They were three young noblemen; drinking, gambling and mistresses were what their lives were all about. One night a wager was placed; how many of the twelve young ladies about to be presented for their first Season in London would agree to meet with a secret admirer? Whoever got the most positive responses would win the wager! No one would ever know what they did, or so they thought. That was before what they did was blasted all over London in all the scandal sheets so popular during that time. All three future Dukes would end up paying the piper and became known as the Rakes of St. James.

In It's All About the Duke, the third book in author Amelia Grey's The Rakes of St. James series it is Rath, the Duke of Rathburne who meets his match and faces the consequences of his earlier deeds. The Duke of Rathburne becomes the guardian of Miss Marlena Fast when her former guardian becomes too ill to present her to Society for her first Season. Miss Fast has a secret, a very worrisome secret when she finds out who her new guardian is.

I have immensely enjoyed the previous two books in the series as well as this one. I find it extremely likeable when an author includes the characters in the previous books in the series throughout. Amelia Grey has treated her readers to some very charming characters who for me seem to have lept off the pages of the book to become familiar friends. I am very pleased that all three Rakes of St. James found true love and their "Happily Ever After."

I really enjoyed Rath and Marlena's story!

When Rath comes sweeping in and tells Marlena that he is stepping in as her guardian, she doesn't know what to think. She has a secret that she must keep from him at all costs. Of course this causes many interesting situations and misunderstandings. But as the two spend more and more time together, Marlena finds it harder to keep her secret. What will Rath do when he learns the truth??

This was a great conclusion to an awesome series!

I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Rate and Marlena do complement each other. I did like Rath’s character more. He acknowledged his mistakes of the past and attempts to make things right. I really liked that he left it to Marlena to decide when it came to their relationship and how it should progress. Marlena’s reasons for writing the column are well-intentioned but there were aspects to it that I found difficult to believe. Justine as the annoying chaperone was well portrayed. This story has a slower pace and depending on the reader’s preference may or may not be to their liking. Overall, this was a charming story.

“It’s all about a duke” presents as an interesting storyline, with the Duke of Rathburne trying to make amends with his past but taking far of his ward Miss Marlena Fast. Having been orphaned at a young age, she has begun to appreciate her freedom. However, that is until she meets Rath. They soon find that their relationship is more than just that of a ward and a Duke.
I have enjoyed many of Amelia Grey’s earlier novels but I found this story to take too long to develop. Conversations between characters in the story took whole chapters when they really only warranted a few lines, which was disappointing as the story was quite an interesting one, as were the characters.
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Decent writing. A little cheesy, but charming.

Scenario (no spoilers):
Rath (Duke of Rathburn) has grown a conscience as he nears thirty and accepts the responsibility of a ward who needs help entering society. Little does he know that his new ward, Marlena, hates his living breathing guts due to folly behaviour in his youth and is now writing anonymously about him in the scandal sheets. There is insta attraction/love.

Did not finnish 19% - 2 reasons

1) Something happens/happened, then what happened (past or present) is told to someone else, then someone contemplates what happened.

2) Poor editing – example:
“Marlena rubbed her fingers where the duke’s hand had touched hers she’d reached then books he was holding.”

It's All About the Duke by Amelia Grey is one of a kind. This historical romance shows a man who goes about being a rake all his life is actually more of a gentleman underneath all that cockiness. He's confident, bold, and everything a woman wants in her lifetime partner. His bachelor ways are soon coming to an end.

The Duke, aka Rath, is made a guardian of a young woman of his age. He didn't want to be her guardian of free will. But he felt, it was his destiny towards making up for his terrible ways. A way to show his father and family friend tha he can be the Duke that wanted him to be. No more scandalous plans...until, he meets his ward. All thoughts of propriety gone...thoughts of having her as his...keep him troubled.

Marlena is a young woman who is different than her peers. She adds refreshment where past heroines are concerned. I couldn't help but to love her personality and felt thankful that the writer created such a fun character. Strong, independent, and a bit scandalous, Marlena writes scheming stories on the Rakes of St. James. Little does she know, her life is about to be turned upside down when the very rake comes into her life, as her guardian. Of all things impossible, Marlena finds herself growing attached and more attracted to her guardian than she has proper rights to...plus, her secret of writing about him and his friends will surely mean nothing can come between them, right?

Amelia Grey has wonderfully captured my full attention. This new title, was everything I had hoped for in a good read. It went beyond my expectations. Sizzling sparks, chemistry, and scandal all wrapped in one delicious piece. Plenty of action to enjoy, as well as mystery. Overall, I highly recommend It's All About the Duke to all readers. Looking for a romance that sucks you into the time period and keeps you begging for more....then, this is it!

I have read this whole trilogy and enjoyed it for the most part (even though I gave Last Night with the Duke only 3 Stars because it left so much open that is revealed in later books)

This IS the best book of the series but then again it reveals everything that she has hidden from us in the other stories, some of it things we did not even know we were missing but the story was very good, the characters engaging but the "romance" was kinda clunky but love finds a way I suppose LOL

The best thing about this book was tying up all the loose ends from previous books in addition to a decent story but the hero of this story seemed to be terribly constrained in actions not directly related to romance which I found a bit frustrating and the ending a bit too kumbaya for some of the side plots.

So over all this was a good 4 Stars trilogy, I would recommend it to friends now that the whole thing is available but reading it one book at a time then waiting for the next one was not a pleasant experience so be aware that to really enjoy this trilogy to its maximum you do have to read the whole thing.

I really liked this premise and was pretty excited to get to it. Sadly, it just wasn’t for me.

I liked Marlena and Rath well enough. They’re both stubborn and they have some fun banter together. I felt like the chemistry between them was told, not shown. There are a lot of other characters, but everyone was just so bland. Well, except Justina, but I don’t have energy to deal with her.

Plot wise it was slllllllllllloooooooooow. A whole lot of nothing happens in this story. The build up is quite small and by the time the reveal happens, it was a relief. Somehow, I felt compelled to finish this book.

Overall, it was the characters that kept me reading, but I have no desire to read anything else in this series...and mostly likely nothing else from this author.

**Huge thanks to St. Martin’s paperbacks for providing the arc free of charge**

Rath, Duke of Rathburne, is trying to make up for a mistake he partaked in in his youth with his 2 friends. They earned the moniker Rakes of St. James and even though they thought their prank had not hurt anyone, they could not understand the far reaching consequences of their indiscretion. In her own small way Miss Marlene Fast wants them held accountable and had secretly been writing a scandal sheet about rakes. She's beyond horrified when she learns her new guardian is none other than the Rath, Duke of Rathburne, the same man she'd been writing about for the past 3 years. What would he do if he found out she was behind Miss Truth's scandal sheet?

I liked Marlena. She was a loyal friend and had only kept writing the scandal sheet after the first year to help her dear friends who needed the income. Her interactions with Rath were amusing and bold for a young lady, but that's what made her unique. Rath was not really a rake anymore and he was trying to do the right thing by his ward even though his attraction to Marlena grew each time he saw her. The plot moved along, but there was a lot of narrative that could have been pared down. It was a relief when Marlena and Rath expressed their feelings for each other, but there was still a secret between them and that lead to misunderstandings. I found the ending satisfying for all the subplots. Fans of regency romance will definitely enjoy this book.

Just fair. I was neither over- nor underwhelmed. I wasn't invested enough to be either. I didn't feel our leads had any chemistry, and I've read better historical romances. This is my first book by this author, and it doesn't make me eager to read any more.

I received a copy of his book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinion are my own.

The Duke of Rathburne is in a pickle. Rath has agreed to become the guardian to Miss Marlena Fast. His only memory of Miss Fast is a 12 year old hoyden running wild. With this memory in mind Rath is stunned to discover that his new ward has become a beautiful young woman. Marlena Fast has a secret, one that has the ability to destroy lives, hers included. With stolen kisses in the garden and looks of longing and desire there is no denying the attraction between these two. Can they overcome the obstacles in their road to happiness? Amelia Grey has written a compelling story that takes the reader through an emotional tale of possibilities. I would recommend this book as part of your summer reading list.

I had read the previous books of this series and this novel followed the same format just a little too close. This book was good, except I felt like I already had read it before. But, this book did what it was supposed to do ....entertain me!

I wish to thank Ms. Grey, the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy, in return for an unbiased review of her book!

Miss Honora Truth writes a gossiping column in a newspaper of London. But the scandals she writes about only concern the Rakes of St. James. Three notorious young dukes who had the brilliant idea of sending away love letters to a dozen young debutantes pretending to be their secret lovers. Most of these ladies could survive the scandal unscathed but not all of them could make good matches after that. The three men never did anything like that again but Miss Honora Truth won’t risk that. Her readers need to know how rakes’ minds work so they can defend themselves from them.

Some few years have passed and now only one of the dukes is still a bachelor. Miss Truth stopped writing about the other two since they got married so Rath is now the “victim” of her writings. The story begins when Rath, duke of Rathburne, has the guardianship of a young lady passed onto him. He knows that her name will likely appear in the scandal sheet from that moment on… what he doesn’t know is that his ward, Marlena, is the one behind the pen name of Miss Honora Truth.

Marlena writes the column because one of her friends was one of the debutanted who were publicly humiliated by the “secret lover affair” that got into a very unfortunate marriage. She and her sister live next to Marlena and they need money because the man of the house is oblivious of their most basic needs and spends all of their funds in historic artifacs. So when Marlena eventually falls in love with Rath she is full of doubts and fears…
• What will happen when Rath finds out she’s Honora Truth?
• Will he abandon her?
• What will happen to their friends?
• What will she do about with herself if she loses Rath?

It pains me a lot to say that this is not really the book for me. I didn’t enjoy it as I usually do, it didn’t make my heart flutter, so to speak. It pains me because it is not at all a bad book but I didn’t see myself in the story. When a romance speaks to me it makes me live the story, be the heroine (or sometimes the hero) but I was neither Marlena nor Rath… and I didn’t like the secondary characters, so that says all.

Focusing on the protagonists… I felt a bit of lack of depth. He’s a rake who wants to atone for his past sins. There’s little about him to single him out from the typical rakes we’ve all read about. Still, I liked him, he’s charming.
We are given more details about Marlena, the heroine. She is too burdened by problems that are not hers. She takes responsibility of her neighbors’ misfortune and she does all the work and takes all the risks because the other two women are basically useless. She is living their lives for them and I didn’t like that. She thinks she’s helping them but she’s not. Helping them would be supporting them, encouraging them, not doing everything like they didn’t have two hands, two legs and a brain.

Also I had issues with her being the writer of the scandal sheet. So Rath and his friends were bullies in the past. And they needed to be punished for that. That’s fine. But she’s been writing the column for years and she only wrote about them, giving credit to all kinds of rumours and tell tales, not only shaming them but also putting in danger their sisters, wives, relatives, innocent people all of them… she’s bullying the bullies. And I despise that kind of revenge. You don’t punish or stop a bully by becoming a bully yourself, that’s wrong. Of course at some point Marlena feels ashamed of what she did and she knows she deserves to be punished… but, I won’t tell you what happens because it’s spoilers… but you can figure out more or less what doesn’t happen.

I said that it is not really a bad book. There were some things that I liked about the book and I liked them very much.

Their first kiss is one of the best first kisses, or kisses at all, that I’ve ever read.

There’s a scene in which she wants to take off her bonnet, and he’s talking to her. She’s so nervous that she makes a knot of the bow of her hat and she can’t untie it. Rath unties that knot under her chin, and that is one of the sexiest scenes in the book.

There’s talk of consent between, and often. Rath won’t kiss her unless she specifically asks him for a kiss. He tells her that if she wants him to kiss her she has to be the one to start the kiss. Also, Rath comes up with a code language for her whenever she wants to stop kissing (or going further than that): she only needs to put a handkerchief between them. A handkerchief of his that he gave her and that she always has in her pocket.

In conclusion, this book wasn’t my cup of tea but I didn’t feel that I was wasting my time either. I enjoyed the second half of the book better than the first. Do I recommend
this book? Well, if you like the “Guardians and wards” trope perhaps you might like this book.

It’s All About the Duke ⭐️⭐️

Nearing thirty, the Duke of Rathburne is finally ready to make amends for the wager that caused him and his best friends such scandal―but taking on a ward who needs a husband is a feat he’s not sure he can manage. The last he saw of Miss Marlena Fast, she was a spirited little ruffian, not the sort of bride most bachelors on the marriage mart sought. But one glance at the lovely lady she has become is enough to convince him otherwise…
Orphaned young and shuffled from family to family, Marlena counts on her fierce independence and quick wits to keep herself content. Being the responsibility of a notoriously wicked duke who upended so many lives is an unexpected challenge when she realizes he arouses her decidedly feminine desires. Marlena must be careful. She has her own scandalous secret to protect. If he finds out, will it shatter her chances of a happily-ever-after with the notorious rake?

I have read all 3 books in the series and this one was the hardest ... slowest read by far. I would pick it up with honest intentions to read more than a page or two and would quickly become bored. Wondering if I should give the dog a bath or schedule that root canal.

I very nearly DNF when at 80% of the book read I was still waiting for something, anything to happen to make the characters stand out. Unfortunately for me they never did.

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

This story was interesting. In both good and not so good ways. To begin with, I have not read the other books in this series, and yet I had no trouble understanding this one. If anything, this novel made me curious about the first two the point I have added them to my "to be read at some point" pile.

I enjoyed the story to a point. The author had a way of both keeping my interest while slowly building up the relationship between ward and guardian (which in itself was a story I have not seen before). However, I didn't find their relationship as believable as I wanted. It seemed as though Marlena had harbored this dislike of the rakes (and Rath) for so long, and yet she seemed to be somewhat easily seduced by him. If she hated him for ruining her friends (as well as other young ladies) reputations because of a letter he had written three years ago, why did she not put up more of a fight? This could be because Rath appears as much a gentleman as he can considering - and he does actually try to do right by her.

The fact that the author chose to give Marlena a conscience was a refreshing change as well, although it did become a bit tiresome. As did the constant reminder that she "had spark and spunk" because she spent her childhood running around the countryside with her five male cousins, and his constant "woe is me I will never live up to my father's expectations" attitude. When you overlook these, you still have to overlook Marlena's "chaperone" who I wanted to throttle throughout most of the story.

I also wish we would have gotten more closure when it came to Mr.Portington, there was obviously more of a story there than we were shown. Sure his part in the story was tied up nicely, but what happened to the person responsible for their predicament in the first place?

When I look at this entire story as a whole however, I do feel like it will still appeal to not only fans of the first two novels, but those who enjoy a different sort of historical romance.

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

Really well written part of a trilogy. Could be read as a stand alone book. Loved both Marlena and Rath. So much caring and simmering passion. A coming of age and facing ones mistakes book for the them. Great read.

In this third and final installment in The Rakes of St. James series, Rath the Duke of Rathburne gets his turn at love with the feisty and, unusually for her time, independent Miss Marlena Fast. Rath and his two duke friends caused quite a bit of trouble with their prank of sending letters pretending to be secret admirers to twelve young women some years ago. Now as he has matured, Rath feels guilty for the damage that may have been done by their selfish and juvenile behavior. He is trying to be a better a man, a gentlemen even, when Rath agrees to be Marlena’s guardian whose duty is helping his ward through her first season in high society. Marlena grew up as an orphan, living first with rowdy boy cousins who taught her independence and fortitude. She then became the ward of an elderly gentlemen who allowed her much freedom. Marlena now lives with a cousin who wants to stamp all that unconventionality and free spirit right out of her.

The Duke is immediately drawn to the lively and beautiful Marlena, but desires to do the right thing by her and see a good marriage is made. Marlena is equally enchanted by Rath; however, she has a secret relating to him and his fellow Rakes that if it were known, could have devastating consequences for her and some close friends. The fact Rath and his friends emerged relatively unscathed from their earlier behavior caused much turmoil for Marlena as she loathed what they did, but now, she finds herself very attracted to the Duke of Rathburne.

Marlena is intriguing because she is quite different than the ladies of her station and time period. Her independent nature and desire to be something other than someone’s wife sets Marlena quite apart. Usually, only the very rich could indulge themselves in such a manor not bowing to society’s rules and restrictions. Rath realizes living the life of a reprobate is less than satisfying. He finds himself drawn to Marlena feeling things about a woman he has never felt before.

Although this book is part of a trilogy, it can be read as a standalone as enough information is given to understand the backstory set down in the previous books. Fans of Ms. Grey and Regency Romance will enjoy this conclusion to the series.

I had a very difficult time getting into this book. The opening chapters dragged, and it was difficult for me to believe that Marlena would fall for the man who so hurt her friends. The fact that Rath became her guardian also added a bit of an ick factor to this story for me. The book did improve over the last fourth of it, but it took so long to get to that point. I couldn’t help but feel this book was a bit of a disappointment.

I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I really enjoyed this book. I plan on reading more books the author in the future. It was a good book.

Simply a delightful and interesting historical romance. Nice pair of main characters with chemistry. I was intrigued from page and hooked.