AAR

[jaime]

I was kind of disappointed that Ashley - though I expected it if I am honest - totally white-washed Hart's sexuality and made him wishy-washy. Those who have read the earlier books in the series know that Hart had some hardcore sexual kinks and none of that was acknowledged in his book.

[Kristie(J)]

[Eliza]

"Wishy-washy" and "Hart Mackenzie" are words I just don't see fitting together into the same sentence at any time, any place.

As for the "dark desires" that keeps coming up, I thought it was as much or more about his overall nature--domineering, controlling, anger/fury, manipulation, harsh actions and words--you name it--and above all the over-arching theme about the cruel father and Hart's inner fears and shame.

I think this is supported by the main wrap-up to Hart's darkness--as the driving force in many aspects of his life--in what happened to him in London at the end, and neatly underscored by the scene with his father's portrait at home in Scotland.

The closing love scenes also reflected darkness as about fear and trust, and not only sexual gymnastics. Yes, sex is a potent part of being Hart Mackenzie' certainly, but just a part since it was another area he used his power and controlling personality.

That's my take anyway.

[dick]

I quit reading this book after the first three or four chapters, primarily because the number of characters introduced with no explanation for their actions made me think there must be a prequel. Right now, I don't know whether I'll obtain the prequel and try the book again, because the confused frustration irritated me greatly.

[xina]

[PWNN]

If Ashley didn't plan on carrying through on Hart's darker sexual psyche then she shouldn't have introduced it in the first place. It's not as if the first book wasn't screaming sequel bait with all the brothers, so she knew from the start she'd be writing a book about Hart. That darkness was part of why many wondered how she was going to successfully make Hart a hero and what kind of woman would he be paired with etc. I think skipping or glancing over it makes Hart's earlier sexual characterization come off more like a gimmick or hook than any true part of his character or storyline. Ooh ooh he's dark, tortured and sexually out there ending in eh not so much.
_________________
"My safe word is monkey"

[Eliza]

[jaime]

[Nicole]

[MEK]

I liked Eleanor very much. I also liked the book, but I think my expectations were so high, that it was hard for me to just settle down and enjoy it for what it was. I'll probably appreciate it more the second time I read it. I was happy for Hart and El, but this book did not grab me and keep me riveted.
Still, a great series I've enjoyed.

[Eliza]

I changed my mind and started re-reading Lord Ian's book. In the opening chapters of this first book, all four brothers are mentioned as mad, bad, and dangerous to know, having scandalous pasts and providing an abundance of fodder for the gossip pages. You're told very early on that Ian was in an asylum, Mac and Isabella had a scandalous breakup, Cam was attacked by his wife with a knife, and Hart was a powerhouse with an ex-fiance and a wife and son who had died.

Then, not too long after Ian's initial scene, Cam shows up, followed by Mac some chapters later. Hart gets a short scene mid-book emphasizing his controlling nature, in this instance relating to the woman Ian is involved with, which he learns from the gossip pages.

My point? Book 1 starts out similarly to book 4 with the brothers all with histories that affect current events. So the reader is placed smack in the middle of Mackenzie lives right from the start. The individual books are about each brother's love story, one per book, with the other brothers still somewhere usually around. And notice the emphasis on gossip pages.

I'm going to keep reading because now I'm curious to revisit the high expectations for Hart being kinky, even though I'm on the same page as Xina:

[D Rogers]

I just finished it (literally), and of the four books, I like this one second to Ian's. I don't see the love story so much between Hart and Eleanor but between Hart and Ian (not romantically, obviously, but in terms of ties between two people).

I can't really see it as a stand-alone book, any more than I can see Lisa Kleypas's Hathaway series (I mean, the whole reason I read any one of the books was to find out what happens to the whole family) or Mary Balough's Huxtable series. Some of the books I liked and some of the books I didn't, but I felt that something was being resolved, so even though, say, I wasn't interested that much in Cameron as a character, I read his book to move the story along.

I sort of liked the way the connection between Hart and Eleanor and Hart and his brothers was revealed thoughout the book (that is, the plot). It kept me reading, but as I said I was interested mostly in the relationship between Hart and Ian. That may seem strange, but people read books because they like the people in them, and I liked Ian and Beth and Hart because of his protectiveness of Ian, so I guess I read the books mostly for more of those particular characters. I see she is starting a new related series, and I will probably read that series because of those characters, too. There have been series that dropped my favorite characters, so I just stopped following the series.

I won't offer a grade of the book, as I don't find them particularly helpful. I've read a lot of "A" romances from the list that I thought were just formulaic crap, and I've read C or D ones that I enjoyed quite a lot. I can just say that I liked the book and that I would recommend it to people who had liked the first book. It's the middle books that I think one could skip (though I did like Mac's book).

Denise

[stl_reader]

Just finished this last night. B-, I guess.

I felt that a great deal of the story involved Hart's brothers and sisters-in-law; they were not just a peripheral part of the book. If I had not read the previous Mackenzie books, I'd have been really confused! For $8, I agree that this book should have been clearly labeled as Book 4 of a series, or it should have been written in a more "standalone" manner.

Like a few other posters, I was disappointed--but not surprised--that the exploration of Hart's sexual kinkiness wasn't a larger part of the story line, and that what we did see of it was very watered down. In fact, it was so watered down that I only have Hart's (and a few others') word that he did dark, evil things in bed. I feel like the author really teased us in the previous MacKenzie books--hinting repeatedly at Hart's dark sexual practices--only to fail to deliver to develop that story line in this last book.

While I wanted to see more exploration and growth (sexual and otherwise) regarding the H/h's relationship,that aspect seemed to take a back seat to the external events that moved the story forward (assassination attempts, the nude photo mystery, etc.). The focus on external events, and on the Hart/Ian relationship, kept me turning the page all right--not a bad thing!--but left me unsatisfied with the romance in the end.

[TerryS]

I’ve read all four of the Mackenzie books, and none of the last three lived up to the promise of the first book in the series.

It’s not that I didn’t like Hart. It’s not that I didn’t like Eleanor. But I felt Hart’s ongoing effort to keep his distance from Eleanor, particularly when we know he intends to marry her, was a lot of annoying noise. You know you are not fully engaged in a book when you see on your ereader that you have read only 23 % of the book, and instead of feeling delighted that you have all those wonderful pages yet to read, you groan.

What did work for me, and what kept me turning the pages, was the relationship between Ian and Hart. Their scenes were some of the most touching I have ever read. Though I read the book for the romance, I wish even more time had been devoted to Ian and Hart.

Hart is a dark brooding hero that could have been so much more and deserved a better story. However, with the creation of Ian Mackenzie, the author not only gave us a wonderfully unique hero, but from the beginning of the series to the end, she kept him true to his character yet allowed us to see him bloom. And that was what made “The Duke’s Perfect Wife,” worth my effort and time.

[LordRose]

I just read this book, and like many others, while it was pretty good, I didn't particularly like it all that much. I have read the rest of the books in the series, and so I wasn't actually missing anything, but there were quite a few things that annoyed me.

1. If their great-grandfather fought at Culloden, seemingly on the side of Bonny Prince Charlie, why weren't their titles revoked? (And if this is the #1 thing bothering me, there is certainly a problem. For a real life Mackenzie who forfeited his titles, see the Earl of Cromartie.) I also remember at some point earlier in the series it said he was the second highest ranking duke, which, if his title's Scottish, just isn't possible, since all English dukes automatically outrank all Scottish dukes, regardless of date of creation.

2. Eleanor's reason for jilting him just... Seemed a bit lacking to me. Especially since she had already given her virginity to him. Properly brought up girls didn't jilt fiances they'd slept with for just about any reason. (Granted, she may not have had a precisely conventional upbringing, but still.) And her reasons she gave for jilting him seemed somewhat vague.

3. She talked to much. I dislike chattering heroines, even if they are nervous, and while this got better over the course of the book, it still bothered me.

4. When Hart was going over the "Acts" of his life. Especially when it went over their first time having sex, it seemed kind of pointless. I got the point already, and it just distracted from the main story line.

5. The nonexistence of courtesy titles. Hart's eldest son should have a title, and not be Lord whatever. All dukes have subsidiary titles, and the eldest son uses. So the son (and Hart, while his father was still alive) should have been Marquess (or Earl or Viscount) something or other.

I didn't actually have much of a problem with the glossing over of Hart's "dark desires", except that the book just kept. Mentioning. Them.

Looking at my list of complaints, they really seem rather trivial, but they all contributed their own share of frustration. And so in conclusion, I didn't like the book all that much.