A Dozen Dukes to Add to Your TBR: Historical Romance Round Up (Volume 9)

Polishing the Duke by Alexa Aston (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Suddenly a Duke series. An old duke reveals a deathbed secret that his first love and their child is not actually a bastard and is indeed the next duke and hires the Lady Nalyssa to polish him up for Society after the solicitor informs him of his change in circumstance. Nalyssa has been ruined by her father’s debts and subsequent suicide and has made a business of cleaning up long lost relatives to titles and making them proper gentlemen. She meets Pierce and his mother and sister when he becomes the new duke. While he has held a grudge against his father for many years, he quickly learns that many people will rely on him now that he has the title. Add in a younger half-brother who thought that he was the heir and is suddenly not. Though Nalyssa has no hopes of marrying, she and Pierce are instantly attracted to each other. I liked how well she got along with Pierce’s family and the way that she explains how seemingly frivolous spending leads to employment and income for others. I also enjoyed Pierce’s ability to be both stubborn and logical when faced with his new challenges. Quick and enjoyable read!

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

Shop this book via Amazon // Available on Kindle Unlimited // Get a free trial to Kindle Unlimited

Blame it on the Duke by Lenora Bell (2017)

Book 3 of Disgraceful Dukes Series. Alice Tombs is completely uninterested in marriage, and busy translating a book from Sanskrit (ancient passages from the Kama Sutra to be specific), and planning an adventure to India. Nicolas, Lord Hatherly is also uninterested in marriage and wants to enjoy his life before he undoubtedly goes mad like his father and other ancestors. When their fathers play a game of cards, a betrothal between Alice and Nicolas is won. Both Alice and Nicolas want to keep their independence, so they’ll go through with the marriage knowing each other’s goals – to live separate lives completely. But they agree to spend the summer for Alice’s education in marital relations before she sails away on her own adventure.

Shop this book via Amazon // Bookshop.org // Libro.fm

Tall, Duke, and Scandalous by Amy Rose Bennett (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the Byronic Book Club series. Jane gets caught trying to steal a rare book from a duke’s library but instead of getting into trouble, he proposes marriage to her instead. Christopher is the newly inherited duke with a reputation for throwing debaucherous parties, but really, he’s hiding the fact that an assassination attempt has left him unable to recognize or remember faces of the people around him. He needs help navigating the people around him as well as find his killer. Jane has her own burdens, with a scarred face after an accident with her ex-fiancee ten years ago, a gambling mother, and a sudden blackmailer. She takes Christopher up on his offer, mostly because she needs the money, but also because she’s very much attracted to him. Both are slow to trust the other person due to each of their past hurts, but the physical affection starts early and often. Loved seeing them team up against his mystery murderer.

Advance ebook provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca via NetGalley.

Shop this book via Amazon // Bookshop.org

The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden (2015)

Book 2 of the Rescued from Ruin series. So our quiet and shy Lady Jane has somehow befriended a charming rogue, usually commiserating about his overbearing duke of a brother. Jane thinks that she’s assisting her friend in stealing back some jewelry, but really she’s set up for a prank and a bunch of gentlemen catch her in breeches breaking and entering. Completely ruined, the overbearing duke Harrison now offers her a marriage of convenience to save her reputation and to clean up his little brother’s mess. These two are total opposites, but slowly get to know each other after their marriage and we get to see Harrison’s stern and protective side. Loved this book and this whole series.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Shop this book via Amazon // Libro.fm

Someday My Duke Will Come by Christina Britton (2021)

Book 2 of the Isle of Synne series. Our characters here had met in the previous book in the series, but you don’t really need to read that to enjoy this one. Clara is basically a spinster and caregiver to everyone in her family, due to some mysterious event in her past. If you’re a historical romance reader, you’ll probably be able to guess what her big secret is. Quincy is a recent duke and for some reason is being pushed to honor a betrothal between his late brother and a woman and wants to avoid it. So the reason for the fake engagement here is to get out of another engagement.

Shop this book via Amazon // Bookshop.org

The Return of the Duke by Lorraine Heath (2022)

The first son of a traitorous duke out to clear his father’s name goes to visit his father’s mistress to find any clues. This one was my least favorite of the bunch, since I’m not generally a fan of spy/espionage plots. However, it was interesting to see how the story unfolds and how everything about the heroine wasn’t exactly as it seemed.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

Shop this book via Amazon // Bookshop.org // Libro.fm

The Duke in Question by Amalie Howard (2022)

Historical romance in Victorian England, America, France, book 3 of the Rules for Heiresses series. Bronwyn, the younger sister of the duke from the previous book is now some sort of female spy known as the Kestrel, and she’s en route to America on her brother’s ship to give a warning of an abduction attempt on the president. Her brother’s best friend and former spy is also on board the ship and aggravated by her silly debutante behavior. Meanwhile, they’re both intensely attracted to each other despite their adversarial relationship. The spy/action-adventure part definitely gets the adrenaline going for these two, leading to lots of steamy scenes where their instincts have taken over logic and control. Seriously, lots of passion in this one. And then of course, the danger of it all and figuring out how everyone will end of up safe and content at the end will keep the pages turning for you.

Advance ebook provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca via NetGalley.

Not That Duke by Eloisa James (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Would-Be Wallflowers series. Half of this book takes place in the same timeline as Book 2 of the series, so there are a lot of overlapping events in both books. Stella is bookish and clumsy and awkward and the mean girls make fun of her, but she is definitely attracted to Silvester, even though he will never see her as a potential bride. Silvester grew up with eccentric parents and wants to conform more to social standards, so ignores the possibility of Stella as a wife, even though his mother suggests he. He’s busy pining over another lady for half the book, to the point where Stella knows she definitely has no chance at all with him, even though they’re sort of friends and spend a lot of time together. Poor Stella is just getting the short end of the stick for the whole book and is incredibly insecure, while Silvester is constantly doing and saying the wrong thing and oh so very slow to realize that Stella is worthy of his love and adoration. So much angst over this idiot and you just want to wrap Stella up and choose her first.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

The Duke Effect by Sophie Jordan (2020)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 7 of the Rogue Files series. Youngest sister Nora studied healing with her father who was a doctor and has been serving as the village healer since his death. Unfortunately, she has also been corresponding with people who have written letters to her deceased father and signing her father’s name with her medical advice. When army colonel Constantine is back in England as the heir to a duke, he seeks out Nora’s father for a medical consult and is outraged to find that he has been corresponding with Nora and believes her to be a charlatan. With the threat to her reputation as a healer, she does everything she can to convince him that she is qualified and competent, including sneaking away from home to see Constantine in London. While it all works out for the pair romantically, it was strange that there wasn’t any fallout with Nora’s older sister after she snuck off.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

How to Forget a Duke by Vivienne Lorret (2018)

A starchy and serious duke hires a matchmaking company to find a wife. But the matchmaker thinks he’s hiding something, so she goes to his estate to investigate. Except on the way there, she gets into a boat accident, hits her head, and loses her memory. And then the duke finds her and has to nurse her back to health. He knows who she is but has been instructed not to tell her anything. Of course now that she’s not investigating the man, she ends up falling in love with him.

Shop this book via Amazon // Bookshop.org // Libro.fm

The Unsuitable Duke by Suzanna Medeiros (2020)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Landing a Lord series. We follow Brandtford’s sister Ellen in this story, widow to a cruel husband, and her childhood friend Charles, who is now a duke. Apparently when they were young, Charles pushed her away as a friend, and then when he realized she grew to become an attractive young woman, she was already betrothed. Now out of mourning, Charles is taking the chance to court her, even though Ellen doesn’t trust his motives.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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.