No Good Duke Goes Unpunished

The Third Rule of Scoundrels

By: Sarah MacLean

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

RITA Award Winner, Historical Romance, 2014

A rogue ruined...

He is the Killer Duke, accused of murdering Mara Lowe on the eve of her wedding. With no memory of that fateful night, Temple has reigned over the darkest of London's corners for twelve years, wealthy and powerful, but beyond redemption. Until one night, Mara resurfaces, offering the one thing he's dreamed of . . . absolution.

A lady returned . . .

Mara planned never to return to the world from which she'd run, but when her brother falls deep into debt at Temple's exclusive casino, she has no choice but to offer Temple a trade that ends in her returning to society and proving to the world what only she knows...that he is no killer.

A scandal revealed . . .

It's a fine trade, until Temple realizes that the lady and her past are more than they seem. It will take every bit of his strength to resist the pull of this mysterious, maddening woman who seems willing to risk everything for honor...and to keep from putting himself on the line for love.

©2013 Sarah Trabucchi (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

Not My Favorite in The Series, But Still Enjoyable

Any additional comments?

3 1/2 Stars!

I listened to this book on Audible, though I do own the ebook as well.

The narrator was lovely, and MacLean's writing style and voice was also lovely.

The story was a bit flat for me. It was simply "okay". I liked it, but nothing really stood out about it after I was done. It was enjoyable while it lasted, but gone as soon as I finished.

I really loved book 2, One Good Earl Deserves a Lover. But the spark, wit, and banter that was so heavy in that book was almost completely MIA in this book. I think that was why I was so disappointed in Temple's book. I missed the fun banter that MacLean gave in the last book. In OGEDAL, I marked up a few dozen passages of favorite quotes. In this one, I marked perhaps 2.

Still, I did like reading the "Killer" Duke's story, and I will of course come back for more books by MacLean. I'm curious about Chase's story next.

Great Series!

This is a great series! Loved it. Strong Heroine and Hero. Great story and plot, lots of witty dialogue, hot and steamy sex. All the ingredients for a great book. A must read or listen series. I read along on my kindle.
Read/Listen to them all:
A Rogue by any Other Name- The Rules of Scoundrels Book 1
One Good Earl Deserves Another- The Rules of Scoundrels Book 2
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished- The Rules of Scoundrels Book 3

I am so looking forward to Book 4!

The narration is decent enough.

Credit Worthy? Yes all of them are!

Another Great book!!

Another amazing book. Great story line and characters. Well done can wait to listen to the book in the series.

Exhilarating!

From beginning to end this series is amazing. The heroine and hero spice was titillating. This is my second time through and it certainly won’t be my last!

HIGHLY ADDICTIVE

I love MacLean's books and this is no exception. From start to finish the story flows smoothly filled with interesting and humuros characters. So far I have been happy with her books. Looking forward to future releases!

His body is my Temple

Pretty presumptuous of Mara to expect Temple to take her to his bed at 16 and 18,to set him up the way she did to get out of marrying his father.The scheme went all wrong,ruining lives.Rightly so,Temple wanted revenge on Mara when he found out she was still alive,making him out to be a killer.While he was biding his time exacting that revenge,he fell in love with her,found out the whole of the story and decided enough life was lost,time to start living again.Good story,some far fetched things went on especially for the time period,but still pretty good.

Had believability issues for me

I liked the story but was somehow hard to believe for me. It was a little far-reaching.. I’ve never had any issues like this with any of her other books. Rosalyn Landon gave a great performance as usual.

Loved it!

Great series. Such a surprise ending leaving me looking very forward to the next in the series.

Good Installment To The Series

I read some reviews after reading No Good Duke and I don't agree with the notion that Mara is a horrible heroine because she drugs Temple.

When Mara first reveals who she is, Temple is one shocked, angry dude - one shocked, angry, large, very muscular man named The Killer Duke who beats men up for a living and who has a reputation for never losing a fight. She had a knife and laudanum with her when she approached Temple. He took her knife and told her,

“You might as well sit. You’re not going anywhere.”

Unease threaded through her at the words. “What does that mean?”

“It means that you turned up outside my door, Miss Lowe. And I have no intention of letting you escape again.”

I totally understand Mara feeling threatened by that statement. She uses the only weapon she has and doses Temple with laudanum, leaving him a note that says, “I had hoped it would not come to this, but I will not be intimidated, and I will not be strong-armed.” I wonder what else she was supposed to do when Temple threatened to keep her against her will.

Mara’s a very literal woman - that’s simply how she understands the world, and it’s a common enough character trait in fiction. Early on Temple tells Mara, “Nothing you could say will make me forgive.” It makes so much sense that Mara believes him, she takes him at his word, and doesn’t even try to tell him what her motivations are/were.

Mara’s father was abusive, beating her and her brother for infractions. If that were my childhood, I suspect I’d be very slow to trust - as Mara is slow to trust Temple. Yes, this is one of those, “If they’d only talk to each other, this mess would be cleared up” stories. But I found the reasons for not talking understandable - frustrating, yes, but understandable.

And when she does fulfill her promise, I thought Mara's courage was impressive.

Like others, I couldn't put this book down. I thought the characters were believable, the plot riveting, the setting unique. Like others, I also found the end over-worked. Overall: very enjoyable.

Rosalyn Landor is a favourite narrator and she was outstanding with the delivery of the story

Just ok

Not the best series. First book was terrific...returned second book (so boring)...keeping this one but not a favorite. Mara was SO incredibly unsympathetic.

Destroyed Temple's life over and over and never seemed to really take responsibility. Mara and her worthless brother seemed to think Temple was the one that owed them.

Took WAY to long to get to the point.