Review: My review: Taken by the Duke
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 2, 2013
If there is one genre that I have a soft spot for it's historical romance.  Not just any historical romance, but erotic historical romance complete with a Duke.  When I took on this review I knew I would enjoy this book but more than the erotic aspect of it, I loved the story of this book.  Christian really takes an eye for an eye to a whole new level.Welcome to the war between the House Rothcastle and House Windbury.  No one alive knew why they never got along, but some long ago deceased relative started a war between the two families and it has raged for decades.  But when the war goes to a whole new level leaving Christian Rothcastle and Liam Windbury severely injured and Christian's sister dead the war explodes.  Stricken with grief, Christian will do anything and I mean anything to make the Windbury family suffer.  So what better way than to go after Liam's own sister,  Ava.Ava has been a wallflower for as long as she can remember.  The feud between her family and the Windbury family has left her without any suitors.  She is forced to only interact with her aunt and her friend Portia and the few other women who only want to gain gossip from her.  It's not until one night at a party that she sees Christian again does something spark deep within her.  Christian still shows signs of the accident in his limp and the cane he now walks with but he returns to society anyway 6 months after the death of his sister.  He devises a plan, kidnap Ava and make her brother feel lost without her the way he now feels about his sister.  Christian's plan works, but he's surprised to find that Ava isn't like any other woman that he has encountered before.  She's defiant and so very sure of herself, showing no fear even though she is scared.  But not scared of Christian, scared of what she is feeling towards him.The original plan was for her to just stay and he would let her go unharmed after he felt her brother had suffered her loss, but Christian quickly decides that he must have Ava for himself even for just a short period of time.  So he makes Ava a deal that she cannot refuse.  Sacrifice her virginity to him and he would let that pay the debt for her what her brother has done.  Ava will do anything to try and stop the way between the two families which has ripped both families apart so she agrees.  What Christian didn't except was not only for Ava to accept to stay for three weeks and have an affair with him, but what he feels when they are finally together.  Christian is determined to make their affair only of a sexual nature but as time goes on and they grow closer to one another and their attraction grows, Christian feels his walls begin to break down and he lets Ava see the real him that no one ever gets to see.  But deep down to Christian she is still the enemy and that is a fact he cannot overlook for a long time.He finally decides that if Ava wants to leave, he'll let her go but she doesn't want to leave and is determined to stay for the entire agreement.  So what happens with their feelings begin to grow towards truly caring for one another and what happens with Liam finds them together?  Join Ava and Christian as they discover truths about what Christian's sister was really trying to do and who among them wants to hurt the Windbury family more than Christian does?  But most of all will Christian ever be willing to accept Ava for who she is and let go of the hurt he feels deep in his heart?I loved this story.  I felt like I was right there along side the characters in this story and that is part of the reason why I love to read these stories.  The characters were very well thought out and is was a beautiful story. Jess just has a way with words that draws you into the story and you find yourself up late at night reading, engrossed in the story and in serious need of a fan on more than one occasion.  This was my first novel by Jess but it will not be my last as I look forward to reading the other novels in the Pleasure Wars series.  This was an easy 5 stars for me!***Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review***