I really enjoyed this book, the story about Miss Loretta Quick and the Duke of Hawsthorn. After refusing to go through with an arranged marriage Loretta has been socially outcast by her Uncle and lives a lonely existence at his hunting lodge. She is happy with her decision and content with her life, until Sloane Knox, the Duke of Hawksthorn, arrives on her doorstep one dark and rainy night. He wishes to propose a match between his sister and her brother, who have never met. Having a very low opinion of arranged marriages Loretta objects to his proposal and the sparks fly between them from the beginning, the evidence of their own attraction to each other only adding to the electricity around their interactions. What I loved about this novel though was the story beyond the romance. I appreciated the effort by the author to tackle some of the more undesirable elements of Regency society through the character of the orphan boy Farley which I found to be a plausible theme in this well written book. The other characters added depth to the plot and a suitable ending was crafted for all of them. This is the second story in the Rakes of St James series, but can be read as a standalone book quite easily as I had not read the first. I will be seeking out the first and I will definitely read more by this author.

This is the first I've read from Amelia Grey even though it's the second book in this series. The set up for the series seems to be that 3 dukes, when they were younger were foolish and sent anonymous love letters toying with the debutantes of that season. Years later those three men are now concerned with the come outs for their younger sisters and worried about the repercussions of their younger actions. In this book we have Hawk who is hoping to make a match for his sister before the season begins. He finds the perfect candidate for his sister and when he goes to speak with the man about his proposition, he instead comes upon the sister, Loretta. The couple have an interesting chemistry as Loretta is set upon dissuading her brother from the arranged match with Hawk's sister. It was an enjoyable and easy read without too much drama. It was fun to see the dialogue between the two as they come together. I would be interested in reading more from Amelia Grey.

"Never send a young lady a secret admirer letter." ~ A Proper Gentleman's Guide to Wooing the Perfect Lady

Years ago, three friends came across this pearl of wisdom in "A Proper Gentleman's Guide to Wooing the Perfect Lady". Being just a little bit drunk at the time, they decided to put this piece of advice to the test to see what happened, betting who would get the most responses- with disastrous consequences for the ladies who received the letters and went out, unchaperoned, to meet their secret admirers - who never showed. Now, The Rakes of St. James are trying to bring out their own sisters, and a rumor is going around that someone wants revenge and intends to ruin the Rake's sisters in return.

Desperate to protect his sister from scandal, Sloane Know, the Duke of Hawthorne, is determined to secure a proposal for his sister before the season starts, hoping an engagement will protect her. And he has the perfect gentleman in mind. The only problem is the man's sister, Loretta Quick, who, after scandalizing society by refusing to marry the man her uncle had intended for her, has promised herself that she will make sure her brother marries for love and nothing less. Captivated by her frank manners and her refusal to back down, they quickly form an attachment that threatens to turn both their lives around in ways they never expected.

This was my first book by Amelia Grey, and it won't be my last. I loved that this book was very low on forced drama, which I cannot stand. There were no stupid big misunderstandings, no meddling relatives, nothing really but them standing in the way of their own happiness. I quite liked the way these two fought to best each other in arguments and got to really know each other. I also enjoyed the fact that the author decided to incorporate a kid who grew up on the streets of London, which was a nice change from the usual characters you meet in a historical romance.

A few little quibbles: The insta-lust (really, the hero's entire world changes in the first second he sees her, which is in the first pages of chapter 1, was a bit too much for my tastes (I would've preferred a gradually growing attachment), and the hero's realization that he was in love came a bit out of nowhere for me. But all in all, it did manage to convince me in the end.
Also, the heroine was a bit too naive for my tastes (she takes in a street urchin after he came begging to her house and basically collapsed from exhaustion before her, and is actually surprises that being nice to him doesn't magically heal behavior born of years of living on the streets), and her issues about vowing to never marry were resolved just a bit too easily for my tastes. I think another thing that might put some readers off is the way the hero wants to arrange a marriage for his sister. But really, once you meet the spoiled girl who is perfectly happy to not make a single decision for herself and thinks it's perfectly reasonable that her brother knows men better than she does, it does make sense in a way. I certainly never felt like the hero was patronizing her and I really felt that he was just trying to to as she asked and find her a nice man who would take care of her..

All in all, this was a nice, easy read. I guess for some readers this wouldn't be exciting enough, but I really enjoyed that it was a comfortable story about two nice people falling in love!

Amelia Grey has done it again in the second installment of The Rakes of St. James.

This book follows Hawk, the second of the three rakes. His sister is set to make her debut and he is determined to do everything in his power to prevent her from having to face the ton and the scandal that could come her way. His plan, to have her engaged before she attends the parties. He knows who he wants for her, however it isn't as easy as he hoped. The gentleman's sister is fighting him every step of the way. She doesn't want her brother to settle unless he is in love, doesn't want an arranged marriage and doesn't think the Duke's sister is good enough. The Duke and Loretta Quick are mutually attracted to each other and Loretta can hold her own with the Duke, but will it go anywhere?


Loretta's past has determined her future, can Hawk convince her to change her future and give in to his charms? Is he really ready to settle down and marry, no longer being a "rake"? Passion, wit and determination are alive in both of them. Will either of them claim the victory?

Sloane Knox, 'Hawk', Duke of Hawksthorne is on the hunt for a groom for his sister to avoid possible repercussions of an action he took a part in.
Adele Knox is perfectly content to let Hawk arrange he marriage.
Hawk believes he has found her perfect match, but when he travels to the home of Paxton Quick, he arrives during an ice storm to find him out and unaware of the message posted to him......but his lovely sister Loretta is in....and very tempting.
Aware of Loretta's back story, he still finds her irresistible and wants to know more, which happens easily because not only does his horse have a limp and need to be stabled, he helps her rescue a young very ill boy from the storm.
As they wait for her male servants' return with fresh horses, they get acquainted during the care of Farley.
Hawk falls hard for Loretta over the course of time spent arranging Paxton and Adele's betrothal and is determined to marry her, but there are obstacles he must overcome first.
This is a sweet heartwarming historical,centered on the two couples and their loving interaction with their siblings.
I requested and was granted an ARC copy to peruse.

Loved this! So hard to put down .Loved Hawk. He was a great hero for Loretta.
Love everything Ms. Grey writes. This was a winner!

What do you get if you cross a notorious rake and a scandalous lady?

You get an interesting historical romance filled with twists and turns. The story follows Hawk a Duke who in his youth with two other Dukes wrote 12 scandalous ladies in their first season requesting a secret meeting and signing it from a secret admirer. Each had four ladies too woo. All 12 ladies showed and where disgraced for a short period. Now the dukes are older and their sisters are due have their 1st season. So his sister Adele does not fall into the hands of a lord or other gentleman trying to get revenge for his mistake, he decides to arrange his sister marriage before the start of the season. He decides on a young man who is a relative of an Earl as a suitable choice. But he does not expect to encounter the scandalous sister Loretta instead. Loretta is not allowed into society due to not going though with an arrangement marriage by her uncle on the day of the wedding. So she is banished to the countryside which suits her fine until she meets Hawk. The story unfolds from here.

I am glad that this story not only shows the rich of the recency period but also the poor in London’s underbelly.

If you love historical romances give this a go. I will definitely picking up more novels by the author

To The Duke, With Love by Amelia Grey is an awesome historical romance. Ms Grey has delivered a well-written book filled with amazing characters. Loretta wants her brother to have a love match marriage, Hawk wants Loretta's brother for an arranged marriage with his sister. Loretta and Hawk's story is a tangle of unfortunate events surrounded by drama, humor, and sizzle. I loved reading this story and look forward to reading more from Amelia Grey soon. To The Duke, With Love is book 2 of The Rakes Of St. James Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.


I voluntarily read an Advance Reader Copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

This book is the second in the series and while you don’t really need to read the first book to pick this up I feel like it might help with some of the background. The author does discuss the backstory enough in the book that you get an idea of what happened but if you aren’t going to be content with snippets you might want to read book #1.

This is your typical historical romance novel. The relationship between the two main characters starts pretty quickly. Usually books build to a realization that they both have feelings for one another whereas in this book the relationship is almost immediate and it’s almost a little confusing as to why these 2 are so infatuated with one another.

The book also lacks a suspenseful climax. In fact, the entire plot is a bit underwhelming. One of the reason I love reading historical romance novels is because they’re like grown up fairy tales and the plots can be as ridiculous as you want them to be but this one was just mundane. Overall, it wasn’t a bad book but it would be in my top 10 historical romance recommendations.

I really liked this book. I liked that the heroine cared about the unfortunate urchin that she came in contact with. It added to the romance, a touch of humanity,that even better of people have a heart for the unfortunate. I very much enjoyed the book and I will read more by this author. SQ

Overall, I enjoyed the story of Knox and Loretta. They had some definite chemistry and I liked how determined Knox was to be with Loretta. I love when rakes are tamed! What I did not like ( and the reason fir one star being deducted) was the complacency of the Knox and Loretta's siblings in love and marriage. How can you agree to spend your life with someone you font feel passion for? It' felt like both were too kazy to go find love so they settled for each other. Their story just annoyed me and took away for the main romance.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of two people who meet through unexpected circumstances, the Duke of Hawksthorn, 'Hawk', and Miss Loretta Quick, the niece of an earl. Loretta is a lady, living out in a country manor under her uncle's guardianship, which is not altogether pleasant. Hawk has a proposition for Loretta's brother and finds Loretta at home, but her brother is away visiting friends. Hawk and Loretta, although disagreeing on several things, find themselves fighting a fierce attraction for each other and the plot centers around how the two of them address the attraction. There is added intrigue as the two become embroiled in saving someone who doesn't quite want their assistance.
This story has terrific banter, which I adore, colorful characters, an unusual plot, and heat between the two main characters that was lightning up the pages! It was all about anticipation- which made it hard to put down. I highly recommend this book to readers of romance who enjoy a story that keeps them up late! I will definitely go read the first book in this series and am sooo looking forward to the third.

While I liked the creative approach to the heroine's backstory, as well as some of the initial dialogue between the leads, unfortuantely, the story simply became boring and I lost interest - skimming to the end. Another edit cutting out some of the more tedious scenes would go a bit further in helping this story become successful.

I love everything Amelia writes. The woman is crazy talented and her books never disappoints. This one is no different and what can I say, I am partial to a good ex-naughty Duke.

So this is one of the books of a series and I do believe I have read another one of them before. Though part of a series, you can read the books as stand alone for sure without too much trouble understanding what happened in the part with the 3 Dukes and the history is there.

I am starting to wonder who the is the person who writes that gossip column to be honest with you. Though the story is great and the characters are wonderful, that is the bit that keeps me wondering. I am a weird one like that.

So here we have Hawk and Miss Quick and I really loved them both very very much. I loved that Miss Quick is smart, sharp and has a good tongue on her and the fact that it does not seem to to scare of rattle Hawk too much.

I do love a mouthy lady with an attitude. Now, Miss Quick did anger her uncle by refusing to marry the guy he picked dup for her, but she doesn't let that break her.

Men!!! I swear!

But honestly, I loved the story and really liked Hawk. I love Dukes and I am so happy this is a good one here my friends!

I am not going to give you too many details because you need to read the book yourselves but, you can trust me when I say that you are going to love it!

Amelia is such an amazing writer and I cannot wait to read more. In case you need me to be clearer: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for a copy of this entertaining book. A good read for lovers of regency romance filled with all the essential elements: dashing, handsome rich hero, beautiful, intelligent and determined heroine who despite difficulties come together in a grand and passionate romance.

3 Stars! This was a good book, not great, but still, good. A lot of what happened seemed to be very unlikely to ever actually happen & the main characters seemed to fall in love super fast. I did enjoy reading this book though. I liked how it was a mix of romance & the other, darker side of life. Usually in romance books, it’s always about the super wealthy & privileged & I liked how this had a bit of the opposite side of life in it, even if it wasn’t how the main characters lived. This is the 2nd book in the trilogy but can be read as a standalone.
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!*

Really sweet. The story kept me up last night to see where we were headed. I was pleased by everything, although the take to romance transition was a little abrupt. I am happy that Farley was answered in the end because I was genuinely worried that would be left open. Maybe one day he will get his own story too ;)

One of my go-to authors so I was super excited to read this book. I enjoyed this read. love it.

To the Duke, With Love
The Rakes of St. James

by Amelia Grey

Okay arguably a four star......but in my own opinion it hit five even with the errors and the few glitches I encountered. I truly enjoy this author. She has a way of telling the story that makes you want to turn the page and find out what next! I may of disagreed a little with one of her characters in this book but it turns out that I enjoyed the book anyway! That says a lot for the writer and their talent. It is truly a very enjoyable mix of laughter, irritation, passion and romance. So buy the book and sit back and enjoy! I was given this book in return for an honest review. Anna

Sloane Knox, the Duke of Hawksthorn is guardian for his sweet, younger sister. Due to his misguided past as one of the infamous Rakes of St James, Hawk is hoping to avoid the Season by securing a match for her before it begins. He has the perfect gentleman in mind, but for one infuriating―and unexpectedly intoxicating―obstacle: the intended groom’s own sister, Miss Loretta Quick.

Having narrowly avoided her own arranged marriage to an unacceptable nobleman, Loretta is determined that her dear brother―a gentle, good-natured soul―should marry for love. Matching wits with Hawk may be her greatest challenge yet. . .until she realizes it may also be her greatest pleasure. For the young duke’s irresistible charm has not only begun to crumble her stubborn resolve, it has claimed her heart in true love as well.

A great rainy day read that I read from cover to cover. There was nothing I didn’t enjoy about the book. Good storyline, well written with the main characters fully developed. Recommend to all fans of HR.



I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you NetGalley!