I adore Kerrigan Bryce’s work and this is my favorite next to The Hunter. I don’t know how I missed that this was a new series but I love the premise of The Red Rogues.

Alexandra is such a strong, endearing, intelligent character. I adored her verbal sparing with Piers. Alexandra experienced a horrible trauma and is keeping some secrets. Piers is scarred and feared as the Terror of Torcliff.

The story is a slow burn with a building of friendship and a slow seduction. There were several tropes but they were used well.

Two tormented souls. Some sensitive subjects touched in this story. Alexandra's friend doesn't want to marry Piers. Alexandra has other plans, but steps in to help her friend and family out. Piers and Alexandra finding their way to each other is a joy to read

Kerrigan Byrne is one of my fave authors. Whenever one of her books come out I dive in and lose myself to her wonderful storytelling. Mystery, passion, intrigue and suspense. She has it all!

I really enjoyed this book. Alexandra is very intelligent and fun. Piers is a bit serious at first but also is comforting and kind. Their relationship, for the most part, was fun to watch unfold with how they got to know one another. There were a few scenes that were a bit difficult to read, but they made you feel for the characters. I was quite emotionally invested in this story.

THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!! Since the moment I finished reading The Highwayman, I knew that Kerrigan Bryne was the voice I needed in the historical romance book world. She always manages to combine pieces of those good, old fashioned bodice rippers with the sensitivity of modern issues. What am I going to do with my life now?? Can I just go ahead and have Cecilia and Francesca’s stories right now? I won’t tell anyone....

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

"'Didn't you say all men are beasts?'
'Of course we are.' His knuckle caressed her cheek. 'It's why we need a beauty like you to temper us. To tame us. To teach us how to appreciate something delicate.'"

Alright, someone come get their mans because he is putting the "woo" in SWOON.

I enjoyed HOW TO LOVE A DUKE IN TEN DAYS much more than the last book I read by Byrne. In the beginning, it gives a nod to the #MeToo movement, which is definitely gaining traction among US society. I enjoyed how Bryne set up the romance in this book (ya girl loves a Beauty and the Beast trope in her stories) and thought both characters grow a lot, emotionally. There were some things that didn't quite hit the nail on the head for me, but overall, HOW TO LOVE A DUKE IN TEN DAYS is a very sweet, very lovable historical romance that focuses on healing wounds and battle scars - whether you can see them or not - and looking forward to the hope of the future.

Likes

- One thing I've recognized in Byrne's writing is the flare for angst and thrills. This book was no different, as the very first chapter exposes readers to an assault scene, a murder, and a promise between three best friends about hiding certain information. I must warn readers, the assault scene is a rape situation that may be painful to some reading, so take care and be safe with this information while going in. And this scene becomes the basis of why our heroine, Alexandra, vows never to let a man in her life. Years later, we see her with a PhD as a fiercely independent and fierce heroine. I enjoyed her character from beginning to end - especially as she confronted her trauma and grew from it. While I cannot say anything about the representation, heroines that find the will to heal intrinsically give my full support, and Alexandra was no different.

- I love marriages of convenience, which this book uses, as well as slow-burns. While there's insta-attraction (as is the usual case, I find, with Byrne's writing), Piers and Alexandra also grow a fond understanding of the other, as well as emotional attachment. I love how gentle Piers was with Alexandra and how respectful he was. His admiration of Alexandra (both as a woman with a PhD and survivor) was really attractive, and I really wish we had more historical romance heroes like him.

Dislikes

- Remember how I said that Bryne's writing tended towards angst? There's something about it that also brings up, "drama." I don't know what it is, but there were some tension-filled moments that didn't warrant the tension. You know what I mean? Like some things are just unnecessary when I'm ready to get back to the main conflict between Alexandra and Piers. And that brings me to the girl friendship.

- I love girl friendships in any and every book. And yes, I appreciated the strong bond that Alexandra has with the other red-haired girls that she went to school with. But I really, honestly, through-and-through did not care for their problems. I know we are setting up for their own books, but y'all. I really don't need to hear what seems like an actual blurb of your story when I'm on THIS one. It was just so unnecessary and tiring - definitely a pattern I'm not pleased with in HR books.

I was attracted to HOW TO LOVE A DUKE IN TEN DAYS because of its use of the Beauty and the Beast trope, and I ended up enjoying those aspects of the book immensely. Alexandra and Pier both had wonderful character development through a gentle and lovely romance.

Trigger/Content Warnings: use of derogatory g-- word, sexual abuse and assult, explicit rape scene, blackmail, murder, trauma/PTSD

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the review copy!

I received a copy of this title from the publisher for an honest review. How to Love a Duke in Ten Days is the first in a new series by Kerrigan Byrne, but readers who love her alpha heroes shouldn't worry; Byrne's trade mark style remains unchanged in the new series. The book begins in a girls school in Switzerland where a trio of girls have established a life long friendship: Alexandra (Alex), Francesca (Frank), and Cecelia (Cecil). Confronted by the headmaster with the theft of items that they had borrowed, Alexandra finds herself the victim of a man who abuses his power over the young women in his care. Alex and her friends are forced to cover-up a crime as a result of her actions. 10 years later, Alex has established herself as a well educated archaeologist who travels the world never staying in on place long or allowing any man to get to close to her. After receiving a note from Frank asking for her help, Alex forces herself to travel to Castle Redmayne to help out her dearest friend. As soon as she arrives at the station, she finds herself almost trampled to death by a horse. Saved by a man she assumes to be a groom, she makes her way to the castle and her friends to find out what danger her friend is in.


Alex is surprised to learn that the groom that saved her is non-other than Piers, the Duke of Redmayne himself. Scarred and believed to be dying after an attack by an animal in the Amazon during one of his travels around the world, Piers returned to England to find his fiancé married to his presumed heir and with his mother's infidelities throughout her marriage, Piers finds it difficult if not impossible to trust a female. When Alex offers to wed him in her friend's place, Piers agrees as he was drawn to her from the first.

The rest of the book is split between trying to figure out who may be behind accidents that may not be accidents, and Piers and Alex finding a way to trust each other. Alex can't bring herself to tell Piers what happened in the past fearing how he may react and refusing to put her friends in danger. Piers wants to trust Alex, but the women in his past have made trust of females very hard for him. I thought the relationship between the two was very well written and although the action takes place in a short period of time, it didn't feel rushed or forced. I really enjoyed this title and look forward to finding out more about Cecil and Frank and their happily ever afters.

Title: How Love A Duke In Ten Days

Series:The Devil I Know #1

Author: Karrigan Byrne

Genre: historical Romance

Pages :448


These men are dark, bold, and brave. And there is only one woman who can bring them to their knees...


Famed and brilliant, Lady Alexandra Lane has always known how to look out for to herself. But nobody would ever expect that she has darkness in her past—one that she pays a blackmailer to keep buried. Now, with her family nearing bankruptcy, Alexandra strikes upon a solution: Get married to one of the empire’s most wealthy eligible bachelors. Even if he does have the reputation of a devil.


LOVE TAKES NO PRISONERS


Piers Gedrick Atherton, the Duke of Redmayne, is seeking revenge and the first step is securing a bride. Winning a lady’s hand is not so easy, however, for a man known as the Terror of Torcliff. Then, Alexandra enters his life like a bolt of lightning. When she proposes marriage, Piers knows that, like him, trouble haunts her footsteps. But her gentleness, sharp wit, independent nature, and incredible beauty awakens every fierce desire within him. He will do whatever it takes to keep her safe in his arms.

My thoughts

Rating:5

Would I recommend it? Yes

Would I read anything else by this author?yes

This is the first time I've ever read anything by this author and I can see why people seem to fell in lover with her stories , right from the start I was hooked and couldn't put it down, loved how the two main characters meet and seemed to not have hit it off at first, I also loved how the 3 friends was there for each other no matter what , and other thing I loved about this author is how she writes a story that's capture my attention at the beginning with a scene and not only is it thought-provoking but a little heartbreaking as well . She not afraid to show us the heroine at her most valuable state .With that said I want to thank Netgalley for letting me read and review it exchange for my honest opinion.

Delightful and Delicious.
Emotional, sexy, tender and romantic with a side helping of suspense, this book is a delight to read. I was impressed with how sensitively the trauma experienced by Alexandra as a young girl was handled and I believed in the characters and how they reacted to each other. The story hooked me in and I was lost to family and friends for hours whilst I read. Highly recommended. Can’t wait for me next in the series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How to Love a Duke in Ten Days is the first book in the Devil You Know series and what a great start!! I devoured the book in one day! Lady Alexandra Lane and Piers Atherton, Duke of Redmayne are not your cookie cutter characters. They are not perfect and have been wounded, both physically and emotionally, by events in their lives. Alexandra has survived ten years of being blackmailed for something she did while at school. What she did was in self defense, but the darkness has been her sole companion for those years. Both Alexandra and Piers carried scars, physical and emotional ones. When the past catches up to them they decide that together they can help each other.
During those first ten days of their marriage they slowly fall for each other. Alexandra saw the beauty of his soul and taught him that it was okay to gentle and not be taken advantage of. Piers was always very protective of her, sadly for a moment his trust towards her almost tore them apart. Luckily he was able to figure out the truth about what had happened to her.
Their scenes together where always a delight. The scenes where she always attempted to make him smile were adorable.
Besides romance, this book had some action too. Guns, knifes, falling artifacts, where only of the few things they survived.
An added bonus was the relationship Alexandra had with her two best friends, Cecilia and Francesca. The three of them share the most darkest secrets and help each other out,
Great ending and really looking forwards to the next book in the series!!
Highly recommended!!

Thank you to the publisher for providing the ARC through NetGalley for review.

This is the story of Beauty overcoming a brutal rape with the help of a powerful Beast. It is an amazing and downright steamy period love story. However the rape is so explicit and comes back to haunt her several times that I don’t think it would be what any woman would expect and enjoy as a romance novel. I had to skip much of the prologue and had to skim over other sections just to be able to get to the love story. As a survivor of an attack it brought up memories and pain. I would not have read it except that I promised to give this review. When we go to romance novels it is for love and passion and all the good fantasies we have. We don’t go to be remedied of horrible acts perpetrated on us. I will not recommend this book to patrons. But since it was beautifully written I will wait to read the next in the series, hoping that the rape is out of the way for this author.

This book starts with a prologue. It took me a very long time to go back and start to read the actual book. The violence in the prologue made me question whether I wanted to continue.

First, it is apparent that Ms Byrne is a very talented author. But, for me this book was not a good fit at all.

Alexandra and two of her friends have dark secrets from their youth. They join with one another and form a triad devoted to one another, no matter what. Their shared secrets are what draw them together, but their love and admiration for one another are what forge their strong relationships.

Through many coincidences, Alexandra finds herself meeting and flirting with a man. At first she believes he is a groom because of his talented way of handling a frightened horse. Then, she finds that she has met a duke. In fact, this duke has plans to marry one of her friends.

Piers has physical scars as well as emotional scars. When Alexandra offers to substitute for her friend, because of his attraction to her, he quickly agrees.

Their relationship has difficulties because of secrets kept.

This story has danger and adventure. It also has a romance. For me, the romance was not enough to overcome my first impression.

I hope to read another book by Ms Byrne. I have hopes that it will not start out so darkly.
I do not believe this book is for everyone.

Kerrigan Byrne shares stories that are rich of raw emotion, intense feelings, survival and love. I know that when I pick up one of her books I will be rewarded with a strong solid story, unafraid to explore the dark corners of our lives, the struggles that are faced and the healing the love can bring

Such is Alexandra’s story. The traumatic experience of a rape and murder and how it shapes her life for years to come. This is a strong, smart heroine that does not hide from a challenge, goes on to succeed professionally and yet carries this dark secret that paralyzed her world and brings fear to her close friends. She is put in a situation, selecting to help her friend and marrying Piers.

Piers is certainly swoon worthy material. The strong alpha hero that cames to you with baggage of his own yet gentle enough to slowly help Alexandra find trust and love. I was touched by the patience he expressed, but mind you it was at times frustrating that he just did not see it. The the clues where there n yet he did not see it. You wanted to grab n shake him! How dare he! How blind. Yet it was heartbreaking to read when he finally understood the whys and admire Alexandra more.

This is certainly not your glittering ballrooms and country parties kind of story. These are solid romance stories that come with a full package of love, courage, yes steamy encounters, and survival. Kerrigan never disappoints. I can’t wait for the next book.

Breathtaking, heartbreaking and toe-curling is the only way to describe what Byrne has created in this world of friendship, love and the learning of trust. This is NOT your typical regency romance. This is a story of healing and learning how to let go of the past to control your future; not allowing someone’s crimes against you ruin your life and chances at true love. One of my absolute favorite reads of 2019.

Beauty and the Beast has a new, modern twist. A beautiful Bluestocking sacrifices herself to a marriage of convenience to save her friend.
Strong female characters are well developed and take a role in their own rescue. The portrayal of the women is refreshing and realistic.
I couldn’t put it down and devoured it in one sitting!

Wow! Kerrigan Byrne knows how to take an issue that is currently at the forefront and make it both realistic and heart-wrenching in a time when women had even fewer rights than they do today. In somewhat of a spoiler alert (not much of one, this happens in the very beginning of the book), the story's female lead, Alexandra, is raped by the headmaster of her school. While her experience cements the bond between her and her closest friends, Cecilia and Francesca, it scares all three women off of men. Ten years later, the Duke of Redmayne calls Francesca on a childhood betrothal and Alexandra offers herself instead to help protect a secret she and her friends have been hiding. While many romance novels have conflict between their characters, rarely is it as complicated and deftly managed as it is here. Piers, the Duke of Redmayne, and Alexandra are immediately attracted to one another but her experience and his mother's past leave them at odds over their feelings. In between trying to sort out their feelings for one another, they're also being threatened by threats on their lives, but which one of them is the target? I loved how real and raw Byrne made this story, and how she masterfully took a subject matter that could kill love for many women, and makes it that much better of a story for being different and reflective of an experience that despite misunderstandings, demonstrates that a women is more than some man's inability to control himself and is deserving of love and respect.

Having read all of Kerrigan's Historical Romance novels I expect an excellent experience when I read her books. They are always powerful and enthralling stories of unforgettable characters who through their extraordinary courage and perseverance survive unspeakable tragedies and come out at the end with a love for a lifetime.

The graphic description of a sexual assault that the heroine endures at the beginning of the story shapes her life in ways even she can never imagine. In the past, historical romance novels had rapes and non-consensual sex, which were not unusual and were seen as typical of the genre. Now in our new enlightened era, you can dive into the psychosocial consequences to the characters and how it affects the course of the story. No one has done it as well as Kerrigan has in this book. Both characters have had experiences that make them vulnerable in ways that they cannot foresee.

Another reason to love this book is that it really does take place in Ten Days! Kerrigan's writing pulls you into and doesn't let go until you have finished the book and leaves you wanting the next book in the series. She delves deep into Alexander's and Pier's hearts and souls and you feel what they feel, it is an amazing experience that is not to be missed. There is mystery, suspense, mind-numbing terror and a surprise that will leave you gasping!!

I cannot say enough about Kerrigan's writing! She is a force to be reckoned with in this Genre. I love everything about her writing. She hangs her characters out there and lets them loose to discover what they are capable of, which is stunning because you get to take the ride with them. I have every book she has written in the Historical Romance Genre and they are keepers that I will have to read over and over again. This is a must-read!! Do not miss it!!!

Received a complimentary copy for an honest review.

I knew going from previous experience that this writer is on the more graphic side of historical romance. So I looked for positives and let my shock roll over.

A last minute contract marriage is a favored trope of mine and I wasn't disappointed on that front. First impressions and growing attraction make this couple interesting to read about and root for.

There are antagonists for the hero and heroine making for multiple near deaths and an explosive confrontation to top it off.

For fans of gritty historical romance that has f-bombs, biblical profanity, a rape scene, and detailed sex.

I received a free ARC from Netgalley.

How to Love a. Duke in Ten Days
(Devil You Know #1)

Kerrigan Byrne is an author to be reckoned with. Her writing talent is unmatchable. She can reel you in immediately and never let you drop.

This book may not be for the faint of heart but definitely heart wrenching. The opening pages contain a very vivid scene you will always remember and many victims will understand.

The deeply close group of young ladies the Red Rogues share more than friendship and a deep secret.

The ladies meet Piers Atherton, Duke of Redmayne he is very broody and bears a reputation of a scoundrel. But he becomes my hero as does Alexandra.

I will not give up the plot of this story but only reveal, hold on to your hats your in for a ride.

This story begins with a Prologue in which we meet Lady Alexandra Lane who is a student at an elite private school in Switzerland. She is a young lady with two good friends. Both are red heads as she is. The have formed their own club and a very strong friendship.

When the headmaster calls her to his study late in the evening and rapes her, she manages to kill him with a razor lying on his desk. She and her friends along with a gardener who is close to one of her friends manage to bury him in the garden.

The other two - Cecilia and Francesca - also share secrets about their lives and promise to keep her secret forever.

Ten years later, Lady Alexandra has obtained a degree in history from the Sorbonne and works as an archaeologist. She is very wary and sometimes terrified by men. She is also being blackmailed over those long past events. Also, her father is going bankrupt which she fears mostly because she won't have funds to continue to pay off her blackmailer.

When she receives a note from Francesca asking for her help and telling her that she is to be married to the Duke of Redmayne, Alexandra catches a train - second class - and heads off to help her friend. There she meets the Duke of Redmayne who is also known as the Terror of Torcliff. Piers Atherton, Duke of Redmayne, has been a world traveler and explorer and is scarred from an encounter with a jungle cat in South America. Piers almost died and his fiance threw him over for his cousin while he was ill. Piers is determined to marry and have children to block his cousin from ever inheriting the dukedom.

Alexandra decides that she should be the one who marries the duke because Francesca doesn't want to and Alexandra needs his money. Of course, she is also fascinated by him though terrified of being intimate with him.

Someone, however, doesn't want them to marry. There are multiple attempts on both their lives. Both think that they are the intended target and neither is willing to confide in the other.

This was an entertaining romance with just enough suspense to add the spice of danger to their courtship.