If the plot sounds kind of convoluted, it is. When he feels she's been sufficiently scandalized, they'll do the big reveal thereby ruining in her in the eyes of the ton. He insists that she pose as his mistress, appearing in public while wearing a mask. Temple agrees to Mara's plan, but only on his conditions. Along with being cast aside by society and enduring whispered accusations for the past decade, he's also questioned his own innocence.

Needless to say, Temple is pretty pissed off. Mara offers to reveal herself to society, clearing Temple's name, but only if he forgives her brother's debts. Obviously she's very much alive, and she's been in hiding for the past twelve years. It's Mara Lowe, the woman he thought he killed. Then Temple is approached my a mysterious woman. He wants to fight Temple, but Temple refuses due to their sordid history. Christopher Lowe, the brother of the woman he murdered, has lost his entire fortune to the Fallen Angel. Temple is now the Duke of Lamont (or would be if he opted to join society) and is still believed to be guilty of murder. Also there was never a body, and if I've learned anything from Law and Order it's that it's really hard to win a murder case without a body.įast forward to the present day. If you're wondering why Temple was never tried for murder, being the son of a duke has its perks, I guess. Chase, the founder of the Fallen Angel, rescued him. Shamed, disowned and reeling he descended into London's underground where he fought to stay alive (literally and figuratively). Turns out that woman was his future stepmother. He went to bed with a beautiful woman and woke up alone and covered in blood.

His dad, the late duke, was on his sixth (and much younger wife) when Temple got black-out drunk at the pre-wedding festivities. Temple believes he may have killed his father's fiance. Like the other four founders of the Fallen Angel, he's also scarred. He's quite scary in a delicious sort of way. Temple is big and imposing and has tattoos. If any member of the club loses their entire fortune, they can win it all back by beating Temple in the ring so far no one has accomplished this. Temple, known as the Killer Duke, is a bare-knuckles boxing champion. All three books center around a gaming hell called the Fallen Angel. No Good Duke Goes Unpunished was my favorite of the three books due primarily to the awesomeness of the hero and heroine. It was everything I love in a historical romance without the overused tropes flooding the market. I was intrigued by the idea of a story set in a gaming hell (casino) since I've reached my Regency/ballroom saturation point. I started this series after listening to Sarah's interview with MacLean on the podcast. Instead I spent almost the entire weekend on the couch reading the Rules of Scoundrels series by Sarah MacLean. I had lots of things to do this weekend: I had Christmas cookies to bake, presents to wrap, pictures of Matt Bomer to Google.

No duke goes unpunished