The Last Wicked Scoundrel written by Lorraine Heath
Publisher Avon Impulse
Publication Date: January 7th 2014
Series: Scoundrels of St. James #5
Pages: 176
ISBN: 0062317156
Rating:
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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lorraine Heath brings us the eagerly awaited final story in the Scoundrels of St. James series.
William Graves is the last of Feagan's scoundrels. A onetime grave robber turned royal physician, he has devoted his life to saving others—because he knows there is no way to save himself. Especially not around a lady like Winnie. Though undeserving of her touch, he cannot resist. His passion cannot be tamed…even in the face of certain danger.
Winnie, the Duchess of Avendale, never knew peace until her brutal husband died. With William she's discovered burning desire—and the healing power of love. But now, confronted by the past she thought she'd left behind, Winnie must face her fears…or risk losing the one man who can fulfill all her dreams.
Finally, we read about Dr. Graves and the true reason he became fascinated with being a physician. This novella is a short and sweet story about Dr. William Graves and Winnifred, the Duchess of Avendale who we meet in In Bed with the Devil (Scoundrels of St. James #1). She is Catherine Mabry’s friend who was abused by her husband, the Duke of Avendale. This story starts a couple of years after Avendale was found “dead” (the reason for this can be read in In Bed with the Devil).
In this story, Winnie has finally found confidence and courage and of course, she is fighting her attraction to Dr. William Graves, who took care of her when she was at death’s door. Winnie doesn’t know that the Duke is not actually dead but was sent to the colonies (Australia, I believe) and she thinks that the Duke is haunting her. Naturally, the gang steps up and helps guard Winnie without actually telling her that the Duke is not dead. A showdown between William and the Duke of Avendale happens at the end which results in William Graves being shot and Winnie killing the Duke.
I loved the story. It was short but packed with a lot of thrills and romance. I loved reading about Winnie finding her courage, confidence, and strength. William is not my fave character but in this book, he was interesting. I thought both him and Winnie were an awesome pair.
I would have favored a full-length book even with perusing alternate series. I continued sitting tight for William's book and just got this.It was disappointing.It was decent to get something however it was to a greater extent a sidekick piece to both the beforehand mentioned series and her latest book in which the hero is the child of the heroine in this novella than a stand-alone story.
@Kitty Walsh.
Lovely review, Ezrah. It was nice to see William and Winifred finally get their HEA.