The Duke of Ice

Written by Darcy Burke

Narrated by Marian Hussey

Everyone Nicholas Bateman ever loved has died. Except Violet Caulfield, which must mean he never loved her. Nine years after she threw him over to marry a viscount, Nick is a widowed duke who prefers isolation. When a friend convinces him to leave his lair of self-imposed solitude, he considers taking another wife, provided she agrees to his terms: no emotional attachment of any kind.

Now widowed, Lady Violet Pendleton hopes for a second chance with the man she’s always loved. But she isn’t prepared for the desolation in his soul or the animosity he still bears toward her. Despite those obstacles, it’s clear their passion hasn’t dimmed. However, the heat between them isn’t enough to melt the Duke of Ice, and this time Violet may find herself the jilted party. Can love, once so tragically lost, finally be found?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Darcy Burke Publishing
• Release date: May 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9781094223742

Darcy Burke

Darcy Burke is the USA Today bestselling author of hot, action-packed historical and sexy, emotional, contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age eleven, a happily-ever-after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan that loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations. A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, their two hilarious kids who seem to have inherited the writing gene, and three Bengal cats. In her “spare” time, Darcy is a serial volunteer enrolled in a twelve-step program where one learns to say “no,” but she keeps having to start over. She’s also a fair-weather runner, and her happy places are Disneyland and Labor Day weekend at the Gorge.

Reviews for The Duke of Ice

[sheila · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable story but hero dithered around too much. A brooding Duke to the extreme. Wonderful ending so it was worth the tension.

[sarinhamac48 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Oh no... how disappointing!

I'd really liked this author's style & she unfortunately fell into that overly angsty trope, which I'm really not a fan of!

I wasn't overly enthused from the start as Nick is a ridiculously despondent character, full of doom & gloom & if I'd heard anything more about that imagined curse, I probably would've stopped reading!

The only real highlight for me was Simon, my heart kept breaking for him & I'd read the synopsis of his book as I was more invested in him than Nick so knew he was gonna get together with Diana, but considering the way it was left from this book, I no longer like her, so I'm not hopeful.

I also really despised that the author kept throwing Nick & Diana together more often than not & for a grown man to make the choices he did when his "beloved" was on her sickbed makes him worthless

& that ending was NOT romantic... AT ALL! He's toxic AF!

[Julia · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The 1 star rating in this case is about the recording - this audiobook is a total mess! There are parts of chapters missing, I can’t even tell whether what is actually there is in order or not and instead of the announced 21 chapters the epilogue was chapter 17. I loved all the previous volumes and hope this one will be fixed so it’s actually enjoyable - which I have no doubt it will be if read unabridged and in the right order !

[Jane Engelhardt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a totally great series. I really like all the characters. This was better than a couple before it. I was totally swept up in it and am going right to the next one.

[claire · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it. Nicholas reminded me of Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice in the beginning, at the house party. He was so short and abrupt, he made me laugh with his comments to the young ladies, like,.... Go into the shallow, you're out of your dept.... ?? He was hilarious.
Violet was a strong lovely woman. Loved both main characters.
The narrator as always was brilliant.
Now on to the next one, Simon's story, The Duke of Ruin.

[sharon dean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Throughly enjoyed this book . I like the way the author puts items of health mental health etc into the stories.

[UchennaEzeh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a nice story. I did look forward to it and maybe my expectations were too high. Still I enjoyed it. I kept feeling like both dukes should marry each other already. Their bond seemed so strong