Clean Regency Romance and Adventure
This is not a bodice ripper. This is a clean Regency period adventure with a romance tossed in. The story has a really bad guy, a decent good guy, and a mother who will do anything to protect her infant son. It is a very good story that I could not put down. I wish that there had been more detail in some parts, but it did a good job of covering a lot of activity in a short period of time. I will be watching for more of this author's books and more of this series. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

This is my first time reading any of Vanessa Riley’s books and I must say that I will be reading more of her work. This was an awesome read about a Duke, A Lady And A Baby.

Widowed West Indian heiress Patience Jordan’s husband commits suicide and his cousin is all to happen to lock up Patience and take away her son Lionel.

Patience is embarking on a way to get her son back putting herself in danger while she poses as a nanny using disguises in order to get to her son back and locate documents about herself being mentally able to care for her son.

With the help of “The Widow’s Grace an organization that helps widows Patience is able get things accomplished.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. However, I found the plot to be lacking and it was at times hard to follow who was reading. It might have been better if the author had stuck to one type of narrative instead of jumping back and forth from first person narrative to third person narrative. I received a ARC copy of this book in return for an honest review of the book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

3.5

When Patience Jordan begins to question her husband's death by suicide, she loses everything: her home and her son, Lionel, and she's falsely imprisoned. Then the Widow's Grace comes to her aide. As their name suggests, it is a group of widows looking out for one another and making sure that, just because their husbands' are deceased, they're not left out in the dust with no means of support. They help Patience get a position in her former home as the nanny for her own son, unbeknownst to the new guardian of Lionel's estate - Busick Strathmore, the Duke of Repington. Now Patience must not only care for her boy, but she must also contend with Busick's strict schedule for her baby, as well as figure out what has happened with her inheritance.

Busick - a wounded military hero - is set about unraveling his late cousin's disastrous financial dealings, lest Lionel be left with nothing. But Patience proves to be more than he bargained for. As the begin to work together, a tentative trust forms between them, but can is be broken by secrets closely kept?

There was so much about this book that was refreshing. Patience is a great heroine. I loved her steadfastness, her strength. She has been put through a lot and she never gave up. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Patience and Busick. I felt like they were enough foil to each other that their differences eventually made them click and it worked really well. I thought that their chemistry was perfect. It added a light-hearted element to the story which I think was my overall favorite aspect. Just how silly - not in a bad way - Patience and Busick were towards each other. Him with his strict schedule and her trying to thwart that schedule at every turn.

Of course, one of the reasons for Busick strict schedule is to prove to everyone - namely himself - that he's still able to lead, that he's still able to command his troops despite his debilitating injuries. I honestly did not notice the reference to his lost leg when I first saw the cover of the book, only after I had begun reading. Busick was such a wonderful character. Not wanting to show his vulnerability for fear that he would lose the respect of his men, but also having to come to terms with his new capabilities. I think he lost more than an appendage, he lost himself quite a bit, which is understandable but Patience, and Lionel, start bringing him back to himself.

For me, the mystery aspect kept me engaged. It's clear from the beginning that there's more going on than meets the eye. I liked how everything was pieced together by the end.

So, there's definitely a lot of good parts about the book, but it was not without it's faults. It took me a bit to get into the story. There's kind of an abruptness to the beginning. The story starts with Patience sneaking into her son's nursery the only way she could - dressed as a man. Her husband is dead at this point, she's been imprisoned, and released, but readers have no idea of these facts. I felt like I came in late to the start of a movie and I missed some important opening information, but that's not the case, we weren't yet given any information. It's a familiar thing that runs throughout, kind of jumping from instance to instance and the parsing out of information at seemingly odd times. It took some getting used to, and I think, by the end, I finally got it, but it made for a not-so-easy read.

Similarly, while I ultimately love Busick and Patience together, I wanted a little more build up. I felt like there were so many things going on in the story for them both individually and together, coupled with the fact that Patience's husband's death is at the forefront of the story, and added to that is the idea that our hero and heroine must end up together in the end, and I felt like it became too rushed.

Overall, I like what Vanessa Riley has started here. I loved the representation and the strong female characters. Along with some interesting turns by some secondary characters, and I'm all set to be excited to see where the series goes next.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of "A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby" by Vanessa Riley. I will admit that I was very intrigued by the premise of this book and was even pretty impressed by the first chapter. But, after that, almost all of the tension died out and the I had to slog through most of the book. A few moments of romantic tension kept me going, but for the most part this book was pretty boring for me. I liked that it had a different culture perspective since the MC was from Demerara and her life as a mulatto in England was interesting. I like her perspective on motherhood too, especially since that isn't common. As I said, the premise was great, but for whatever reason did not hold out for an entire book.

It took awhile to get into the rhythm of this book but pretty soon I was engaged with the the characters of Patience and Repington and the merry chase of hidden identities and raising a baby and a mystery to be solved. The romance seems rushed but its the diverse characters and even story line that is the charm of this book and makes it worthwhile reading.

This is one of the first historical romances I have read and I think I have found a new favorite subgenre! A Duke, The Lady, and A Baby is the opposite of a boring and predictable romance book. This book has treason, suicide, murder, gambling, deceit, women pretending to be men, and so much more. This book also discusses the power dynamics of women and men, as well as whites and people of color. The protagonist was a wealthy woman of color which put her in a very interesting position in many ways. I loved learning about the food that the women made in the book-- and as I was so pleasantly surprised to see that the author included a recipe for the coconut bread at the end of the book!
This book was definitely heavy on the details so that understandably may not be for everyone. The romance between Patience and the Duke was definitely a slow burn so if that is not your style you may not like this book. In my opinion, I found their eventual coupling up to be very realistic. They both had lots of things to consider, such as the recent death of Patience’s husband (the Duke’s cousin) and the future of Patience’s child. Sometimes I feel like couples get together unrealistically quickly in books so it was nice to see these two feel out their growing attraction before diving right into things. I am looking forward to other books in this series!

What happens when you become a Widow and have an infant son, your deceased husband death is by suicide and his relatives has you locked away in a mental hospital so no one knows where you are? This is what happens to Patience Jordan because if she is not found and considered dead, then the guardian for Patience son will receive the inheritance that Patience’s father set up for her getting married.
This is an interesting storyline which takes place during historical events, there is mystery, suspense, drama, interracial marriage and romance. The characters were well developed and you can feel the emotions of of the characters especially Patience love for her baby and willing to do whatever it takes to reclaim her home and baby. The Duke you can feel his pain and frustration of learning how to live with his leg amputated and how his love for being the guardian of the baby.
In the author’s notes I like how she explained the different terms of races, places, events and inventions
during that time period.
I look forward to reading the next book to see some of the characters Jemina, the countess who runs the Widow’ Grace backstories.

Cassandra H.

I received a ARC from Netgalley and this review is of my own honest opinion and review.

#KessingtonPublishing #ADukeTheLadyAndABaby ##VanessaRiley

I downloaded this book to prepare for an interview with Vanessa Riley, Sarah MacLean, and Joanna Shupe that was on Facebook Live during their release week.

Vanessa Riley delivers with A Duke, the Lady and a Baby. I think it’s a story readers will enjoy. I have recommended it multiple times on all my social media channels, and I interviewed the author.

Patience Jordan was widowed and committed to an asylum by her deceased husband's unscrupulous relative. Finally free, she teams up with other widowed women to claim what she was forced to leave behind in the manor house--her baby. Unfortunately (or fortunately...?), another relative of her husband, "the Duke," has taken over the manor, seeing to it that the baby will be his ward. Disguised as a wet maid, Patience works her way into the manor, and perhaps the Duke's heart...

Historical romances are not my favorite genre. The gender dynamics of another time always leave me feeling slightly uncomfortable, like being trapped in inescapable power play that you can't argue against because it was appropriate for the time. However, after reading and enjoying Evie Dunmore's Bringing Down the Duke, I've been attempting to expand my reading horizons and appreciate historical romances for what they are. This novel by Vanessa Riley caught my eye for its cover that popped and high praise.

While the gender dynamics still leave something to be desired, I understand them as a necessary evil in historical romances, and Vanessa Riley creates a unique and original story about a woman attempting to regain what's rightfully hers. And it's amazing that we're not talking about property, or money, or a title, but a baby! A living, breathing baby! Almost baffling. But Riley makes this premise come to life in a believable manner, with fantastic world-creating, character building, and prose that sing. This book is all show not tell, maybe to such an extreme level I felt like I had no idea what was happening in the first chapter. But upon catching on, I appreciated the way each character's past and motivations were slowly revealed and helped explain why they were the way they were. I can't say this is a particularly "fun" read, as it's quite a heavy premise and it seems like danger is around the corner at every page, but it was certainly enjoyable, well-written, and full of rich details that transported me to another time and place. More like a cozy blanket and a cup of cocoa read than a beach read, but there's a time and place for everything. And who doesn't love hot chocolate?

So, this book kind of defies any sort of easy categorization and is a very unique historical romance blended with suspense. I was very much compelled to keep reading throughout this book because the plot was fascinating.

Essentially, the plot is that this widow, who is a mixed race woman from a Caribbean island, was the victim to her husband's cousin who had her locked away in Bedlam for being "crazy." She breaks out of Bedlam with assistance and sneaks back into her former home to feed her son. Ultimately, the Duke of Rippington (?) shows up as the rightful guardian of her son and she winds up disguising herself as Mrs. LaCroy to be her son's nanny. The Duke and Patience slowly sort of fall together in a very quiet way.

What I liked the most about this book probably was the suspense plot even if sometimes I didn't quite understand what was happening. I liked Patience as a character a lot too. The Duke didn't really make total sense to me? Like, he's a military strategist and sometimes I was just like... dude, wtf? Oh, but the lower part of one of his legs was amputated and I really loved the way that representation was handled with the one intense caveat of his own internal hangups might be triggering for some people who use a wheelchair. But his disability wasn't ignored or glossed over and we saw his ups and downs in recovering from his injury, which was nice.

What I didn't like about this book is more that I think sometimes I felt like it was going over my head? Like Vanessa Riley is clearly SO smart and she writes beautifully, but sometimes I just genuinely didn't really get what was happening. Specifically, the way the duke talks just was weird for me. In other words, I think this is probably more historically accurate than a lot of books and I'm just not used to it.

But all that to say, I enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series because I loved Jemina (a side character with amnesia)!

Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington for the advanced copy!

This is my first Vanessa Riley book (well I was lucky to get an ARC of it) and I really enjoyed it. I very rarely read historical rom these days but when I do, I prefer to read books by authors of colour. I was intrigued by this story's premise because the heroine is from the West Indies as am I (born and raise, still living here). different island but I havent read a historical romance featuring a heroine from the islands so I was ready!!

And i loved this. Loved Patience and the Duke's meeting (she's disguised as a man). right off they have great banter and the duke is exasperated when Patience appears, in the guise of a nanny this time, to take care of the Duke's new guardian (who is actually Patience's son).

Patience is not the meek, complies to all his rules, nanny that he expects and it makes for some truly delightful scenes! And he baby, little Lionel is just adorable. The first scene with him and Busick (the duke) had me chuckling. The baby is just a few months old but is written as such a real character, his personality shone through his mannerisms.

Patience is dealing with alot and what I was grateful for in this book was that while Busick realizes he has feelings for Patience, he doesn't want to act on it immediately because he believes she's a nanny and doesn't feel right about it because she is in his employ.

The two clash alot and their banterrrr, i ate that all up.

Now, one thing I wasn't 100% sure on was the disability rep. Busick is an amputee and while Patience doesnt treat him any different for it, Busick doesnt want to be seen as weak. There's is on scene where he injured himself while at his mother's house and thinks Patience will see him as less, as he's confined to his bed for a bit since he's in pain and can't walk just yet. and he thinks he doesn't want to be treated as an invalid like his father. I suppose he was feeling vulnerable here because before, throughout the book, even while he struggled with pain from using his prosthetic, he didn't see himself in that light. So I was a bit iffy on that part. But at no time did Patience ever act as if she saw him differently, inspite of his fears and voicing them to her.

I am delighted by the entire premise of the Widow’s Grace, a secret society of widows fighting back against society and who vow to help out other widows like themselves and i'm looking forward to the next book cuz i just knew Jemina and Daniel had that chemistry. I called it early on! The little sneak peek we get at the end makes me want their book NOW!

Before i forget...the POVs are in different tenses. Patience's is in 1st person and the Duke's in third but it worked for me. It wasn't jarring or anything. I liked that the author chose to switch it up a bit here.

Now, when I started A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby I was a bit nonplussed as to how Patience could get hired as her own child’s nanny/wet nurse without getting outed by the servants – unless the servants were in on it. But, fear not, the problem is easily solved in the first few chapters. Onward.

I’ll go with 3.5 stars out of 5. I liked the story of Patience and Busick and will she be able to get her baby back (plus bag a duke in the process, heyo, it’s a romance novel of course). There was a good mystery plot with excellent tension, although I’m still a little hazy about how the whole finance plot worked but that’s pretty minor. I really liked the historical detail Riley put into Patience’s backstory both as a woman color in pasty, imperial England and her plight as a widow who does not have guardianship of her own child and how this leaves her very, very little (extremely little) legal recourse to baby Lionel. Busick is also a character we rarely see in romance fiction – a hero who has lost a limb in wartime. It affects how he’s treated by others despite his rank as a duke. The romance plot itself is pretty low steam but it’s not chaste. There is definitely kissing and a small number of boob jokes (they’re kind of hilariously bad). I’m looking forward to future books in this series because this was fun.

What kept pulling me out was a structural thing. Patience’s perspective is in first-person while Busick’s perspective is in close third. Switching back and forth like that drives me batty. It just gets in the way of the story. Ymmv, of course.

There is a whole lot going on in this book.

At times, the circumstances seem beyond a bit far fetched.
So here are my thoughts. I like Vanessa Riley.
I was super excited that she had a West Indian heiress for the female lead.
What I wasn't so thrilled about?
No man is honorable when he's a rake and Busick is much touted for being a rake.
Patience was so newly widowed and still breast feeding., the timing just felt way off.
There's maybe too much going on, if that's possible.

This is the first book (at least I think so) I have read by this author.

The plot was not was I was expecting- don't be fooled by the cutesy cover because it doesn't really fit-but that's a good thing. There are some themes here (race /sexual inequalities) explored and written in a thoughtful way.

Although I didn't care for the mixed POV story telling because IMO mixed POV's in romances don't work so well, I really really liked Patience so maybe that was a win.I also enjoyed the snark between Patience and Busick, but sometimes some of the terms and language seemed a bit...silly? Off?

I give it 3.5 hearts (out of 5).

Patience Jordan is a West Indies heiress, newly widowed, and trying to reclaim custody of her infant son. The Duke is her deceased husband’s cousin, he’s recovering from a battle injury and is the baby’s guardian. The two begin to work together for baby Lionel’s sake and unsurprisingly deeper feelings develop. The narrative switches back and forth from first person for Patience, to third person for the Duke. It’s not hard to follow, but it might have been more effective if the Duke’s chapters were told in first person as well. I had a hard time understanding Patience. Sometimes she wanted to flee, sometimes she wanted to stay. It was all very dramatic. There was a problem/mystery to be solved, though we know early on the identity of the villain. The resolution was a bit unexpected.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ebook for review.

I wish I enjoyed this more. There was so much promise, and so many great things wanting to be addressed: Military and injury, foreign wives in the upper class, the agency of women in the early 1800s, and more. But in the end, I missed a bit of spark between them. There was some clashing, some babycaring, but I needed more to fully believe in them as a couple, and to see that developing. The history of the dead husband also dragged, never fully elaborating how we should feel about him, and the mystery was more confusion than something one ached to explore.

I was really looking forward to this book because I love regency romances with dukes and independent female main characters. While there was a lot I liked about this book, overall, I just didn't love it. I liked Patience's story of losing her child to her late husband's uncle and then doing what she could to get her son back. I also liked the Duke of Repington's path from decorated soldier to dealing with a war injury while being in charge of a baby. Both characters were interesting and were each dealing with a variety of issues in their lives. I enjoyed getting to know the other characters as well.

However, the love story between Patience and Busick didn't quite feel organic. It was almost as if the reader missed something in the story. Each character would do or say something to show how he/she felt but then they would regress to acting like an employer and employee. It didn't feel like a natural transition to being in love with one another. Compared to other regency romances, I felt as if this was lacking some emotion. It is an interesting story and getting to know the characters was enjoyable. It's good for anyone looking for those two things without any strong feelings or intense action.

Plot Synopsis:
When Patience Jordan's husband died by suicide, his uncle had her committed to Bedlam, took over the estate and became guardian to their son. Patience will do whatever it takes to save her child. Her late husband's cousin, Duke of Repington, Busick Strathmore, steps in to fix things. He will take care of his new ward as if he were his own. Patience starts working for him as a nanny as a way to be closer to his son until she can regain custody of her child.

Busick is a military hero and is used to people obeying his orders. Yet, he is drawn to Patience even as she refuses to listen to him. They grow closer as they care for baby Lionel. However, her late husband's uncle hasn't given up yet. He continues to be a threat to all three of them. Can the duke protect both Lionel and Patience while protecting his own heart? Or is this the chance to find happiness in his life that he never thought he would find?

A great new series by Vanessa Riley. After her husband commits suicide, Patience Jordan get's locked up by her husband's cousin. After getting free, she receives help from The Widow's Grace, a regency organization that aids widows, to get her newborn son back. Her son is in the care of another cousin, Busick Strathrom, The Duke of Remington, who will do anything to make sure the young man is safe, even his own mother, if she appears dangerous. Using disguises and going undercover, Patience pretends to be a nanny in order to look out for her son, as well as find the documents that prove that she is mentally fit to raise her son.

The banter between the two main characters was cute. I enjoyed the story as well as the flow of the entire book. and the interactions with baby Lionel was my favorite part I definitely will be reading more books from this author.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.