ARC REVIEW Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt

Book ten of the Maiden Lane series by Elizabeth Hoyt. Boy did I pick a doozie of a book to start the series on. I don't know whether to hate Val or not, he is a right bastard. Even not having read previous book it is obvious that he was a villain in some of them, and if that wasn't enough he still is a right bastard in his own story. As much as he tries to convince Bridget that he is evil he still does stuff that proves otherwise. He's evil alright, just not entirely horrible. Bridget, I loved her, she's a child that should have been raised like that of a high born but she was born on the other side of the sheets so she trained to be a house keeper. When her mother asks her a favor Bridget, who is desperate for her mother's affection does as she asks and when she finds out she can help other people while doing it she doesn't see anything wrong with helping them even if it means having to work for the villainous Duke of Montgomery.

The proper housekeeper, Bridget Crumb, has something that Valentine Napier finds fascinating. The fact that she hasn't told him her name and makes one up for her, and that she isn't scared of him like some other people are. Bridget finds out as manipulative and mean Val can be to other people he goes out of his way to ensure the safety and well being of his staff. Val is dead set on getting a well off wife and blackmail the right people so he can come back from exile. Bridget knows his plans and does everything she can to sabotage his efforts. I halfway thing Val did half of this crap just to see what Bridget would do about it. Bridget sees both sides of Val and she really wants to understand why he does it. But as Val reveals his past Bridget's past comes out as well. I wasn't to impressed with the romantic entanglement between the two it just kind of fades in the light of Val being a prick.

Overall, I still don't know if I liked Val or not. I liked the story the interactions between Val and Bridget are amusing as he keeps doing this just to push her buttons. The whole series has piqued my interest enough I really do want to keep reading them and go back and read the 2-9 books.