The Duke of Desire (The Untouchables #4)

The folly of falling in love and the subsequent ruination keeps one in the shadows. The opportunity to infuriate ones Mother keeps the other in the tons limelight. Neither want anything to do with love or marriage.

Ivy Breckenridge is quite content with her life as a ladys companion. The position affords her the opportunity to remain in the shadows, a place shes most comfortable with since having attention ruined her life many years ago and forces her to keep a secret even from her dearest friends. Though her friends want her to share the bliss they have come to know as married women Ivy adamantly refuses to have anything to do with love or marriage. When she catches the eye of The Duke of Desire will she stick with her vow? And what happens if her secret comes out? Can she reinvent herself all over again?

Deemed an Untouchable (those who are out of reach for wallflowers) with the nickname of The Duke of Desire, Sebastian Westgate West, the Duke of Clare, does his best to vex his mother, the woman who made his childhood miserable, the woman who cant seem to love him. Affairs with married women and the gossip it elicits is certainly one way to drive the woman mad. Another way vowing never to marry and letting the Dukedom fall to a cousin. A seemingly innocent house party just may have West reconsidering his decision IF he can get the lady to agree.

There are so many parts of this story that I love! Ivy brought to the lowest of lows she has survived and even thrived in her life. West has a high opinion of himself but you soon see the selflessness within him and the hurt he carries. Ivys actions towards someone from her past (you go girl!). Wests reaction to his Mother when she infiltrates his home (though he should have physically tossed her out on her ear). Wests conversations with the husbands (two former Untouchables) of Ivys two best friends had me laughing out loud. Last but not least (okay there are many more I could list but why ruin the fun for everyone) the marriage proposal had me wanting to smack West upside the head and shake sense into Ivy.

I adore Darcy Burkes books and this one is no exception! Ms. Burke writes book four in The Untouchable series, The Duke of Desire, in a way that it can be read as a stand-alone. However, I highly suggest adding the others to your to-be-read pile – you wont be disappointed. Now patiently waiting (cue drumming fingers on table) to see which Untouchable falls next.

‘Ten years ago Ivy Breckenridges life was ruined. She had to reinvent herself, and now, after painstakingly making her own way in the world, shes nearly forgotten the dreams of home and family shed once nurtured. Until one man peers into her soul and awakens every one of her hidden desires. But no matter how good he makes her feel, she cant trust himalone by choice is better than alone by necessity.

With a notorious reputation for training married women in the art of passion, Sebastian Westgate, Duke of Clare, is reviled by some and celebrated by others. He doesnt allow anyone close enough to see past his charming exterior. When Ivy uncovers the man beneath, the seducer is suddenly the seduced. Enraptured by her mind and spirit, he wants more but revealing his darkest secrets is a price he wont pay.’
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The Duke of Desireis the fourth book in Darcy Burke’s The Untouchables series and is a historical romance.

First I must say that I really enjoyed this book and it has been one of my favorites from the series that I’ve read thus far. I’ll be entirely honest and say that I was of two minds when approaching this book. On the one hand, I was looking forward to starting the book because I wanted to learn more about Ivy’s backstory after it being hinted an through the last two books. But on the other hand I was dreading reading it because of the cheesy title and accompanying storyline of the suave hero that is god’s gift to women. Triapsing about London, teaching women the wonders of satisfying sex, and changing their lives and marriages for the better with the power of his magical dick.

As you can tell it was difficult for me to start the book without a negative mindset, but I’ve enjoyed her other books, so I pushed my dread aside and kept an open mind. And I’ll admit, I did give a few eye rolls when we first met West(Sebastian), but I really came to love his character after Ivy gave him such a set down. After that, he became a much more likeable character to me as he seemed to be more cognizant of how inflated his ego was. I agree with Ivy that the Duke of Debauchery would have been a more apt name for Sebastian.

Ivy was quite standoff-ish and cold when the book begins, but she has a good reason. Given the forshadowing from the previous books, Ivy’s backstory was along the lines of what I had expected, but there were other aspects to it that were not quite what I had and I enjoyed reading the reveal and surprises that followed. But I’ll say no more because I don’t want to give any spoilers.

I maintained a suspension of belief toward West, but he really did grow on me as the book progressed. I found the reasoning behind his rebellion to be a bit of a strange jump, but it worked within the confines of the story and everyone responds differently to things, so why not? He really is a great character once I got past the weird sex therapist thing.

These characters are very well portrayed and things came together perfectly between them. In the end, I really came to love Ivy and West despite my hesitence at the start. The pacing was great although the ending did resolve a bit more easily than I was expecting and so it seemed to feel a bit rushed, but that could have just been me.

I recommend The Untouchables series by Darcy Burke from what I have read so far and I look forward to reading more from this series. Onto book 5 next,The Duke of Defiance.

Another wonderful story in this series about Miss Ivy Breckenridge, paid companion to Lady Dunn. Beautiful and determined never to trust a man again, this life style suits Ivy. Now that her two trusted friends are wed – to “Untouchables” – Ivy feels the loneliness of her life. At a house party, she meets Sebastian Westgate (West), Duke of Clare or as they dubbed him “Duke of Desire”. His life seems an open book, noted for his affairs with married women, but all is not as it seems. As he tries to explain to Ivy, he enriches their marriages. The key to understanding West lies in his childhood and his cold, abusive mother. Ivy’s betrayal came 10 years earlier and was left alone at 17 after her family abandoned her. Can two wounded souls find healing in their attraction? Ivy walks a thin line for no one knows better how gossip can tear her life apart. A poignant story of how a young girl did not wallow in self-pity but was determined to survive the adversities life brought her. Yet she still remained a loving heart as her friendship with Nora, Lucy & Aquilla showed. Her courage and strength are admirable as well as her dedication to help those less fortunate. These qualities attracted West and their love healed all the hurts of the past, enabling a joyful future. Enchanting story of love & devotion!!

Good I.interesting concept for the story . Ivy & West are great characters. Bit too much sex, very repetitive but you can skip those pages to get to the story.

ok

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