Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt

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 . . .

Sigh! I really, really wanted to like this but it's a no go. The only thing I liked was the writing (Hoyt writes relatively well) and Briget (in the beggining. Towards the end she acted inexplicably.)
Why the novel didn't work for me:

1. I found Val a very unlikable hero. Heck, if he existed in real life, I would've run the fuck away. He's a very damaged individual; he's a narcissistic psychopath, plain and simple. And I generally don't find psychopaths romantic. He slit a man's throat in front of Brigette and then kissed her while covered in the man's blood. He killed his pet cat when he was a kid because he didn't want his dad to kill it first. He kidnaps and blackmails people on a regular basis because he is a) bored b) wants power. Sure he's charming and ‘funny', but so was Ted Bundy. And I sure wouldn't date Ted Bundy.

2. Brigette lost her marbles halfway through the book. From wanting to stop Val's machinations to, sure, let's have lotsa sex. All I have to do is tell you what's right and wrong to keep you on the straight and narrow. The magical vagina has thus “purified” our wayward hero. NOT.

3. As a result, I felt absolutely no chemistry between them because I don't understand WHY an “honourable woman” like Brigete would want to shack up with a murderous, manipulative bastard like Val.

4. The “we should excuse Val's behaviour because he had a fucked up childhood” trope just doesn't work with me. We shouldn't excuse a character's bad behaviour and evil actions because he had a terrible childhood. I'd like to read stories of people overcoming said nasty childhoods, not using that as an excuse for their behaviour. “Mummy and Daddy were mean to me so I'm mean to others too. Waah.” Puhlease.

5. His constant reminders to us that he's twisted, damaged, evil is tiresome. Who talks like that about themselves in real life??

6. WTF is Val doing with the Lords of Chaos at the tail end of the novel? It demonstrates that he remains unchanged and is as narcisstic, sociopathic and self-centred as he ever was in the beginning of the book. No character growth = bad storytelling.

I soldiered on for 10 books in the Maiden Lane series. Most have been MEH reads for me (except Vol.8 which I loved), but this book is tempting me to give up on the entire series - even if there's only two books left to the series.