This was a engaging book, more mystery than thriller but it worked for me and I wouldn't be mad if it was the beginning of a series

3.5 STARS!!

'The American Duke' is a generally appealing story. The setting is interesting and the characters are intriguing, though the plot did feel a bit too clunky in places.
All in all, I feel better editing would have been the making of this book.

My thanks to the author, the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC!

I hardly ever read romances in this particular genre vein, so this was a delightful departure from the norm for me, and I really enjoyed myself. THE AMERICAN DUKE is not just historical romance, it also deals with topics such as colorism and white-passing, and mixed race love in a time period where such a thing seems impossible. I really enjoyed this read, and if those themes seem interesting to you, I would recommend it wholeheartedly.

The first book in the American Duke series by a new Author to me. The year is 1791 and goes from America to England. This is Anne's story of her life with Avery Roxbury, a British peer and their children. There is ups and downs, drama, angst and murder. I enjoyed reading. I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Thank you for this arc! it was an easy read for me to get into and to follow. characters were good and enjoyable.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
The American Duke is a novel by August Jade Sterling. I loved the subject and premise of this book. The Story has an epic, sweeping feel that catches the reader in the plot. However, several issues hindered this romance. There were too many characters introduced into the main story. The point of view changed too quickly from paragraph to paragraph confusing me at times. There were too many subplots; they took away from the main frame of the book.

That being said, the book's foundation was solid, and I loved the background of the Roxbury family. Although there are many characters, each is vividly described. If future books slimmed down the characters and focused more on the main plot, they could be excellent.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The write up for this novel was very interesting and intriguing, the idea of an unknown family and scandalous racial background with murder and smuggling added into the mix this should have been my cup of tea. However it just wasn't. The story dragged as there were so many character's that were thrown in without adding to the story and made things hard to keep straight. Also it wasn't very true to the era as the shortening of names just wasn't done. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The concept of this novel was very intriguing, the idea of an inheritance and a family that you knew nothing about, AND the secret of your racial background being hidden from you as well. Add murder and smuggling and this should have been a page turner for me.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into this story. There were so many characters that weren’t developed well and I had a hard time keeping track of who was who in this zoo. I also found that some of the dialogue was tedious and seemed to be filler for a word count and not really having much to do with the storyline. Finally, and this is rather petty of me, but the Duke and his sister were referred to as Sar and Mer throughout the story. Mer is short for Meredith but I have no idea was Sar is for. It was just annoying for me.

I really wanted to love this nook, and I hate being critical because the author puts themselves out there, but I think a little more editing would improve this book a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

There is a (very insta) love story with slightly cringy sex scenes and even a ridiculous third act breakup, but this is not your typical romance novel. The American Duke is a combination of drama, mystery and romance in a very unique historical setting.

When Sar’s father gets murdered two family secrets come to light. The first one, Sar’s father was a duke’s son and Sar is now the heir to the dukedom. The problem is the other secret; Sar’s mother is a granddaughter of a slave which makes him and his sisters illegitimate as marrying between races is illegal in America. The family has to flee to England but despite its more liberal marriage laws, the English society is in no way less racist and some are not ready to accept a “mixed blood” duke.

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book; this story definitely has a lot of potential. Unfortunately the writing was very challenging. The narrative jumped from one pov to another and new characters appeared out of nowhere without any introduction. A lot was unclear or left unsaid which was confusing and a little irritating, especially since there was a lot going on.

Another thing, I’m not sure how historically accurate this story is. All those super casual and instantly on first name basis aristocrats and very forward thinking gentlemen of the ton seemed a little out of place in the early 19th century England.

Having said that I still enjoyed the story!

3 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Girl Friday for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Girl Friday Productions and Netgalley I was able to read this as an ARC. It was pleasant and a quick read for me. I liked the characters and the plot fairly well.

What an interesting book! There is murder, romance, intrigue, espionage, smuggling....so much is happening that you can't help but get pulled into it.
What I most enjoyed:
1. the women in this book are incredible...not a single dunderhead in the bunch! That is sooo very refreshing to see in a book that has romance involved.
2. the acknowledgement of the fact that British society has been mixed for a long time...it didn't just start through the imagination of Shonda Rimes and Bridgerton series. It's good to see that black people didn't just exist as slaves...that a good chunk of us were and are part of British aristocracy, whether folks want to believe and accept that or not.
What confused me: the way how it ends without figuring out who the mastermind of the various plots is. It didn't seem to me like this was the start of a series, and it certainly wasn't described that way. However, the confusion is tempered by the fact that some of the players in the plots are finally revealed by name; therefore going forward, some of the mystery regarding that will be gone.
It was also a little difficult to grasp everything happening at first because it seemed like events jumped all over. One minute, it's a sensuous love scene; the next, it's a murder; the next it's a clandestine meeting happening between 2 or 3 nameless people. Once you acclimate to the pace being set, you do get swept up in the story. A suggestion: write down the character list at the beginning on a separate piece of paper and have it handy as you read, so you can keep all the characters straight.
This book is great for anyone who likes a little bit of everything in their historical fiction. I'm looking forward to the next book in this tale.

The American Duke by August Jade Sterling felt like an interesting title, but the story was not. Too much woolgathering by the characters. Without these as filler, perhaps the story would have been better, more fluid.

Mixed races in the aristocracy is not a bad theme, but the development of the story was.

Something that really grated were the mixed tenses, a character was speaking/thinking/woolgathering as « he » or « she » and the next phrase was « I ». Really annoying, and as another reviewer states, the characters are referred to as Sar and Mer, instead of ther given names. And no, it’s not « irritating for some irrational reason » as Emma F. writes in her review. If you are including that many pages in your book dedicated to introduce who is who in the story, please, PLEASE, use the whole damn names!

I did finish the story as I wanted to find out who were the culprits and if the Duchess survives, only to find out there’s a cliffhanger.

I really enjoyed the storyline, as well as the characters. Well written story, it was a very enjoyable book.
I would recommend it to my friends.

this was a great historical novel, it was what I was hoping for from the description. it does a great job in staying with the time-period and it does a great job with it. I really enjoyed the romance going on and loved the chemistry with the two main characters. The historical aspects worked well together and I was glad I read this. August Jade Sterling does a great job in the writing and it left me wanting to read more.

"Jacob let a few moments of silence emphasize his discovery. They all understood the consequences for carrying
contraband. “The records show nothing. There is no bill of lading for the cargo, and there is nothing else in our records.” Jacob continued to talk as Sar studied the reports before him. Sar laughed wryly to himself. On top of everything else, we’re in the smuggling business."

The 6th Duke of Westmoure has passed, with no sons the title passes to his brother. The 7th Duke is murdered before he even knows. His son, Sterling, is now the 8th Duke. His son who grew up in America and had no idea of his family connections. Agents of the crown have been sent to escort the new Duke and his family back to England.

One of the escorts is drawn to the Duke’s sister. The first time he set eyes in her he knew she was his. She hadn’t spoken but he just knew. Although this is typical for novels of this kind it seemed too forced and quick.

The new Duke’s mother is the daughter of a freed slave, making him mixed race. Something not accepted at the time, especially not in titled families.

I liked the idea of the story, a title inherited by someone who was unaware of his family or future and who has lived outside of the country. But unfortunately the story didn’t live up to my expectations. There was something unpolished about it. It was a real chore to read. Too much time spent on exposition. An entire history lesson very early on which took me out of the story.

The Duke and his sister are referred to as Sar and Mer, their initials maybe, rather than their given names which I found incredibly irritating for some irrational reason.

DNF