A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby was a lovely addition to the series. The lady is just trying to save her baby from an uncle that is taking advantage. When the Duke steps in and has to decide who he can trust. It was fairly predictable but a fun read. I did have an issue with some things that were mentioned in the book, but never resolved. Such as what happened to the items that went missing, and what were the strange noises? Other than that, I truly enjoyed reading this cozy mystery and would recommend it.

This book's plot was so intriguing to me as I read the synopsis. As I read the story it seemed especially convoluted to be as I knew both sides of the main characters intentions and plans, One conversation on page 12 and the main plot could've been wrapped up nicely. I think I would've enjoyed this from one perspective instead of two. I also felt like I came into the middle of a chapter at the beginning of the novel.
I liked the main characters but was incredibly intrigued by The Widow's Grace secret society. Ultimately the need for it was truly upsetting, but I loved the spy aspect of the plot more than the romance at times and wanted to hear more about them.

I had really high hopes for A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby, but ultimately had to DNF. Sometimes being dropped into the middle of the action is a good thing, but here I found it distracting and never regained my footing. I kept checking to make sure this was the start of a series because it seemed like I was supposed to be aware of established characters and histories, and that wasn’t the case at all. We get to read Patience in first person, but Busick’s point of view was in third person, which took away some of the internal thought processes that could help us learn more about him. I found myself struggling to connect with the characters and impatient for the story to gel. Unfortunately I could not finish A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby, but hope it works for others.

didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it, either. It lacked the components that I look for in a romance. I didn't get any feels between the characters, but I liked them as individuals, not necessarily together. They had common ground in the baby, Lionel, who was fathered by Patience's deceased husband and the Duke of Repington's cousin, but that was all they had.

The book started out on a good note when Patience is trying to get out of Hamlin Hall, dressed as a man. She'd been sneaking in and out of the place, trying to keep her baby fed while it was under the control of Colin's (Patience's husband) uncle Markham. He's got his eye on being Lionel's guardian and taking the stipend that came from Patience's father. And that leads to the mystery of the story. Patience has been thrown into Bedlam (getting out of there would've made a great story on its own) and is now trying to get her trust papers so she can get back to Demeraran to raise her son with her family. Once she gets them, she'll be gone. But it's never that easy.

The mystery of this wasn't all that interesting to me nor was it a new concept. I don't mind intrigue in a book. I like it as long as it's just a part of the story, but book was centered around it and the romance was secondary, lackluster, and just fell flat.

There were no surprises or twists. There was no steam, no feels, nothing I look for when I'm reading a romance. No covert looks, no wistful thoughts, but maybe there would've been had the book been consistent with the point of view. All we got was Patience's. Hers was in first person. His was in the third. I didn't find it unreadable, but I think it affected the continuity of the story as a whole.

I don't mean this to be a totally negative review, especially since it will appeal to some others, but some of the dialogue was too modern and took away from the genuineness of the book. I do think there were some historical facts that were correct. The author documented it at the end of the book., which is something I appreciate.

I liked Busick. He was a disabled veteran of the Peninsular Wars. He had lost part of his leg and spent a fair amount of time in a wheelchair. I loved his attitude. He was down but not out. He treated everybody, including Lionel, like they were soldiers. He had a little baby on a strict schedule, which included crawling lessons. He wasn't overbearing, though. He had a light attitude and was often humorous. As far as I'm concerned, he saved the story. He was masculine, chivalrous, and just an all-around good guy. I just wish I could've felt his attraction to Patience. I wish I could've felt her moving into his heart. It was obvious he loved Lionel, but I didn't feel him forge any real feelings for Patience. I'd go as far to say that the only person I felt he had a connection with was his friend, Gantry.

I'm also going to comment on the cartoonish cover. I despise it. The author worked hard to produce this novel and to put such a cheesy cover on it is just sad. I don't like any of them, no matter whose book it is. I won't even look at the blurb most of the time because if it has a bad cover, chances are the story is its equal if not worse. The title of this book caught my attention. I like stories with children and animals and I took a chance. One thing I did notice is that man on the cover is missing part of his leg. That deserves a thumbs up.

This book wasn't for me, but that isn't to say that others won't enjoy it. If you like squeaky clean historical romances, this book is for you. If you like babies as a focal point, you'll like this book. If you like a wounded hero, this book will surely be a hit. If you like a mystery with your romances, you will enjoy this.

I probably won't read anymore books in the series.

I was so excited to read this new series. Released from Bedlam and forced to become a spy in her own home, Patience is determined to rescue her infant son and ends up falling for the new Duke.

I enjoyed Patience and the "Widow's Grace" plot and am very interested to read more about future widows. The chemistry between Buswick and Patience felt off, however and I think his character needed a bit more work. Also, the switching between first and third person narration throughout the book was very confusing too.

I received a free copy from NetGalley for my honest review.

This is the first Vanessa Riley novel I've read, and I have to say it didn't grab me. I read just past halfway, but didn't engage with any of the characters enough to finish the book. I don't usually mind a combination of first and third person, but in this case, it didn't work for me.

I won't be reviewing this title.

A Duke, the Lady and a Baby was up there as one of my most anticipated reads for this year. I mean, just read the synopsis! It sounds amazing.

And yet.

And.

Yet.

The best way for me to explain how I felt about this book is this little anecdote. About 30 pages in, maybe less, I came across an… interesting euphemism (to say the least) for sex. A euphemism that left me giggling for hours, and one I still can’t think about without bursting into laughter.

The fleshly congress.

And really, this set the tone for the book as a whole. Granted, I hadn’t particularly liked the writing before now - it felt a little grandiloquent, in all honesty - so I was sort of predisposed not to really enjoy the book. But then the euphemism.

Romance books are good at finding ways to talk about sex through euphemisms, I know this. But this euphemism was so laughable, I just couldn’t cope. I couldn’t read more than a few pages before remembering the fleshly congress. To be perfectly honest, I think I got through the book in the hopes of finding more such euphemisms. Unfortunately, there were none (the sex scene was fade to black…).

As much as it put me off, that euphemism was probably the best thing about the book.

Because there were a number of other aspects of it that irritated me. For one, Busick (not a romantic-sounding name at all) basically browbeats her into marrying him. And I know I have read and liked a lot of romance books that are predicated on something similar (it is quite hard to escape a case of the male character using his societal power over the female character in some way, I am resigned to this), but here it just didn’t work for me.

And they also seem to just decide they are in love without there actually being any evidence for it. They don’t even communicate very well, for crying out loud!

So in the end, this went from being one of my most anticipated reads to one of my most disappointing ones.

As a white reader used to reading a white-only world of regency novels, I deeply approve of the increase in multicultural heros and heroines in regency romances these days. In this case, the main character is the daughter of a West Indian planter dealing with being a newly widowed single mother. Her son's guardian is recently ex-military as a result of losing a limb, and dealing with that as well as the loss of perceived worth that his job had given him. Not a fluffy little romance! But very good and not artificially deep--the characters were dealing with real problems that made their lives complicated, and learning to live with the changes that these things required.

From the premise, this book sounded right up my alley. From the first page, however, it was a disappointment. The quality of the writing was much lower than I expected, with short, choppy sentences and odd phrasing (man-talk? lass-talk?) Also the mc referred to her breasts as her 'charms' within the first couple of pages which was weird. She was talking to her baby while also listening to men talking on the other side of the door - men she was trying to remain hidden from. If she could hear them, stands to reason they could hear her talking about how she couldn't be discovered.

All in all, a pretty quick dnf for me.

Patience is a widow has recently been sprung from Bedlam and is in the process of trying to obtain back her infant son from Markham, her husband’s devious and conniving uncle who conspired to put Patience in Bedlam in the first place. But a new hero arrives at Hamlin Hall unexpectedly: Duke Repington, Patience’s husband’s estranged cousin. Repington is the true caretaker of baby Lionel, and he vows to raise the boy right. Little does he realize that the new nanny he hires is actually Patience. Patience, the woman who actually doesn’t have any patience; she is headstrong and greatly dislikes following orders, much to the order-loving Duke’s chagrin. Can these opposites figure out a way to work together for Lionel’s benefit? Yes, yes, they can.

This book is not the easiest read. And I don’t mean in the emotional sense. I mean like, sometimes, it’s difficult to determine who is speaking (due to Riley’s habit of not identifying the speaker) and the switch between Patience’s first-person narration and Repington’s third-person narration is jarring and distracting. Most disconcertingly, there is no swell of emotions. Despite the fact that this book should have a slow burn, the protagonists don’t trust one another or respect one another for the first half. Then, they grudgingly respect each other. Then they can’t keep their hands off each other. Umm what? Where did that come from!?!

On the chaste to steamy scale, it’s a 1. I’ve read YA romances that make my heart pound more.

This was a decent historical romance. It took me a little to get into the story – the writing in the first few pages felt a little off, and it was tricky for me to really understand what was going on. Once I got into the story, there was a lot to like. I enjoyed that the protagonist is a POC from the Caribbean, it added a different perspective that is often lost in Regency romance. It was also great to see a realistic portrayal of wartime injuries during that time.
However, I didn’t fully buy into the romance, and there were some choices that made me feel frustrated.
Overall, this was a middle of the road read, with a few bright spots that make it stand out from other books in the genre.

This was an odd one for me. I enjoyed to setting and atmosphere of the story. I really appreciated the heroine not being the stock white lady that you usually find in books like this. Representation is so needed in this genre. It was refreshing to see someone actually have pain instead of like other male protagonists who usually are written to blow off any injury.

All of that said there were some things here that weren’t as successful as I would have liked. The opening scene was disorienting and while I did catch on pretty quickly it doesn’t start you off on a strong foot. The choice to change to do dual perspectives but with different types of person perspectives was so odd to read. It gave everything a disjointed feel that hindered my ability to really find my way into the romance. Almost like it was being told in two similar but different languages. There’s also a lot of plot that takes from the romance.

Overall it was interesting to see some really underrepresented topics get some attention but there are some tweaks I think that if made would have made dramatic improvements.

I was really excited about this book. The cover and title had me hooked, and I was jonesing for a historical romance read.

A widow with a small baby boy is taken advantage of by her late husband's uncle who locks her up and then has her committed. With the help of a group of widows, she is able to leave the asylum and try to regain her papers and her baby. In her way is the Duke a war veteran with an amputated leg and a cousin to her late husband, who has come to be the boy's guardian.

I did like the idea of the Widows protecting each other and the group righting wrongs, that definitely caught my attention, but I didn't feel that excitement for the rest of the plot.

Unfortunately, I never could get into the book. Another reviewer pointed out the POV being first and third for different characters which was confusing. It also felt like the same conversations kept happening over and over.

And even though by this point in the book it was a love match, they ended up with a marriage of convenience for a while, which didn't seem to fit (maybe if it had happened very early in the book).

All in all, a miss for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC.

I was really excited for this book. I was really intrigued by the premise. Sadly, the book didn't quite work for me. Something about the writing style just didn't work. I've read a lot of historical romance by this point, and it just didn't quite fit the writing style of the genre. Another reviewer pointed out that one of the POVs is first person and one is third, which I think is part of it. The other part was just how the characters thought/described things. It wasn't bad, but it just felt off and continued to distract me. I really wanted to like the book, but I just didn't. That said, it did have some good representation with a West Indian main character and a veteran, amputee main character. (less)

Thanks to netgalley for ARC.
I really loved the book.
Its my first time reading a regency romance with a West Indies heroine. It was exciting. I loved the plot and characters. Writing was very engaging.
My only issue is that the romance part could have been more engaging. Rest of the story, with reason to suicide being suspense till last, was very good.

I devoured this book. I usually dislike romance books with a baby trope, but it plays so perfectly into how our Duke and Lady come together that I couldn't help but root for them to become a happy family of three.
Lady Patience Jordan lost her husband and was then separated from her child by a money-grubbing male relative. Then her little boy's true guardian comes along and it's her chance to get her son back and escape with him back to the West Indies. Only she discovers that the imperious Duke that is now lord of the manor is as broken as her and that working with him might just be just what they all need to find happiness.
Along the way, there's a lot of investigating and side plots that involve widows working together to right the wrongs their society allows and puts the unfairness of how women were treated at the forefront. This does lead to plot threads left completely unsolved, but I believe it's setting up the further volumes that appear to be coming as part of this series. A little annoying, but a minor element compared to the pleasure of the main plot.

Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the chance to read it first.

I had never read this author before and was excited by the cover, description, and discovering a new author. However, I could not get through this one. I tried multiple times but I don't think this book was for me. I felt confused and lost most of the time.

Maybe I'll try another one of Riley's books sometime but this one just wasn't for me.

I got through about 50% but could not finish this book. I typically enjoy historical romance novels but this one was difficult. The writing was so dense with odd verbiage that I didn’t understand what was happening in the beginning of the book. Once I finally got the style of the writing it was so repetitive - the duke threatens to fire LaCroy, LaCroy plots to take her baby, they banter, repeat. I started skimming the conversational lines to try and trudge through but even that couldn’t keep me engaged. Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington and a military man to boot, has an amazing sense of humor. Wounded in the Peninsular War he doesn't let it get him down. As the guardian of his cousin's son, his focus is totally on him. When the baby's mother, his cousin's widow, finally reveals herself he's infatuated. Her protective instincts make her a fierce mother. Together they will work as a team to protect the baby from the man who plans to kidnap him. It's all about the money. Between the two of them and some extra help, Busick plans to succeed. It's little difficult to distinguish the individual's dialogue from a character's thoughts, but I have to say Busick is now one of my favorite heros.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book

A love story that had me screaming with happiness the whole time.

I loved Busick's charming and flirty personality. And I loved Patience's more reserved but friendly personality.

This book has adventure, funny scenes and an amazing romance, full of respect and a very pure and honest love. One of the best historical novels I have read. I want to continue reading about these two characters and I also need to know more about the secondary characters.

An amazing read.