The League of Dukes Series by Scarlett Scott / Historical Romance Book Series

Nobody’s Duke by Scarlett Scott (2019)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the League of Dukes series. Second chance romance between a newly widowed duchess and the illegitimate son of a duke. Eight years have passed since Ara and Clay have seen each other, but now that Ara’s husband was brutally murdered by Irish vigilantes and Ara herself is also a target, the Home Office has assigned special agent Clay to protect her and her son. These two definitely have lots of tension and bitterness towards each other, mostly because they each believe that the other person betrayed them all those years ago, even though the reader knows that it was all orchestrated by Ara’s disapproving parents. We get to read some chapters from the past and see the neighbors Ara and Clay meet and fall in love in the forest between their lands. However, in the present-day, it’s all angry bickering and fighting and the epitome of the miscommunication trope because they won’t just come out and say why they’re mad an betrayed by the other one. Even though the physical attraction is still there among the heartbreak. Add in the fact that Ara’s son (and new duke) is the spitting image of Clay, we have yet another layer of betrayal and anger. The external danger drives a lot of the story forward and emotions and adrenaline is running strong and I think we eventually finally get some truth-telling in the last quarter of the book.

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

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Heartless Duke by Scarlett Scott (2019)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the League of Dukes series. This book overlaps a bit with the previous one and will make more sense when read in order. Leo is the head of the special league of agents tasked with fighting some Irish crime organization. When he arrives at his half-brother’s house for a wedding, he finds himself intrigued by his nephew’s governess. Bridget is actually there pretending to be a governess so she can kidnap the young duke in exchange for her own brother’s freedom. A standoff in the woods leads to Leo shooting her and taking her prisoner. A lot of this book has Leo and Bridget at odds with each other since they’re sworn enemies, but they’re also fiercely attracted to each other, and sometimes try to use that attraction to manipulate each other. The manipulation doesn’t work very well since they both lose their heads when they surrender to their lust. It is interesting to learn more about Leo’s backstory, since he’s the stern and serious duke when it comes to his work, but he has a debaucherous reputation to throw everyone else off, and then claims to be completely heartless and untrusting of women. Quite the combination there, and it all makes Bridget’s secrecy all that more painful for him. I did enjoy seeing his relationship with his half-brother’s mother, who was more caring and nurturing than his own mother ever was.

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

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.

Shameless Duke by Scarlett Scott (2019)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 4 of the League of Dukes series. After the events of the previous book, secret league leader and duke Lucien has been assigned a partner from America to assist with his investigation of the Irish terrorists. The overbearing and arrogant duke is of course completely surprised when the agent who shows up is the ultra-competent female, Hazel. They spend the first quarter of the book arguing with each other until Lucien starts to begrudgingly accept Hazel’s input. Things get even more fiery when they give into their attraction to each other and start a physical affair. Meanwhile, they’re still trying to solve the case of the Irish terrorists. Lucien starts the book as someone totally judgmental, but slowly starts to realize his own limitations and softens towards Hazel. Both Lucien and Hazel have tragic histories in relation to love and it was nice to see them open up to each other about their pasts.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

Scandalous Duke by Scarlett Scott (2020)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 5 of the League of Dukes series. Everyone’s keeping dangerous secrets here. Johanna has renamed herself Rose, given herself a fake background, and become a world-famous actress. Unfortunately, her terrorist of a brother has found her and is forcing her to do some of his bidding, like sneaking documents and explosives from America to England. Meanwhile, Felix, a duke working with the Home Office, has decided to get closer to Rose, believing her to be the terrorist’s mistress. She doesn’t realize he’s part of the Home Office and that he’s just an entitled duke who wants to bed her, but resists anyway due to her own damaged history with men. They’re both trying to prevent their own feelings from getting involved, but they’re terribly attracted to each other and genuinely enjoy each other’s company. Lots of drama involved with explosions and threats of imprisonment, but ultimately Felix is willing to use all of his power to keep Johanna out of trouble.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

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.