This was an unusual and intriguing historical romance. Here are some of the things that caught my attention:
- POV : alternating, first person for heroine, third person for hero
- tone ; seemed almost Gothic at times, light-hearted at other times
- dialogue: seemed almost blunt at times, not usual in a Regency, but perhaps because of heroine's origins
- description: not a lot of description of setting, etc.
All of this does NOT mean that I disliked the book. It was just different. Patience Gordon was an admirable heroine -- tough with a great spirit. Busick Strathmore was blustery, but inherently loving, and very likeable. I loved how their relationship built. The plot included intrigue and secrets that slowly were revealed. I really liked the secondary characters and how to see more of them in the coming installments of this new series. Overall, I really enjoyed the story.

I received and ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. This book starts off fast! The first chapter you are in the mind of the heroine, Patience and the panic she is feeling. I love that it jumps right in. There are point of view changes but it did not change my enjoyment of the story. The chapters that focus on Patience are in first person while the rest are in third person. I actually liked that in some chapters you get an overall view of what’s going on and that in others you get what Patience is feeling. Since most of the story revolves around Patience, I liked getting her thoughts most of the time. While the steam is very low, I could still feel the attraction and affection between Patience and Busick. 4/5 stars.

The culture… I love the mentions of Demerara, coconut bread and West Indian magic. How she drops bits of how the ton perceives Patience and how her husband hide her away is interwoven throughout the story realistically. I got what Riley was putting down.

The point of view was super confusing in the beginning but please stay with it. I truly think it is worth holding on and I plan on reading more books in the series. I can already see the potential set up for two heroines and that is not including the head of the widows herself.

I was here for this story. I know this was a historical romance but it read more like a light mystery for me and that might be why I enjoyed it so much. The hero Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington was a likable guy, intelligent, confident, a realistic man with faults. I was extremely happy he lacked the me see Jane, me take Jane mentality that can plague some historicals, alpha heroes period.

Although Repington was likable this is a book you read for the heroine. She was different. I never once thought a mother would not do that for her child. She put on pants, did what she needed to do. She had her faults and let grief and fear drive her to do some things! But okay, that is what you are supposed to do.

I will be trying to make the coconut bread recipe she included in the book. No promises on my success. Patty La belle does not live here.

Riley has a historical fiction book Island Queen expected to release Summer 2021

Elegant writing, witty interaction, strong lead characters who've endured much!

Wow! I just loved this Regency romance! Sterling storyline, with mysterious and humorous twists. Scenes with Busick Strathmore, the Duke of Repington relating with baby Lionel were a joy with real endearing moments. In fact, for me, those scenes almost stole the show.
Widowed West Indian heiress Patience Jordan's ducal husband has committed suicide, her newborn son Lionel has been whisked away by her husband's guardian, the odious Markham, and Markham had Patience committed to Bedlam. With the help of a secret organization, The Widow's Grace, Patience escapes. The Widow's Grace is a 'secret society of avengers, women of all sizes, all shape,' looking to help mistreated women.
We first meet Patience when she's disguised herself as a footman and stolen back into Hamlin Hall just to see her darling baby boy. Unfortunately, at that very moment Busick Strathmore, her husband's cousin, the Duke of Repington, and Lionel's real guardian arrives at the Hall. Patience has to think quickly, and not loose her nerve to survive this moment without exposure. Patience and Busick's first meeting is so farcical as to be heartily funny. I loved it. This was my other 'almost stole the show' moment.
A bit of trickery played by Lady Shrewsbury, leader of the Widow's Grace, and Patience is inserted back into the Hall as the wet nurse and nanny for Lionel.
Busick is wonderful. He brings his own troopers, mostly injured and disabled men from Napoleonic battles, to assist him in keeping Lionel and the property safe. He falls in love with young Lionel and plans the baby's regime with military finesse, expecting baby and the nanny/wet nurse to fall in line. That's his second mistake! So? The next might just be his growing attachment to the nanny!
Bubbling underneath the storyline are issues relating to this historical period. Through the medium of story Riley is 'showcasing a sliver of the diversity of the Regency, the treatment of the disabled, and the power structure afforded women.' The Widow's Grace society shines a light on these issues for us as readers, and just maybe a few characters in the series become more enlightened as time goes by.
As Riley's explains in her very informative author's note, the series is
'about women taking control of their destinies and the men who love and support them, and how united they make their worlds better by partnering in grace and joy.'

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Patience and Busick's love story is about two characters who have admirable characteristics. I enjoyed Patience's dedication and loyalty. Busick was the soldier who accomplishes the impossible with all odds against him. I hope to read more about the Widow's Grace, a fantastic concept, in subsequent books.

I was provided with an advance reader copy through NetGalley. This review is voluntarily given and the opinions are my own.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. A Duke, The Lady, and A Baby is the first book in Vanessa Riley’s delightful new Rogues and Remarkable Women series. Patience Jordan a West Indian Heiress lost everything when her husband died, his nasty uncle arrived took control of her household and had her falsely imprisoned in Bedlam away from her infant son. Freed from bedlam by a group of widows, she has been dressing as a man and sneaking into the house in order to nurse her son at night. Leaving the house one night she is discovered by Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington who is her son’s legal guardian, who has arrived with a band of soldiers to toss the nasty uncle from the house. Desperate to stay close to her son she gets hired on as a wet-nurse and must hide her true identity from the Duke. With a good combination of humour and angst, a grumpy hero, daring heroine, strong supporting characters, and an evil villain this was a very enjoyable story to read. I found the first chapter a bit confusing as it’s in first person and she’s in full panic mode, with her thoughts dashing here and there, but keep reading because you won’t want to miss the delightful banter between these two and the very satisfying HEA. Light Steam. Publishing Date June 30, 2020. #ADukeTheLadyAndABaby #VanessaRiley #KensingtonBooks #ZebraRomanceNovels #NetGalley #HistoricalRomance #bookstagram #MarriageOfConvenience

You know, for a romance book, this barely contained any romance.. I think they kiss twice throughout the whole book..
This book was really a miss for me.. The main characters felt very bland to me, and in a romance book I do want some interesting characters. Also the relation between them didn’t feel romantic at all. In the beginning I thought it was just a slow-burn romance, which I like. But to me it didn’t feel like romantic feeling were developed. Near the end off the book one of them says ‘No one knows me like you’, but to me it felt they didn’t knew each other at all?!
In the beginning the plot sounded interesting, with Patience trying to get her baby back. But it quickly lost my focus. The ‘bad’ guy in the book is very obvious, it almost made me doubt if you were supposed to know from the beginning who was the ‘bad’ guy?!
I kinda skimmed over the ending since I did not really care for either the plot or the characters!
I think I expected more of an historical romance like in Tessa Dare’s books!

The wounded military hero in “A Duke, the Lady and a Baby”, by Vanessa Reily (Kensingron Books/Zebra), is brave, stoic about his wounds, and so very tender with baby Lionel that the parts with these two were my favorite.
Busick’s injuries are severe and don’t heal with time; the all deception about them seemed a bit odd to maintain, especially in view of his intended return to the battlefront. But appearances count.
The charming duke’s bonding with the baby boy, his “little soldier”, is sweet to watch; the hardened military man isn’t afraid of caring for and cuddling Lionel.
The romance is sweet and cute, but the intrigue plot supposed to bring danger and suspense to the story seemed interminable and lacked fluidity. The dialogue felt often unnecessary and empty.
The technical details the author added in the end of the book were interesting and showed she did some research.

3.5 Stars
Created by a shrewd countess, The Widow’s Grace is a secret society with a mission: to help ill-treated widows regain their status, their families, and even find true love again—or perhaps for the very first time..
When headstrong West Indian heiress Patience Jordan questioned her English husband's mysterious suicide, she lost everything: her newborn son, Lionel, her fortune—and her freedom. Falsely imprisoned, she risks her life to be near her child—until The Widow's Grace gets her hired as her own son’s nanny. But working for his unsuspecting new guardian, Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington, has perils of its own. A wounded military hero, Busick is determined to resolve his dead cousin’s dangerous financial dealings for Lionel’s sake. But his investigation is a minor skirmish compared to dealing with the forthright, courageous, and alluring Patience.
This is the first in a new series & I found it to be a well written book that flowed well. I do enjoy the author's books & they are a different slant on life in the Regency era. I liked Patience & Busick but I didn’t love them & felt there was a lack of chemistry. The change from first person to third person narrative was also a little annoying. I look forward to the rest of the series even though I wasn’t blown away by this book I was sufficiently intrigued to want to read more
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

(Rating based on the portion of the book I read.)

I've been into most of the books I've read by this author, and I appreciate that she highlights ethnic diversity that existed in England during the Regency period, something the genre needs.

I feel like aspects within the premise here are repeats from a previous story or two I've read by her, though: the physically sizable but injured aristocrat of a hero who's the heroine's deceased husband's cousin, and a widowed, Black heroine in dire straits, desperate to access, care for, and keep her young son.

I found the writing unclear in this book at times; I had some trouble following the narration. I also get a little weary when a novel takes a while to provide clear context, as the story is more or less going on in riddles when the characters' thoughts, feelings, actions, and predicament aren't really explained for some chapters.

While I also appreciate passion in romance, physicality isn't a substitute for it, especially when it seems contrived, like the characters conveniently caught or trapped in states of undress, and the oft-used event of a heroine tripping and falling into the hero, while he then prolongs the event for a feel-up. Especially when there isn't compelling chemistry or an emotional connection leading up to it, a feel-up feels like a forced and empty cliché added for the sake of genre more than for the sake of story.

I'll admit it takes a lot to get me to read a romance longer than a novella these days, and I'm not into this story or its characters enough to finish the book.

I do plan on trying more by this author though, as again, I've liked or loved most of what I've read by her.
________
I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for an honest review.

I loved this book even though there was no explicit sex in it (which is what I expect from my romance!) I'm giving it four stars because of it, but the story itself is so good. Patience Jordan is a woman from present day Guyana who married a British man and returned with him to England during the Regency period. He hid her away because he didn't want to deal with the prejudice that came from having a brown wife in oh-so-white England. Her husband supposedly committed suicide a few weeks after the birth of their son, leaving her vulnerable and a widow in the middle of nowhere. Her uncle-in-law had her committed to Bedlam. Luckily, with the help of the Widow's Grace, she is able to make her way back into Hamlin, her home, to rescue her infant. This is where she mets her husband's cousin, the Duke of Reppington. Busick also has a secret-- an amputated leg-- which he conceals from others so he doesn't appear weak. But his real weakness is the baby, Lionel, and Patience. Vanessa Riley does a great job building the slow slow slow burn... which is never realized with a love scene. Sure, there are kisses, but that's about it. Recognizing it for what it is, the book itself is fantastic. The mystery surrounding Patience's husband's death, the Widow's Grace, and the romance is where it's at. Reminds me so much of Jane Eyre as well as the movie Belle. Go read this book! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this review!

Even if the blurb sounded interesting the story didn't keep my attention and it fell flat.ù
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I was intrigued by the synopsis of the description of a West Indian heiress as a heroine in a regency romance. Patience Jordan is of mixed blood, as is her son, and despite her light skin, that difference has made living in England difficult. Her husband had kept her in the country, trying to protect her from the unkindness she’d receive in “society”, which actually put her and their son in harms way when he died. Left in the hands of his disreputable uncle, Patience was sent away to Bedlam so he could retain control of her son’s fortune. When this story starts with Repington now in charge at her former home, it allows Patience to disguise herself and infiltrate her old household in order to care for her son.

Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington was a strategist in the war and knows that there’s more to Patience’s story and bides his time in figuring her out. They engage in their own skirmishes and of course, find themselves attracted to each other. However, this isn’t a bodice ripper of a romance. The Duke, the Lady, and the Baby is written in a rather old fashioned style which was kind of refreshing, but also felt a little stodgy. I love slow burn romances where the characters get to know each other, but the old fashioned dialog made these characters feel stilted rather than warm.

I had really high hopes for this novel and the future of this series. There is a league of women who help other women in bad circumstances and future novels will surely tell those stories, but I wanted this novel to deal more with the difficulties of being of mixed blood during this time in history and felt like other than a few comments about her accent and being secreted in the country, it was glossed over. Repington didn’t seem too concerned with his future Duchess’s acceptance into society, but as an analytical man who just wanted to get back to war, I guess there were bigger issues on his mind.

The other thing that was a little out of whack for me was that Repington was portrayed as a “Rake”. Meaning, he’s had no issues with the lady’s in the past, and he certainly seems to think he’s pretty charming despite his injuries that have incapacitated him. That devil may care charm played false to me and I had trouble buying him as a cad, at least at that time in his life. I think if he had been a bit more self deprecating? It just felt kind of sad I guess, and not true to the character.

So, you can see my difficulties with this one. I didn’t hate the story. I don’t read too many romances that involve babies, so the motherly aspect was new and interesting to me. I liked Patience a lot, actually. She was smart, dedicated, sassy, and interesting. So, I guess my problem was with the hero, although I didn’t dislike him, I just didn’t like them together. I did finish the novel despite my misgivings, so I’m giving this one a 3.0 rating for a solid good, but not great. ❤️❤️❤️

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

I requested an ARC of this book, and all opinions are mine.

This is a new to me author, so I did not know what to expect from this book. It started off a bit clunky - the chapters alternate between first person & third person - but it quickly found it's groove and became very enjoyable.

The plot was both familiar - widow is forced to disguise herself as the nanny in order to be close to her infant son - and unique - said widow is from the West Indies, and is fully portrayed as a person of color. I love that this story took on the prejudices faced by Patience LaCroy Jordan. It was a fresh point of view, and one that I'd like to see more of in the future.

This is the first in a new series, and I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

i was given this book by netgalley and publisher for honest review and opinion
i had a really hard time getting into this book and enjoying even the writing. im not sure if it was how it was wrote, the characters, or that it needed edited again but i did not enjoy it at all.

So many things I disliked about this book, but mostly, the stilted dialogue. I’m curious want the author was hoping to portray with the old-fashioned dialogue. It’s clearly not a thing in historical romance.

I received an earc of A Duke, the Lady and a Baby by Vanessa Riley from Kensington Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings of the book. 

As soon as I read the synopsis for this one I knew that I needed it. And while I wasn't disappointed per se, it didn't live up to what I was hoping it would. It wasn't bad at all, but I felt that it was missing a few things that would have made it pop. 

A Duke, the Lady and a Baby follows our protagonist Patience as she tries to get back with her baby boy. After the death of her husband, Patience is throw out of her home and her baby is taken away. And Patience will do anything to get his baby back. Even act as the baby's nanny when Busick takes over the house. Meanwhile, Busick is determined to fix his dead cousin's financial dealings for baby Lionel. Wounded from the war Busick just wants to make thing right. However, he keeps on getting distracted by the new nanny. After a common enemy arises between the two, Patience and Busick must trust each other for both their sakes and Lionel's. 

Patience was an interesting protagonist. Most of the time I enjoyed her. I liked her determination and will. From the start, the reader can see how much she cares for her baby. But that also gets in her way. She just wants her baby back and she doesn't care too much about anything else. And this leads to her being in some dangerous situations. I loved the moments between Patience and Lionel. I loved seeing her care so much about him. It was really sweet. 

I also really enjoyed seeing Busick throughout A Duke, the Lady and a Baby. He was easier to get along with than Patience and I liked knowing his story. The banter he had with his men and even Patience was a nice touch. I do wish we got to know more about him, but that wasn't a massive deal for me. I feel that his character arc was more rounded out though. 

The romance was quite sweet in A Duke, the Lady and a Baby. I do wish that we were able to see Patience and Busick connect more, but I could see where the author was going with it. I liked their banter and the interactions a lot. It was different from most historical romance. Simply because the female protagonist has already been married and has a child and I enjoyed that a lot.  

One of my major issues with the book was the changes in point of views. It was a mix of first-person with Patience and then in third person, limited with Busick.  It was confusing at first and as the novel went on it only got more annoying. I wish that the author picked one and then stuck with it. By using both it felt unfinished and took away from the reading experience. 

Another thing that I missed from this book was the feeling that I get when I normally read a historical romance. There were parts where I did get that feeling, but overall it wasn't there enough. I can't explain the feeling I get when I do read historical romance. I think others that do read it will know what I mean. But it just wasn't there for me. 

One of the things that I did like about A Duke, the Lady and a Baby was the inclusion of diversity. Patience is a West Indian living in England, while Busick injury from the war has left him permanently disabled. I loved the inclusion of both. I can't talk about how the representation was but I thought that it was nicely included in the book. It didn't feel out of place or forced and I enjoyed that. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading A Duke, the Lady and a Baby by Vanessa Riley. It was a good historical romance that has its faults but I still enjoyed reading it. I love that it includes diversity and sadly it isn't something seen a lot in historical romance. Patience and Busick had chemistry and it was nice seeing them fall for one another.  I will be continuing this series for sure. I enjoyed the secondary characters and would love to know how their lives turn out. If you are looking for a historical romance that is a little different, then this one is for you.

Once again, Vanessa Riley knocks it out of the park! A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby is a beautiful family love story. Patience is separated from her son by nefarious means and she will do anything and everything to be reunited with him. Including becoming her son's nanny when his guardian, Busick, arrives to rescue him. In addition to serious, military minded Busick, determined Patience, and adorable baby Lionel, there is a cast of supporting characters who you will start to fall in love with. This is a beautiful story and I quickly found myself rooting for Patience and then for her to fall for Busick!

I really liked the premise for this book, the multi-cultural cast of characters, the struggle with disabilities. But the writing was so disjointed. It didn’t flow. The dual points of view was easy enough to follow but it felt like it needed another pass with the editor.

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

A widow who was falsely imprisoned for questioning her husband's suicide, risks her life to be near her child and gets hired as her son's nanny. Buswick Strathmore, Duke of Repington is a man of honor and her son's guardian, passion ignites before long and they join forces to fight a common enemy.

A lively historical romance with a strong heroine and a handsome hero!