RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:


This is my first ever book by this author, and my last, sad to say.

I honestly don’t know where to begin. It’s really not that easy for us reviewers to talk about books we couldn’t connect, let alone talk about the ones we outright didn’t like. However, as much as we don’t like talking about it, we nevertheless, must.

After reading this book, I wanted to figure out why I didn’t like it, and ultimately it fell to poor writing, or more specifically, poor characterization. Try as I might, nothing about this story appealed. The couple left me cold and not involved. The story’s pace was just okay, and everything else felt just 'read it before' and cartoonish.

So, in the end, in all honesty, I can’t recommend it.

Melanie ( )

I really enjoyed the first third of this book. Eugenie and Sinclair were great characters and had some unique traits that you don't always see (a shy, artistic duke, etc). However, toward the middle of the book Sinclair recognizes his attraction to Eugenie and decides she should be his mistress (never even considering wife because of his station). At that point, the book became a little too trite and predictable for me. I felt like Sinclair was not acting true to the character that had been established for him. The book was intriguing but the beginning held much more promise... ( )

Be careful who you say that you want to marry. It might come true. In the lastest book in Sara Bennett's Husband Hunters' Club series, To Pleasure a Duke, Miss Eugenie Belmont is in a pickle. Her friends at school are playing a marriage game. Although she has no eligible husband prospects, she could not let her classmates know that. So in her panic she gets carried away and names the most eligible man in the realm, Sinclair St. John, the Duke of Somerton. Because Eugenie comes from a family of shady characters - one of her ancestors was the king's mistress - she is looking for stability, for someone who is the opposite of her con artist father, the baronet. Who better than the stable, but cold and aloof duke? With her great storytelling abilities, she convinces her classmates that "shy and plain Eugenie Belmont is more that capable of ensnaring a duke." Later when she gets back home she can write her friends to say that it didn't work out. However, once the two meet neither one is ever the same.

Eugenie and the duke meet all because of a goat. The family goat ate their mother's favorite clothes, so Eugenie and her twin brothers are taking the goat back to farmer Bartholomew. Along the way the duke almost runs over her brothers. Luckily, her younger brother Jack has a way with horses, so the Duke ends up offering to take Erik, the goat. This sets up the opportunity for the boys accompanied by Eugenie to visit Erik and also the Duke.

It is charming to see how Eugenie and Sinclair fall in love. As they have more encounters, the attraction grows and he continues to tempt her with his offer of being his mistress. However, the big sticking point is that he only sees her as a mistress, not a wife; whereas, she wants someone who loves and respects her for who she is. A wife is respected; a mistress is not. As they get to know each other, Sinclair is remembering his youth and his painting, which his mother put the kibosh on because dukes do not paint. Meeting Eugenie has opened him up to taking risks, to remembering when he was young and full of dreams. Will she give in and help her family financially? Or will she keep her self-respect and find someone who will love and marry her?

Genie isn't the only one in her family playing a dangerous game. Her younger brother, Terry, has become the savior of Annabelle, Sinclair's sister. She doesn't want to marry, so she enlists Terry to help her escape to her friends in Scotland. Even though Genie has problems, which the Duke would take away if she accepts his offer, she sees it as selling herself. After an encounter with his mother, she realizes how stupid her dream of marrying a duke was. He sees her as someone beneath him. She would not fit in his world. Yet she falls for Sinclair's wonderful seduction and Eugenie gives into temptation. However, in the light of day it becomes clear that they each want different things: she a husband and he a mistress.

Things change when Terry, Annabelle, and Lizzie take off for Scotland. The duke takes off after them with Genie as a stowaway in his carriage. Even though this will destroy her reputation she wants to make sure that the duke doesn't kill her brother. Sinclair isn't very happy about it, but realizes that she will follow him anyways. On the journey to find their siblings each falls deeper in love with the other. However, neither is willing to budge on what they want in life.

I like romances when both characters compliment each other. Eugenie brings out the best in Sinclair and makes him into a better man, and he brings out the best in her and provides her with stability. It makes me want to go back and read the other two titles in her Husband Hunters' Club series, starting with the first one, Led Astray by a Rake.

(0riginally published on MADREADS) ( )

TO PLEASURE A DUKE by Sara Bennett is an interesting historical romance set in England.This is a fast paced story of Eugenie Belmont and Sinclair St. John, the Duke of Somerton. It has romance,love,sweet sensuality,witty banter,strange family members,a game of seduction,a sexy,handsome hero of a duke, and a demurely, irresistibly,witty,and bewitching heroine.A wonderful story of love,and family. A must read for any historical readers who enjoy wit,sweet sensuality,a powerful family and a not so powerful family. Received for review from the publisher and Net Galley. Details can be found at Avon,an imprint of Harper Collins,and My Book Addiction Reviews. ( )