The Scoundrel Falls Hard (The Duke Hunt #3) Book Review

A devil’s bargain burns the hottest….

Book Blurb:

For years, fiercely independent Gwen Cully has worked as the village blacksmith, keeping her family’s business going. But when a local rival threatens her livelihood, Gwen has nowhere to turn… until a devastatingly handsome fugitive takes shelter in her shop and sparks fly.

Unrepentant rogue Kellan Fox’s entire existence has been a dangerous game of deception that leads him into a fight for survival–and straight into the arms of a tall, fiery beauty. When Gwen protects him from an angry mob of villagers, Kellan sees the perfect solution to both their troubles. A marriage–in name only–that will last a single year.

Only a marriage of convenience can’t hide their searing attraction. It glows hotter than Gwen’s forge and reaches deep below the tempting mask Kellan wears for the world. With every sizzling glance and scorching kiss, Gwen surrenders more of herself to the molten passion she finds in Kellan’s strong embrace. But can she ever truly trust her heart to a scoundrel?

Book Review

The Scoundrel Falls Hard is the third book in The Duke Hunt series by Sophie Jordan. These books can be read as stand alone, but they include characters introduced in other books in the series, so they are best enjoyed when read altogether. In this case, the main character Gwen, was introduced in the 1st book – The Duke Goes Down: The Duke Hunt. I was intrigued by the synopsis, as it included some of my favorite tropes: a wallflower, and the reformed rake. I was also interested to see this strong, independent character get her happy ever after.

The characters met in an unconventional way. The sort of meet cute you can expect from a country village where the story involves the local blacksmith, a competing blacksmith looking to poach her business and her personhood, and a con artist with a heart of gold. However, despite their obvious and strong chemistry, in my personal opinion the author took entirely too long to get these characters in bed together. I mean, they were ready to get it on practically within the first several chapters, but their will-they-won’t-they dragged on for entirely too long. Is there such a thing as book edging? Asking for a friend…

By the time the characters got into bed, the book was practically over, and then there was the big misunderstanding and the story resolved as it ended.^☹️

I waited a while, and I read the book again, thinking maybe it was me. I had, in fact, read this ARC while I was waiting for my copy of the 2nd book (The Rake Gets Ravished – The Duke Hunt #2) that I had on hold at the library. So I read that, and then I went back and read The Scoundrel Falls Hard again, and it’s a good read, but I honestly wanted more sex.

Kellan’s character did, in fact, fall really hard for Gwen, and he fought the good fight to overcome her hangups so they could get their happy ending. They had such good chemistry that every time it was cut short, I was just a little annoyed, comically so. Overall, recommend and a good entry to Sophie Jordan’s The Duke Hunt series.

The Scoundrel Falls Hard (The Duke Hunt 3) is available from Amazon and other retailers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced electronic copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.