaughter of a viscount, but after her mother was disowned by her family for marrying an Irish poet, she’s had to readjust to a different station in life. She now spends her time running a governess business and taking care of her younger sister Josephine. Esmeralda is very dedicated to her sister and wants to make sure she has a good life. She’s adapted very well to her new position in life and does a great job running the governess agency.Griffin has been spoiled his entire life and is used to getting his way. He’s not used to people saying no and as a result, can be a bit pushy when it comes to getting what he wants. He recognizes that he was a bit reckless in his youth and has tried to be a better man since. Griffin cares deeply about his family and tries to ensure they get the best in life. When he wants to be, he can be very sweet and incredibly charming.Esmeralda and Griffin were attracted to each other right away, but due to their employer/employee status, things didn’t progress too quickly. The two have some great conversations and there’s some excellent banter which I loved. On the physical side, there were some great kissing scenes as they tried to resist their attraction, but it was otherwise light on the sexy scenes. The one and only sex scene happens within the last 15 or so pages of the book. As someone who prefers their romances to be more explicit, that was a bit of a downside for me.Overall, Last Night with the Duke was a great start to this series and I’m excited to see the remaining Rakes of St. James find love starting with the Duke of Hawksthorn in To the Duke, with Love.

This could have been a great story but the author allowed it to be a average story instead.We have a heroine with a big secret which we are reminded of ad nauseam, we have the little sister that could use a family, the handsome nobleman who stumbles into their lives almost by accident and then things go south.Cue the insta-love and we begin a story that still has a ton of potential .... almost all of it never realized sadly.The secret plot that never materializes.The evil unforgiving family we are told about over and over but nothing is ever done with that bit of plotline.Evil thieving lying landlord ......... nothing, this was almost phoned in it seems.A ending that just falls flat that any writer could have made into a soaring ending and it was almost a footnote the way it was handled.Bottom Line: I admit, as a reviewer one of the things I detest most in a book is a great premise especially with all the characters in place to make it great and the author does not have the skill to pull it together into the story it should have been and THAT is where this book took us, I read it in 1 day hoping for the great story I knew was in there to come out but when I turned the last page I was horribly unsatisfied. 3 Stars that is more for the pieces of that great story that I wanted that did manage to make it to the page. I want to send it back and scream "Make this into the story it deserves!!" but it is done sadly.

This book held my interest--that said, I must say I agree with other reviewers that this is not up to Ms.Grey's standard. There are all kinds of story "lanes to travel" that never get traveled such as the heroine's estranged family for one. And it seemed almost anti-climatic near the end.I really feel this could have been a really excellent novel but it seemed almost as if the author's heart and/or mind wasn't really in it. Also some modern words sneaked in that were out of sync with the time period.I was getting tired of the heroine's constant fear that every little problem would men she'd be fired from her position when she was supposed to "trust" the hero and feel "safe" with him?? Trust is not what she felt but only lust!ONE more problem NOT with the writer but with Amazon is that the KINDLE (format and no more cost) cost MORE than the book that takes paper and printing and distribution ?? I don't understand this and will not pay more for an e-print book than a print book!

The duke of griffin has employed a chaperone for his two sisters and Emerald accepted. She hide that she was a granddaughter of viscount and her mother married to who was poor, as usual people with money does not love ❤️ the poor. Emeralda was raised in acristocracy and when her mother was expelled from her family poverty as usual, she and her sister suffer a lot. I do not like to explains how much Emeralda struggle to survive. They went to live with Duke sister and her dog 🐕. The dog play a good part in the story and well the duke had a good share enemies. This story has everything how the society behave tension the main characters and other issues. The only part who I dislike why Esmeralda family does not appear and to know her and discover that she marry well. I recommend this book and I will read the series.

This was a nice romance.Negatives: The dialogue was a bit modern ('way too much, right?') at times and some characters were very juvenile. I also would have liked to see more development between the hero and heroine rather than only physical attraction.Positives: It was a sweet romance with lots of chemistry between the hero and heroine. Both characters were also very likeable.

Another fantastic story from the pen of Amelia GREY. This is the first in a trilogy and had many twists and turns and secrets but well worth a read. A very talented author and cant wait to read book 2 which I have pre-ordered. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Grim the moment I started to read this book I could not put it down. I loved it and look forward to the next in the series.

A brilliant book - highly enjoyable! Look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

Good story great fun with all the antics that went on, would love to meet a man like the Duke.

This novel had so many lovable characters in this the first novel of the series, can't wait to read the next - there are quite a few loose threads hanging so here's hoping that the twins seasons will continue to develop in the other novels - would love for Josephine to get another Napolian, too - the plot kind of fizzled out with the mystery of who was trying to ruin the twins season because I don't think Henry had the balls to cause trouble, he was to busy being a pretty boy - and Hawk's and Rath's characters were not mentioned much in the story, they were supposed to be helping to keep the twins safe I thought