A Dozen Dukes to Add to Your TBR: Historical Romance Round Up (Volume 8)

Music for the Duke by Alexa Aston (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Suddenly a Duke series. Tragic prologue for Fia where she’s a six-year old girl being tormented by her cousin and heir to her father’s earldom. Many years later, we see a shocking and tragic demise of Henry’s grandfather and father within the same day, making him a duke. A year after that, they both somehow make friends with the now-married duke and duchess from Book 1 of the series, who assist in getting Fia out of her cousin’s house and assist Henry in wooing the girl. Fia was treated horribly by her cousin after her parents’ deaths, first by refusing her debut into society, then by moving her into the attic like a servant, and farming her out for music lessons where he collects the fees and she sees none of it. It’s a rough life for Fia, and when we think she’ll appreciate being courted by a duke, she’s fearful of scandal and would rather live independently and rely on her skills as a musician to survive. It’s a pretty short read with only a tiny bit of angst. But there are way too many dukes and duchesses floating around here, so it can be hard to keep up with who’s being referenced at any given moment. Still a perfectly pleasant read.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

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Duke Most Wicked by Lenora Bell (2022)

Book 3 of the Wallflowers versus Rogues series. Viola has had a massive crush on her employer for as long as she’s known him. Music teacher to his five sisters, Viola is enamored of West, even with his wicked ways. When he realizes that his behavior has tarnished his sisters’ reputations, he seeks to make amends by finding a wealthy heiress to marry and suitors for the sisters. Viola is extra protective of the sisters and argues with him on their behalf. Meanwhile, Viola has been secretly composing music and selling it as her father’s and adamantly avoiding any time in the spotlight. West sees her talent and beauty despite her plain and drab dresses but believes that he doesn’t deserve her sunshine. Overall, great dynamic between our characters and love the flirting and banter they get into.

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Up All Night with a Good Duke by Amy Rose Bennett (2022)

Book 1 of the Byronic Book Club series. Instant attraction the minute these two bump into each other outside a train station. Artemis has left her position as a finishing school teacher to help her friend navigate the London season and sets out to find a patron for her women’s college. And she’s a secret gothic romance writer.

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The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo (2018)

This book has quite a few time jumps within it. We start with a prison beating and a young man left for dead. Soon after that, a young girl rescues the man from a field, but he has absolutely no memory of who he is. After nursing him back to health and forming a connection, her arsehole brother betrays him and sends him off to sea. Many many many years later, he returns to claim his lady. And we find out how our guy is connected to all the other men in this series.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Cinderella and the Duke by Lydia Drake (2022)

Historical romance, Regency-ish era England. Julia is the Cinderella in the story, escorting her younger stepsister to a ball while her stepmother is ill. This is Julia’s one chance to find a husband, since her stepmother refuses to let Julia go to any balls. While protecting a rake from being compromised by a lady and called out in a duel by her husband, she kisses him and then runs away, thinking that she’s ruined. When the rake, our duke Gregory, comes to call the next day with her lost slipper, she proposes a marriage of convenience to him: He helps her get out from under her stepmother’s control and she helps him avoid the lecherous women of the ton. Both of these people are deeply insecure and play an emotionally detached role to protect themselves from being hurt. However, they have great chemistry together and enjoy each other’s company. I really enjoyed this debut novel from this author and am looking forward to reading more.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

One Season with the Duke by Addy DuLac (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Standalone novel. Hettie is the niece of a marquess and suddenly being blackmailed by her slimy cousin (who I didn’t catch or remember how he’s related to her) into marriage. She doesn’t like him at all, but seems to go along with it because she doesn’t want to jeopardize her family’s reputation. Meanwhile, her childhood friend Finn is finally back in London having been away for many years taking care of his estates in Scotland. He’s disappointed to learn that Hettie is already engaged, but offers to rescue her from her dire circumstances. These two elope pretty early on in the book and I was really expecting a road trip romance with a big chase from the blackmailer, but we ended up with an overbearing mother-in-law story instead. Plus Hettie’s still keeping the secrets of what she was being blackmailed with, Finn is both arrogant and self-doubting and insecure, and really, the villain took way too long to catch up with them. The childhood friends to lovers romance was nice and I liked how Hettie stood up to her mother-in-law, but overall, this book was just ok. If you like stories where someone swoops in to save a lady from an unwanted marriage to a villain, I also recommend The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

A Duke for Diana by Sabrina Jeffries (2022)

Book 1 of the Designing Debutantes series. Lady Diana is pretty much ruined after her mother ran off with a man and her father sued for divorce. She and her sisters now run a successful party-planning business in the ton. When Geoffrey inherits a dukedom, he hires Diana and her sisters to manage his own sister’s debut. Even though Diana and Geoffrey butt heads, they are instantly attracted to (and distracted by) each other. Geoffrey’s hiding a family secret related to his father’s death, so is reluctant to pursue marriage for himself.

The Duke’s Stolen Bride by Sophie Jordan (2019)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 5 of the Rogue Files series. Impoverished oldest sister Marian seeks to save her family’s circumstance by becoming a courtesan. However, she has no experience at all, so she seeks out the neighborhood depraved duke, Nate, for some lessons. He’s affronted at first, but then gives in, and the relationship is mostly him trying to get her to loosen up. It’s sad to see how very poor Marian and her family are and how their choices are limited, but Nate feels sorry for Marian and also desires her so much that he can’t stay away from her.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Duke’s Wicked Widow by Caroline Lee (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 5 of the Surprise! Dukes series. I always love a good pregnancy-inheritance scheme. Ellie is at the doorstep of her late husband’s bastard cousin, hoping to get herself impregnated and pass the kid off as the next heir. Fawkes is both insulted and intrigued and ends up complying. While Ellie’s motives may seem selfish, she’s really just trying to protect her stepdaughter and she doesn’t have any place else to go if her in-laws throw her out. There’s a lot of back and forth between Ellie and Fawkes as she tries to get pregnant and he’s keeping secrets about his role as the notorious Duke of Death. However, Fawkes proves to be kind and caring towards Ellie and her stepdaughter when they need it. We also tie back to the overarching drama of the series with a traitor and his supposed agents trying to bring him to justice. We start strong with the physical attraction in this one, with a slow build towards real affection. And we still get all of tongue-in-cheek humor that Caroline Lee’s books always deliver.

Advance ebook provided by Caroline Lee.

All the Duke I Need by Caroline Linden (2022)

Historical romance. Georgian-era England. Book 3 of the Desperately Seeking Duke series. Philippa is the current companion to the duchess, stepdaughter to the duchess’ daughter, and all-around hostess of the castle. However, she knows that her position will likely be displaced when the duke passes away and leaves the castle to one of his heirs. When the new estate steward Will comes to the castle, she’s shocked that he’s young and handsome and has no experience as a steward. He’s just as surprised to find that Philippa is also young and beautiful, even as the duchess’ companion. They bicker and argue at first on how to approach estate improvements, but of course, eventually give into their attraction. Meanwhile, Will is hiding some secrets about his motivation for taking on the estate position and a possible connection to the ducal family. It was interesting to read how Will embraced his responsibilities to the estate and impressed everyone there, including the duke himself, who is usually unwell and isolated.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

How to Deceive a Duke by Samara Parish (2022)

Edward and Fiona had a weeklong affair once upon a time, and she didn’t know he was a duke, and he thought he could marry her. But when he told his mother, she made him break it off. And so these two dummies have been heartbroken for years and years. Edward was engaged to Amelia from the previous book, but that obviously didn’t work out, and now he’s single and just sort of taking care of his estate or something. Fiona gets arrested dressed as a boy at some point and Edward goes to rescue her from jail, but has to promise to keep her at his house. And of course the forced proximity causes them to finally talk out their issues, but they’re really just still on totally different social planes. Fiona’s trying to sell her inventions, but has to dress up as a boy to do so… and there’s some political drama or danger with her father being the ringleader or something like it.

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Dangerous Duke by Scarlett Scott (2019)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the League of Dukes series. Griffin is a secret agent duke in the special league, but he is currently being accused of treason and being kept locked up in another stuffy duke’s house. That duke’s sister Violet seems to have caught Griffin’s attention, while he has also ignited her passions. Unfortunately, Violet is engaged to someone boring and dull who prefers his botany and overbearing mother to Violet. She doesn’t actually think that Griffin and guilty of treason and proposes to work with him to clear his name. Griffin needs all the help he can get and enjoys Violet’s company, so he agrees to her offer. Both slowly start to open up to each other about their past traumas related to the deaths of their parents, and we see their dangerous scheme fall into place. Plus, the actually traitor is still out there making trouble, so we eventually see how that crime is solved.

Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.