DUKE OF PLEASURE (Maiden Lane #11) by Elizabeth Hoyt-Review, Interview & Book Tour

DUKE OF PLEASURE
Maiden Lane #11
by Elizabeth Hoyt
Release Date: November 29, 2016
Genre: historical, romance

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 29, 2016

N THE ARMS OF DANGER

Bold. Brave. Brutally handsome. Hugh Fitzroy, the Duke of Kyle, is the king’s secret weapon. Sent to defeat the notorious Lords of Chaos, he is ambushed in a London alley—and rescued by an unlikely ally: a masked stranger with the unmistakable curves of a woman.

IN THE HEAT OF DESIRE

Cocky. Clever. Courageously independent. Alf has survived on the perilous streets of St. Giles by disguising her sex. By day she is a boy, dealing in information and secrets. By night she’s the notorious Ghost of St. Giles, a masked vigilante. But as she saves Hugh from assassins, she finds herself succumbing to temptation.

ONE KISS WILL CHANGE THEIR LIVES FOREVER

When Hugh hires Alf to investigate the Lords of Chaos, her worlds collide. Once Hugh realizes that the boy and the Ghost are the same, will Alf find the courage to become the woman she needs to be—before the Lords of Chaos destroy them both?

••••••••••••

REVIEW: DUKE OF PLEASURE is the eleventh full length installment in Elizabeth Hoyt’s MAIDEN LANE historical romance series. This is the Duke of Kyle, Hugh Fitzroy, and street urchin/Ghost of St. Giles Alf’s story line. DUKE OF PLEASURE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty although Alf’s story has been building for several installments.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Alf and Hugh) DUKE OF PLEASURE focuses on the hunt for the notorious and secretive Lords of Chaos-a well to do group of politically appointment men whose crimes are evil and notorious. After a late night attack by a group of thugs, the Duke of Kyle-Hugh Fitzroy- hires a young street urchin whose ability to ferret out information is well known in and around the streets of London and St. Giles. Enter Alf-a young woman who by day disguises herself as a young boy but by night is the infamous masked vigilante the Ghost of St. Giles. What ensues is the building relationship between Alf and Hugh, and the search for the people who have marked Hugh Fitzroy for death.

The relationship between Hugh and Alf is slow to develop as our heroine has presented herself as a young boy for most of her life. It is only with the accidental discovery of Alf’s true self does the Duke of Kyle begin to look at Alf in a different light.
Alf is a loner; a young woman whose independence was forged at an early age but a woman whose desire for love and a family finds our heroine on the outside looking in. Hugh Fitzroy is a widower with two young boys who struggles to raise his family without the benefit of wife and mother. His attraction to Alf is visceral as the young woman calls to his lonely heart.

DUKE OF PLEASURE is a story about family and survival. The premise is a mix of mystery and intrigue; the characters are charismatic and entertaining; the romance is seductive and tangible. As a single father Hugh Fitzroy battles the demons from his past including the death of his wife, and the years he was absent from the young boy’s lives. We are introduced to Hugh’s late wife’s best friend Lady Jordan aka Iris whose story will be told next in DUKE OF DESIRE. Hoyt’s DUKE OF PLEASURE is an enchanting and spirited tale of opposites attract and second chances at love.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

 

TRC:  Hi Elizabeth and welcome back to The Reading Café. Congratulations on the release of DUKE OF PLEASURE.

Elizabeth: Thank you and thank you for inviting me back!

TRC: For anyone who does not know you, would you please tell us something about yourself?

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Elizabeth: I live in Minneapolis, have plowed my front yard under for a flower garden, drink too much coffee, and have three dogs. I think that tells most people about all they need to know about me. But in case that isn’t enough: I also write historical romance whilst two of the dogs sleep on my lap. I’ve been published ten years this fall (woo!) and, on the whole, it seems like a pretty good gig.

TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Elizabeth: When I first started out what I was reading: the romance writers of the late 1990’s/early 2000’s: Christina Dodd, Stephanie Laurens, Amanda Quick, Lisa Kleypas. Now I’m influenced more by pop culture I think. TV shows and things I hear and see on the internet. Stuff that other people are excited about. I like to take apart what makes them excited, what draws them in, and see if I can translate that to the written form.

TRC: Would you please tell us something about the DUKE OF PLEASURE?

Elizabeth: Why yes! Duke of Pleasure features reader favorite Alf, who if you’ve been following my Maiden Lane series you’ll remember as a tough boy who lives in the slums of St. Giles and makes his living by selling information. Except Alf is really a woman in disguise. And in Duke of Pleasure we find out that not only is Alf a woman, but at night she’s taken on the mantle of the Ghost of St. Giles, a masked vigilante helping the poor and downtrodden. She fights with two swords and is totally badass.

Assassins are pursuing the hero, Hugh Fitzroy, the Duke of Kyle, when the Ghost saves him. Hugh is tasked with taking down a shadowy aristocratic society and hires Alf to help him. Except Alf is attacked and wounded and then she stays at Hugh’s townhouse to recover and it starts getting hard to maintain her disguise…

TRC: What challenges or difficulties have you encountered writing and publishing your stories?

Elizabeth: In writing them, I think just the everyday stuff of getting up and getting the job done. Writing is a very solitary profession. It’s all self-motivated and it’s all self-generated. Sometimes you have to have nerves of steel.

With the publishing side I’ve been pretty lucky—I really haven’t run into any real difficulties. I mean, people keep saying that the historical is tanking…but then they’ve been saying that since before I was published and here I am, so.

TRC: How do you keep the plot(s) unpredictable without sacrificing content and believability?

Elizabeth: Ooo! Good question! I get bored easily, which is probably why no two of my books are alike. So from my end, I’m not worrying about trying to write an unpredictable plot. I just want to have an interesting character who is in a situation that challenges me as a writer. If that produces what you describe above, well, great!

TRC: Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?

Elizabeth: Yes. It’s the first thing the reader sees, especially in a physical bookstore or big box store. Obviously if the artwork can catch the reader’s eye that’s a plus. And once the reader has opened the book, than I’m confident that my writing can do the rest. 😉

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Elizabeth: I hope readers enjoy Duke of Pleasure!

TRC: Thank you Elizabeth for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the new release.

Elizabeth: Thank you!

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WICKED INTENTIONS is now FREE for a limited time!

The ebook edition of WICKED INTENTIONS, the first book in Elizabeth Hoyt’s bestselling Maiden Lane series will be FREE from November 28 through December 12! This is a great opportunity to introduce friends to the series! On December 13 the price returns to $5.99.