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Book Review of The Duke's Perfect Wife (Highland Pleasures, Bk 4)

The Duke's Perfect Wife (Highland Pleasures, Bk 4)
reviewed on + 503 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2


A satisfying if not particularly shocking ending to the Mackenzie saga (the series continues with Ainsley's brothers in the lead).

Hart has always been a character who was too overbearing, too angry, too deeply wounded to really get to know him. We've learned over the previous three books how very deeply he loves his brothers and that he has some dark secrets. He's that kind of enigmatic hero that is like catnip to romance enthusaists. But we have also been told that he's been involved in some rather deviant sexual perversions in the past.

The dance of getting Hart and Eleanor back together was a bit slow and the reasons, especially on his side, rang a bit false. On the one hand he wants to protect Eleanor from his inner sexual darkness, on the other hand he explains how it isn't really all that perverted. Furthermore nothing he ever does or says to to Eleanor seems particularly dark. It was difficult to tell if Jennifer Ashley just needed to dance around the subject to satisfy her publisher or if perhaps in her mind having sex while looking in a mirror is very "dangerous" and kinky. Ultimately, resolving Hart's mysterious past wasn't as revelatory or as scandalous as the build-up would have led us to believe.

Having loved this entire series, this was probably the weak spot in the lot, but certainly worth the read. Jennifer Ashley keeps all her characters unique and Hart and Eleanor were an interesting couple. We also spent a lot of time with Ian, Beth, and the other Mackenzies.