Love this author, loved this book have read the other books in this series and can recommend this series to others.

The third book in a series concerning three women who received unexplainable inheritances from a Duke, this novel wraps up the ongoing mystery of how the Duke (suspiciously) died and delivers a great romance. Iris, an unconventional and independent woman, and Nicholas, the new Duke, share chemistry that just won't go away despite the differences between them. Recommended.

In the times the book was written, It was awesome to see a woman so strong where she did not depend on any man. The Duke however is questioning her integrity. The story rolls along very easily. it was easy to read and i enjoyed it immensely.

Two mysteries solved in the finale of the series. Nicholas Radnor, The Duke of Hollinburgh, has been searching for the third heiress, named in his uncle's will. But Iris Barrington shows up at his door, in a quest of her own, unaware of the inheritance. Nicholas and his two cousins have been trying to solve the mystery of why their uncle left 3 unknown women large inheritances and if their uncle's death had been an accident or murder. His two cousins had fallen in love and married the other two heiresses and Nicholas finds himself falling for Iris. But she is an independent woman and is out to clear her grandfather's name, by finding a small Psalter, that he was accused of stealing, but the previous Duke had hinted that it might be in his possession. By the end of the book, the mysteries have been solved, but I think that Uncle Fredrick was really a matchmaker. However, I was disappointed with the business of Nicholas's business partner left unresolved and the absence of an epilogue with a wedding or an heir with all three couples together. I still recommend the series as a delightful read.

I read an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

Madeline Hunter weaves a story that draws you into the world of her characters with with, adventure and love! Highly recommended read!

I had read the previous in the series so I was excited to see how it finished. I loved the whole mystery and we have a book thief family secret to solve. Kept me interested and I liked the visits from our previous series couples which I loved! I think the mystery concluded well but did feel so quick at the end. Now I know marrying cousins wasn’t frowned upon and it’s explained they aren’t really but it did leave an ick feeling afterwards for me. All concluded well and overall a great historical romance with a slice of mystery!

Such a good book. I highly recommend. It captures you from the beginning. I really enjoyed this book.

Can I just first say how lovely the cover is?
The romance is so swoony and lovely, it's the type where they don't just hop into bed at the first sign of chemistry but they get to know one another first. There is also an interesting mystery that tangles in the storyline. Iris and Nicholas are at odds with each other yet the more they are together, feeling develop. Now Nicholas needs to find out if Iris is true to her story and if Iris will do anything to restore her grandfather's name.
Thank you to the publisher and author for this arc!

The Heiress Bride is book 3 and final story in Madeline Hunter’s A Duke's Heiress series. This book revisits multiple characters, locations and follows a set linear plot in my opinion. That said it can be read as a standalone title and one would still find it phenomenal. All along I have been wondering why the old Duke seemingly leaves his fortune to three unknown women to his immediate family members and spoiler, it is not because they are children of his paramours. In this last instalment we meet Iris Barrington the last of the heiresses to turn up straight to Nicholas Radnor, the new Duke of Hollinburgh’s doorstep after he had already been searching for her. Iris is a sharp and savvy antiques books dealer that has been following in her grandfather’s footsteps. She is highly independent as she is intriguing and Nicholas soon finds himself entangled in helping her to clear her grandfather’s name but the caveat is that doing so will come at a high price for the new Duke. This story has humor, mystery, danger, intrigue and tasteful saucy heat which one comes to expect from Madeline Hunter. I was quite satisfied with how this last story tidies up the mystery and gives us deeper insight into what had occurred to cause these young ladies to be worthy of their newfound fortune and you my fellow readers will as well. My review comes from an ARC copy I received from Netgalley. I can’t wait to see what my fellow fans think on the ending, happy reading!

This is a dramatic and interesting story that has fascinating and likable main characters, and entertaining secondary characters. It's a story that will keep your attention and keep you turning the pages. I really enjoyed it.

This was a good read. It held my attention throughout, and some parts were quite enjoyable.
However, I came for the romance and there was none. This is one of the rare cases where the book is mildly spicy, but the only thing connecting the couple is intimacy.
From the very beginning, the way each of them view the other is the same. She finds him handsome, and he thinks her worldly.
There was nothing indicating any feelings shared apart from lust. Even in thinking, they didn't muse about the qualities of the other. Everything was about how the sight of one makes the other aroused.
The mystery was written well, I loved how it was handled, not the main focus, but not an afterthought either.
The side characters were way more interesting than the main ones. They held more depth, and were better fleshed out.
The sequence and pace were great, they were superb, actually.
Overall, a nice read.
*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Unfortunately, I did not like The Heiress Bride. Actually, I didn't like any of the books in this series. For this one I listened to the audiobook. The book was dull and lifeless.

This was such a disappointing read.

One of the biggest reason behind my disappointment was the title. With a title like that, you expect as specific storyline, a specific trope, but there was none of it. The heroine was never a bride, a fiancée at best but even then, it does not happen until the very last chapter.

The book felt dragged, I was skimming through the pages more often than not because it failed to grab my attention. Things were happening but nothing was interesting or attention grabbing. I was never able to get feel connected to the characters.

The saddest bit is that being the romance enthusiast that I am, I would’ve enjoyed the book if the main couple had chemistry but unfortunately, they did not. In fact, I had a hard time believing that they were even in love. There was no spark between them. Not only that, but the link between their families, which was revealed at the end, made things a little odd for me.

Another issue I had was the way the plot lines were executed. The resolution of the “missing book” did not sit right with me. Throughout the book, Iris is desperate to find it in order to mend her grandfather’s reputation but once the book is found, the way she handles it is disappointing. In addition to that, the textile factory plot line felt unnecessary, it adds absolutely nothing to the storyline and honestly, its end was lacking.

This was my very first read from this author, and this book does a terrible job at being a standalone. If I’m being honest, I’m not planning on reading the rest of the series.


Thank you Netgalley for this ARC, and for giving me the opportunity to read this book. My opinions are my own.

If you like your historical romances interwoven with mystery that this Book and this essential trilogy is for you. Madeline Hunter's writing is interesting, fairly accessible and well paced. This novel is the last in an interconnected trilogy which has an underlying mystery around the death of a Duke, and while I have not read the other two novels in the series, I do get the impression that if I had read the books in order I would be more invested in the mystery part of this plot. The Heiress Bride is a novel that beautifully balances plot and romance, if you are someone that likes a more equal balance between the two, then Madeline Hunter is definitely worth reading.

This novel features a bold and independent heroine beautifully. I love watching a strong woman stand up for herself and be able to stand toe to toe with the hero. This novel is interesting and softly romantic. Hunter's writing is beautiful and engaging perfectly driving the plot and deliciously exploring an attraction and budding relationship. This novel is low on the steam but high on character exploration and development.

If mystery and plot drive you, then Madeline Hunter might just be the author for you. I definitely found this to be a very enjoyable novel and Hunter to be an author I will continue to explore.

The Heiress Bride wraps up this historical regency romance, thriller and mystery trilogy. I have been waiting for this book! Nicholas Radnor unexpectedly becomes Duke of Holinburgh after he inherited the title from his uncle. Most of the wealth was left to three mysterious women that Niclolas and his family have been trying to track down. The last of the inheritors, Iris Barrington, show up at his door. She is a rare book seller and has great success outside of England (because she is a woman), although she does do some business in England. She did not know she was named in the will and had just shown up because the previous duke might have had some information about a rare book.

The chemistry between Nicholas and Iris sizzling, but he needs to know what role she might have played in the family mystery. Iris is an independent woman and spends most of her time in Italy. She travels, reads, has no strings attached lovers and is quite the opposite of what a ducal wife should be. Nicholas is immediately protective of Iris and her safety in that sexy, swoony way that romance readers will love. Trust is built first, before any sexy time ;) *swoon*. I really love that this historical romance was also all about books. A rare book is at the heart of this mystery. As Nicholas and Iris work together to piece together the mystery that brought them together, the pieces start to fall into place and readers will enjoy the twists and turns that the author wrote into this book. I highly recommend reading the books in order. It’s a perfect summer read and if you are a fan of historical romance, you will love this book!

I enjoyed this book right up until the very end. The characters were strong, and although they were pitted on opposite sides of a goal, Nicholas never actively worked against our heroine. I love to see that kind of loyalty early on when the hero is immediately smitten but doesn't seem to realize it. I did miss the first couple of books in the series, but it wasn't hard to catch up. Iris is a smart and capable heroine, unapologetic for the things she wants. The side characters add the kind of humor and wit I love to see in a histrom. As most of Madeline Hunter's books, she weaves the chemistry between the characters almost subtly between the pages. It's there, it's not, but it doesn't take away from the main mystery plot. My only problem was that things felt a little too muddled in the end, and I didn't love how everything was finally connected.

A duke dies in mysterious circumstances leaving his fortune to three unknown women. So, begins Book 1 of the trilogy. Now two of the women have been found and two happy marriages have ensued, the search is still on for the third woman when she walks into the ducal residence to meet the duke.
Miss Iris Barrington is a rare book seller, and the previous Duke was helping her find a rare old book from his family collection. Nicholas is cash poor even if he is the duke and owns a vast tract of entailed property. He strikes a deal with Iris for her to catalogue his library and find books in his collection that might fetch a pretty penny while he does the rounds of the ton looking for a heiress to shore up his fortunes. Now this stratagem works for both of them since neither is being entirely honest with the other. 
Sparks explode between Nicholas and Iris even as they both have their future course mapped out clearly. We readers of romance know that cupid has his own thoughts about foolish mortals and their plans but in addition to the romance, the truths behind the duke's murder, Iris's relationship to the duke all emerge.  This concluding book ties in all the loose ends from the previous books in a nice tidy bow while giving us a delightful story that sparkles with wit and romance.

Another triumphant Regency romance from Madeline Hunter! Passionate with a layered plot that unfolds in perfect time.

As this was the third book in the series, I expected much more than what I got. To begin with, I'm a little confused as to why the author chose to call this one The Heiress Bride when by the end of the story, there still had not been a wedding. Nor was there even an epilogue that showed us what happened to the two main characters after (most of) the mysteries had been solved. Were their investments enough to save the Dukedom? Did they have children? This was even more disappointing because throughout the book, I never really felt like these two did love each other. It felt more like they were partners on a quest to uncover the truth, who occasionally shared a bed, and even then, Iris was more than willing to walk away once she had gotten what she wanted.

I was also more than a little confused about one of the side plots involving a textile company that Nicholas had inherited. Although we found out the who and the why, there was never a resolution to that specific story arc. I expected there to at least be a showdown of words at some point once Nicholas became aware of what was going on and took steps to end it, but there was nothing. Did the person in the wrong just accept defeat without a word?

At least we finally got to solve the mystery of the late Duke's passing, although I must say, after the build-up over the three novels, the outcome seemed very anti-climatic, especially when you consider the fact that the person (or persons) behind everything manage to escape without any real punishment.

At the end of the day, I am happy to have finished this series, and while it didn't end in a way that was overly satisfying for me, I would definitely read more from this author.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

This was middling for me, I really enjoyed this series but the story was pretty repetitive and it was way too similar to the other books. I liked Iris and I thought the idea of the mystery was interesting but ultimately this didn't deliver. Plot wise, it was eh.