A Dozen Dukes to Add to Your TBR: Historical Romance Round Up (Volume 11)

Fashioning the Duke by Alexa Aston (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Suddenly a Duke series. Fox is the much younger second son of a duke, never expecting to inherit, when he receives word that his older brother has died, leaving two nieces in his care. At the solicitor’s office, he has a chance meeting with Delaney who is there to sell off her millinery shop after her half-brother has basically barred polite society from shopping there. Delaney is the illegitimate daughter of an earl who was always favored and adored by her father. Fox decides to hire Delaney to assist in outfitting his nieces for the upcoming Season and also pretty much instantly decides that he wants her as his duchess. She doesn’t want to give up her independence or marry, so he’s got some work cut out for him in wooing her. Enjoyable to read and I love how well Fox takes to his responsibilities and his nieces.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

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Mad Duke March by Sadie Bosque (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Rake Review series. The Duke of Tyrone has a tragic history of a mother who abandoned him and a father who beat and berated him, so now he’s a reckless drunk with no ambitions or goals or sense of proper behavior. A public street experiment of a steam carriage almost injures a young lady, and in the process of rescuing her, Tyrone drunkenly grabs her in a salacious manner and ruins her reputation. Emily is the young woman ruined by the whole thing with tattered clothes, a lost purse of money, and a lost fiance in the process. And of course she’s also generally impoverished with an ill mother and three younger siblings to care for. Somehow, she convinces Tyrone to marry her to save her skin, but he’s still a general brute and incapable of treating his wife properly. It’s a big huge leap to see them eventually come to an accord, but Emily’s spine of steel has a lot to do with it.

Advance ebook provided by Sadie Bosque.

Damned If I Duke by Anna Bradley (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Drop Dead Dukes series. Poor Prudence has been in a tough spot since her father lost a great deal of money to a certain rakish duke in a card game and she’s putting up with her friend’s matchmaking efforts while she’s visiting. Except, Prudence dreads the idea of having to marry to secure a home even though her father is on verge of selling their home. Meanwhile, rakish duke Jasper has just recovered some scandalous earrings from a former mistress and when Prudence discovers them, she tries to blackmail him into forgiving her father’s debts. She’s comically bad at blackmail though and both of these people are feeling generally guilty about their behavior. They’re also stupidly attracted to each other, even though they don’t really like each other. It’s a bunch of chaos and comedy with these two, but at least Jasper’s stodgy grandfather approves of Prudence.

Advance ebook provided by Kensington Books via NetGalley.

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A Duke Changes Everything by Christy Carlyle (2018)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Duke’s Den series. Second son of a duke, Nick, was treated cruelly by his father and believed to be a result of his mother’s indiscretion, except for the fact that he looks just like his father. After making his way alone and being a co-owner of a gambling den, he’s suddenly the duke after his brother’s death. His only goal is to clear out the estate and rent it out to a tenant and never visit again. He finds an adversary in Mina, the estate steward who wants him to take his duties seriously and restore the estate and assist the tenants. She’s lived at the estate all her life, learning everything from her father (the former steward) and is reluctant to leave for any reason. It was fun seeing these two argue over what to do with the estate and then slowly come to an accord. Definitely a fun romance to read, with Nick being impressed by Mina’s competence, rather than put off that she’s a woman in a man’s role.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Sincerely, The Duke by Amelia Grey (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Say I Do series. Rick is a duke who suffers from both secret debilitating fevers and a meddlesome mother. When his mother presents him a list of debutantes to consider for marriage, he hurriedly pens a quick marriage proposal to a random lady on the list. A few days later, a lady shows up at his doorstep inquiring about the veracity of the proposal, and being the upstanding honorable guy that he is, he decides to follow through with it. Edwina is a take-charge outspoken sort of lady who has made her father a deathbed promise to see herself and her sisters wed this Season, even though they’ve been hidden away in the country. It turns out triplets are thought to be bad luck, so they’ve tried to hide the fact that they’re triplets (even though they look exactly alike). She’s glad to be engaged to the duke but insists that he help her sisters find husbands as well. We get a lot more chaotic when the sisters show up in town (who are highly resistant to marriage) and find that Rick’s mother is very superstitious. I liked seeing Rick become protective of his new wife and family and also see him appreciate Edwina’s unique personality.

Advance ebook provided by St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

How Not to Hate a Duke by Jennifer Haymore (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Georgiana is a wealthy merchant’s daughter completely tired of the fortune hunters seeking her attention. She’s convinced by her good friend to attend a house party in the country to avoid some of those terrible suitors. Meanwhile, a certain dastardly duke is also invited to the same house party. Theo has recently inherited the title from his depraved father but is believed to be of the same ilk, leaving him emotionally exhausted by all the hatred by his neighbors and tenants. It doesn’t help that Georgiana’s family is the main opponent to Theo’s endeavors due to a long-standing family rivalry. When Georgiana and Theo realize they’re at the same house party, they first try to avoid each other, and then end up antagonizing (and then flirting with) each other. But you know that open communication does wonders, so they start to actually get along (and maybe even fall in love). The drama with Georgiana’s family is still looming though and Theo has a lot of work to do to fix his reputation on his estate.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

Waking Up with the Duke by Lorraine Heath (2011)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the London’s Greatest Lovers series. This one has a crazy set up that will lead to heartbreak for everyone involved. The Duke of Ainsley is being asked by his incapacitated best friend and cousin, Walfort, to bed the man’s wife Jayne and get her with child. Three years prior, these two were in a massive curricle accident which left Walfort paralyzed and the stress of which caused his wife to lose her unborn baby. Walfort seeks to give Jayne comfort, passion, and a baby in the form of his friend. Except Jayne is definitely not on board because she hates Ainsley for having caused the reckless accident in the first place. However, the plot must go forth, and Jayne and Ainsley end up going through with the plan, causing tons of emotional upheaval as they try and fail to stay emotionally distant from each other. It’s a guilt trip all around and even more heartbreak anticipated. If you want to feel feelings, this book is for you.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Dukes, Diamonds, and Other Desires by Charlie Lane (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2.5 of the Art of Love series. Quick little novella here with the sister of the main character from Book 2 of the series. Posey is a jeweler’s daughter with a longstanding friendship and crush on Archer, who is a duke. He thinks he’s been courting her all this time and doesn’t understand why she runs off when he shows her the family bridal jewels. She’s actually running off because those jewels are a forgery and she needs to locate the real ones. We get a mini-road trip here as Posey goes to find her sister for help and Archer chases after her. And then these two dummies finally talk about how they feel about each other. Luckily for Posey, Archer is delightfully supportive and willing to defy society’s expectations in his selection of a duchess.

Ebook purchased via Amazon.

The Duke’s Mysterious Lover by Caroline Lee (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 6 of the Surprise! Dukes series. This one is the final book of the series where we will finally catch the big bad villain that’s been haunting all the main characters along the way. Thorne is the only unmarried friend left, so obviously this is his book. He’s also taken on much of the burden of catching the treasonous villain because he doesn’t have a wife or children to consider. He does however have a very handsome young footman who has caught his attention and who he has promoted to valet. Kit is not actually a young man but actually the daughter of a famous opera singer and some unknown nobleman, working as a footman so that she can get closer to the society where her father lives. She’s just trying to catch a glimpse of this absent father to make her own judgment about his character. However, being promoted to Thorne’s valet puts her in very close proximity to a very attractive man and she’s sorely tempted to give in. It’s a sweet sort of romance built on their personalities rather than their outward social appearance and Thorne is absolutely thrilled to learn that Kit is a woman (and possibly marriageable). We also get to reconvene with all the other Surprise! Dukes as they plot the final showdown. Super fun conclusion to the series.

Advance ebook provided by Caroline Lee.

What I Did For a Duke by Julie Anne Long (2011)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Pennyroyal Green series. Serious and stern duke Alex catches Ian Eversea in bed with his fiance, so he decides to take his revenge by seducing and abandoning Ian’s sister, Genevieve. Except Genevieve is both too clever and too preoccupied to fall prey to Alex’s games. She’s spent the past few years in love with her good friend Harry, who she was hoping would propose to her during the house party her parents are hosting. Except that he tells her that he’s planning to propose to another woman. She puts up a calm facade but is most definitely heartbroken. When Alex shows up to the house party, Genevieve obeys her mother’s wishes to spend time with him, but she’s not interested in the much older man at all. Until they actually start talking to each other and getting to know each other and realize that it’s nice to talk to someone at the same intellectual level. And while Genevieve never becomes a victim to Alex’s revenge, she does end up attracted to him and conflicted about her feelings. Alex is also realizing that he’s his own victim as well, falling in love with Genevieve when she’s in love with someone else. A big huge muddle, but very entertaining to read.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

A Duke Once Lost by Jane Maguire (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Rockliffe Dynasty series. We start with a tragic prologue for Lady Amelia who has been jilted by the man she planned to elope with. Eleven years later, Amelia has never married and still lives with her overbearing mother. However, she soon finds out that the man who left her has recently returned to the country and is now a duke. And she has a separate problem of a gentleman blackmailing her into marriage with the knowledge that she secretly writes an advice column in a ladies’ magazine. Jonathan was the nephew of a debaucherous and irresponsible duke and now trying to take his duties seriously. Except that he still has a bit of a stammer and is trying to avoid the mocking ridicule of the men he went to school with many years ago. Jonathan quickly hightails it out of town in an unmarked carriage and runs into Amelia on the road. He rescues her, despite her protests, and then she convinces him to convey her to her target destination out in the country. We follow them through road trip trials like rain, robbers, crusty old inns, and carriage problems. And they finally talk through some of the issues that broke them apart all those years ago, but mostly they’re just trying to maintain some semblance of self-control around the person they still love.

Advance ebook provided by Jane Maguire.

Fearless Duke by Scarlett Scott (2020)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 6 of the League of Dukes series. Grumpy duke Benedict has scared off three typists (who he thought were incompetent) and their typing school owner Isabella has come to pick a fight. They start the encounter completely at odds and somehow Isabella is tasked with proving her competence by serving as Benedict’s typist for the next week. Isabella tries really hard to hold onto propriety and professionalism (as she has learned her lesson in the past with a lord who didn’t marry her), while Benedict can’t seem to keep his hands off Isabella. Add in Benedict’s meddlesome younger sister and we have lots of chances for compromising situations. Eventually, we run into some danger with those Irish terrorists looming in the background of the entire series and Benedict starts to realize the depth of his feelings for Isabella. However, Isabella insists that they cannot be together due to their differences in social station (pretty similar to the other books of the series).

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