The Duke’s Curse (Legend: Book 2) by Kylie Stewart

Title: The Duke’s Curse

Author: Kylie C. Stewart

Publisher: TCK Publishing

Date of publication: March 20th, 2017

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Number of pages: 193

POV: Alternating 1st person

Series: Legend

Set in Stone – Book 1 (review here)

The Duke’s Curse – Book 2

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Legend: The Duke’s Curse #2 Alexandria knows the truth behind the lies. Avalon is not human, nor is he immortal. He is neither angel nor demon. He is the once and future king. Now, more than ever, Alexandria’s artistic skills could grant them their first victory in battle. It is she who holds the key to end a curse born over a thousand years ago. Will she walk away from Avalon or stay? The choice is up to her, but more than one fate hangs in the balance now.

Avalon’s deepest fears lurk in every shadow. His past haunts him even in the light of day. Unable to protect Alexandria, he turns to Lancer for help. Debilitated under his newly arisen weakness, his only hope lies in Alexandria. Bound by chains of sin and shame, Avalon must fight to the death with who he once was to inherit his future. If he loses, it is Alexandria who pays the price. Can he trust her to save him from eternal darkness? Or will he lose her forever?

My review:

I was so excited when Kylie emailed the ARC for The Duke’s Curse in the Legend series. With the way book 1 ended, I didn’t think I could have waited. I am that into this series. Like I said in my review of Set in Stone, I am intrigued by the legend of King Arthur. Everything about it just captures my attention and I honestly can’t get enough of it.

What was great about The Duke’s Curse is that the author went into the relationships between Avalon/Arthur, Lancer, Vivian, Merlin, Morgan and Alexandria….past and present. The relationships between all the main characters are not what they seem, though. There were a few times where a character did something totally out of what I expected of them and it shocked me. It shocked me because it wasn’t what I expected out of that character and it went against what I thought of them. Kinda messed with my head….lol.

I did like that storyline where Avalon needs to get the missing part of his soul to heal himself. His illness (kind of like epileptic fits where he would go into himself and converse with his missing half….if that makes sense) brought him and Alexandria closer and you could see her opinion of him changing as his illness went on. Put it this way, I am Team Avalandria (hehe). Not Team Alexancer (I am killing myself over here).

Speaking of Lancer, he got on my nerves. He was obsessed with Alexandria (maybe too strong of a word but it went beyond being in love) and would do anything to keep her away from Avalon. Not that it worked. If anything, he pushed them even more together. There were points in the book where I just wished he went away. That’s how annoyed with him I got. But, he’s a major part of the King Arthur legend and a major part of this story. I just hope that he deals with whatever happens in later books.

The sex scenes between Avalon and  Alexandria were beyond hot. I think because Alexandria finally realized that she loved and was in love with Avalon. That’s what made the sex scenes very hot.

The end of the book was awesome and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I can’t wait to read book 3!!!

How many stars will I give The Duke’s Curse: 4

Why: The storyline was great and the sex hot. The only thing that drove me nuts was Lancer. I kinda wanted to smack him at times….lol.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex and language

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**