Review: When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath

They are England's most eligible bachelors, with the most scandalous reputations. But for the right woman, even an unrepentant rogue may mend his ways . . .

Lady Grace Mabry's ample inheritance has made it impossible for her to tell whether a suitor is in love with her— or enamored of her riches. Who better to distinguish beau from blackguard than her notorious childhood friend, the Duke of Lovingdon?

With no interest in marriage, Lovingdon has long lived only for pleasure. He sees little harm in helping Grace find a proper match. He simply has to teach the lovely innocent all the ploys a scoundrel uses to gain a woman's favor— by demonstrating his wicked ways. But as lessons lead to torrid passion and Grace becomes ensnared in another man's marriage plot, Lovingdon must wage a desperate gamble: Open his heart fully—or risk losing the woman he adores. . .

When the Duke was Wicked is a spinoff of Ms. Heath's Scoundrels of St. James series.  I didn't know that going in, but I'm not certain having read the previous series is a prerequisite.  

Grace Mabry is a woman with a large inheritance.  As such, she's besieged with marriage requests from every sort of man.  She decides that she needs help in determining which man is right for her, so she turns to the Duke of Lovingdon.  

The blurb leads me to believe Lovingdon and Grace are of a similar age, but the book says the opposite (or I at least read the opposite).  Lovingdon is also grieving the deaths of his wife and their daughter.  He tells Grace over and over that he will never love any woman as much as he loved his wife.  

So how can Grace compete with that, especially after she discovers she's falling in love with him?  

I'm not sure that she can.  We're reminded throughout the majority of the book that Grace is nothing like Lovingdon's deceased wife, Juliette.  The ease in which Lovingdon decides that yes, he does love Grace almost made my head spin.  

I've loved Ms. Heath's previous books, so I was disappointed that When the Duke was Wicked didn't work for me.   

(A very special thank you to Avon Romance, Harper Collins, and Edelweiss for providing me with an ARC of When the Duke was Wicked.)