Four Dukes and a Devil

"The Irish Duke" by Cathy Maxwell Susan Rogers is a lady looking for a way to keep independent of her dreary relations. To make ends meet, she takes on young ladies during their first Season and leads them to happy marriages. A recent selling point has been to point out that of all Dukes, the Irish ones are the last to be recognized. No parent wants this, and since there are few Irish Dukes around, it makes for a good argument for retention of her services. Until an Irish Duke arrives, irate and yet intrigued by Ms. Rogers' plan. Roan decides the only way to get the bride he came to London to find is to get Ms. Rogers on his side - by whatever means necessary. "The Duke Who Came to Dinner" by Elaine Fox The only contemporary in the bunch, the story takes places in Massachusetts, where Gray Gilliam has moved to get away from her life and decide what happens next. What she wasn't expecting was someone to steal her clothes as she skinny-dipped (something she would normally never do) and then have to pedal her way back the haunted house she is borrowing from friends. Trying to overcome her shyness and tendencies, meeting Sam in a bar definitely ranks up there on a list of things Gray would not have expected. And neither is the attraction she feels for him. "Devil to Pay" by Jeaniene Frost Featuring some characters from the Grave series, Ms. Frost introduces us to a reclusive vampire, content in her little hovel with nothing but books to keep her happy. But when she stumbles on a man needing help, a man possessed by a very strong demon, she finds her heart waking up, even as they realize that they only way to save the man is death. "Catch of the Century" by Sophia Nash Victoria Givan is bound and determined to get her young charges to the monastery where they will all work on restoring it as a foundling's home. When they are left stranded and the Duke of Beaufort offers them aid, she can't help but accept. But as she gets to know John, and he realizes she is far more than she seems, Victoria knows it will all end badly, so she escapes. With the help of her friends (characters from other Nash books), she may just find she deserves love at last. "Charmed by Her Smile" by Tracy Anne Warren It seemed a good plan to India Byron when she decided to ask a stranger to kiss her in an attempt at getting an ardent admirer away from her. But that kiss makes them both want more, despite both having plans to move on with their lives. Four Dukes and a Devil is an interesting concept, with its mix of historical, contemporary and paranormal. This mix may not appeal to all, but it worked for me. I wish they had been a bit more stand alone (in a few, you felt like you were missing pieces of the story since it referred to other series), but overall the held up well. The quality of all of the stories seemed to fit well together, with none lagging behind in the others in enjoyment. If you like a mix in your romance grab bag

Wow! It's very rare that an anthology has more than 1 or 2 stories worthwhile for me. And I'm surprised at the low ratings on this. I felt like this one delivered! =) Now I like Nash, Maxwell, and Warren already as historical romances are my genre! And I was not disappointed! As for the other 2 authors, I had read one or two books by them and while they are also good authors, they just don't push the 'extra' for me that these other authors do. The stories from Nash, Maxwell, and Warren use one ingredient the others didn't: humor! If you are of the same mind you will love these! And you will probably recognize characters from previous stories! The other two stories if I had to rate them individually were better than usual with antho's. so, I have rated them overall and individually. I hope this helps! note, Warren Maxwell were a very close tie actually for 2nd; thus the odd #. And one reviewer was turned off by one of the female leads stubborness - I on the other hand found that this trait was a big part of what gave the story so much humor! Just goes to show - different strokes... as another reviewer commented, there is something here for everyone! =) Enjoy! Cathy Maxwell - 3 (4 3/4*) Yes, I know, only whole and half #'s but...=) Elaine Fox - 5 Jeaniene Frost - 4 (4 1/2*) Sophia Nash - 1 (5*) Tracy Anne Warren - 2 (5*)

A few of the stories made it difficult to follow if you had not read previous books by the author, however, they were all comprehensible to me with no prior knowledge. In "Charmed by her Smile" by Tracey Anne Warren: Young girl tries to get rid of admirer by asking for help from a duke to pursue her instead. I rate this 5 stars & will definitely be looking for more books by this author who captured my interest with spunk, humor, passion & romance. The best in the lot! Story by Sophia Nash "Catch of the Century": Girl in charge of 3 boys is "rescued" by duke & romance begins, though big struggle with her stubbornness. I rate 3 1/2 stars; the main character was very stubborn to the point of being really annoying, which is why I could not really cheer for her. The beginning & middle was very promising but with a very cheesy ending it could not make it to 4 stars. "Devil to Pay" by Jeaniene Frost: Vampire & possessed mortal & their struggles to relieve him of this devil without causing the man's early departure. I rated 5 stars; I love this author from previous books as well as she has a most compelling writing ability that captures you & make you want to root for her characters, pulling you into whichever universe she presents. Most definitely a recommended author! The story, "the Duke who came to dinner" by Elaine Fox: Woman trying to "invent herself" on vacation falls in love & all that. Again I rated 3 stars; the story just didn't "capture" me & a lot of focus on the dog, a more fun take I believe would have been focusing more on the ghost part but just my thought :-) Story by Cathy Maxwell "The Irish Duke": Spinster trying to pursue a career leading young women to marry only the right man. I would rate only 3 stars; a very childish main character who seem to have learned nothing in her assumed "hard times", which makes the ending rather petty and her sisters appear to be so unbelievable it took away from an otherwise ok written beginning and middle part of the story. As if that wasn't enough, I really didn't care for her ending where she tried to insert some "valuable lessons" of moral value into the reader. I will not look for any further stories by this author. All in all, this is a fairly good collection of short stories and the 2 stories worth 5 stars make the whole collection worth every cent. A good evaluation of the writing skills of the authors I'd say, as it's helped me in my future search of which authors to pursue & which to avoid.

'Four Dukes and a Devil' contains five stories, three which are historical romances with a duke as the hero, one modern romance with a ghostly duke/dog who is part of the plot and the fifth a paranormal romance with vampires and demons. The three historical romances are all pretty much as one would expect - short stories about a woman falling in love - and marrying - her duke. Cathy Maxwell's "The Irish Duke" was the weakest of the three. Her heroine is a matchmaker, a spinster herself, who somehow turns polite society against the Irish dukes (who are last in order of precedence amongst dukes) and eventually snares one herself. It was difficult to believe half of the events in this story, and I didn't feel either character was particularly well drawn. "Catch of the Century" by Sophia Nash focuses on Victoria Givan, a minor character in her previous full-length novel, who is travelling with three young boys and finds herself in trouble. She's rescued by a duke in a posh carriage and events mean that she ends up staying at his home, with the expected ensuing romance. John Varick, the Duke of Beaufort, is a worthy hero but I found Victoria a bit annoying (as I did in her novel 'Love with the Perfect Scoundrel') and there were appearances by several characters from her series of books which perhaps are a bit overmuch for a short story. This was probably the weakest story in the collection but was still OK. "Charmed by her Smile" by Tracey Anne Warren was a good story, although with some elements that some might find uncomfortable (the hero is fourteen years older than the heroine, for example). The Duke of Weybridge finds himself improbably in a kiss with a young debutante, India Byron, in order to help her avoid a persistent suitor. They meet again and once again he helps to deflect the suitor's attentions, not realising that he will find himself entranced by India. This wasn't a bad story but lots of the plot aspects were very unlikely and the historical accuracy was fairly shaky in places. The modern romance story, "the Duke who came to dinner" by Elaine Fox, was an enjoyable story about a woman 'getting away from it all' to a house in Massachussetts and trying to be a bit braver than normal. She meets Sam Gregory, a man who isn't her usual type but with whom she starts a friendship, aided by an unusual dog. This was a pleasant story if rather pedestrian. My favourite story in this collection was "Devil to Pay" by Jeaniene Frost. Elise is a loner vampire who lives by herself and rarely interacts with anyone. When she discovers a man trying to kill himself she rescues him, not realising that he is trying to commit suicide to protect others from his demon rages. As Elise and her vampire Sire realise what's going on, that Blake will have to die away from humans to avoid transferring the demon, she comes out of her shell as she focuses on Blake and his needs. This was a well-written and original story which I enjoyed very much. In summary, this

Five novellas, each wonderful in their own different way, make up this summer anthology. I'd read four of the authors before, but was new to Frost. None of the stories are connected, but there was something for almost every taste. Three of the stories are historical (Regency period), one is a contemporary (Fox), and the last is paranormal (Frost). I'll skip the plotlines, and get to the heart of the review. The novellas in this book are great: very clever dialogue in many of the stories, sexy/romantic scenes, memorable characters, witty-laugh out loud moments, and poignant other scenes. The paranormal is dark and hot. The contemporary by Elaine Fox is hilarious. Nash's novella was a winner all the way around. Warren and Maxwell's stories were very clever and romantic. This was a great summer read.