Book Review-Beauty And The Duke

Beauty and the Duke
Mystical Bliss (1)
Melody Thomas
Avon
371 Pages
Published August 2009
Victorian
ISBN: 978-0-06-147267-1

Synopsis:
The face he shows the world is not the face she sees. . .


Once, ten years ago, they were young lovers, sharing sinful touches and desperate ecstasy. But he was bound by his promise to wed another. Since that fateful time, Christine Sommers has grown into a headstrong beauty, the kind of woman who thinks nothing of daring travels to the ends of the world. But for all her achievements, Christine has never found anyone who makes her heart race the way Erik Boughton once did.


Since that fateful time, Erik Boughton, the Duke of Sedgwick, has become something of a beast, at least according to the gossips of the ton. They say that he's cursed, that any woman who shares his bed will meet an untimely end. But when he comes to Christine, desperate for her help to preserve his family and his title, she does not fear the devil duke. Enthralled by his ravenous desire, she would give him anything he wished, even her body . . . and her heart.

MY REVIEW 

Summary:
After ten years, Christine is shocked to see the one man that showed her passion and love, but ended their young courtship to marry someone else. Christine, now recently losing her father, has taken over her father's work and over the past ten years has dedicated herself to the work as a Paleontologist. Erik comes to her with a proposal, that there is a marvelous find on his land that she can't resist, since it is part of her dream of being taken seriously as a scientists, however she must agree to marry Erik first. Christine is shocked,, knowing that she could easily fall in love with him again, but his offer is too tempting for her to resist. Christine after marrying Erik, starts to realize that her feelings for him never died, that they are starting to come alive once more, but begins to doubt whether or not he will hurt her again like he did before...

The Hero 
Erik Boughton, Duke of Sedgewick, also to be rumored by the "ton" as the (BEAST) Erik having been married twice and losing both of his wives, and has yet to have a heir. He has one daughter who is  partially deaf but whom he cherishes. Erik is determined to investigate the mystery behind his first wife's death, and seeks Christine's help as she is a scientist and she is very different from the young girl he knew in his youth. She seems more logical and without emotion, and so he feels she would be perfect for the job. However after he marries her, he starts to come to the realization that she is far from cold, she is just as beautiful and full of passion and he finds it hard to resist her...

The Heroine 
Christine, met the Duke during her first season in London. Where, ten years ago, she felt the first stirrings of love at Eighteen. They had a secret and intimate courtship, however he ended it when he married another woman, even one that was a relation to her. Now ten years later, she has made a life for herself, trying to prove that even though she is a woman, she is a scientist to be taken seriously. But after being faced with Erik, all her feelings for him that she had hidden deep, start to surface once more.

My Thoughts:
Beauty and the Duke is the first installment in the Mystical Bliss series written by Melody Thomas. I haven't read too many books by this author, but the books that I have read from her I have fallen in love with. She has such a way about the way she writes and entices the reader. The characters in this story are deeply portrayed throughout the whole of the plot.There was one thing I didn't like about this book, was that the issue of what happened between them ten years previous, in their interaction with each other, they never really resolved it, and I was a bit disappointed however despite that  I found Beauty and the Duke to be mysterious and a sensational read, where history becomes alive for the reader. I loved the witty interaction between Erik and Christine, and as a whole was a memorable romance!!

My Favorite Quote:
We are not alone. We're with each other.

My Grade On This Book 
4.5 Blossoms

Other Books In The Series 
Claimed By A Scottish Lord