A Dozen More Dukes to Add to Your TBR: Historical Romance Book Round-Up

Lady Saves the Duke by Annabelle Anders (2019)

Book 3 of the Lord Love a Lady series. Abigail and Alex somehow get stuck in a boat together during a house party, where Abigail suffers a scandalous wardrobe malfunction. Alex, being the upstanding duke that he is, offers her marriage. Seeing no other opportunities to get out of her negligent parents’ house, she agrees. Alex aims for a practical arrangement, but they certainly get to know each other as they travel towards his country home. Both Alex and Abigail have suffered terrible hardships in the past, and sharing them strengthens their bond.

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How the Duke Was Won by Lenora Bell (2016)

Book 1 of Disgraceful Dukes Series. Charlene Beckett is the illegitimate daughter of a courtesan and an earl, paid by the countess to impersonate her half-sister Lady Dorothea in a bid to win the Duke of Harland’s affections. James, the Duke of Harland was the second son and unexpected heir, looking for a society wife. As a fun aside, he also is obsessed with chocolate and owns a chocolate factory. To help search for his new wife, James invites four ladies to visit his estate for a few days. Although he is not interested in falling in love (or lust) with any of them, he can’t help but be drawn to Lady Dorothea (who is actually Charlene). And while Charlene is determined to win James’ affections for her sister (and her payment from the countess), she starts to have feelings for him and feel guilty for the deception.

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How To Love A Duke in Ten Days by Kerrigan Byrne (2019)

Historical romance, Victorian England. Book 1 of the Devil You Know series. As expected, there was a huge amount of drama and emotional turmoil in this book. We start with a tragic prologue where Alexandra is attacked by her school headmaster, defends herself, and then needs her friends to assist her in covering things up. To help her feel better, her two best friends reveal their own tragic secrets. As expected, the two friends will make up the main characters of the other two books in this series. Chapter one starts ten years later when she’s on her way to a duke’s masquerade ball where her friend is supposed to be announced as his fiancee. What follows is a series of near-death experiences, blackmail, family destitution, and a fearful pull that Alexandra has towards her friend’s intended, Piers. Don’t worry though, her friend is not in love with him at all and it was a marriage contract from many years past. When she finds out about the allowance the future duchess will receive, she proposes that the duke marry her instead of her friend. And then we have even more drama with Piers’ backstory with his family history, being attacked and scarred, being ditched by his fiancee for his cousin, and mistrust of women. These two people have their own reasons for not trusting one another but somehow feel safe and protected when they’re together. Loved seeing them start to slowly melt towards each other.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

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Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare (2014)

Book 1 of the Castles Ever After series. Izzy is living in destitute times after her writer father passes away without any money, so she’s glad to inherit a castle so that she at least has someplace to live. When she gets there, the castle is already occupied by the scarred and blind grump of a duke Ransom. They’ll need to work out who truly has ownership of the place.

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To Love a Scandalous Duke by Liana De la Rosa (2017)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Once Upon a Scandal series. Childhood friends who were separated by tragic circumstances (and possible family betrayal) are reunited here. Declan has returned to England after being sent away for the past twelve years following the tragic death of his father; upon his return, he finds that his brother has died and is now the duke. Lady Alethea is the daughter of an earl, Declan’s childhood neighbor and friend, and is instantly drawn to Declan again, despite his hurtful accusations about her father before he left the country. There’s definitely a bit of mystery here between the two families, with Declan’s father being blamed for a huge financial scandal before killing himself, and Declan’s older brother dying under suspicious circumstances. While Declan is trying to uncover the truth, he’s distracted by Alethea’s presence. Alethea is mostly just trying to get by and assert her independence, not believing her own father capable of the misdeeds Declan suspects of him. The romance part of this book was fairly straightforward, and I was mostly captivated by the mystery element and wanting to know the truth of the scandal that happened all those years ago. And with our luck, we got to uncover another juicy secret in the meantime.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Much Ado About Dukes by Eva Devon (2022)

Book 2 of the Never a Wallflower series. Two fiery and independent people agree on their political aspirations, but William wants nothing to do with passion or love. Beatrice needs the duke’s support for her political endeavors so continues to seek him out. They are thrown together when his brother wants to marry her cousin and they strike up a friendship. When she finds her uncle has lost all her money, he proposes a marriage of convenience to help her situation. I loved reading these two very supportive friends and partners.

Advanced ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

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Tall, Duke, and Dangerous by Megan Frampton (2020)

Book 2 of the Hazards of Dukes series. All I remember about this book is that the grumpy duke is giving self-defense lessons to the fiesty lady. And then they fall in love. But what more do you need to know?

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While the Duke Was Sleeping by Sophie Jordan (2016)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Rogue Files series. Poppy is a worker in a flower shop who is smitten with one of the regular customers, even though the duke doesn’t pay her much attention. When she sees him fighting in the street with another man and does not see an oncoming carriage, she pushes him out of the way, saving his life, but also rendering him unconscious. The man he was fighting with turns out to be his illegitimate half-brother, Struan, who he refuses to acknowledge. In the confusion of bringing the injured duke home, Poppy is assumed to be the duke’s fiance. Struan is skeptical of that, but still believes Poppy to be the duke’s paramour. The duke’s household and family are overjoyed the meet Poppy and enthusiastically welcome her to the family, causing her to feel even more guilty for the deception. Throughout all of this, Struan both antagonizes and physically pursues Poppy, which she both enjoys and rejects. Even though she isn’t truly engaged to the duke, she still isn’t free to pursue Struan, who is not offering anything honorable to her anyway. Still, this book was an entertaining story and I enjoyed meeting the duke’s warm and welcoming family.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Dare to Love a Duke by Eva Leigh (2018)

Historical romance in Regency/Victorian era England; book 3 of the London Underground series. We have our newly inherited duke still mourning his father but dealing with his new responsibilities. Knowing that he has to protect his mother and sister’s reputations, he will have to cease going to flirt with the proprietress of the sex club he frequents. After he spends one last night with her, he finds out that his father actually secretly owned the club and he needs to decide whether to keep it open or shut it down. High drama there!

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Dancing with the Duke by Suzanna Medeiros (2012)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Prequel novella of the Landing a Lord series. Alex has promised his sister and mother that he would dance with his sister’s friend Charlotte at her first ball. When he sees her for the first time in many years, he finds a beautiful woman in place of the awkward gangly teen who had a crush on him before. He’s surprised that he’s so attracted to her and tries to avoid her after that ball, but as he keeps crossing paths with her, he cannot seem to resist. It’s a quick low-angst story here to introduce his friends, who have longer stories.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Her Night with the Duke by Diana Quincy (2021)

Book 1 of the Clandestine Affairs series. Two strangers meet at an inn and hook up and go about their merry way. He’s a duke who is going to meet his soon-to-be fiancee, so he gets there and meets with the girl’s family. And her stepmother is the woman he met at the inn! Talk about awkward. They eventually agree never to bring it up again. Everyone tries to do the honorable thing, etc. But the attraction is obviously still there and we’re just waiting to see how it breaks through. And also wondering how the issue with the impending engagement is going to be resolved. Such a sticky situation and satisfying to read.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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Accidentally Compromising the Duke by Stacy Reid (2016)

Book 1 of the Wedded by Scandal series. Adeline is trying to escape a betrothal to someone her parents picked out, so she attempts to sneak into the room of her chosen groom and get caught there. Except her friend sent her to the room of an unsuspecting duke, and she gets caught with him instead. Ever so honorable, Edmund proposes marriage and hopes for the best.

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