I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Daring and the Duke is the third book in Sarah MacLean’s delightful BareKnuckle Bastards Series. I do think it best to read the first two books before reading this one, Sarah does an excellent job of bringing you up to speed on the story, but I just feel that you will enjoy this one much more if you have already read the first two. How do you forgive someone who not only broke your heart and took everything from you, but has been spending the last 20 years trying to kill not only you but the people you love and care about, and why would you want to are questions that Grace Condry must answer in this book because although she has never loved anyone else and is still frustratingly attracted to Ewan Condry now Robert Mathew Carrick, Earl of Sumner and Duke of Marwick he did all those horrible things. Sarah MacLean is one of the few authors who can take a character who at first appears unredeemable and turn him into a hero who has you begging the heroine to forgive him. She writes stories full of action, adventure, humour, sparkling banter, excellent grovel, with strong heroines and lovely HEAs. I enjoyed reading this book immensely and highly recommend it. Medium Steam. Publishing Date June 30, 2020. #DaringAndTheDuke #SarahMacLean #NetGalley #HistoricalRomance #bookstagram #AvonRomance #HarperCollinsCanada

I just want to start off by saying, this book will probably be best understood if you have read the other books in The Bareknuckle Bastards series! I had not, so I was a little bit confused about the backstory of the characters.

However, I did really enjoy this story! Grace was probably the strongest HR female lead I have ever read. She knows how to fight, run a business, and hang with the boys. She is also highly respected! And Ewan… the man who scorned her long ago returned. He had some major swoony lines!!

“You are a queen, he whispered, Tonight I am your throne.” SWOOOON.

Their hate to love relationship had some major tension and I was all here for it!! This book was witty, steamy, and will melt your heart at the end!

I have not read the first two books in this series, and it seems to be one of those romances that cannot be read on its own. I found the writing confusing. I was also put off by the fact that the two main characters appear to be step-siblings.

I really do enjoy this series, but I think the plot in all of these books are much slower and spend more time developing relationships than keeping me engaged in the story itself.

This was my most anticipated book of this series. Ewan is the villain in the first two books and he's obsessed with Grace because of their past relationship. In this book, Ewan realizes that Grace is actually alive (he thought she was dead and went on a rampage in the last book), so he has a lot of groveling to do. Unfortunately, I didn't really feel that groveling. Grace was so entranced by their physical and emotional connection from when they were younger that I felt she gave in way too easily. And even when Ewan was groveling, it was more towards Whit and Devil and the people he hurt in the last book, not specifically to Grace until the very end. Also, I feel like Ewan was just a completely different character in this book than he was in the first two. I wish there was still some of that villain underneath that wasn't so easy to get rid of that he had to continue to work on.

I did love Grace's character and how she defied the stereotype of a lady during that time. Grace used to be a fighter and now she's the owner of a club that specializes in satisfying pleasures and fantasies that women have. She really held her own as a powerful women and wasn't babied by her brothers or Ewan. I wish even more was done with her character and what she was doing in society. The story was pretty slow and there were a lot of conversations. I wish there was just more and that the story didn't drag as much as it ended up for me.

A sexy and satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Full of swoon-worthy moments, the narrative is fun and fast moving. The only drawback is that the story feels repetitive at times.

A satisfying conclusion to the Bareknuckled Bastards trilogy, we finally learn more about Grace and her club. Ewan has a long way to go for forgiveness and his path represents who he was before the duke got a hold of him and who he’s become. They don’t pick up where they left off as teens because it’s been two decades and they are different people. They have to decide to take a chance on each other now and if Grace will forgive him. There are also the obstacles of how they could make it work when they are determined to let the dukedom die out in revenge. It’s a complicated tangle that MacLean undoes in order to give them the HEA they hope for. Great for readers who are looking for sex-positive representation in historical romance.
I struggled with the pacing and I think that was because I have been waiting for this story since the first book, and so I was impatient for them to clear up what had happened in the past and why, and actually get to a place where a future together is a consideration. I also had a much better sense of Grace as a character than Ewan. He wants to be what she wants, and the years apart didn't have him develop other interests or relationships like she has.

"Daring and the Duke" is a great read. It's the third installment in the Bareknuckle Bastards series but can be read as a stand-alone (as all of them can) Our heroine, Grace, is the Queen of Covent Garden and rules with strength, smarts, and the ability to throw a good left hook. Prior to ascending to her throne, Grace was left shattered by the Duke of Marwick, who reappears with the hope of explaining his actions and ultimately reclaiming her heart.

Sarah MacLean is a literary sorceress - she must have used some kind of dark magic to reveal the despised villain to be the most ardent hero. To my skeptical and incredulous eyes, this totally worked; no one carries a grudge in Romancelandia longer than me. Note: I still haven't forgiven Devil In Winter's St. Vincent for assaulting his wife's friend, and I read that over ten years ago.

For a romance hero to be forgiven, he must not only grovel properly and he has to pay. For me, it isn't enough that our hero suffers but that he make efforts to recompense for his sins. Ooh boy, did Ewan suffer and pay.

Ewan actually went mad from the pain of losing Grace when he believed her dead after so many years. In his madness, Ewan committed horrible acts that should have damned him forever - bravo to the author for not letting him escape that damnation.

I'm not a big fan of second chance romances because there usually was a very good reason the couple didn't make it in the first place. However, I love a great Impossible Love romance and wowza, here we go. Even separate from years of mistrust and fear, Ewan and Grace can't be together because one can't exist while the other exists. Grace is a threat to Ewan's dukedom, life, name.

I could go on and on about the lyricism of Daring and the Duke, but let's get to the main questions. Is DNTD my fave of the Bareknuckle Bastards? No. Devil will always be my #1. Is Grace the best DNTD heroine? Nope. No one beats the Year of Hattie. Did DNTD deliver the finale fans of the Bareknuckle Bastards deserved? Absolutely.

Discussed DARING AND THE DUKE with TAKE A HINT, DANI BROWN in Whatcha Reading post (link attached)

A: I’m doing something that I never do, and that’s reading multiple books at the same time. Alternating chapters is weird. It’s an experiment. We’ll see how it goes because so many folks read like this (sooo strange to me. How do y’all just STOP reading one book and flip back and forth?). I’m in awe because the process is not coming natural to me.

The first book is Talia Hibbert’s Take a Hint, Dani Brown. It is a freaking delight and a hug in book form. There are constant pauses where I set my tablet down and try to stop shrieking with laughter. My family thinks I’m weird enough; I don’t need Reading Snort Gurgles on my list of Aarya quirks. Witchy bi heroine, gruff rugby-playing bodyguard hero, fake relationship, and many other things designed to produce good book noises. Only halfway through, but I don’t anticipate changing my recommendation.

The second book is Sarah MacLean’s Daring and the Duke (out June 30). ( A | BN | K | AB ) It is polar opposite in tone to the Hibbert. Angsty AF second-chance romance with a villain hero. I struggle with villain heroes when they’re SO VILLAINOUS in the previous books of the series. The jury is still out; it’s going well so far, but I don’t know if there’ll be enough groveling to make me happy. We shall see.

C: Oh, I’m dying to hear if the groveling is sufficient!!

A: HE IS SO EVIL. But also maybe good? My heart can’t take it.

S: Me too. I can never get enough groveling, and that villain in particular has a lot to apologize for.

Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean
Bareknuckle Bastards #3

This is a series I highly recommend reading in order. It's all built up over time in the 3 books and Grace and Ewan both are in the previous stories a bit. You will have a better appreciation for everything that happens in this book with reading Wicked and the Wallflower and Brazen and the Beast first. Devil and Whit are in this story as well. Felicity and Hattie also make appearances but very short.

Grace, Devil (from book 1), Whit (from book 2), and Ewan were all born the same night. Devil, Whit, and Ewan were born illegitimately to the Duke of Marwick's mistresses. Grace was born to the duchess but the duke is not her father. The duke brings them all together and creates an unbelievable hell for them. Grace, Devil and Whit escape to Covent Garden and create their own kingdom there, always fearful of the reach of the Duke. For twenty years Devil and Whit protect Grace from what Ewan has become.

Grace has created her own empire catering to the desires of women. She has her own club she runs that creates fantasy and desire for the females longing for some power of their own. She knows she can't trust Ewan. She knows she should hate him. She knows she wants revenge.

I was worried Grace was going to take it too far in this book. For those that read The Day of the Duchess, I was worried she would be similar to the heroine from that book and demand everything and take take take and barely allow any reconciliation. I was SO happy that wasn't the case here. I felt like MacLean did a great job of enabling me to feel Grace's longing from the past but also her fear and hesitancy with her interactions with Ewan.

Ewan I LOVED in the beginning. He has thought Grace dead and when he has the barest hint she's alive he rips a door off it's hinges to get to her. I was covered in goosebumps reading that. I adore a hero like that. Yes! I loved his longing. I was ready to forgive him right away. He would do anything for Grace. Anything. And I felt that and loved it.

I loved so much about this book. I love how MacLean writes so much emotion and in their head feelings. I get so caught up in the emotions, the angst, the anger from the past, the insecurity of what will happen, but throughout this whole book I did feel the love. This a love that overcomes any obstacle.

I rather wish the cover showed Grace in her preferred attire of corset, pants, and thigh high boots. I think that would have been beautiful and fit her personality more. I can't say I was super in love with Grace. I didn't dislike her though. I really liked Ewan. There is an ''all is lost scene” before Ewan goes to the Duke's estate and it really did touch my heart. My heart that I was pretty sure was dead because I haven't felt a single twinge in any book I've read in the past few months. I really am thinking I am just in a funk but the second half the book slid a bit for me. I didn't find myself unable to put the book down and it took me a few days to finish. Yet I can't pinpoint exactly what was lacking for me. I plan on rereading this series at some point in the future and maybe I will enjoy it more. I think Devil's story is actually my favorite, though I've enjoyed them all. If you don't like the f word, may want to skip this book. (I love it!)

A satisfying conclusion to a very fun and swoonworthy historical romance trilogy! With some romance series, you can really jump in anywhere, because each book focused on a different couple. This series does follow the pattern of each book focusing on a particular couple, but I highly recommend reading the whole trilogy in order, as there's a definite plot progression from first to third book, with the tension for this one couple's story building throughout. It was well done! I really enjoy Sarah MacLean's empowering female leads, entertaining dialogue, and interesting settings.

3.5 stars. I love Sarah MacLean as a person. I love how much she loves romance and her advocacy for romance of all types. However, as an author, she is hit or miss for me. Personally, I felt this book was the weakest of the three in the series. I think I remember hearing her say before that she doesn't really outline her books, and I feel like that would have been helpful in the case of this series. Ewan was so far gone by the time we got to this book that I couldn't really believe his redemption arc. Add that to the fact that most of the romance of the book was built on childhood love and I found it very hard to get into and truly believe. I normally love a childhood love story, but this one didn't do it for me. I will still continue to read MacLean's work and I do enjoy her podcast, book lists, etc.

I admittedly didn't read the first two books in this series, but to my own credit I've read enough HR to have thought that you don't really need to read these books in series order. Here, however, I think you do. (And I will eventually go back and read them!)

This was still a fun romance, but the plot is doing a lot of heavy lifting here and since I was playing catch-up, that definitely hindered my experience. I could tell that Ewan had done some dastardly deeds he needed to redeem himself for, but since I didn't actually see them, I can't really say if the redemption was plausible or not. I will say that it seemed Grace forgave him in record time, lol.

The middle portion of this book was fairly repetitive, and I wanted to see more of Grace's bordello than we do here. But MacLean can certainly write the hell out of a sexy scene, so overall it was a good time and it did make me want to go back and read the rest of the series.

The final book in the Bareknuckle Bastards series, and dang, what a way to wrap up the series. This book is all about Grace and Ewan. Their relationship is complicated. Grace is still heartbroken from Ewan from twenty years prior. As much as she has moved on, she can't completely sever the string that connects them. Ewan, is swamped relief to find out that Grace is alive and well. He's determined to win her trust and love, but there's a lot to overcome.

For most of MacLean's series, you could read the books out of order and be just fine. For this book, you really need to have read the first two to truly appreciate Grace and Ewan's journey. This series has been something completely different for MacLean's other novels. It's darker and grittier and far from Mayfair. However, the characters are amazing, the romance is steamy, the life in Covent Garden is vibrant. I love the risk she took to bring this part of London to life and I can't wait to see what she does next.

Daring and the Duke is the third book in the series and gives us the story of Ewan and Grace. They had both been childhood friends, but both of them along with Ewan's two half brothers, had been under the thrall of a wicked and ruthless Duke.

Cast out the brothers Devil and Whit and Grace had made a life for themselves in the tough side of London. They'd fought there way to being rich and wealthy and with all their beings hated their brother Ewan who had turned on them all.

Or did he? We now have more of a view of his side of the story and Grace - who is not related to the brothers - must acknowledge that despite her success, her heart, body and soul still resides with the boy she lost. Now she is called to re-examine the events of the past and find where she wants to go next.

Sarah MacLean writes strong, smart women, her books are sexy and spicy, and while this book wasn't quite as strong as her first book of the series it was very enjoyable and satisfying to see how it all worked out.

Daring the Duke by Sarah MacLean is another fabulous book by this author. It's the third and possibly best of the Bareknuckle Bastard series.
There is nothing like a good groveling! lol It's the kind of swoony second chance love story that is hard to put down!

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is the final book and the Bareknuckled Bastards trilogy. While reading book 1 and 2 is not essential it does help for this book and Ewan the antagonist from book 1 and 2. Before I get into this book, while I liked this book and Ewan and Grace I dont feel like he was completely redeemed from his actions in the first two books. Ewan, Grace, Devil (book 1), and Beast (book 3) lived together as Grace was the only legitimate child of the duke and the 3 boys were his bastards. In order for the duke to have an heir one of the boys who have to replace Grace has the legitimate child. Ewan spent book 1 and 2 going after Devil and Beast because he blamed them for letting Grace die.
When Ewan finds out that Grace still lives he seeks to make amends for all he has done wrong. As Ewan tries to make up for the wrong he has done, you do start rooting for him. Especially when it is revealed his motivations for his childhood actions that separated him from his brothers and the girl he loved.
Grace struggles with loving both the boy she knew before he betrayed them and the man he has become while seeking redemption. Grace runs a brothel that caters to women of the ton and is an independent woman.
I liked the book and the relationship between Grace and Ewan and the growth of them as characters.
This book doesnt feel realistic for the time period but I dont care. Books that stick to the rules of propriety of the ton tend to bore me.

Ok friends, this is a hard review to write!!!!

The TL;DR here is:
Emotional/feelings rating: 5 stars
Internal logic/brain rating: 2.75 stars

So the good stuff. I LOVE a set of star-crossed lovers. LOVE. IT. And Grace and Ewan? They got it. They loooooove each other, even though it is complicated and Grace doesn’t want to. But they do, and it is extremely swoony to join their adventure of following feelings over logic. It’s hot, it’s so romantic, I felt many feelings.

HOWEVS.

Let me start by saying: in addition to reading romance, I’m also a big fan of SFF, a genre that can require a pretty major amount in the suspension of disbelief department. I am pretty good at this! I can go along with your seemingly nonsensical story if we eventually get to the sensemaking - eventually.

This book requires MASSIVE, ASTRONOMICAL AMOUNTS of suspension of disbelief. If you aren’t good at that? This is NOT going to work for you.

Ewan has been a straight up horrible bastard for the last two books. Just, petty, evil, murderous. And now? He’s just better. Like *magic*. You guys! Now that he knows Grace is alive, he can stand to be a good human again! Her living is apparently a requirement of Ewan’s humanity. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Look. I can enjoy a good grovel novel. And this is a grovel novel! BUT! All of Ewan’s growth/development/return to goodness? It HAPPENS OFF PAGE. Like, what??? But...he was just? A murderous bastard??? And now HE’S FINE.

The other thing that I just felt was a Bridge Too Far is The Explanation. Like, I have been waiting for The Thing That Makes This Whole Thing Make Sense for three books. And all we got is that (DUH! DUH DUH!!!!!) Ewan drove the other three away to protect them. DUH! Of course he did! We all knew this! This is not news! But somehow, these geniuses that run underground empires are like whaaaaaaa????????? There was another explanation? He didn’t just want the title?! OF COURSE HE DIDN’T UGH.

So I guess my real problem is this. I just can’t make Bastard Ewan and Good, Sweet, Protective Ewan the same guy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I can’t. They are two different people in my head. So I feel like in many ways, this book fails at something fundamental.

Also? I felt pretty let down by Grace’s character. She was just so...sketched in? Like, it was assumed that we already knew enough about her and her badass-ness to carry us through this book. Because really, there’s not that much in here about her. Very thumbnail sketch. And I wanted more. We have had such amazing heroines in Felicity and Hattie. I had such high hopes for Grace! I want to love her! But, I feel like we got an over-reliance on past-Grace and not really enough detail about current-Grace. Other than that she does NOT want to love Ewan, but, in fact, does. And runs a cool club.

Look, I realize I may have gone into this with unreasonable expectations. 😂 And like I said, emotionally - this was a super swoony romantic story. But I guess I would say - don’t read it too closely. The internal logic was just not enough for me this time.

I still super LOVE Sarah Maclean and will continue to read everything she writes - can’t WAIT for Hell’s Belles!

This was a well written ending to the series. I'm confident that fans will enjoy Grace and Ewan's final HEA. I enjoyed Ewan's whole book grovel, even if it didn't really jibe with what he had done in previous books. I appreciated Grace's character the most - large, in charge and not willing to bow down to any man. Her care of all of her people - from her brothers to her workers - showed her tender side.

This is not a standalone book. The other books must be read. Looking forward to what MacLean puts out next.

Sarah MacLean has been entertaining me since The Season. I was really hoping for a series from that one. No one today can write romances as well as she does!!!! Her novels are what I recommend first to new romance readers or anyone looking for a great story that will make you laugh, cheer and cry along with the characters.

I am sorry this is the last Bareknuckle Bastards story, unless we get one about Lady Nora and Annika. (crossing fingers) The Mad Duke of Marwick is back in London and he is throwing a ball of all things, a masquerade. Grace wrangles an invitation so she can confront Ewan as she had told him not to return. However the masquerade stuns Grace. Ewan has recreated their secret copse from childhood. There are trees in the ball room and the floor is covered in moss. When Ewan meets Grace in costume she assumes he does not know who she is and flirts with him. Of course Ewan knows who Grace is, he would know her anywhere. She is his "final" love. And thus begins a merry chase of cat and mouse. Ewan insists that Grace must make all the romantic moves. He is just here to earn forgiveness from the Garden for his past misdeeds. The other Bastards, Devil and Whit, are skeptical and their wives believe in love. How can the Duke ever earn forgiveness for all that has happened between them? Can this ever in happily? A thrilling conclusion to the trilogy and a must read for romance fans.