Duke of Midnight

Maiden Lane

By: Elizabeth Hoyt

Narrated by: Claudia Harris

Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Nominated, RT Book Reviews, Best Historical Romance, 2012

When a masked man…

Twenty years ago Maximus Batten witnessed the brutal murders of his parents. Now the autocratic Duke of Wakefield, he spends his days ruling Parliament. But by night, disguised as the Ghost of St. Giles, he prowls the grim alleys of St. Giles, ever on the hunt for the murderer. One night he finds a fiery woman who meets him toe-to-toe-and won't back down…

Meets his match…

Artemis Greaves toils as a lady's companion, but hiding beneath the plain brown serge of her dress is the heart of a huntress. When the ghost of St. Giles rescues her from footpads, she recognizes a kindred spirit-and is intrigued. She's even more intrigued when she realizes who exactly the notorious ghost is by day…

Desire ignites a dangerous passion.

Artemis makes a bold move: she demands that Maximus use his influence to free her imprisoned brother—or she will expose him as the ghost. But blackmailing a powerful duke isn't without risks. Now that she has the tiger by the tail, can she withstand his ire—or the temptation of his embrace?

©2013 Elizabeth Hoyt (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Beautifully written . . . a truly fine piece of storytelling and a novel that deserves to be read and enjoyed."—TheBookBinge.com

Not as bad as so many reviews!

I liked it. I read the book and enjoyed the characters. Do wanted to listen to audio. I didn’t think the narrator was as bad as so many reviewers said. Yes the different characters were not as good as ashford voice but overall I felt she did a good job.

Didn't want it to end!!!

Loved this book!! Every book in this series has been very good but this book was by-far the best!!

A Dangerous Passion

Artrimus & Maximus are both strong leading characters that you could empathize with. Their tragic histories collide igniting a dangerous passion.
The narration was well done. Overall, Holt has written a fitting resolution to the Ghost of St Giles. Enjoy!

Historical Batman

Duke of Midnight feels like a historical romance version of Batman. Maximus is an asshole and Artemis is his match. They push and pull, and the book is fast paced.

Finally the Duke of Wakefield meets his match!

3.5 Star

Another installment in the brilliant Maiden Lane series, this book depicts Maximus Batton, the Duke of Wakefield and Artemis Greaves, a lady's companion. We first meet Maximus in "Notorious Pleasures" as the brooding and unyielding brother of Lady Hero Batten and we first meet calm and collected Artemis Greaves in "Scandalous Desires" as the lady's companion to Lady Penelope Chadwicke. Maximus is powerful and stubborn which is a very dangerous combination. His fierce determination to avenge his parent's death along with his guilt-stricken conscience force his every move, but his encounters with Artemis chips away at what he always felt was the "right" path for a Duke. Past events have redirected Artemis' path in life and now she must ensure her survival and that of her brother by any means possible. As her brother's situation becomes desperate, she stops at nothing to save him, going as far as blackmailing a Duke.

Artemis and Maximus' personalities clash, making their "courtship" fun to watch. Maximus is so used to being in control and to have his motives and actions questioned or even being told "no" is not something he is used to. Artemis, on the other, is in a position of servitude, but that role has not taken away her wit or her fortitude and she meets him head-to-head. As always with Hoyt's stories, the romance is sweet and spicy (the Duke talks dirty in bed) with strong lead characters. I gave this book a 3.5 stars because it felt like this was a transition novel. One where the over-arching plot that was carried through several books is now resolved and a new one is being established with new characters to continue the series. I am definitely not opposed to this as I adore the Maiden Lane series, however, I just didn't feel like this book was a strong one especially with the books and characters that preceded this one.

Narration
Narrator: Claudia Harris
Performance: 3/5
I am a bit bias because I love it when the same narrator (provided it is a good narrator to start with) reads for the entire series. This is now the third narrator for this series and I remember reading somewhere that this narrator is fairly new. She did an okay job with the overall narration, but I did have a few things that I didn't enjoy while listening to this novel. The distinction between the characters' voices and thoughts were not always evident. When listening to audio books, it is very important for the reader to differentiate between dialogues, narrations, and character thoughts by means of the narrator's variation in pitch, tone, inflection, etc. There were times when I needed the context of the scene to help figure out who was speaking. Sometimes when I would imagine someone speaking it would turn out to be incorrect at the end of the scene, throwing me off. This was my only complaint, otherwise, her pace and volume was exact, her accents were good, and she was easy to understand. I just hope we don't get a new narrator for the next installment.

Not horrible, but not great

I actually ended up not liking the character of Artemis. She seemed to lack character at the critical times and made some decisions that didn't line up with the character development the author tried to create. In all, she just seemed very carnal and led by her desire for sex and nothing else.

Great addition to the Maiden Lane Series

I really loved this addition to the Maiden Lane series, and enjoyed Claudia Harris's narration as well. I am eagerly anticipating the next installment featuring Apollo. October can't come fast enough.

Meh.

There is no chemistry between the main characters. It felt awkward when they jumped into the sack together. Neither one of them was very likable, so maybe that was supposed to be what they had in common. The mystery to be solved was entertaining, but I would like to have seen the characters from past books make more of an appearance.

The narrator has a very mannered, condescending tone, like she’s better than this book (and those of us who’ve paid to hear her read it). I realize it’s not Tolstoy but sometimes a bit of literary mind candy is just the thing. I’m so glad the original narrator, Ashford McNabb, is coming back after this one.

I’ve never Archived one of this series before but didn’t like this one well enough for it to clutter up my library.

Loved this book..

Any additional comments?

Absolutely awesome!! Loved Maximus and Artemis. Loved Phoebe, Apollo and Miss Picklewood, simply because of her funny name.
The Maiden Lane series is one of the best I've ever read and I can't wait for the next.

One of the best

I loved this addition in the Maiden Lane series. I'm not finished the series yet but this is one of my favorites. Well worth the credit