A good story from Ms. Harrington that kept me invested in Sophie and Shay. Their chemistry was good and believable. While this is the second book in the series and it involves a group of friends, I had not read the first but was able to read it as a standalone. Shay is the scarred hero who has locked himself away from life itself and Sophie, now that her fiancé has died, she is free to marry whomever she chooses.

There is danger, mystery and romance thrown in to keep you interested and engaged from start to finish. I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be on the look out for the rest of the series.

I received an ARC from the publishers and NetGalley and submit my honest review voluntarily.

Lady Sophie Winter fell in love with the second son, Seamus (Shay) Douglas, and he with her. Years later, an accident and a fire changes the future for Shay, he becomes the Duke of Malvern. After five years hearing nothing from Shay, Sophie is marrying another man, but Shay stops the wedding. The contract negotiated by her grandmother and his father years before states she marry the Duke of Malvern. At twenty-two, Sophie marries Shay, but he's not the same man she knew before, or is he? A threat from his uncle puts Shay and Sophie's marriage and the dukedom in jeopardy. It's a test for the strength of their marriage. Harrington writes a gripping love story with angst, jealousy, fear, anger and hope for a happy ending.
Descriptive sex.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley.

I can trust Anna Harrington to always deliver a solid historical romance that I get swept away in. This was an easy read

Second chance stories are always my favorite, and this one has so much more going for it. Lady Sophie and Shay Douglas shared a love at first sight together but he was a second son and she was contracted to his older brother, the heir to the Duke of Malvern. When a tragic fire takes her betrothed and leaves Shay badly scarred, he flees leaving her hurt and betrayed. Years later when he learns of her upcoming engagement to a fortune hunter, he returns to uphold the contract as the current Duke. Such a unique storyline with suspense, great characters, and intense emotion. This is such a powerful story of love, forgiveness and redemption!

The Duke's Only Desire by Anna Harrington is the third book in The Dukes of Darkness series and a definite must read if you love historical romances with some added suspense.
Ten years ago, Lady Sophie Winter and Shay Douglass fell in love the moment they met, but he was destined to be a soldier and she was contracted to marry his brother when I fire broke out killing his brother and scarring him.
On the day Sophie is supposed to announce her engagement Shay returns to enforce the old marriage contract that weds her to the Duke of Malvern. How can Sophie forgive Shay for leaving her and breaking her heart? The only way they have any hope at love is to forgive and forget their past hurts.
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

I was given an ARC from the author/publisher. All conclusions are mine and mine alone.

Sophie was supposed to marry John Douglass, the heir the Duke of Malvern, but the night before the wedding, he died in a tragic fire. Seamus, John’s brother was severely injured. Sophie and Seamus were attracted to each other, but never acted on it. After the fire, they did see each other for five years, but when he discovers she is about to be betrothed to a fortune hunter, he shows up and insists the original contract with his father be honored. Sophie will marry him; the contract betrothed her to the heir of the Duke of Malvern, which with John’s death is Shay. This is an engaging story with some tension (actually a lot), misunderstanding, and danger. Shay’s guilt and scars cause him to resist the love that grows between them. Sophie is a strong and persistent heroine who refuses to give up. A well-written story enjoyable story with great characters and a hard-won happy ending.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

This was an excellent book. It kept me turning pages until the end. It was more complicated and covered way more years than I expected. Definitely give this one a try if you are looking for your next fantastic read!

I really enjoyed Shay and Sophie’s story. It had intrigue and romance and an interesting twist. Both characters were determined to protect the other and they found a deep love while doing so. 5 stars.

Author Anna Harrington creates a dramatic intense love story of redemption.

Sophie Winter’s character has a very interesting chain of events. Forced into a marriage contract when she was twelve years old that ended in tragedy now years later, she is ready to marry someone she doesn’t love but hopes she’ll come to love. Her life is filled with trauma and sadness, and she just wants peace. I admire the author’s way of making this come across the pages with ease. I felt her sadness and the loss of her real love, Shay, along with everything she desired for her future life. What I didn’t get from her character was a sense of despair but a woman who decided what her life would like in the future she picked.

Shay Douglass decided on the eve of her marriage announcement to take Sophie as his wife and enforce the clever marriage contract her grandma brokered even though he doesn’t feel he deserves her. Bravo Shay for finally stepping forward after 10 years.

Shay and Sophie take the reader on a merry chase with this love story that doesn’t want to be a love story. The events in this storyline show the readers that true love always tries to persevere despite all the odds against it. I was extremely satisfied with the ending, and I look forward to hearing if other readers feel the same way.

This third book in The Dukes of Darkness was a captivating and well written second chance romance. The characters were complex, determined, and likable. It was a very dramatic emotional story with drama, action, a horrible accident, a tragic death, severe injuries, blackmail, kidnapping, and so many emotional issues and intense plot twists that kept me very entertained. I enjoyed the delicious, passionate chemistry and love throughout. The ending was lovely. I highly recommend reading!

Thank you #NetGalley for the advanced copy of #TheDukesOnlyDesire by Anna Harrington in exchange for an honest review.

Ms. Harrington does a great job of blending romance and mystery. Her books are plot heavy but the character development doesn't suffer for it which makes me very happy. If you like mutual pining, friends to lovers, a scarred hero, with some mystery/danger thrown in, this is the book for you. I am anxiously awaiting the final book in this series because the others have been very well done.

I loved The Duke's Only Desire by Anna Harrington. I am a huge fan of Harrington and this book was just what I needed. For all my historical romance fans who love a scarred hero who believes he can never love this is going to be your ultimate cozy read. Find love again through the complicated past and emotional ups and downs with Sophie and Shay.

Thank you so much for the early read. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this captivating "Beauty and the Beast" story with the added scarred hero, marriage of convenience and forbidden love tropes. The very well-written plot is emotional and filled with heart-warming moments, a villain, intrigue, blackmail, suspense and spicy love scenes. Shay and Sophie are endearing characters who have been in love before, but circumstances have kept them apart. The chemistry between them and their feelings were palpable and I loved how they supported and loved each other despite all their difficulties and insecurities.

Sophie Winter was promised by contract to the heir of the Duke of Malvern as a child, but it was not John but his brother Seamus "Shay" Douglass with whom she fell in love, but John died on the eve of their wedding and Shay broke off contact with her.
Shay never wanted to become the Duke of Malvern, but a quarrel between him and his brother John over Sophie, with whom he was secretly in love, escalated, resulting in John's death and Shay's disfigurement. Since then he has blamed himself for his brother's death and lives a life as a recluse on his country estate in Yorkshire. Years later, when Shay learns that Sophie is about to marry a dangerous fortune hunter, he intervenes and uses the old contract to force her to marry him in order to protect her. He plans to have a marriage of convenience with her, because Sophie is his desire, his weakness and the living proof of his guilt. And then there's his scheming uncle, who publicly accuses him of murdering his brother in order to strip him of his title...

I‘m happy to recommend this captivating read and look forward to Chase‘s story!

I received a free ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and left voluntarily.

The Duke's Only Desire by Anna Harrington is book three in The Dukes of Darkness series. If you haven't read the first two books, I think you can still read this one on it's own but there are some crossover characters (the Dukes) that do show up across the stories.

In this book, our Duke is Shay Douglass. Originally the second son, Shay was destined to be a soldier and when his older brother, John, was betrothed to Lady Sophie Winter, John was angered by it but Shay was drawn to her and eventually over the years, fell in love with her. Unfortunately, their love could never be...until a fire changed everything for both of them. Feeling cursed by that night and facing accusations that he murdered his own brother to claim the dukedom, Shay isolates himself at his estate determined to live his days in exile and never see Sophie again. It was a solid plan until he heard that Sophie plans to announce her engagement to someone he knows will destroy her.

Lady Sophie Winter was excited to announce her engagement but when the Duke of Malvern (Shay) shows up after ten years of absence and decides he is going to enforce the original betrothal contract, she doesn't know what to think when he was the one who decided they were never going to see each other after the fire. As they are now tied together in marriage (per Shay - it will be in name only), Sophie is determined to figure out what happened to push Shay away ten years earlier and what has now prompted him to show back up in her life.

I enjoyed this installment of the series. It was great to have the backstory for Shay and John and be able to understand the catalyst to Shay's exile ultimately leading to Sophie and Shay's marriage. There's a good villain story embedded within Shay's family via his uncle and his desire for the title and it was great to see these characters rebuild their friendship and love for each other. If you're looking for a second chance historical romance trope, you might consider picking this one up.

I really loved this third book of the series! I have a penchant for a scarred hero who feels undeserving of love and Shay really touched my heart. I adored Sophie, because she is strong and resilient and doesn’t surrender when Shay stubbornly refuses to acknowledge his own worth and their love. I also loved the touch of adventure in the book. Definitely the best so far!

This book was a little bit of a surprise for this series because it veered off from the formula of the previous two books, which is partly why I liked it so much more. I especially liked how these two characters had a well-developed backstory that spanned many years. Although I was not a fan of the way Shay went about saving Sophie from what would have surely been a miserable engagement/marriage, I was glad that he was able to convince her and her father that a marriage to him was the better choice. The truth was that Shay was far too insecure to approach Sophie in a more traditional (less a-hole) way for fear that she would reject him. One of my favorite parts was Sophie's relationship with Miss Danvies - it was nice to see her develop a supportive female friendship. And without Miss Danvies who knows how long it would have taken our two main characters to really start communicating with one another. I wouldn't mind a short story of the romance between Miss Danvies and Mr. Cross that is hinted at in the epilogue here. There is, of course, a villain looking to take out our hero which adds an additional obstacle for the main couple. I actually liked how that part ended up playing out, especially due to the fact that Sophie had the chance to start to fight back before having Shay swoop in to the rescue. I always appreciate a heroine who doesn't sit around waiting to be saved. There are a few quick scenes/mentions of the characters introduced in the previous books which worked well because their stories didn't quite fit in with the events of this book. But it was a nice to reminded that they were all there for one another when they were needed the most. This books was more in line with what I have come to expect from Anna Harringon. I am looking forward to the next book in the series!

This is part of a series and I’ve read the previous book but didn’t realize it until well in to the book. So please read it even if you haven’t read the one before and know that it’s just as amazing as a standalone. Sophie and Shay fell in love very young but knew they could never be together as Sophie was to marry Shay’s brother. The marriage never happened but their love was doomed. Fate always has its own plans and they do end up marrying. There are so many plot twists that makes it hard to -it this one down. Shay is so protective and loving but refuses to acknowledge that love to Sophie. And to say that Sophie knows exactly what she wants and determined to get it is an understatement. Great read with just the right amount of angst and drama. Anna Harrington at her absolute best!

Lady Sophie Winter and Shay Douglass fell in love the moment they met. Yet she was contracted for marriage to his older brother John, and, as a second son, Shay had been destined for a soldier's life. When a tragic fire kills John, Shay disappears, refusing to see Sophie again. Shay has been accused of murdering his own brother to claim the dukedom—and his brother's fiancée—for himself. Yet ten years later, on the night that Sophie plans to announce her engagement, Shay returns to enforce the old marriage contract that weds her to the Duke of Malvern...to him. Forced unwillingly into a marriage to the man who irreparably shattered her heart, Sophie must find a way to finally exorcise the ghosts of their pasts and heal the scars that still torture both of them, or forever end all hope for love.
Another great book in this series. I enjoyed seeing how this romance played out and thought that the transition from their wedding day to their return to love was well delivered. It was refreshing to not agonise for endless chapters over their differences. Shay and Sophie are two wonderful characters, and their love for each other is obvious. I look forward to the next book in the series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Second-Chance, Regency Romance

He would kill for her, but did he? Shay was accused of killing his brother so he could inherit his title and fiancée. If this was the case, why did he disappear from her life for years, only to show up on the night of her engagement to resurrect a contract she thought was long dead? Why did he want to marry her after he broke her heart all those years ago?

This book grabbed me from the very first page. It was no surprise, as this author is excellent at weaving a spell that keeps you reading. This is a lovely book I recommend to those who enjoy historical romance. I wish I could give it more than five stars. I very much look forward to what this author writes next.

Overall I really do enjoy this series and this book didn’t disappoint. There were parts that seemed longer than they needed to be but overall it was a really nice love story

My rating 3.5 ⭐️