I normally don't go for historical romance but when I was told to try reading Grace, I was not disappointed, I am thankful to netgalley for the early copy for review!

This book might be my favorite from the series so far. I really enjoyed Ellie and Rex, and felt like they were s good match. There was lots of good banter, especially since Ellie was the logical brainy person and Rex was the love struck one. Overall a cute read and glad to see some new characters outside the first few books.

I really loved how atypical both of these main characters are - Wrexham was not your typical rogue-ish duke and Eleanora was not your usual heroine. So much of their relationship was based on mutual respect as opposed to physical attraction (though that is present as well) and I really liked that too. There was sort of a two-pronged mystery in this book and I’m starting to see that I really love the way that Grace Burrowes interweaves suspense/mystery with her romance plots. And of course, I loved all of the cameos by the Wentworth family and their loves. I’m thoroughly enjoying this series!

Wrexham, Duke of Elsmore is having a few financial issues on the home front. Something, quite literally, isn’t adding up. Which, as an owner of a bank, would be a disaster if people ever found out. After all, if he can’t look after his own financial affairs, how can he be trusted to look after anyone else’s? The solution: Mrs Eleanora Hatfield. Ellie is an auditor and well known for her talent with numbers and she is exactly who Rex needs in more ways than either of them can imagine.

Competence in a heroine has always been sexy, but in recent times I’m glad to see this being recognised and it more blatantly being shown by authors. Which, is exactly what this book does. Ellie is a Math’s savant, she understands numbers and how they work and is recognised as the best auditor in the business. Which, is exactly what Rex needs, being in charge of a Dukedom is a complicated business, his “domestic” affairs involve supporting an army of sisters, cousins and aunties and his properties are spread across Europe. He needs our extremely competent heroine to untangle the neglect of generations to see where his money is being drained. Is it accidental? Or is it something more nefarious?

Like all Grace Burrowes romances this moves at a steady pace with two characters who, although don’t have a bonfire of angst and emotion, gradually and maturely come to the realisation that they’re in love. I know it doesn’t sound exciting, but I loved the ever mounting tension between them as they come to respect each and value each other. I also really loved seeing Ellie in action, she was an expert on all the ways money can be scammed out of someone and it was genuinely interesting to learn about some of the hustles that were/are carried out.

As always with Grace Burrowes, this was a good read with a solid romance. But, what stood out the most for me was Ellie, our heroine, I loved seeing her get recognition and admiration for her skills, especially from Rex, our her. Is there anything sexier than a hero who applauds a heroines competence?

FULL REVIEW ON FRESH FICTION
Reading a new Grace Burrowes novel is like reuniting with old friends – and not just because you get a glimpse into the lives of characters from previous books! Burrowes has a way with words that feels comfortable; the people in her books are fully fleshed out, with their own idiosyncrasies and habits, but also contradictions and complex world views. What I enjoyed about FOREVER AND A DUKE, and most of Burrowes’ other novels, is how there’s never any question about the hero and heroine’s attraction and eventual love. Normally there are outside forces keeping them apart, be it the past rearing its ugly head, questions of class, or actual distance. So while we, as romance readers, know an HEA is going to happen, the journey Eleanora and Rex take to get to theirs is worth the read. Ellie is a wonderfully intelligent and matter-of-fact heroine. She’s good at math, recognizes errors with ease, and from her family’s scandalous past associations with criminal activity, Ellie understands the betrayal Rex will eventually discover once her audit is complete. Rex is confident, assured, and used to his lifestyle, and when Ellie becomes someone he needs to ensure the livelihood of his family and reputation, he’s taken aback as well as fascinated by this closely-guarded woman. They mystery of Rex’s financial distress isn’t all that surprising, and Ellie’s solution to her own family problems is a hasty decision on her part, but their road to falling in love is sweet and satisfying.

Burrowes is one of my favorite historical romance authors. I invariably fall into the world of her stories and regret when the stories come to a close. Eleanora "Ellie" Hatfield is a whiz at math and works at a bank keeping schemers at bay. I really liked how independent, dependable, and capable she is. She is at pains to distance herself from her scandalous past. The Duke of Elsmore is looking financial ruin in the face. In a bid to avert scandal, he seeks Ellie's help in finding the person responsible for the missing funds. I really like how Burrowes turns the usual trope of the take-charge duke on its head in this story, by having her duke be a strong man with the humility to admit his weakness in managing his finances and being open to a female auditor to solve his problems.

This is a wonderful cross-class romance. Burrowes does an excellent job of showing how bridging class divides in 19th C England was difficult. This to me was the heart of the romance. Burrowes builds up the protagonists' worlds first and then brings them together and has them struggle with the chasm, because chasm it is. Many romances gloss over class struggles and have their protagonists jump over the divide like it is a ditch. Burrowes has the protagonists do so in a believable manner by making them work at it. This is a romance that will make you sigh with pleasure at the tenderness that the duke brings to their romance. Ellie is all sharp angles; he's the charmer, the gentle one. They are both surprised at how much they like each other, and I was charmed by their delight. I really enjoyed it

Grace Burrowes entangles Eleanora Hatfield with Wrexham the Duke of Elsmore. Eleanora can decode any account books and find the mistakes or financial malfeasance; Wrexham owns a bank and suspects his relatives are embezzling from him. Regency romp in Forever and a Duke. Enjoy the misadventures and humour,

I had to DNF this book. I really liked the first book of this series. Was not fond of the 2nd book and just could not finish this one. I got 24% through the book and had to stop. I was bored out of my mind and all I felt with the 2 main characters was tension and not romance.
I will not continue on with this series.
I received this from Forever and NetGalley for review.

Grace Burrowes and this series deliver a fun set of unlikely aristocracy who need to navigate rags to riches stories and enemies who want to see them ruined. In "Forever and a Duke" we meet Eleanora who has managed to find a job as a bank auditor in a world that doesn't usually admit women. She has a mind for numbers and thanks to a felonious family tree she knows all about swindles and schemes. When the Duke of Elsmore suspects that his Dukedom and his bank are being scammed he appeals to Eleanora's employer to loan him the best auditor in London so that he can uncover the problem discretely. Working closely with Eleanora, the Duke admires her and soon decides he needs her to be his Duchess. Now the challenge is getting Eleanora to agree.

Eleanora is the auditor for Quinn Wentworth's bank. Wrexham, Duke of Elsmore is the owner of a rival bank. But as the duke digs into his finances he discovers discrepancies. Rex needs the discrete help of an auditor to figure who in his family is responsible for the missing money.

I liked Eleanora. She knows numbers and has family for the wrong side of the tracks. This had the mystery of the missing money which was interesting and well crafted. I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to Althea's shenanigans.

Heat Factor: This is not a steamy book, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t delightful
Character Chemistry: it’s sweet, not spicy
Plot: A duke needs help untangling his finances as quickly and discreetly as possible and calls upon Eleanora Hatfield, current accountress (I made that up) with a dark past, to clean things up. Things get real cute.
Overall: It’s not going to be for everyone, but it’s a genuinely good read.

I know it sometimes seems like you’re either into romance for the steamy sex or youre into it for the chaste true love, but I don’t think that’s really the truth. I think sometimes you might have a sexy itch and sometimes you might have a sentimental itch, and it’s simply a matter of finding the right book to scratch it with. Hmm?

This one is right up my alley. Strong female lead. Silly, sweet, sentimental man. A little suspense. And just the right amount of tasteful smut. Most importantly, the mystery of what was going on with the Duke’s accounts was engaging. I had no idea there were so many ways to cook the books, and I could see exactly how it might happen. I also loved that the urgency was so believable - the Duke’s sisters were being courted and he knew he’d need to share his financials soon. He also had business interests that would be damaged by a hint of impropriety. And Eleanor wouldn’t be able to say no because she was so clearly a rule-follower and would HAVE to figure out what was going wrong with the accounts!

I think some of the side-characters were a little silly, but necessary to the plot. I could also tell that this was a series book and it was harder to connect with having not read book 1 and 2. None of these things impeded my enjoyment, however.

One thing I have to gush about? Grace Burrowes has the most incredible word choice and crafts sentences that should be put in fancy gold frames. I have never read a more dignified or proper sex scene in my life. It might be off-putting to some, but it really took me by surprise in a good way because for someone who reads a lot of romance (and can rarely remember who wrote which Duke book), Grace Burrowes’ voice was quite memorable and unique.


I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

I stopped reading this book at 40% because I just couldn’t go further. The story is about Eleanora Hatfield and the Duke of Elsmore. Eleanora has a ludicrous past is the reason why she is so good as an auditor at a bank. Then there is a sub plot with her sister and a cousin. There were way too many people involved and too many lines for the plot to keep track of.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

This romance was a good, fun time. I found our female protagonist Ellie was very admirable to work in accounting considering her upbringing. Rex is a duke that grows on you. Each interaction they had together brought them a little closer. Rex was essential beating down a door to get Ellie to open up. I couldn't get enough of this story. Burrows keeps doing great things with this series, and I can't wait to see what she gives us next!

I almost didn’t want to finish this one. Half way through, I started skimming through sections. I was bored. The characters did not keep me interested, and I am not sure why. The conflict was tame (family betrayals and not believing she was worthy of him) and the passion was also very tame. I like Grace Burrowes, but this one just didn’t do anything for me. The first two in the series were better than this one, and I am sad to say this one was definitely forgettable.

A woman with a job! Aside from companion or some sort of household staff, I've never read another historical romance that featured a woman who earns a living. I didn't realize this was partway through a series, so I was totally lost at points. The chemistry between the main characters was great, though, so I found this overall and enjoyable read.

Eleanora (Ellie) Hatfield is a no nonsense bank auditor and very good at math. She works at a bank of which Wrexham (Rex), the Duke of Elsmore is on the board.

When Rex realizes that somewhere in his many properties and the family members he supports, there is someone who is cheating him. So, he hires Ellie to review all of his estate books to ensure they are in good order. When she realizes how vast his estates are and the many relatives depending upon him, she is determined to find the culprit or culprits who are stealing from him.

As they spend time together, they learn a lot about one another, yet Ellie is determined to hide her own background from him as her family has been rather unsavory. But, when they fall in love, will Ellie be able to push Rex aside knowing her background could result in a disastrous marriage for them?

I really wanted to like this book by a very good author, but I kept wondering if perhaps I should have read other books in the series because I felt lost. Ellie is hiding her family members of which there are many, and the way the book is written, it’s as if the reader should know all about them. Bits and pieces are leaked out here and there but there’s no huge revelation that I could find. There is the usual “oh I’m not good enough for you and I can’t marry you” which gets quite close to the boring point. Unfortunately, this is a simple love story but nothing truly special.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Eleanor Hatfield is a wiz with numbers and despite her difficult family history has landed on her feet working for the Wentworth bank. When fellow duke Rex approaches Quin for discreet help on getting his books cleaned up, Quinn offers Eleanor's help despite the lady's objections. Get ready for an education on how polite society steals pennies from the rich ad powerful and for an attraction with no possibility of fulfillment between the Duke and his auditor.

I have enjoyed many books by the author but I am not a faithful reader keeping up with her various series. This book for all the fun facts about how books can be cooked for various members of the Duke's family and he has a lot of people he feels responsible for, this is not my favorite book. For one thing it felt a bit abrupt and I was extremely disappointed that the story is quite short only a novella and not a full book. A third of the book is another short story.
I did enjoy the fact that there is a nice element of suspense and while I could figure out who the possible villain in the piece is there were still a few things that the author was able to surprise me with. What I enjoyed the most is Eleanor's character, the inner softness and the outer shell that she maintains for the world.
Not that I did not expect a happy ending since this is a romance after all, it was very nicely done. I will say the one member of the Quinn family who really intrigues me is the handicapped brother and I certainly hope that the author will write his story one day soon.

FOREVER AND A DUKE is a slow burn romance that brings a somewhat financially clueless Duke together with a numbers wizard with surprising results. Ellie has no desire to leave the safety of her spot at the bank where she’s carved out a career working with numbers, finding patterns, and exposing any fraud. That her boss and the man who took a chance on placing a woman in her job position has offered her financial services to a friend in need is annoying but not all that surprising. Ellie has a long-held dislike for anyone with a title since she and her family fell on extremely hard times because of a member of the peerage. Intellectually she knows that not all men are alike, but the mistrust is as deeply ingrained in her spirit as are the secrets she carries to this day. She never expected to care for a man so above her, or to believe that he could overlook those secrets in her past.

Rex is surrounded by a large, boisterous, dedicated family – some more than others – that he has enjoyed tending to, spoiling, and caring for over the years. As the time approaches for marriage to be spoken about by family members he decides to take a closer look at his holdings and discovers that things are not at all what he expected to find. The magician with numbers that his friend provided to help him unclutter this mess is a beautiful, intelligent woman who wants as little to do with Rex as is humanly possible. Yet, there is a mystery here and most definitely wrongdoing by someone close to him. Together they’ll work the puzzle to its end – and along the way should they fall in love in spite of themselves that’s all the better in Rex’s mind. Although, Ellie may think differently.

I enjoyed FOREVER AND A DUKE and found both Ellie and Rex to be likable, believable characters. The puzzle isn’t terribly hard to unravel from the reader’s viewpoint but it was fun to watch the emotions growing between this couple as they followed clues and faced down the culprits. I stepped into this series with this title and wasn’t the least bit lost as we meet some people from the previous stories along the way. It is a series that I would like to go back to the beginning of, perhaps sometime next year. And now I’m going to be watching for the next release in this series for I’m very curious – and I think you will be, too, by this story’s end.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

"Forever and a Duke" was a charming and delightful story, just as Grace Burrowes's books always are. I adored the main characters, Ellie and Rex. Their banter was a lot of fun, and the way they looked after each other was incredibly sweet. For example, Ellie made Rex a soothing drink when she noticed that he had a headache, while he was always making sure that she ate and was warm enough. To me, small gestures like those are the signs of true love. Grand gestures can be lovely and certainly have their place (especially in romance novels!), but IMO, what matters most is how one shows love every day.

Ellie and Rex complemented each other very well in their various skills and personality traits, but I found it interesting that those interests and talents led to kind of a role reversal for the times in which they lived. Rex had the social acumen and knew how to navigate the ton, while Ellie had a head for business and was the perfect candidate to help him manage his estates and the bank. The two of them were a great team both personally and professionally.

I can't wait to read the next book in this series! I understand that Quinn's sister Althea will be featured in book #4 and I'm looking forward to getting to know more about her. I hope that his brother Stephen will get a book of his own at some point, too. Stephen has been through so much in his life, and I would love to see him finally find the perfect partner.

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

An excellent addition to the duke falls for a woman not suitable for him genre. It is a more subdued novel than some in the genre and doesn’t contain as much levity. However, you can’t help but feel along with the characters and wish for the best for them. Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds of them getting together, you want them to overcome them and cheer when they do.