The Tattooed Duke

By Maya Rodale

“Tantalizing passion…certain to delight.”
—Publishers Weekly

Maya Rodale’s wonderfully witty Writing Girls series is a winner!  Her third delectable love story to feature a plucky Regency heroine with a pen, The Tattooed Duke follows a scandal sheet reporter posing as a common housemaid in order to uncover whatever nasty little skeletons an adventure-seeking Duke may be hiding in his closets—only to fall in passionate love with the nobleman whose secrets she’s been exposing to the world! The Tattooed Duke is deliciously fun historical romance fiction in the vein of Laura Lee Guhrke and Suzanne Enoch, and no true romance fan will want to write it off!

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9780062088932

Maya Rodale

Maya Rodale began reading romance novels in college at her mother's insistence. She is now the bestselling and award-winning author of smart and sassy romances. She lives in New York City with her darling dog and a rogue of her own.

Reviews for The Tattooed Duke

[addictofromance · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I first found the whole series at the library, I wasn't sure if I should grab all of them, wondering if I would regret it later, however I am so thrilled I did now. I do love it when I get a chance to read a series in order, especially a series I am truly have a jolly time reading. Now the first one I liked quite a bit, the second one, wasn't as good as the first one, but was still a enjoyable read. So when I started reading the Tattooed Duke, I was nervous, hoping I would at least like it more than the second one. I am proud to say that this one, is my favorite of the series so far. There were quite a few of complex issues that played a part in the story.It starts off with Eliza seeing the Duke return at the Docks of all places, when he first steps on England soil. From this moment, we see a instant attraction that Eliza feels for Sebastian. She knows he is the way by which she will be able to continue her career, as one of the writing girls. With Mr. Knightly having giving her this only chance, before firing her, she knows she must do everything she can to save what she has worked years to accomplish. When she dresses and poses as a housemaid, she never thought that she would be in such close proximity to Sebastian, or to find herself being slowly seduced. Sebastian we see is not the usual Duke type. He has a craving for adventure and he could care less about balls or what the Ton may think of him. All he wants is to find the one place he has devoted all his time and effort into finding. When he is labeled the "Tattooed Duke" and certain details of his life are revealed to everyone in England, and he knows it would be near impossible to find a respectable woman to marry him. He also has another problem on his hands....his servant, a mere maid, has all of his attention and he finds himself falling hard for her, even knowing they could never share a future together.I found Eliza to be independent, strong willed and feisty to the bitter end. In the beginning we see her determined to write the Duke's secrets, but then we see her start to become real and full of emotion when she starts to fall in love. Eliza is the type of heroine that you can't help but love through the bad and the good, I really liked her quite a bit. She resembled the "contemporary" type of women, as she seeks to support herself, she does have a vulnerability when it comes to falling in love. Then we really start to see her true character, and I found myself to be admiring Eliza as a character. Sebastian is sexy, with his tattoo, his thirst for adventure and his attitude toward society. I found him to be a breath of fresh air, considering he is far different from most Regency hero types. There is plenty of conflict, especially once the secret is out, we really see some action, and I loved the villains that play a part in this book, it only added a more of a intense aspect to the plot. Even though the ending seemed a bit rushed, I found that was the only aspect I had a issue with.I found The Tattooed Duke to be full of everything you need for a sound romance. A sure keeper for any one's shelf that keeps you interested from beginning to end. This installment in the Writing Girls series is by far my favorite so far. I just adored the bantering between Sebastian and Eliza. I found it be so entertaining, and the type of book that is a hard to put down. I found this one, to be highly amusing and stimulating at times. There was also a mysterious element (that deals with Eliza's past) that only intensifies the emotions that are played out. A Fully Satisfying romance from beginning to end that will win your heart!

[alyslinn-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A good book; I liked the action and the twists. I appreciate an out of the ordinary story (I can't recall any other stories with tattooed dukes and writers-turned-housemaids). It was definitely worth reading (typos aside).

[moriahjovan_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Good parts:

* interesting premise
* lovely descriptions of hero (that NEVER happens for me)

Bad parts:

* repetition, repetition, repetition
* faulty logic
* lack of observational and deduction skills

Look, when there are exactly four people in your hero's household: the one who's sailed with the hero forever and has simply taken up residence, one footman who's briefly mentioned, a nympho maid who's tupping the briefly mentioned footman, and the lush of a housekeeper who's been there all 20 drunken years--but he doesn't suspect the NEW MAID, who, by the way, is the only one who can be hired because nobody wants to work for him, of being the one to be behind his sudden popularity in the gossip columns, you have an insurmountable plot hole.

When your heroine is infiltrating a household and she's supposed to be an illiterate city girl with a consumptive mother, she should probably not 1) use her real name, 2) actually admit she's a playwright's daughter, 3) be escorted back to the hero's home by the newspaper editor and his bodyguard (both of whom the hero has already met), 4) have an editor who requires her to break her cover and come in for meetings inconvenient to the household's schedule, and 5) READ to the aforementioned staff for their entertainment.

The hero's supposed to be an adventurer who collected specimens and wrote journals and such on his travels a la Dr. Stephen Maturin, and craves scientific recognition so he can finance an expedition to Timbuktu. Such a person probably should be more observant of the world around him, but apparently his dick does all the observing and all his dick observes is the heroine's eyes and ass. Very strange.

The heroine's supposed to be a crack investigative journalist, who can go undercover where men can't because she's a woman. She is also the daughter of a playwright and supposedly grew up in a theater learning how to act. And yet...her cover is thin to nonexistent, she can't act her way out of a paper bag, and she has no idea how to sneak around. A 7-year-old boy has better sneakery skills than she does.

The prose was mediocre, but then Avon's not exactly known for sparkle, so I wasn't expecting brilliance here. There were too many typos for a NY published book. Major points were repeated. Repeatedly. And once more, with feeling.

But I finally DNF'd in sheer frustration at the Swiss cheese of a plot caused solely by the characters' ineptitude doing things at which they were supposed to be skilled.