ungumuda

The cover is pretty!

And so does the stepback

The rating actually 3,5 stars, but since I love Artemis and Max's hounds and the whole Maiden Lane Series, I make it to 5 :) 

Elizabeth Hoyt exqusitely craft a stunningly sensuous story with compelling characters in her latest Maiden Lane book, Duke of Midnight. 
I love the characters, especially the heroine, Artemis really live up to her namesake, goddess of the hunt. She might appeared meak and uninteresting before, but she posssesed heart of steel, yet she's also vulnerable like most women which make her character relatable and more likeable. 
As for Maximus, I have soft spot for brooding and tortured hero, and Maximus was epitome of both. His storyline pretty much resembled Batman, even I find some scenes in this book mirrored a scene or two from the movie Batman Begins, but I don't mind. I actually find him much more appealing. Although, I still want to hit him for his idiocy in handling his situation with Artemis. 
I love the minor characters as well. My favorite is Lady Phoebe, Maximus' sweet near-blind younger sister. I hope Ms Hoyt would write her book. 
The story flowed nicely from the uncovering of The Ghost identity to the blackmail, and Maximus' parent death. I have fun to guess who was the vilain, and I'm proud to say I was right :D. Apollo, Artemis "mad" twin was still mystery in this book, but I'm pretty sure he got his own book next. 

However, I really don't like the way Ms Hoyt fashioned the epilogue for The all Maiden Lane books, because the epilogue wasn't conclusion of the book, instead it was a teaser for the the next book or in Duke of Midnight's case, the next spin off. It was dissapointing since I felt that there are actually some things that left hanging, like Penelope and Artemis relationship after Maximus, and Artemis' grandfather.