How can anyone not love a duke?

This is an easy set-up: an egalitarian American who was raised to disdain the English aristocracy finds herself inexorably drawn to one of the wealthiest dukes of the realm. Knowing they're going to find their HEA doesn't make the journey an easy one, however. The secondary characters are a bit standard, but this story is driven by the fascinating character studies of its two main characters, Natalie and Hadrian.

Hadrian has had duty drilled into his psyche since early childhood, so much so that he doesn't hesitate to question whether it's the best course or not. Until he meets Natalie, an outspoken, provincial young woman who challenges everything he believes in. But he's not the only one being challenged. Turns out Natalie has a few things to learn about drawing easy conclusions as well.

The writing is so on-point that I was simultaneously convinced that they absolutely belonged together and that there was no way it would ever work between them. As the story unfolds, questions arise and are answered in unexpected ways as both Hadrian and Natalie sort out what exactly is the most important driving force in their lives: duty? patriotism? family? love?

I was instantly captivated by this beautiful romance and read it straight through in one sitting. It's a terrific regency that shows it's possible to root for both the English and the Americans, even right after a war. Aside from the class and culture differences, there's a side story involving the family of the child Natalie has brought to England, with a little bit of action and suspense toward the end. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

This is the second book in this series. Natalie Fanshawe has taken the responsibility to take Leo her best friend's son to England after his mother and father are killed on the American frontier. As they are making their way to Leo's grandfather they meet the Duke of Clayton who is also going that way. Clayton finds himself wanting to help this unusual woman and the child who is a cousin to him as it turns out. Through all that happens Natalie and Clayton find they are deeply attracted to each other. Can she find she wants to stay in England and can he open his heart for true love?

I really wanted to give this book 4 Stars but this may be the last book I read from this author. They all read like this to me: Great story but drags on and on and then after being dragged through the countryside in a very long but interesting story she finishes it off in less than a chapter with no epilogue.

This is not the first time and I felt cheated once again so let me make this a very short review, great story but drones on and on with a heroine you have to work at liking it wraps up in a few pages. I am tired of being cheated, I will stick to the "A" list writers.

The story of Hadrian and Natalie could have been 5 Star but once again I am not sure if she just writes until she gets tired of a story then chops it off but been fooled once too often.

3 Stars that could have been 5 in more talented hands

This is a great historical romance and I loved Olivia Drake's writing. I especially loved that the characters were not the same old thing--a duke and a girl who is beneath him. The addition of Natalie being from America brought a fresh twist to something I've read before and I will definitely be picking up future books by Olivia Drake.

Forever My Duke was an unexpected surprise. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, not because of the author, but because the premise. I admit, I have a slight bias against American heroines in my British historical romance and I know it makes no sense. Especially since I'm an American and in my fantasy world, I'd be living in the 1800s (in the ton, of course) being courted by some aristocratic lord.

Anyway, I digress. The story centers on the Duke of Clayton and Miss Natalie Fanshawe. It's time for the duke to settle down, and he decides he will court the sister of the woman he was arranged to marry. Said sister eloped with her true love and fled to America.

Miss Fanshawe has arrived from America to bring her best friend's only son to his grandparents, as the boys parents have passed away.

As it turns out, there's a connection with these two, and instead of wooing his intended, he finds himself drawn to the unconventional Natalie. She's feisty, knows nothing of the ton ways, and wants nothing to do with the aristocracy.

It's a story that builds slowly until the chemistry is too great to retain. Their courtship was addicting and I couldn't wait for their HEA.

What a wonderful addition to the Unlikely Duchesses series! Loved that a strong American woman, who speaks her mind gets the guy, and a good guy! Leo, the little cutie, steals the show and is just so lovable. Can't wait to see what the next book in the series is like!

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This was cute enough and easy to read. I had forgotten about this series completely but it was fun to read another book by this author. Sadly, I doubt I will continue the series - this just wasn't my favourite historical romance but some of the characters were certainly quite likable and I enjoyed the American perspective as well.

I loved Natalie. She is an independent and fiercely loyal American who is taking her ward, Leo to England to meet his aristocratic family. There she meets Hadrian an uptight duke and his uncle and snooty family. Natalie is sure she made a mistake in bringing Leo to this family. Only Hadrian turns out to be an ally and could be a danger to her heart is she allows it. Hadrian is going to do all he can to convince her to stay and marry him and still have her American ideals. I received a complimentary copy and I am voluntarily reviewing.

The title of this book is a mystery. When I got it on Netgalley, it was Forever my Duke, and in between the latest cover offers another title: Forever and a Duke. Personally, the first volume corresponds more to the story IMO, so I’ll talk about FMD 
To come back to the novel, it’s an historical romance by Olivia Drake, an author I discover with this title. She’s not translated into French either. I wanted to read this book when I read the synopsis and when I closed it I wasn’t really disappointed.
All in all I had a good time with most of the characters, except one but I’ll say more later. In any case, the author has a flowing style that allowed me to read the book quickly and in one go. She also succeeded in having interested in the story when nothing really happens like in most good historical romances.

Forever my Duke is the second volume in the Unlikely Duchesses series by the author. The book features Hadrian Ames, a British man, and Natalie Fanshawe, an American woman. They meet by accident when without knowing it, they’re going to the same place. In any case, as soon as they meet, we see there’s an attraction between them and this side of their relationship is well managed by the author even if they don’t yield to it for good reasons.
The hero wants to marry and because it’s convenient for him not to make any effort, he decides to court his cousin by law, with her parents’ consent. As for the heroine, she’s taking the son of her late friends in his maternal family, composed by the grandfather, his wife and her two grownup children. Unfortunately, the meeting goes very wrong but fortunately, the hero supports her as much as he can. With his title, he can impose his decisions, which is a godsend. The whole plot is going to be about the evolution of the relationship between this little boy and his maternal family but also about the acceptation of the feelings the heroes have one for the other. There’s also a little bit of suspense but we suspect quite fast the ins and the outs.

The story can be read in a totally independent way. To tell the truth, at no moment I wondered if some characters already had their story and I find this awesome. However, I’m still not sure I’ll want to read other volumes and even less the first titled The Duke I Once Knew. In fact, there are two set of characters in this book: those I loved (the hero, the little boy and the hero’s female cousin in law) and those I hated from the beginning to the end (the grandfather, his wife and the hero’s male cousin in law). The heroine takes place in the middle with likeable sides and others much less.
I found Natalie very contradictory. Some examples:
- she wants the best for Leo, but he has to adapt to his new life and his place in the English society. As for her, she considers going back to America. But she slows every decision taken by the hero and goes on meddling in the boy’s education
- she has some quite selfish behaviors at times: she decides to leave the hero’s home because she’s afraid of what she’s feeling for him while blotting out Leo’s well-being (I remind you that Leo must adapt to his new environment)
- she’s always talking about equality between people in America, about the way her country of origin abolished titles, but she’s always putting herself down compared to the hero to the point where she doesn’t understand how he can be attracted to her, a woman without any title and so ordinary.
- seeing the heroine talk about liberty and equality in America in 1815 makes me laugh. Between the Native Americans’ slaughters and the slaves, I don’t know in what world the heroine thinks she’s living (or what the author wants us to believe) when she says: “I love the country of my birth. I love that America was founded on freedom and equality.”

So for all these reasons, this book didn’t delighted me like it should have, and my rating is very mixed. Worse, just after reading FMD, I put 4 stars on Goodreads for this novel. It’s been some time since, and while writing my review, and because of the heroine, my rating goes down significantly.

Natalie has spent an exhausting couple of months to bring her 6 year old charge from his now murdered parents in America, to his grandfather in England. The very last thing she needs is to meet the Duke of Clayton! Natalie may have been born in England but, grew up in America and, met her best friend, Hadrian's cousin in America. Now, Natalie finds that she must leave Leo with his obnoxious, nose in the air, uncle!!!
Hadrian is headed back to London from his farm, in order to let his uncle know that he will accept his youngest cousin as his wife. After a;;, a titled wealthy man has to have a presentable, child bearing wife on his arm.
Meeting Natalie, a woman who couldn't care less about the British aristocracy, only about a person's character, may be very attracted to Hadrian but, he is an Earl!!! Unacceptable!!!
Hadrian is more torn by Natalie by the day. He has feelings he has never had before and, is really taken with his cousins' caregiver/teacher!
Throw in a dash of intrigue and two people fighting very hard to ignore their feelings and, you have a Really Great book!

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me through NetGalley. This book was just absolutely wonderful. It was just so easy to get lost in and I just couldn’t put it down. I just lost myself within this amazing story. I most definitely will read more by this author.

Forever My Duke was a ravishing story of love overcoming the hesitations of a duke and an American who dislikes the aristocracy, along with the adorability of a young orphan boy who meets his mother’s aristocratic family for the first time. The sensuality between the two main characters drew me in and the scenes with little Leo made me laugh.

3.5/5 stars. I enjoyed the main characters, Hadrian, Duke of Clayton and Natalie Fanshawe. And Leo. I disliked most of the remaining characters. Overall, this book was an easy, light read, however, it was longer than it needed to be, as evidenced by the amount of repetitiveness (which annoys me to no end). The couple's interactions weren't very involved except the scene with in the kitchen until the sex started. There were some scenes that meant something and they should have been explored to a greater degree. The ending was good, but would have been so much better if they had told Leo that Natalie would be his mom and Mr. Duke his dad. It could have been the sweetest funny scene. Leo was the best character in the book. As much as I liked Hadrian, there were times when he didn't defend Natalie that just didn't make sense. I really wanted to like it and did about 65%, but the 35% of it that I didn't care for just left me meh. I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest opinion.

Forever My Duke is the second book in Olivia Drake's Unlikely Duchesses series. I had the pleasure of reading an ARC of the first book, The Duke I Once Knew, and I really enjoyed it. This one, however, I loved; I didn't want to put it down! It had the humor of the first book, but there was also a bit more heartbreak, plus great disparity in the difference in social classes between America and England.

Hadrian Ames, the Duke of Clayton, is on his way to see his austere former guardian, Lord Godwin, and his youngest daughter; Hadrian needed a bride, and he figured Lady Ellen would suit as well as anyone. Delayed at an inn, Hadrian's dinner is interrupted when an imp of a child hides under his dining table. In comes sassy American Natalie Fenshawe, the governess of the little boy Leo, looking for him. Leo's mother was Natalie's best friend in America. When Leo's parents were murdered on the frontier, Natalie swore to fulfill her promise to deliver the boy to his grandfather in England. When Natalie and Leo miss their ride on the mail coach the next day, Hadrian offers a ride in his carriage. Imagine their surprise when it turns out that Lord Godwin is Leo's grandfather!

I just adored the relationship between Hadrian and Natalie; they were both great characters. Hadrian appeared to be very haughty, due to his childhood in the home of not-very-likeable Lord Godwin. However, as time went on, he displayed a hint of devilish humor and a great streak of kindness. Then there's Natalie, who totally disliked England's titled nobility, as she believed all men were truly created equal. She also disliked the English for a totally heartbreaking reason. Becoming close to Hadrian, she begins to realize that one shouldn't judge one's character based on titles. I also enjoyed the character of Leo. No, I'm not terribly fond of children...please don't judge! But I couldn't help falling in love with the little scamp. He was a lively little boy, at times naughty, but always sweet natured. I love how he called Hadrian Mr. Duke! This is one romance you'll be hard-pressed to resist.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

The first book in this series, The Duke I Once Knew, frustrated me: character motivations make no sense, the author repeatedly tells instead of showing and tells you the same thing three times to really drive a point home. The second book, Forever My Duke, suffered from the same problems and had me skimming the last half on the verge of DNFing.

Natalie is an American bringing her dead friend's child home to England shortly after the end of the War of 1812. She's patriotic AF and doesn't care for the aristocracy. Hadrian (HADRIAN) is a duke and based on an info-dump backstory we get in the first pages he seems cold, formal and traditional. Then he meets Natalie and just... becomes a completely different person? First of all, it's insta-lust and ridiculous. Second of all, decades of deeply ingrained prejudices and beliefs about social hierarchy don't just disappear because you meet a plucky American you think is beautiful!

The ensuing plot is frustrating because no one's motivations make sense to drive their actions. In the end, Natalie really should not have ended up with this guy because she has such sincere beliefs about the monarchy it should render them tragically incompatible. She never truly reckons with what she is sacrificing by marrying a duke and never going back to her home country.

I could not deal with too many things in this story.

This is my voluntary review, in my own words for this ARC. A good read with great characters and a good story line. Definitely worth buying!

Forever My Duke by Olivia Drake is the second novel in the Unlikely Duchesses series. I missed reading the first novel, but was able to read this one without any problems. I enjoyed the two main characters (Hadrian and Natalie) and liked the six-year-old orphan Leo.

Hadrian Ames, the Duke of Clayton, has determined that it is time to wed and has also determined that he is going to marry his second cousin who is quite young. As he is on the journey to visit her and his former guardian (her father), he meets Natalie Fanshawe and young Leo. Natalie is an American who is on her way to bring Leo to his family from America. Hadrian and Natalie are a very unlikely pairing especially considering their different stations in life and belief system.

I enjoyed the writing and found the storyline interesting. Hadrian did not seem as staid and stuffy as I have found other dukes, but he could be quite imperial when needed. Forever My Duke by Olivia Drake was a good historical read.

Such a lovely, heart warming story. Brought to England after a tragic event Natalie Fanshawe only cares about one thing, protecting the 6 year boy in her care and if possible reuniting him with his family. Hadrian, the Duke of Clayton is on his way to propose to the perfect society bride. The perfect wife to have by his side and produce his heirs and as he does not really believe in love, these two things are the only things he cares about. Until that is he encounters Miss Fanshawe and the orphan she is protecting. A series of funny encounters start their relationship and it is clear he is drawn to her from the start. Can they get over the differences between them?

I loved the characters in this story, the contrast between Natalie and the other women around her is well written. The dialogue between the two of them is exciting as their feelings for one another develop. A great example of it's genre and ideal for all who love historical romance.

3.5 stars

Forever My Duke is the second book is the Unlikely Heiress series but has no connection to the first.

Natalie has just come from America bringing her best friend’s son back to his family. Leo, the boy, is the grandson of a lord and her friends dying wish is to have him raised in England by her estranged family. One night on the way to his family, Leo comes upon Hadrian, the Duke of Clayton, while playing hide and seek with Natalie.

Hadrian follows he rules. Even if that makes him a little stodgy. He’s over 30 and is about to honor his fathers and cousins wishes by marrying g his second cousin (um......ew). However, on the way, he comes into contact with these people and soon realizes that Leo is his second cousin once removed. Since he’s going the to the same estate and Leo is family, he escorts them both to their destination, where Leo and Natalie are met with a less than enthusiastic reception. Hadrian comes to care for the boy and his guardian and offers to have them stay with him until Leo’s parentage can be confirmed.

I liked Leo and Natalie together, but I’m not sure that a woman would have as much freedom to eschew societies rules as she did. Regardless who would stand for her. But she was refreshing and had to decide what meant more to her, Hadrian or returning to America. Hadrians mother and sister were a delight and I would have liked to see more of Natalie’s grandfather. Overall, The story flowed well and was a solid read.

Forever My Duke is the second book in the Unlikely Duchesses series by Olivia Drake. A captivating historical romance that sweeps you off your feet and whisks you away to another world, another time. Drake has written an amazing story that flows at the perfect pace to making it hard to put down. The characters are well-written with intriguing backstories that slowly come to light as the story unfolds. Forever My Duke draws you in from the beginning with twists, turns, and mystery around every turn. A magical historical romance that is sure to leave you wanting more. What will happen? Will there be a marriage?  You will have to read to find out!