Publisher's Weekly Review
In the enjoyable second Sin for All Seasons novel (after Beyond Scandal and Desire), Heath explores Victorian class and wealth disparities. Fiercely independent tavern owner Gillie Trewlove doesn't hesitate to save a man who's mugged by a young gang. She doesn't recognize the handsome stranger as Antony Coventry, Duke of Thornley, who was searching the poverty-stricken and dangerous Whitechapel area of London for his no-show bride. Having been raised in Whitechapel alongside her four adoptive brothers, Gillie agrees to help Thorne find his fiancée and ensure her safety. Unfeminine Gillie is surprised and pleased that Thorne finds her attractive, but they both know their different social stations will prevent them from having more than a heated affair. Gillie's sweet and successful brothers try to protect her from scandal, and deserve their matches in future books. This is a believable and winning romance between two people who don't know how much they need love. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
In the second novel in the Sins for All Seasons series, a duke looking for his runaway bride stumbles into the path of a Whitechapel businesswoman and finds himself rethinking his arranged marriage.In a scene reminiscent of Lisa Kleypas' beloved Dreaming of You, this Victorian romance by Heath (Beyond Scandal and Desire, 2018, etc.) begins with Antony "Thorne" Coventry being rescued from a mugging in the London slums by Gillie Trewlove. A tavern owner with a heart of gold and illegitimate parentage, she nurses the stranger back to health in her apartment. The reader is told that her solicitousness is partly due to her attraction to his naked (mostly unconscious) self, and he returns her feelings in between bouts of passing out. After a few discomfiting passages about this insta-lust and at least two in which the sole action consists of Gillie being startled by any move Thorne makes, it's a relief when he recovers and leaves. The plot is then padded by his decision to return to Whitechapel, which Gillie knows better than he does, and hire his new object of desire to locate his absconding fianceas one does. The nunlike, independent, workaholic Gillie, who has every reason to be wary of upper-class men, agrees to this scheme because she finds him inexplicably fascinating. Yet it's hard to like Thorne, who is not a rake but somehow shoddiera good guy who is nevertheless more interested in sex than in thinking about its consequences for a single, working woman. Gillie, written as a gruff do-gooder, is more interesting at the beginning than after she gets involved with this bland romance-novel aristocrat. Nonetheless, the story might please fans of the "London slum" subset of historical romance, of which Elizabeth Hoyt's Wicked Intentions is a notable example.A tale that initially seems poised to challenge Cinderella conventions but fails to fulfill that promise, as if it wanted a claim to progressive politics but could not imagine a real alternative to gilded-cage tradition. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gillian Gillie Trewlove is starting to think that the old adage about no good deed going unpunished just might be true. When she steps in and saves a stranger from being robbed outside her tavern in Whitechapel, she thinks she has done her part as a Good Samaritan. However, the badly injured bloke needs some place to recover, and Gillie's bed seems to be the best option. Now, as if keeping her four overprotective brothers from finding out she has a man in her bed isn't trouble enough, Gillie is shocked to discover her new sexy-as-sin patient is none other than Anthony Coventry, Duke of Thornley. Is it too late for Gillie to just toss Thorne back into the alley? No one does simmering sexual chemistry better than Heath, and When a Duke Loves a Woman, the latest in her Victorian-set Sins for All Seasons series, is another triumph of lush sensuality and emotional intensity, all beautifully packaged in Heath's graceful writing.--John Charles Copyright 2018 Booklist
Library Journal Review
No one wishes to be left at the altar, especially not when one is a duke. Antony Coventry, Duke of Thornley, finds that his betrothed, Lady Lavinia Kent, has escaped the church and run off to London's benighted Whitechapel area. He goes after her and, now a bit drunk, falls prey to thugs, who steal his heirloom watch and stab him several times before someone scares them off. Having been left on Ettie Trewlove's doorstep 30 years earlier and raised with "siblings" similarly cast out, tavern owner Gillie Trewlove is a survivor. She loves her life as an independent businesswoman and doesn't crave society's notice or approval. She tends to Thorne until he can travel, never knowing his true identity. Later, he returns to the tavern in full duke mode, asking Gillie to help him find his runaway bride. VERDICT This second title in Heath's series (after Beyond Scandal and Desire) sees another Trewlove orphan match wits with the ton and come out on top. The author makes a predictable plot choice near the end, but overall the story succeeds owing to her well-developed protagonists, who connect through mutual fascination and respect. For most romance collections.-Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
