A Dozen Dukes to Add to Your TBR: Historical Romance Round Up (Volume 4)

The Duke Who Loved Me by Jane Ashford (2021)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Duke’s Estates series. James recently inherited a dukedom and a clutter townhouse of a hoarder. He gets the bright idea to propose marriage to his long-time friend Cecelia so that she can organize and manage all of his problem. Insulted by his unemotional offer, she rejects him. These two have known each other for many years as Cecelia acted as the go-between with James and her father, the person in charge of his trust. While Cecelia has always had a crush on the somewhat shallow and pompous James, he never seemed to treat her as a lady worth courting. After the rejection of his initial proposal, James attempts to spend more time with Cecelia and convince her to accept him. However, Cecelia is suddenly surrounded by a gaggle of younger debutantes who initially wanted social advice for the season and are now loyal friends, so it’s hard for James to get Cecelia alone. Add in another potential suitor in the form of a prince, and James is thwarted almost everywhere. We do finally see James start to learn some self-awareness and realize that he has feelings for Cecelia, but it takes an incident of public humiliation and a retreat from society for him to do so.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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A Duke’s Guide to Romance by Sophie Barnes (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Gentlemen Authors series. Impoverished duke Anthony is worrying about how to secure funds for his sisters’ future debut and is considering a marriage to a wealthy daughter of a viscount. He stumbles upon a bookshop and meets the charming young lady, Ada, who works and lives there with her uncle. At first, he hides the fact that he’s a duke and enjoys a friendship with Ada. She makes an observation that romance novels (like those from Jane Austen) sell quite well, and Anthony takes the idea back to his two friends and propose that they should write a romance novel together to sell for money. Anthony and Ada continue their friendship and he does ultimately tell her who she is. It’s a relatively sweet development of their relationship, despite their differences in social station. There’s some meddling and scheming from the lady that Anthony is purportedly courting, but that eventually gets resolved with some open communication. Overall, an interesting start to this series of gentlemen authors.

Advance ebook provided by Sophie Barnes via NetGalley.

Duke Seeks Bride by Christy Carlyle (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the Love on Holiday series. Our guy Alex is a new duke with a marriage stipulation in his father’s will, stating that he needs to marry in six months in order to keep his castle in Ireland. His annoyingly meddlesome aunt has tried to matchmake him with a wealthy widowed countess and invited her to the castle for a supposed equestrian charity event. The countess sends her secretary instead, mostly to avoid the matching making. Evie is the ultra-organized secretary who has been working with the countess for the past three years but also secretly pens romance novels in her spare time. When she shows up at the castle, she’s shocked to find that they were expecting the countess, even though a letter should have explained the switch. Alex and Evie have actually met briefly once before in the garden of a ball, but Evie is very much aware of her social status and that a romance between her and a duke is impossible. It’s not actually impossible, since this is a romance novel after all, but it takes some time for each person to realize that they really do want and need each other. This book is a relatively low-angst straightforward romance with a quick resolution to external conflict.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

The Duke and the Dressmaker by Eva Devon (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Once Upon a Wallflower series. Newly inherited duke James attempts to rescue a young woman at a tavern and finds out that she’s the sister of his missing ward. Lily and Violet are granddaughters of the old duke but not part of society due to their mother’s scandalous marriage to a French painter. Now orphaned and impoverished, Lily works as a dressmaker’s seamstress while caring for her young sister. James insists that they both move into the ducal townhouse and after a bit of a disagreement, they do. However, James and Lily are starting to stir up a scandal with all the time they spend together unchaperoned, as much as they try to keep things proper. They do ultimately get married, since Lily is so good at managing James’ household, but conflict looms ahead as James plans to leave England without having mentioned his plans to Lily. I liked how well Lily and James worked together and started to soften towards each other, even though both have been disappointed by their own parents in the past.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

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The Duke Goes Down by Sophie Jordan (2021)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Duke Hunt series. The local duke turns out not to be a duke because he was technically born before his parents got married, so Perry is a mere mister and now looking for a wealthy heiress to marry. The vicar’s daughter Imogen wants to deter Perry from his scheme and protect the women of the village, so she spreads rumors about Perry to dissuade the young ladies. When he realizes that she’s the one spreading rumors, he confronts her (and kisses her) and tries to get her to stop. These two have had a long childhood history of animosity, so the latent attraction springing up in the present is super entertaining to read. We also get a bit of backstory of why Imogen is so cautious of trusting Perry and his motives. This book was a lot of fun, and Imogen’s rumors were hilarious.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Duke’s Deceitful Governess by Caroline Lee (2022)

Historical romance. Victorian-era Scotland. Book 1 of the Surprise! Dukes series. Rourke has custody of his brother’s illegitimate twin children who are a crazy handful and have been kicked out of a bunch of schools and scared off many governesses. He’s giving them one last chance to behave for their latest governess, threatening to send them to school separately if they don’t behave. Sophia is the new governess, but she actually doesn’t have any experience with children and forged her recommendation letters so that she can come to Rourke’s estate to search for evidence that he is either complicit or innocent in her old boss’ crimes. Sophia is actually a surprisingly good governess though, connecting with the children, and helping Rourke to connect with them too. Rourke and Sophia are instantly attracted to each other and find ease and companionship with each other. This book is humorous and steamy but also has a bit of danger involved. Definitely recommended if you want to see a stern serious cold duke learn to love his niece and nephew along with their governess.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

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When the Duke Loved Me by Lydia Lloyd (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Rake Chronicles series. If you enjoy historical romances that involve a mystery or quest, this one will definitely be for you. We start with a garden tryst that ends badly when a duke’s heir and a country miss find out that the person they’re trysting with is a longtime family enemy due to prior scandal. We jump seven years later to find that John, the new duke, is stuck executing an arduous component of his father’s will in order to prevent further scandal to be heaped upon his sister’s reputation. He needs to find his father’s former lover and give her an annuity to fulfill the will and save his sister’s dowry. John needs the help of the woman’s niece, Catherine, who has also borne the brunt of the old family scandal and now lives in poverty with the family of a baronet. Over the course of the book, we learn that the old duke’s indiscretion was revealed loudly and caused a great deal of upheaval for both families involved. Catherine agrees to help John locate her aunt in exchange for money, but she has little hope of finding the woman who ran off and was never seen again. While John and Catherine try to stay serious and professional with each other, it’s clear that they are still attracted to each other, and wish that their family circumstances weren’t so complicated. I really enjoyed learning more about the past scandal as bits and pieces of history unfolded as these two try to locate her aunt. Everything tied together so well and was really interesting to uncover. And of course, the steamy romance between John and Catherine was exceptional.

Advance ebook provided by Tule Publishing via NetGalley.

The Good, the Bad, and the Duke by Janna MacGregor (2018)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Cavensham Heiresses series. Lady Daphne accidentally gets left in London alone at Christmastime in a mix-up of whether she’s traveling with her brother or her mother. She decides to use this time to focus on her goals of setting up a home for unwed mothers and to establish her own residence. While mulling over her options in the park, her reticule and personal journal are stolen by a young boy and she gives chase. Eventually tracking the boy to a gambling hell, she bumps into Paul, her brother’s former friend and now nemesis who tries to rescue Daphne and protect her reputation. Over the next few days, Daphne and Paul team up to try to recover her journal, while also rekindling their long ago childhood friendship. Daphne is caring and compassionate towards Paul, who has acted the villain in previous books in this series. It turns out he was treated horribly by his father, even after his father’s death with cutting notes and reminders of his wastrel ways. There’s a tiny disagreement about the purchase of a property that Daphne wants to use as her charity house and Paul wants to use as a hospital in honor of his brother’s illness, but that scuffle is pretty minor compared to the risk of scandal Daphne is under if her journal is discovered. And of course when Daphne’s family comes back and starts meddling, we get even more drama.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

No Dukes Allowed by Jess Michaels (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Kent’s Row Duchesses series. Widowed duchess Valaria has just moved to a street of townhouses full of widowed duchesses. She’s keeping secrets regarding the death of her cruel and terrible husband and is hesitant to make new friends. However, her late husband’s friend Callum is intent on checking on her well-being, even though she wants to push him away. Callum is the ultimate nice guy has admired her for many years but denied his feelings for her due to his friendship. Now that his friend has died, he feels guilty for calling on Valaria, but can’t seem to help himself. And Valaria has always been attracted to Callum as well, not knowing why this seemingly upstanding gentleman was friends with her husband. Callum didn’t know that his friend was completely awful, so he feels even worse when he discovers that Valaria did not have a happy marriage. At some point, these two start an affair, but there’s still a heavy secret between them and Valaria’s overall skittishness to overcome.

Advance ebook provided by Jess Michaels via NetGalley.

Painting the Duke by Georgina North (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Vivienne is an orphaned lady who lives with her aunt and uncle and is known for refusing multiple marriage offers. She actually has a secret life as an oil painter and many of her anonymous works are showcased at royal exhibitions. This season, a handsome duke, Brick, is back in town after being banished for many years. He’s not exactly looking for a wife, but is intrigued by Vivienne and is somehow egged into betting that he is able to secure her hand in marriage. He definitely has his work cut out for him, since she is very outspoken with him about her desire to not marry. However, he is refreshed by her opinions on art and equality and enjoys spending time with her. She also enjoys his company but refuses to give up her art and worries that he will be scandalized by her secret. This book is definitely a slow-burn romance with Vivienne being the one to learn to let down her walls and share her secret with the world; we also have Brick learning to eschew societal expectations and support Vivienne in every way possible. When she catches him in a lie, he delivers on meaningful displays of affection and support. Excellent read.

Advance ebook provided by Georgina North via BookSirens.

The Duke Gets Desperate by Diana Quincy (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Sirens in Silk series. Anthony thinks he will finally get possession back of the family castle after his stepmother tragically passes away, but it turns out she left the castle to her cousin who has just arrived to visit from America. Raya doesn’t want or need a castle and is more than willing to sell it the Anthony at fair market value, but he also doesn’t have any money. These two argue their way to a truce while also ogling each other and trying to resist their simmering attraction. Add in the mystery of what has happened to Anthony’s missing relics and the suspicious nature of his stepmother’s death, and we’ve got plenty of plot to keep your attention on this book. I liked the overall set-up of the book, since I love a good property dispute trope, and I also liked the way that Anthony appreciated Raya’s financial competence. Both characters were extremely stubborn and there was maybe one too many instances of miscommunication in this story, when they should have just directly confronted the other person. Still, this was a steamy read with a nice set up of Anthony’s friends (who I’m hoping we will see in future books).

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley. Advance print book provided by Avon Books.

All Duke and Bothered by Mariah Stone (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Dukes and Secrets series. New duke Preston wants revenge on his brother’s killer, so he arranges himself in a position to marry Penelope, the young lady that he believes led on his brother and whose father hired ruffians to beat him. She doesn’t know about her father’s misdeeds and is horrified at having to marry Preston, who openly disdains Penelope. Preston believed that Penelope was a shallow flirt who was interested in his brother’s money, but really, she just thought they were friends and liked to talk about art together. Penelope was not interested in marriage at all and wanted to work on her painting. As Preston starts to see that he was mistaken about Penelope’s true personality, he feels guilty for misjudging the situation with his brother and also guilty for marrying Penelope. He’s still preoccupied with getting revenge on Penelope’s father though, and she’s disappointed that he is clearly choosing revenge over the possibility of love and happiness. It’s all a muddle until Preston can share his secrets with Penelope and let go of his quest for vengeance.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.