eh. skimmed mainly. ( )

The Last Wicked Scoundrel
3 Star

Series note: This novella concludes the Scoundrels of St. James series and brings readers full circle to the results of the events presented in book #1. Consequently, it is recommended that the books be read in order.

The story focuses on Dr. William Graves, the last member of Feagan's gang, and Winnie, Duchess of Avendale. As this is a novella, events proceed at a rapid pace and readers are quickly immersed in the plot revolving around Winnie's fears of an unknown intruder. Nevertheless, there is some good character development in terms of William's past and Winnie's transition from an abused wife to a strong and confident woman.

In sum, this is a satisfying albeit rather short conclusion to the series. The story does continue in the spin-off series focusing on the various Scoundrel's children. ( )

❤️ William Graves & Winnie (Duchess of Avendale) ❤️


✨ Scoundrels of St. James Series ✨
Book 1: [b:In Bed with the Devil|2634570|In Bed with the Devil (Scoundrels of St. James, #1)|Lorraine Heath|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322214331l/2634570._SY75_.jpg|2659280]
Book 2: [b:Between the Devil and Desire|4838188|Between the Devil and Desire (Scoundrels of St. James, #2)|Lorraine Heath|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322214817l/4838188._SY75_.jpg|4903440]
Book 3: [b:Surrender to the Devil|5841519|Surrender to the Devil (Scoundrels of St. James, #3)|Lorraine Heath|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322214177l/5841519._SY75_.jpg|6013659]
Book 4: [b:Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel|6290405|Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel (Scoundrels of St. James, #4)|Lorraine Heath|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322215258l/6290405._SY75_.jpg|6474766]
ebook 5: [b:The Last Wicked Scoundrel|18142675|The Last Wicked Scoundrel (Scoundrels of St. James, #5)|Lorraine Heath|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382677063l/18142675._SY75_.jpg|25489539]

Related to the:
- Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James series
- The Hellions of Havisham Series. ( )

I loved this. I've tried reading all of the books in this series, but have only finished the first one and this last one. We get the setup to William and Winnie's story in the first book, where Winnie is a victim of domestic abuse and William is the doctor who heals her. Between the first book and this final book, three years have passed. Winnie has healed both physically and emotionally from her abusive situation. Her and Dr. William Graves are now friends. Both have feelings for each other, but the good doctor is harboring a dark secret or two. One dark secret is revealed in Book #1, Graves was part of the crew that faked the death of Winnie's husband. Not wanting to kill the man, they sent him off to a prison island. The second dark secret is something from his childhood. Basically Winnie sees Graves as this Florence Nightingale angel when Graves feels himself to be a dark monster.

Friends to lovers is my favorite trope, the anticipation for this couple was high given the previous books, and I just had a really great time reading this short novella. Graves spends most of the book lying to / keeping a secret from Winnie, which some people don't enjoy. But I felt his reasons for keeping quiet were valid. Winnie thought William was an angel and William thought Winnie was an innocent. Eventually their perceptions of each other become more complete. Winnie was also just a great heroine, so confident and self-assured, especially after everything she'd been through. Loved her. ( )

This was definitely the weak one of the bunch in this series, but the story was still pretty pleasant to read. ( )