A scientist and a glass-blower enter a bar…not really but that is what I love about Ms. Ridley’s stories. They are not always about the usual suspects but are about people you usually do not find in historical romances. I love the concept and I love this story. Penelope and Nicholas are characters you come to love over the course of the book. They are funny, their interactions are fiery for the most part, and their love is sweet. Another plus for me was that they are a little older. A fantastic story that will have you smiling and thinking of cookies and turtledoves in a whole new light.

I loved Nick and Penelope's story. Having met both of them in the previous book, I was very eager to see where Ridley would take this story.

Penelope is a chemist who makes perfume. She had created a cologne that made women fall for the men that wore it and was now trying to create a perfume for ladies. When Nick learns that Penelope is the creator of the cologne, he tries his best to get her to stop making it or to sell him the rights to it. He thinks that a man should be considered a rake on his own merits (like he himself is) and not by wearing a cologne that makes women fall at his feet. Penelope refuses.

Nick starts spending time with Penelope to get her to change her mind. Since he is hanging around, Penelope decides to use him as a test subject. If she can get a known rake to fall for her while she is wearing her new perfume, she will know when she has the right formula. She didn't count on falling for the man herself! When Nick proposes, Penelope believes that he doesn't really love her. That all of his feelings were created by the perfume. Will these two figure out their true feelings before it is too late?

This was a great addition to the 12 Dukes of Christmas series. The bantering between Nick and Penelope had me laughing out loud! I'm really hoping that we get Nick's brother's story next!

Penelope becomes semi-famous after she invented a perfume for men that makes women fall all over them. When infamous rake Nick meets her by chance he tries to buy the formula from her to stop production, as he is personally insulted that, with the help of this perfume, any man can be a rake like him.
Penelope, a spinster by choice who does not believe in love but only chemistry, finds him to be a good guinea pig to test her new perfume, the version for women that makes men swoon.
If the rake falls for the spinster, the formula works – doesn’t it?

This was a fast paced, very enjoyable 200page novella with very likeable, fun characters. Definitely one of my favorites by Erica Ridley.

I have read several books by Erica Ridley and have always enjoyed. This was another wonderful read and shall be looking forward to reading more.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review.

Ooh, a village party to celebrate her.

Animal secretions? Ew.

A romantic she is not.

Hey now, Gloria. We are just as smart.

I'd pay to see all the men in a ballroom swoon simultaneously.

Oy, Nicholas.

I wonder what she is doing in there?

It's perfume, not mind-control!

He's a bad wingman.

Their father was crazy. Nothing about him suggests anything effeminate.

Did you just flap, Virginia? Don't ever do that in public.

He is so not really a rake.

She's like his drug dealer, only peddling biscuits.

His father ruined him. It's obvious to everyone except him that she loves him.

I loved the quick wit and banter that Penelope and Nicholas constantly gave the reader! My favorite types of romance are when the H/h become friends before lovers story and this one was perfect. Neither believed in love for themselves yet came to discover that it really exists by the end of the story. A lovely read! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Kiss of a Duke by Erica Ridley is the second book in her series named 12 Dukes of Christmas. I read the first one recently and while I did not laugh out loud, I found the book quite enjoyable. The characters and situation made the book interesting and fun. In Kiss of a Duke, we are back in the town of Cressmouth or the town of Christmas with many of the same people. Only this time the characters are Penelope and Nicholas.

Penelope is a scientist and is famous for her newest scent called Duke. This has brought her fame and an angry Nicholas Pringle to her door. He wants to buy the scent and stop its production, because people are using it and acting like a rake. He does not want people doing that as it interferes with his good name and rake status.

Nicholas Pringle is a rake, a roue and an all around seeker of one night stands and pleasure. He has no desire to marry and have a family. As a duke, so much is open to him, that he finds the new scent called Duke an affront and wants it to stop being sold.

Penelope and Nicholas are funny together. There both love science, not the Nick wants her to know about his secret “hobby”. They bond over biscuits and science. The other characters that float in and out are equally as humorous and the story moves quickly to its finish. I enjoyed the book and found it amusing. The book, Kiss of a Duke, by Erica Ridley is a lighthearted and a quick read.

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Wasn’t sure of this at first but started to get into it about chapter 5 , from then on I was hooked and really enjoyed reading it.
It was amusing and had some pretty witty conversation, thought provoking too , as to what really attracts men and women to each other and can it be influenced.
An enjoyable read in the end and definitely one to cozy in front of the fire with .
I received an advance copy of this book and chose to submit a review

This was an enjoyable christmas time romance taking place in a small town in england called Christmas. The star of this story is Nick and he is a proud rake. All he aspires to be is a rake and he is very happy with that.

Penelope is a kooky scientist and she has two skills, she bakes biscuits and has invented a perfume that makes women fall for men. Then she gets the idea that women need one too. Thats when she meets Nick and she decides he is the perfect person to test it on.

So what happens when a Rake and Scientist become friends and more? Or when they fall for the other but Pen thinks it is her magic perfume? Well it was a fun romance and I enjoyed it.

Ridley has made an entire English border town into a holiday village fit to populate a Regency wonderland. Penelope the chemist is not the only 'blue-stocking' in the newly fashionable resort town of Christmas; she's the one who has marketed musk scent under the name "Duke' to the entire masculine beau monde. In the interest of fairness she's developing one for ladies as well.

Nicholas Pringle has an artistic side beneath his more 'manly' reputation as rake, which his upbringing has not uprooted, but he hides away his glassworking and pretends at empty-headedness. Around the defiant nonconformity of Penelope that camouflage begins to slip. Penelope thinks it's because of the scent she wears, that a rake spends so many days with her eating and baking biscuits, leaving presents of glassware on her mantel.

They both have decided not to love anyone. Can they make an exception for each other? or is it all just a mere chemical reaction?

Excellent as always.

I received an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review

What a funny, sweet, sexy story. I loved both lead characters, always love a lady-scientist, and the plot conceit was quite clever. I’ll be long for more from this writer!

I loved that we went back to Christmas, it's a town. It's Christmas there all year long. Penelope has invented a perfume for men that has the ton swooning with delight. Penelope lives in Christmas, where she has a lab and makes cookies. Nicholas is a rakehell and wants Penelope to stop making Duke, the perfume for attraction. When he goes to her house to try to get her to sell it, she makes cookies. They are one of Nick's favorite foods. He is hanging around her house a lot, maybe for the cookies. Penelope is very scientific and wants to try out the new perfume that is for making men grovel at her feet. I laughed out loud at some of the things the girls in town were up to. Nick is more than a womanizer. He is also a very artistic glass blower. This book is made for laughs, fun and love. I read it in one sitting and look forward to the rest of the series. I received this book from Net Galley and WebMotion for a honest review and no compensation otherwise. The opinions expressed are my own.

I received this novel from net galley and the publisher. Thank you!
This novel was an enjoyable read, bringing together love and the holiday season, where anything is possible. Penelope Mitchell is a chemist who has made a successful perfume for men. Men who had difficulties attracting women are now getting surrounded by them. However, Nicholas Pringle, a known rake, is out to stop the production of this perfume, since it is not taking the men much effort to woo a woman. Nick has his own hidden talents that he keeps a secret from everyone except his brother. When he meets Penelope, he in intrigued by her and keeps coming back to see her. Penelope is trying to develop a perfume for women to attract a man. She uses Nick as her test subject, but keeps making excuses that she needs to continue the experiment so she can keep seeing him. Nick realizes he does not want just one night with Penelope, but every night. When Penelope tells his about her experiment, he is angry. Can they realize the love they developed for each other was not from perfume, but the moments they showed their true selves to the other?

Nick and Penelope what a pair, the chemical reaction they exhibit was not just combustible but totally explosive. This book is an absolute doozy of a romance story, darn these two had me so entwined and inexplicably engross in the pages, waiting anxiously to see their next move. I couldn’t put this book down until I reached the end. Erica Ridley, I’m very disappointed, this book is definitely too short or was Me who read too greedily and too fast. This book is the three esses, Sweet, sexy and saucy. Beautiful and well crafted by a master crafter, I’m in love with this truly exciting and delectable tale, it's just plain romantic with lots of sexiness.

What a sweet and funny book this is. A love story featuring two very eccentric characters. Erica Ridley never disappoints and although this series, set in the village of Christmas is completely different to her other books, they are amazingly entertaining light reads. I hope the next in the series appears very soon.

As always, and agreed to, this is my fair and honest review for this ARC. I must admit that I look for Erica Ridley's books. She just turns a story into something remarkable. Here we have two people who do not believe in love. A chemist who has stumbled upon a scent for men that draws women to them. If that can work on men, couldn't it do the same for women? Hmmm... Enter a rake who is determined that this artificial means of attracting the opposite sex is WRONG and must be stopped. A trial of the new concoction is successful! But is that REAL? Funny tale that will make you giggle.

I received a free ARC from Netgalley.

This historical romance, while improbable, is full of science, humor, and heart. The two main characters are likeable yet grow together throughout the plot. The dialogue is quick and snappy.

Satisfying read that made me grin.

Penelope doesn't know how interesting she is. Or maybe it's just Nicholas that sees it. Nicholas is dream worthy that's for sure. I enjoyed Kiss of a Duke, very much.

Thisbis my first book of Erica Bradley. What attracted me was the blurb. I have always loved a pairing of bluestocking spinster and the rake. The story is about Penelope a chemist who does not believ in love and invents a perfume called Duke which can attract any lady to the man wearing it. She wants to develop a similar perfume for the women so as to level the playing field but first she wants to test the potency of it by trying to attract a rake in 10 days. Nicholas is a rake who wants to disprove the effects of the perfume and he tries to do so by seducing the inventor of the perfume itself but finds himself falling for Penelope.
I loved how fiercely independent Penelope was and her academic mind. The banter between the main characters was really good and kept me hooked to the book. The quirky side characters who help in bringing these two unlikely people together were also amazing.
Overall a nice quick and fun read.