Book Review: Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt

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Want to know if Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt is worth the read? Here’s my full review to help you decide

Duke of Sin Info

Author: Elizabeth Hoyt

Published: 31 May 2016

Rating: 5/5

Where to buy Duke of Sin

Amazon | Kinokuniya

Duke of Sin Summary

A MAN OF SIN

Devastatingly handsome. Vain. Unscrupulous. Valentine Napier, the Duke of Montgomery, is the man London whispers about in boudoirs and back alleys. A notorious rake and blackmailer, Montgomery has returned from exile, intent on seeking revenge on those who have wronged him. But what he finds in his own bedroom may lay waste to all his plans.

A WOMAN OF HONOR

Born a bastard, housekeeper Bridget Crumb is clever, bold, and fiercely loyal. When her aristocratic mother becomes the target of extortion, Bridget joins the Duke of Montgomery’s household to search for the incriminating evidence-and uncovers something far more dangerous.

A SECRET THAT THREATENS TO DESTROY THEM BOTH

Astonished by the deceptively prim-and surprisingly witty-domestic spy in his chambers, Montgomery is intrigued. And try as she might, Bridget can’t resist the slyly charming duke. Now as the two begin their treacherous game of cat and mouse, they soon realize that they both have secrets—and neither may be as nefarious—or as innocent—as they appear . . .

Duke of Sin Review

I love Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt! I am completely obsessed with Valentine Napier, Duke of Montgomery.

The plot of Duke of Sin is quite simple but it wasn’t the plot that got me hooked on this book, it was the characters especially the conversations that happen between our protagonists; Valentine Napier, Duke of Montgomery and Bridget Crumb, his housekeeper.

I have to say I may have loved Duke of Sin because I have been reading a lot of manhwa and manga and I do mean A LOT. It’s borderline excessive at this rate so reading how ridiculous and over the top Valentine was, it wasn’t weird for me. 

It didn’t feel like a caricature of a character, I mean have you read manhwa characters? 

On the other hand, it made me love Valentine more, especially since he is such a villain. Valentine truly doesn’t feel remorse nor understands it. This is so refreshing because it makes the character such a fun read.

Yes, his childhood being terrible causing him to turn into a villain was terrible but it also shows that traumatic childhood does leave an impact and sometimes said impact may leave you irreversibly damaged and have a skewed sense of morality.

Because we are so used to reading hero’s who have an abusive childhood grow up to be brooding and quiet men so to have Valentine have the same abusive childhood be the absolute opposite was such a delight to read.

Valentine is so flamboyant, openly flirtatious and so full of life that you can’t help but be interested in him as a character. There was a part in the book where Valentine found out his sister is getting married and he was obviously angry as she is the sister of a Duke and is marrying a commoner but his anger was soon replaced by utter disgust at the color of the dress his sister chose for one of his house parties.

“Blues… We look good in shades of blue”

Not to mention, Valentine is such a fun villain. He really does read like a manhwa character. There were so many scenes in the book that made me laugh out loud due to how blunt and inappropriate Valentine was.

This was him asking Bridget why she always wore her cap,

“Do you ever take that thing off your head? Are you bald? I’ve been wondering…”

Also, it doesn’t help my bias after knowing that Valentine Napier was inspired by the God of Mischief, Loki and my favorite rendition of the Norse god is obviously Marvel’s Loki due to Tom Hiddleston’s portrayal.

So, when Valentine does his manipulations and him being half-crazed half-logical makes absolute sense to me because I imagine Loki to be that way. I imagine it to be akin to these characters (Loki and Valentine) wanting what they want and doing whatever they feel like doing and if people get hurt whilst they are achieving their goal, as long as they don’t die it will be fine. 

Bridget was also such a fun character to read because she was the perfect foil to Valentine. She was calm and logical and knew that Valentine just loves to shock and tease people and that if you don’t fall for the bait, he will get bored and move on.

Another aspect that I liked about Bridget was the fact that she wasn’t a virgin and her first time wasn’t some earth shattering experience. It was just a normal sexual encounter with a man she thought she loved and wanted to have a future with. I liked it because not every first sexual encounter is going to be swoon worthy and it’s a nice change.

As you can see I love Valentine Napier and I was worried his character would change due to the power of love but thank god he was just as depraved and crazy towards the end of the book. The man kidnapped Hippolyta Royal for shits and giggles all because she refused to marry him and since his blackmail tactic didn’t work, no fucks were given and instead he just went ahead kidnapping the woman.

Truly if you imagine how it would play out in a manhwa situation, it is really funny which is probably why I didn’t bat an eye when Valentine didn’t get any repercussions from his murdering ways. 

Plus, he is a Duke and the man he murdered was a commoner he would have gotten off scot free anyway.

I think that is all I have to say about the Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt. I loved the characters so much, the plot was nonexistent for me. 

If you enjoyed my review of Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt then you might enjoy my other reviews

Book Review: When A Rogue Meets His Match by Elizabeth Hoyt

Book Review: The Vixen by Christi Caldwell

Book Review: Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt