Daring and the Duke

The Bareknuckle Bastards, Book 3

By: Sarah MacLean

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times best-selling author Sarah MacLean returns with the much-anticipated final book in her Bareknuckle Bastards series, featuring a scoundrel duke and the powerful woman who brings him to his knees.

Grace Condry has spent a lifetime running from her past. Betrayed as a child by her only love and raised on the streets, she now hides in plain sight as queen of London’s darkest corners. Grace has a sharp mind and a powerful right hook and has never met an enemy she could not best...until the man she once loved returns. 

Single-minded and ruthless, Ewan, Duke of Marwick, has spent a decade searching for the woman he never stopped loving. A long-ago gamble may have lost her forever, but Ewan will go to any lengths to win Grace back...and make her his duchess. 

Reconciliation is the last thing Grace desires. Unable to forgive the past, she vows to take her revenge. But revenge requires keeping Ewan close, and soon her enemy seems to be something else altogether - something she can’t resist, even as he threatens the world she's built, the life she's claimed...and the heart she swore he'd never steal again. 

©2020 Sarah MacLean (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Worth the Wait

Goodness, it's been a long six months waiting for Daring and the Duke, but it is certainly worth the wait. I venture an audacious claim. Grace is the strongest heroine ever written. Stronger than even our beloved heroines of classic literature. For she is physically powerful as well as strong of character. With Daring and the Duke, Maclean has outdone even her talented self. The depth of characterization, the purpose behind the actions, the tie-in to the two brilliant previous novels result in a magnificent work that is not only highly enjoyable, it is admirable. And if there is any justice in this crazy world of ours that seems to lack that quality, Sarah Maclean will receive the awards and accolades that this brilliant series deserves, that she deserves. You don't have to read Wicked and the Wallflower and Brazen and the Beast to enjoy Daring and the Duke, but you will be cheating yourself if you don't. Thank you to the ever talented, Justine Eyre who gives the Bareknuckle Bastards their voice, and she does it so magnificently. I'm in awe of how the men of the series are so convincing, without any affectations that would distract the listener. The change from female speakers to male is so subtle yet so believable. I am always happy to see her name when I am shopping for my next listen.

Great Story

Could not stop listening to the book. Loved Ewan and Grace's story it is my favorite of the series.

Great series!

This series "The Bareknuckle Bastards" was really good. Ms. MacLean kept the same narrator, Justine Eyre for all 3 of the audiobooks. She of course was wonderful to listen too.
I do wish Sarah MacLean's audiobooks were in the new catalog or Escape. Her books are pricey but well worth it. I definitely recommend this series. Enjoy!😄

Did not Finish

it was not a terrible story but it was not for me.
There are not many novels that I do not finish even if I do not like them. I like closure. however, I could not find the will to finish this one. I am not sure how much is the storyline and how much the narration, since I did not like either.
I did not like the narration at all. It was bugging me from the beginning until about 75% into the story that I could not tolerate it anymore.
It was not only the narration though. It seems nothing happens in the story beside mentioning for 100 times how horrible Ian was. the story has a lot of holes with no real twist, challenge, character development, or any other thing that makes a story interesting.

This book was a bit disappointing

The first two books were so much better. I loved them! This one, not so much. The storyline was just dragging and so anticlimactic.

Enjoyed Bastard Number 3

As always Sarah MacLean books are well worrh the wait! I enjoyed the 1st. and 2nd in series slightly more, but Grace and Ewan are a good. HEA to the series!
always enjoy listening to Justine Eyre!

Good ending

A very nice ending for the series. It was great to see the final explanations of everything and the transformation of Ewan. Also I do love that all three of the Garden Bareknuckle Bastards are featured, to some degree, in all three stories.

My only complaint is that Sarah Maclean can get a bit wordy. I don't think you need to repeat the same plot points so often within the same book. I understand the repeating from book to book, however, it isn't necessary from chapter to chapter.

Lots of inner thoughts between dialogue can make the conversation hard to follow.

Over all a good series and I do recommend.

Horrible storyline, don’t waste your time or money on this

The plot is sadistic, dark and violent. Shouldn’t be listed among romance genre. There is graphic language “Tell me what you want” followed by lewd disgusting sex talk. Fell asleep listening to the first few pages where the revenge plot started, then shut the recording down as it crossed over the R rated line.

Strong heroine

I'm not sure how to rate this book. It's a great book, but after reading the description, I thought it was going to be an enemies to lovers- you know, the ones with back and forth banter, heated emotions, and an epic grovel. This book isn't that though. It's a story about a lost love you can’t move on from, and the pain that comes with hiding and uncovering secrets. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had realized what I was walking in to… I wanted a build up of passion, but the passion was already there, just suppressed. I love Sarah MacLean and the writing is great! It's just not what I was expecting.

It does have a strong heroine, which I LOVE! She created her own 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮, kicks butt and knows what she deserves; she just can't get past her childhood love. The 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 spends the book trying to earn her love back after doing some pretty awful things in his grief. But sadly, I didn't feel the passion until closer to the end of the book. This is just my opinion of course, the book has great reviews!

The narration was good too. Not my favorite, but enjoyable. I would happily listen to more books narrated by Eyre.

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!

....what more can I say to the last bk in this series, but AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!! GREAT ENDING! AWESOME!!!!