Family dynamics are interesting and can be dysfunctional but eventually things can be worked out if all parties want it to. This family is no different. Wyatt and Fredericka make you think about your own family and what could be better with a little work.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is the start of a new series by Amelia Grey. I do enjoy the marriage of convenience stories and decided to give this a shot. This was a pretty enjoyable story. The characters just got really annoying at times. I wish they would just have talked and explained things to each other. It would have made things a little better. I do look forward to more in the series.

It was a well written novel. I did like a lot of the aspects to it, but I did feel that the pacing was a bit slow at times. I liked Wyatt more than Frederica at times, which was surprising. I also really enjoyed his friends and hope they end up getting their own HEAs. What I found to be difficult to believe or swallow was the need for Frederica to be forgiving to Jane. I am not in the habit of forgiving some a wrong simply because they are "family". There were funny moments that I enjoyed and truly the writing by Ms. Grey was lovely. I will definitely be looking into more of her books to add to my to be read lists.

*ARC provided by St. Martin's Press via NetGalley, and I have given my honest and voluntary review.*

2.5 rounded to 3.
I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read my fair share of historical romances, with all sorts of tropes, and I must say that this one did not resonate with me. Miscommunication can be done well in romances, but Wyatt and Fredericka spoke at each other without ever listening to the other throughout the entire book. They were constantly at odds, and not even in a cute, romantic tension way, so their inevitable exchange of "I love you" felt forced and awkward. I did enjoy the children's personalities and seeing Wyatt and the children bond. Overall, though, I can't say this was a favorite of the genre for me.

This is a lovely start to Ms. Grey's Say I Do series. It's a clean, marriage of convenience story with a slow burn romance. Fredericka and Wyatt were a lovely couple and I enjoyed getting to know them and watch their relationship grow. I was easily pulled into the story right from the beginning. Fredericka is an independent, strong-willed woman and she is caring for her sister's three young children after her passing. She is in jeopardy of losing guardianship and believes a husband could help sway things in her favor. She's not looking forward to a marriage of convenience, but she is willing to do anything for the children, so she accepts the offer from Wyatt, the Duke of Wyatthaven. He in turn needs to marry in order to keep his inheritance. They will marry and help each other, but then they will lead separate lives. Although they both agreed to this arrangement, neither can stop the growing feelings and attraction that has developed between them.
I enjoyed this story very much and liked seeing the relationship between the two blossom and grow. The characters were lovely and well-developed and the story had a nice smooth flow. This was a very entertaining story and I look forward to continuing the series.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Wyatt has only a very short time in which to find a wife. Fredericka needs to find a husband so her sister’s orphaned children are not taken away from her. They enter into a marriage of convenience thinking their lives will not change much. That hardly is the case at all. I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my honest review.

I love the concept of the story, but was not a huge fan of the constant lack of communication. The main female character was quite annoying and the main male character was aloof for half the book and an ass the other half. I couldn't bring myself to like any character in the book, except maybe the Dukes friends.

Also, I don't mind books that have fade to black scenes or little to no spice... but the scenes in this were not described well enough to be considered either and it was odd timing.

A proper country Miss, Fredericka Hale needs to find a husband quickly because a nasty cousin wants to take her late sister’s three children whom she has been raising. Fredericka will do anything for the youngsters including hastily marrying a man she does not know. When the handsome and equally needy Duke of Wyatthaven comes calling with an astounding proposal, Fredericka feels she had no choice but to accept. She is content to remain in the country while Wyatt returns to his reprobate life in London.

The Duke of Wyatthaven, familiarly known as Wyatt, needs a wife just as fast, or he stands to lose a big inheritance from his grandmother. He is immediately enchanted with the lovely Miss Hale; however, Wyatt is well pleased to live apart because he is not ready to be a man with a wife and ready made family. All those plans go awry when Fredericka and the children show up unexpectedly on his doorstep because the cousin has upped her game to take the children.

There is quite a bit of settling in with several misunderstandings, missteps, and a big learning curve for them to all live together. Fredericka and Wyatt have a lot of emotional family baggage causing them both to make choice that are not in their or the children’s best interest. Wyatt seems like the quintessential feckless ton member spending his days gaming, drinking, and rabble rousing with his equally high titled friends. Although their motives are purer than would appear, Wyatt acts in some very immature and thoughtless ways towards Fredericka and the children. Fredericka constantly stresses and strains with the goal of having the children behave perfectly so they will not be taken away.

A fair amount of Fredericka's time and mental space is spent dealing with the very unpleasant woman, Jane, who wants possession of the children. Fredericka is so uptight and overwhelmed she can scarcely breath at times. Although he is what should be mature at twenty-eight, Wyatt still needs to grow up fast so as to handle not only his feelings for Fredericka, but become a respectable father figure. Because of their interactions with the three children and working to secure their future, not much page time is spent for the romance to develop so I believe the story suffers from that aspect

Thak you to Amelia Grey, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Yous Truly, The Duke comes out March 28, 2023.

Yours Truly, The Duke is a historical romance featuring a marriage of convivence. Fredericka must marry to keep custody of her nieces and nephews and Wyatt must marry to keep his inheritance from his grandmother. So it is the perfect solution is for both of them to marry, they will live separate lives for the most part and be completely happy. That is until everything goes wrong and they must live together where they find out that living separately might not in fact make them happy. Honestly I was super excited for this book but when reading it I was kind of let down. I thought that Fredericka was portrayed in such a ridged and harsh manner towards the children and the duke, it was completely unenjoyable. The one with the most character development was Wyatt and he still had his frustrating moments. Overall I thought the book had so much potential but fell flat.

Upon her sister's untimely death, Fredricka takes custody of her children, all is well until Fredricka learns her childless cousin, Jane is petitioning the courts to gain custody of the children for herself. Fredricka is in despair, Jane's husband is well known amongst the ton and well connected, Jane has his backing along with the stability of being married, something that single Fredricka does not have. Her only way to even have a chance of keeping the children is if she were to marry. But who? Living away from town, her social life is much on the dismal side, so she starts a list of potential grooms from the local village, enter Wyatt, Duke of Wyatthaven, Wyatt needs a bride, fast, by Friday to retain his inheritance from his grandmother. They enter into a marriage of convenience, Wyatt going back to his life in London, Fredricka remaining in the country with the children, until a threat from Jane about her sham of a marriage sends her running with the children to London, to the Duke's townhouse, to a party in session, to the Duke dancing in the arms of a beautiful young debutante!
This is a fast-paced, enemies-to-lovers, regency romance, that is filled with a cast of likable characters, wonderfully rich atmosphere that sparks between Fredricka and Wyatt, and a HEA ending! Can't wait for book 2 in this "Say I Do" series.
Thank you St. Martin's Press and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return freely.

Yours Truly, The Duke is the first in the Say I Do series by Amelia Grey and it is a marriage of convenience regency romance. Fredericka needs a husband that will give her credibility because her childless cousin Jane is petitioning the court to take her orphaned nieces and nephew away. Wyatt needs a wife in order to obtain his grandmother’s inheritance and seeks out Fredericka when he finds out she needs a spouse as well. Things are going as planned for a bit until it doesn’t. Upset and needing his help, Fredericka heads to London to make sure Wyatt holds up his side of the bargain/marriage and persuades the court to rule in her favor. Things don’t go smoothly from the moment that she arrives at his home and finds him hosting a grand ball and dancing with another woman! Trouble ensues with each encounter these two are together and the attraction slowly builds creating a delightful story.
The author starts a promising new series with the characters needing to marry and how they go about it. Between Wyatt’s male friends and the three young children, the story slowly unfolds to show the underlying reasons for Fredericka and Wyatt hesitating to open up and reveal their feelings about their past. Ms. Grey is one of my favorite historical romance writers and has created a story that is sets up two likable individuals that start off with a business transaction, to slowly develop a real love for one another, making this a very satisfying read.

Wyatt gets Frederica to marry him so they can help each other obtain what they want. Soon feelings and 3 adorable children start to make chaos that they weren’t prepared for.

The Duke of Wyatthaven (Wyatt) has seven days to get married or the inheritance from his grandmother will be given to the London Society of Poetry. Wyatt would not mind losing the inheritance, as he would still have plenty of wealth, but he cannot abide the inheritance going to support poetry. While at Eton, he had a poetry professor who was a strict disciplinarian and acted cruelly towards any students who made mistakes. Wyatt, as the son of a duke, could not be physically punished as harshly as other students, so the professor punished Wyatt's friends instead, which resulted in a permanent hand injury for one friend (Grant). Wyatt regrets not speaking out against the abusive professor.

Fredericka Hale needs a husband. Her sister and brother-in-law died a year ago, leaving their three children in her custody. However, her cousin, Jane, is trying to gain custody of the children. Fredericka's chances of retaining custody will be improved if she is married.

Wyatt has learned of Miss Hale's situation and sees it as an opportunity for both of them to get what they want without having to disrupt their lives, as he is not really ready to settle down with a wife, and he believes Miss Hale would prefer to stay at Paddleton. While they will enter into a marriage of convenience, it is contentious from the start, as Wyatt has a tendency to make statements to which Fredericka takes offense, and being strangers, they do not know or understand the baggage the other carries. However, there is a powerful and unexpected physical attraction between the two of them, which they attempt to resist. Moreover, the arranged marriage does not have the expected benefit for Miss Hale, as her cousin Jane works harder to gain custody of the children. Miss Hale goes to London to be with Wyatt and seek his assistance, which will upturn their lives and those of the children, but ultimately in a positive fashion.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

*New author and new series for me*

In my fictional journey, my favorite romance trope is marriage of convenience, something which Amelia Grey does very well in this novel as she weds a playboy Duke to a woman who desperately wants to raise her orphaned nieces and nephews. Fredericka and Wyatt were a delightful pairing and I loved the bickering over misunderstandings and child rearing equipped with the slow burn romance.

Those who enjoy a clean romance will find it here because although we get passionate embraces, when these two finally consummate their marriage it's a fade to black scene. Admittedly, I was a bit frustrated by that but it cannot take away from what a beautiful story this was. I appreciated that the author offers readers a different obstacle in making their marriage look authentic-the guardianship of Elise, Charles, and Belle.

The kind of story that had me reaching to finish it at 3 a.m. this morning.


Expected Publication Date. 28 /03/23
Goodreads review published 05/02/23

The story was definitely different in that we had a female character in a very nontraditional role as a single woman, raising three children.

We also have the antagonistic evil-doer that you love to hate. And let’s not forget the main male character that made the deal of the century and know it

One of the things that I did not necessarily agree with is the definite traditional views and values that the main female character displayed. While the story had a lot of fun and humor, Fredricka felt rigid and definitely a traditionalist which surprised me. That played well together with her husband, but it took a lot for him to break down those walls and find their true connection.

The story could have used a lot more heat and passion in order to fire up their true connection, in my opinion. Their romance was written well, but it was closed-door, and upping the fire factor would have helped us feel that emotional connection overall.

The story has a nice blend of traditional and non-traditional aspects. It’s a wonderful fun, lighthearted story in many aspects, but also very traditional in many aspects.

If you are looking for a true historical romance, Yours Truly, The Duke is one to grab.

Wyatt, the Duke of Wyatthaven, needs a wife to inherit his grandmother's property. He has a week to get married before losing the inheritance. With the help of his solicitor, he selects Fredericka Hale who needs a husband to gain custody of her deceased sister's three children. I'm a fan of marriage of convenience in historical romance. And this is truly a marriage of convenience to start. They agree to live completely separate lives and do so for a while. 

However, the villain of this story is Fredericka's cousin, Jane, who also wants the children because she can have none. Jane is particularly terrible throughout the entire book even when groveling at the end. She is adept at backhanded compliments and snide remarks. When Jane makes it very clear that Fredericka's marriage did nothing to gain her favor or guarantee her custody of the kids, Fredericka impulsively goes to London to get Wyatt's help. That initial reunion is a mess and an example of how these two dummies misunderstand each other. 

Wyatt is so wrapped up in his own life and pursuits (even if those pursuits are noble and with good intentions). He really wants little to do with Fredericka but did promise he would help her get custody so he agrees that she must stay while he tries to fix the situation. Fighting his attraction to her and clinging to his independence, Wyatt tries to make the right moves with the right powerful people to honor his promise. He takes advantage of being a duke and assumes the situation will be easier to fix than it is.

The children are a big part of this book. So if you are not a fan of children in romance, this book is not for you. They are not particularly terrible children or overly sweet. Grey writes the children very well and realistically. I find Fredericka's parenting attempts to be annoying and lacking common sense, while Wyatt seems to understand that the kids needed to be kids. The kids are used as the plot device that brought the couple together and the reason they ever interact. Personally, this doesn't work for me but for other readers, they may not mind.

Wyatt leaves a lot to spend time with his two best friends raising money for charity. I don't know if this was a popular thing in Regency but these three men run a group that goes around meeting with other groups of men, shooting, playing cricket, and gambling for prize money. He is constantly traveling from tournament to tournament and never explains to Fredericka why he does this. 
Another point of conflict is that Fredericka loves poetry and Wyatt has a severe dislike for it for valid reasons. This lingers between them until the very end when he finally tells her why. 

Communication missteps happen frequently in this book. Wyatt says the wrong thing or is very blunt at times and Fredericka takes offense or misunderstands his intentions. Constantly. When he tries to explain, she often shuts him down. It wears on the reader after a while, or it did this reader. 
Overall, the book is very well written; I just do not care for the storyline or some of the plot devices. Each chapter begins with poetry from a real poetry book from the 1800s which may appeal to some and enhance each chapter's deeper meaning. 

This is an excellent book for those looking for a more chaste romance (read: kissing and that's it, everything else that happens--when it FINALLY happens--is briefly mentioned and in flowery language). However, the lack of a physical relationship, the children as the main plot device and why they interact, and just the constant communication issues don't work for me. I wanted to like it but instead I tolerated it much like Fredericka's cousin, Jane. 

One final, nit-picky detail that annoyed me. We never get Wyatt's full name. He is the Duke of Wyatthaven and called Wyatt, even by friends he's had for years before he inherited the title. We never get his true first name or last name. For whatever reason, this bothers me intensely. He was not born Wyatt or Wyatthaven and his friends would have known him by another name, a lesser title. The author is trying to be clever by giving Wyatt and his friends names that play off their titles but it just seems that on some level, someone in their lives would call them by their "Christian" name.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author of this book for allowing me to read this book for free in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed reading this book. The author brought real life problems in with real life emotions and feelings without making everything seem so dreamy and unreal. I could feel as the characters felt and could see as if I was there in the scene! Fredericka really loved the children and did as best she could at raising them properly. And you could tell the Duke really loves the children and Fredericka too. A classic business marriage that turned into a romance, and I loved it!

I was excited to read this book because it featured one of my favourites historical romance tropes; marriage of convenience. It is one of my go-to tropes when I'm in a book slump, if they're well executed of course. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work for me this time. I found it lacking and weak during several times. I couldn't feel Fredericka and Wyatt's chemistry, it wasn't strong enough for me. This was my first read from the author, but I will still give her previous works a try.

Love love love marriage of convenience and especially that this was is a historical romance. Amelia and Wyatt had such witty fun banter and I cannot wait for the other books in the series!

Spinster Fredericka is desperate to keep her deceased sister's three kids. Her cousin is threatening to take them away and the court will favour her cousin because she is married and owns a home. Wyatt receives news that his grandmother has a stipulation in her will that if he isn’t married by the end of the week he will lose his inheritance and family home. Wyatt hears of Fredericka’s situation and believes a partnership could be mutually beneficial but neither expects to actually fall in love.

The romance was really the thing that sealed the deal here for me in terms of this being a great book. Their interactions were palpable, the dialogue was fun and it didn’t feel repetitive. It was a closed door romance though.

Individually the characters were slightly less likable but only because they were so set and determined with respect to their individual goals that sometimes they couldn’t see what they were doing was more hindering than helping.

The resolution towards the end of the novel was rushed and frankly unbelievable. I thought there would be a little more justice in the outcome and it read a little too forcefully in providing happily ever afters for everyone to me. It also was a little too forceful in terms of Wyatt forcing a situation on Frederica that I don’t exactly believe was desired or realistic either.

It wasn’t perfect but it definitely had aspects of it working for it. Yours Truly, the Duke is my first novel by this author and it certainly won’t be my last.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.