The Maiden's Court: Book Review: The Duke of Ice by Darcy Burke

The Duke of Ice by Darcy Burke
Book 7 of The Untouchables series
ARC, e-Book, 262 pages
Darcy Burke Publishing
December 26, 2017
★★★★☆

Heat Rating:

Genre: Historical Romance

Source: Received from Publicist for Review

Everyone Nicholas Bateman ever loved has died. Except Violet Caulfield, which must mean he never loved her. Nine years after she threw him over to marry a viscount, Nick is a widowed duke who prefers isolation. When a friend convinces him to leave his lair of self-imposed solitude, he considers taking another wife, provided she agrees to his terms: no emotional attachment of any kind.
Now widowed, Lady Violet Pendleton hopes for a second chance with the man she’s always loved. But she isn’t prepared for the desolation in his soul or the animosity he still bears toward her. Despite those obstacles, it’s clear their passion hasn’t dimmed. However, the heat between them isn’t enough to melt the Duke of Ice, and this time Violet may find herself the jilted party. Can love, once so tragically lost, finally be found?

You certainly can see why Nick is nicknamed the Duke of Ice in this book! All of the male characters in the Untouchables series have had the qualities of their names, but Nick certainly fully inhabited his! Due to this in part, I found it a lot harder to get into this relationship than I have in other Untouchables books. I really didn’t like him that much throughout much of the book, and even later on, I liked him, but didn’t love him. While that might normally be something that would bring down my enjoyment of a romance novel, in this case it felt right specifically because he is supposed to be stand-offish. Violet on the other had I did like. Both of them suffered bad things in their past, but she chooses to move beyond that and be happy, which is my personal perspective on life. This is a story of second chances, resolving misunderstandings, and moving beyond what you think fate has dealt you. In some ways, it’s even about third or fourth chances. Can they change enough to be able to be together? Are these stumbling blocks too big to overcome?

I enjoyed reading about the house party that is held throughout the first half of the novel. I don’t think that I have read many books that have a large group of people staying for multiple weeks at a country estate, so it was fun to see the types of things that they would have done to occupy themselves.

This book also heavily introduced the two main love interests that will be in the next book in this series, The Duke of Ruin. Typically they are just passing characters, but events in this novel will have a significant impact in the next book based on the book description. I really enjoyed these characters (possibly more than Nick and Violet) and look forward to meeting them again and seeing where life takes them.

The romance factor here was hot enough. As this is a story of second chances, we are treated to romance flashbacks as well as on the current timeline. It was interesting to see how they have changed based on life’s circumstances, but are still the same in many of the ways that matter.

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Also by Darcy Burke:

Other titles in this series include:

The Forbidden Duke (Book 1)