The Duke

Starred review from December 19, 2016
Byrne’s fourth Victorian Rebels novel (after The Highlander), set in late 19th-century England, overflows with passion and mystery as one woman tries to keep her past hidden. Imogen Pritchard works as a nurse by day and a barmaid at night. Despite her protestations, the owner of the bar prostitutes her to the Duke of Trenwyth, Collin Talmage, for a large sum. When the battle-scarred duke is her patient a year later, he fails to recognize her; when Imogen marries an elderly peer and he leaves her a wealthy widow, the duke (who is now her neighbor) only sees the deplorable stream of poor and needy people she invites into her home. But when he learns that someone has threatened Imogen, Collin feels obligated to protect her. He is surprised by his increasing interest in her given his initial dislike. As his attraction and admiration grow, Imogen tries to keep him at arm’s length, even though she has never forgotten the night they spent together and wishes there could be another. Byrne’s complex characterizations make her characters believable and real in this page-turning novel full of historical details and sensuous romance. Agent: Christine Witthohn, Book Cents.

Starred review from January 15, 2017
Imogen Pritchard keeps crossing paths with Cole Talmage, Duke of Trenwyth. Will time and mistaken identity keep them apart?To pay off her father's gambling debts, Imogen does double duty as a nurse by day and a serving maid in a brothel, where she's called Ginny, by night. After Cole's entire family dies in a train accident, he comes to The Bare Kitten seeking solace. Not satisfied by any of the girls for hire, Cole pays a steep price for Ginny's virginity and they spend a perfect night together. Flash forward to a year later when Cole is returning from a military assignment. He's admitted with typhus to the hospital where Imogen is a nurse. Luckily, she's assigned to his service and realizes that he's been misdiagnosed and is suffering from septicemia. Because she's a woman, no one believes her, and she's forced to work in secret with a new, young doctor to treat Cole. In pain and anesthetized, Cole doesn't recognize his former lover, and she's summarily fired from the hospital for insubordination. Flashing further forward, Cole is healed and living next door to Imogen (whom he still doesn't recognize as Ginny) after she marries a rich, older earl who dies and makes a wealthy widow of her. Time and circumstance have left the former lovers greatly changed, though. Imogen, free to paint and make a safe home for her family, is also inspired to help women who find themselves in the same dire circumstances she overcame. Cole's trauma has hardened him, however. He searches desperately for the one piece of his past that makes him feel human--Ginny--not recognizing her as his neighbor. This sexy romp has it all--a mystery, a feminist heroine worth rooting for, and moments of heat so intense they might need a nurse.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.