The Sins of Lord Lockwood

Starred review from January 22, 2018
In Duran’s captivating sixth Rules for the Reckless novel (after A Lady’s Code of Misconduct), Liam Devaliant, the fifth Earl of Lockwood, breaks away from the kidnapper who has held and tortured him since his wedding night. When he makes his way home, his headstrong and independently wealthy wife, Anna Winterslow Wallace, is barely ready to see him again, since he stole her heart and then vanished on their wedding night—but she needs an heir. Shame prevents Liam from being honest with Anna about having been kidnapped, and Anna tries to ignore her desire for the husband she thinks abandoned her. While navigating their new relationship, it’s hard to keep up pretenses, and when the truth comes out, they join forces to get justice. Duran has created unforgettable characters whose struggles with injustice and emotional and physical pain only bring them closer together. The novel, rich with powerful prose, is an exemplar of second-chance love stories.

Starred review from February 1, 2018
It is a good thing Anna Winterslow Wallace, now the Countess of Lockwood, reads the newspapers; otherwise, she might never have known that her husband, Liam Devaliant, Earl of Lockwood, is back in London. Almost four years ago, Liam abandoned Anna on their wedding night and vanished without a word. Now, if her ne'er-do-well husband thinks he can just waltz back into their marriage with nary an explanation, Liam had better think again. Anna makes her way to Liam's townhome, intent on giving him a piece of her mind, only to find that the charming and lighthearted Liam she married is nothing like the man standing before her. She wonders, is that a good thing or a bad thing? In the sixth sterling addition to her Rules for the Reckless series, Duran expertly pairs a feisty heroine with a head for business and a body for sin together with an irresistibly rakish hero now bent on revenge, and the result is pure reading magic. With their brilliantly nuanced characters, exquisitely sensual love scenes, and polished prose, Duran's novels are the literary equivalent of Godiva chocolates: lusciously rich and supremely satisfying.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)