Review: After Dark with the Duke

After Dark with the Duke by Julie Anne Long
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

Through her slitted curtains, she’d looked down into upraised fists and furious, snarling faces shaping the word over and over: harlot harlot harlot. 

After a duel is fought and a Lord is injured, Mariana is blamed in the public eye. She's an opera singer who now has no popularity and starting to fear for her safety. Knowing about Mrs. Breedlove and the twists and turns her life has taken, Mariana has heard that The Grand Palace on the Thames can be a safe spot, so she decides to hideout there for awhile. 

From farmer, to soldier, to Duke, General James Duncan Blackmore, the Duke of Valkirk, has hit writer's block on his memoirs and decides a change of scenery is in order. He decides on an inn by the docks that no one would think to look for him there. 

James knows about Mariana's reputation and Mariana can't help poking England's most honorable hero but when some unfriendly wordplay leads to the two having private Italian lessons, they begin to find something in the other they've been searching for. 

She didn’t even precisely know what she wanted from him. Apart, perhaps, from being seen. 

Fourth in The Palace of the Rogues series, this keeps us at the inn we've all grown to love with all it's characters. The last book had me pulling on the reigns to break free from the location but, for the most part, I found myself cozily settled in this time. Whether due to reading this during the holiday season where intimate settings with close friends and family just hits me better or Mariana and James had a better chemistry that they could carry the story, I found I didn't mind the one-stop setting. This does mean that this would be harder to just jump into the series here, however, readers of the series will enjoy our patronesses with glimpses of their husbands, and all our favorite guests, with a strong showing by Dot as she and Mariana share a love of learning new words. 

He was very brisk, frequently impatient, but always respectful and polite, and unless she counted the occasional devastatingly sensual smile that implied he knew precisely what she was up to, he did not take up the flirtation baton that she could not resist, every now and then, extending. 

This is an age gap story with Mariana at 25 years old and James 43 years old. In the beginning, as their relationship started to develop, I did feel some hero worship from Mariana's side which made their age difference glaring obvious but as their chemistry took up, this faded away. With age gap, there is some enemies-to-lovers as James thinks Mariana is frivolous and uncaring because of the gossip about the duel. When he learns the truth, his perception changes and we get some great threads about women's power, agency, and thin line they must tread during this time. Mariana is an opera singer and staying popular is her life blood, so this involves flirting and playing nice, even if she doesn't want to and with her younger age, not always having the experience needed for certain situations. 

He realized he’d lately taken to saying things to get her to laugh, the way he might reflexively open a window to allow in fresh air. 

There's some machinations to get these two together, Mariana gets to stay at the inn because she'll pay her way with a performance our patronesses decide they need to hold in their new ballroom and James ends up having to give Mariana Italian lessons as a “punishment” because those same patronesses decide he must be reprimanded for that unfriendly world play I mentioned earlier. Nothing feels too unbelievable to go along with and around 40% when James hears the truth about the duel from Mariana, these two really started to pull me in. I thought the whole “Harlot of Haywood Street” and “Valorous Valkirk” was an interesting premise and I ended up enjoying how layered their relationship ended up feeling and built. When James realizes the danger he's in, in regards to falling for Mariana, he tries to pull away but Mariana calls him on it and at 60% they have their first kiss. 

She wanted to be alone for a while in a room where, for the first time in her life, a man had come to her defense. 

Most of the story is the heated building promise of could be between these two and I enjoyed how the author gave us fully formed characters that could stand on their own, giving me the opportunity to see and feel all the ways they could fit together. James with his war career, caring the burden of being England's honorable hero, his marriage, widowhood, and feelings on his son and then Mariana with the pain of her father's death, her worry over her mother, and learning how to navigate the world. These two hit the sheets later in the story but I almost enjoyed their heated conversations and looks more. 

Holding her was the only comfort he’d truly known. Possibly the only peace he’d truly known. Because peace was being known. 

The last 20% ended up feeling a little rushed for me, at 87% James makes an offer to Mariana that at that point and time in a story, I'm not sure I want to see from my hero as he should know the heroine by now, and then the make-up ending declaration gave me more of that rushed feeling and I wasn't quite satisfied as I thought Mariana deserved more. At that point, I can't say I totally felt I believed in a happily ever after for these two, thinking about their positions in life, the way this particular story was written. There's a compacted epilogue that tries to give us that fairy tale ending to strengthen the idea of their HEA but with it's time jumps, it didn't completely work for me. Overall, though, I enjoyed this addition and time spent at The Grand Palace on the Thames, all our favorite characters are there and Mariana and James provided some welcome heat.

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