The characters had some sense to them, and were likable. I didn't care very much about the mystery of the land and title, but it served its purpose as a plot device. The friendships of the characters were nice as well. ( )

The third book finds Brentworth in conflict with Davina McCallum who is claiming rights to one of his family holdings. When the 2 set out for Scotland to investigate her claim, they find the growing attraction between them irresistible.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Having read all three stories in this series in succession, I was eager to read Eric Marshall, the Duke of Brenthworth's story. He is the most reserved, the most certain he would never be bit by love, of the three dukes. He has no problem at all maintaining his persona and has no intention of changing.

Meanwhile, being called before the king he doesn't respect is more than an annoyance to him. He is faced with Miss Davina MacCullum as she insists that she is rightfully owned an estate. Davina tries to approach the king, who would rather not be bothered with the situation. When it is determined that Eric actually owns the estate in question, the king and his staff foist Davina's claim onto him.

Davina doesn't approach the king empty-handed. She has the promise of two kings and some proof, so now dealing with Eric should be relatively easy. Needless to say, Eric has no intention on releasing his estate - and the secrets he is hiding with it - to Davina or to anyone else.

Davina is not about to give up. She believe her grandfather was a baron, and although not being born a male, has a right to said property. I loved Davina! Not only does she write articles for a women's journal, and has formed strong friendships with the other ladies readers were introduced in the first two books in this series, she has a strong will and refuses to give up.

Meanwhile, I was moved by Eric. It became increasingly easy to see why he had a shell around his heart and it was enjoyable watching Davina being used as the instrument to crack it. This was my favorite of the three in the series, especially when we discover why Eric fought so hard not to give up the estate. This added a nice touch to an effective story.

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After having read at least 70 historical romances, most connected series, over the past 18 months, made it a bit difficult to enjoy this series as a whole. It was the most laborious series I have read to-date. This may be due to the fact that the romances seemed stilted and rather unemotional. As this had been on my TBR for months, I am glad that I had the opportunity to read it. This was a trilogy, which are my favorite to read, and there were definitely a lot of positives. I am curious to read Madeline Hunter in the future, and do hope to see more strong heroines like she wrote for this series.

Many thanks to Zebra and to NetGalley for offering all three ARCs for review. These reviews are my honest opinions. ( )

I received an eARC at no cost from the author, in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. Thank you.

3.75*

I’m going to be completely and utterly honest with you: I was a bit afraid to read this book. If you follow this amazing author on social media, you might know her husband, Warren, passed away on February 2018. I had the immense pleasure to meet this lovely couple in person (thank you again, Madeline, for visiting Lisbon!) and had dinner with them in an informal setting. And, of course it is a dream come true to meet one your favourite authors, but I would also like to mention how sweet and caring Warren was.

And so, what do you do when your “best friend, [your] great love, and biggest supporter” (Madeline's Facebook Post https://www.facebook.com/MadelineHunter/...) passes away? I can only imagine how hard that must be, and how hard it must be to continue to write beautiful love stories.

So, yes, I was a bit apprehensive to read Madeline’s new book, simply because I was afraid such an event could have changed the way she wrote/expressed those love stories. Thankfully, I didn’t need to be.

Never Deny A Duke was a great book. It had the right amount of romance, a good plot line that introduced the characters and circumstances in a way that was easy to follow and to make us fall in love with such characters.

Eric and Davina had different purposes in their lives, and at some point that collided. And here’s where the story starts, with a land dispute. And all could be solved (in a male point of view, of course) with a simple arranged marriage that would take care of everything. But Davina isn’t a fool, and Eric isn’t interested. And even when that interest changes for both of them, Davina’s pursuit of the truth doesn’t, which was the thing I most liked about her.

Stories that mix Scots and English are always fun, simply because they may share a country, but they are, in their true essence, very different types of people. Our Scottish heroine Davina MacCallum, is fighting for what she believes to be her inheritance, and our British hero, Eric Marshall, the Duke of Brentworth, is fighting for what he believes to be rightfully his – even if it is something that has its own (dark) baggage.

I loved how the couple looked together for the truth, in a forced proximity kind of scenario, and how that allowed them to understand each other better, and to develop and attraction, and later on a lasting, loving relationship.

A great book that ticked almost all of the right boxes. ( )

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Never Deny A Duke is the third book in Madeline Hunter’s The Decadent Dukes Society Trilogy. It can be read as a stand-alone but I enjoyed reading the first two so do recommend reading them. Davina MacCallum is trying to regain the land that her family lost after Cullodan when it was mistakenly thought that her grandfather had died. Eric Marshal, Duke of Brentworth is the current holder of the lands in question and he is not about to give them up. This is a delightful tale of enemies to lovers as the two set out together on a journey to Scotland to find the truth of who owns the lands. The slow burn as they discover that perhaps they have more in common than first thought will keep you up reading way past your bedtime. Medium Steam Publishing Date April 30, 2019 #KensingtonBooks #NetGalley #NeverDenyADuke #MadelineHunter #ZebraRomance ( )