Misleading a Duke continues right where we left off in The Earl Not Taken… Lady Faith has finally found he betrothed, Nicholas, the Duke of Breckenridge, character to be pleasing and well suited to marriage after having her friends investigate him… but now he just wants her to call off the engagement.

As a means to an end, she tricks him into spending time with her at a secluded home, in order to better quant themselves and give their betrothal a chance.. too bad Nicholas’s past has other idea.

This book went from zero to fifty in mere seconds! I wasn’t ready for the action that hit so early in the book and was caught off guard. I was expecting a fluffier story and instead it was much grittier, but the characters strength was able to shine through. I was impressed by the characters, but still struggled at the beginning attaching myself to their circumstances doe to how quickly things escalated.

After the high drama of the beginning passed, I felt like we were catching up on the characters before more drama was thrown in at the end… It was a bit of a roller coaster. I was pleased and was able to breath easy when the book wrapped up with the HEA and only another small wrench thrown into the mix!

Content Warning Below - May contain spoilers

Misleading a Duke by A. S. Fenichel is scheduled to release September 29th, 2020.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kensington Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#MisleadingADuke #ASFenichel #NetGalley #pinkcowlandreads

Content Warning- Depictions of torture and abuse, talk of spousal abuse and verbal abuse from a parent.

I was really interested in the plot of Misleading A Duke. I was looking forward to an arranged marriage and espionage. I was a little disappointed.

I found the relationship between Nicholas and Faith to be lacking substance. Having not read the first book in the series I felt no connection between them until the later half of the book. I would have liked to see a deeper connection in their romance. To me, they seemed to be apart from each other for big chunks of times and couldn’t understand how they “loved” each other. I enjoyed the friendship of the West Lane ladies. Their friendship was nice to see.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it an easy read. Unfortunately, I also noticed that I was not truly engaged in the book. I would read a chapter or two and then return in a few days.

A.S. Fenichel's characters are not carbon copies of other historical romances. Misleading A Duke is the second book in this series. I enjoyed this book even more as the Wallflowers personalities are revealed. The hero and heroine got their HEA. I think, though, that this book should have a violence warning for horrible scenes of torture and mutilation. Hopefully, no other characters in this series will experience violence at this level.

I was provided with an advance readers copy of this book. This review is my honest opinion voluntarily given.

I would like to thank netgalley and Kensington Books for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

It felt like it started up halfway through a story.

Lady Faith Landon is betrothed to a man she barely knows. She recruits her 3 best friends to try to find out more about him. Nicholas Ellsworth, Duke of Breckenridge, is a spy for the Crown but needs to keep a low profile. When Faith can't get time alone with Nicholas, she devises a plan to get him to come to his friends estate in the country. Just when they are starting to get to know one another, Nicholas's past comes back to haunt him. Will they survive the revenge that is upon Nicholas?

A great historical romance! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nicholas Ellsworth, Duke of Breckenridge, walked into the room and there was Lady Faith Landon. He was angry with her because she had her friends spy on him. He didn't want anyone doing that because he had to hide some of his secrets. He was a spy for England. She felt that since her mother had arranged this marriage and he had accepted sight unseen, she should know something about him. She belongs to a group of ladies who went to school together and were inseparable. Faith, Poppy, Mercy, Aurora, and Rhys by marriage, to the Wallflowers of West Lane. She went and got a dog to see how would he treated it. So Rumple joined the family. They were going to talk to Geb to see if they could use his hunting lodge to trap Nicholas and Faith so she could talk to him.
While they are enjoying the time at Parvus Castle, they are infiltrated by three French spies,
There is pain, betrayal, torture, and fear in this intriguing story. The characters are fun and entertaining. It is easy to read and is smooth. I really loved it and enjoyed the antics of the wallflowers.
I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Regency romance of an arranged bethrothal with espionage… well, I was intrigued!

„Misleading a Duke” is a book two in The Wallflowers of West Lane series but from what I understood it could be read as a standalone without a problem and… there wasn’t one, much. It did take me a moment to get oriented in the story and its characters, though. Instead of the getting-to-know-everything process happening organically, I had to take the sped-up version of it. It wasn’t that much a nuisance but it threw me for the first couple of chapters of the book.

Since Lady Faith Landon ends up bethrothed to a man she barely knows, she calls in for reinforcements and asks her friends, the three remaining Wallflowers, to aid her and help learn whatever there is to know about her future husband Duke of Breckenridge. The man’s occupation as a (retired now!) spy for English Crown in Napoleon’s France doesn’t stand a chance remaining a secret seeing as The Wallflowers are a very determined bunch. Also - espionage isn’t exactly the safest of professions and mistakes of the past soon come calling. This time however it’s not just the duke’s life that is at stake.

„Misleading a Duke” is a novel that was fast paced and action packed. Something I don’t necessarily look for in my regency romance (fiery back-and-forth banter and scandalous tea parties are entirely all the entertainment I need in the genre… okay, this is a lie, haha). While I was aware that espionage would be a factor, I didn’t expect for such a large portion of the story to be centred around it. I’m sure it was just my personal preference and someone more inclined to enjoy a fast paced regency romance would be glad to have found this book.

Lady Faith and Lord Nicholas were an enjoyable duo of main characters. She was no ‘proper’ lady and went against the societal rules many times. Her determination to learn more about Nicholas and not to conform was admirable and entertaining to read about. He was closed off (for good reason), stubborn and honorable to a fault. When they clashed, the chemistry was palpable.

Unfortunately everything that kept the story going for me (including the major twist) happened in the first half of the book. The rest consisted of yearning and miscommunication. All great things in a romance but not if the pacing is off. I would have liked a more balanced story and maybe not for everything substancial to happen in the first half. Even the resolution at the end fell flat because for me the sequence of events felt wrong for me. The chemistry, the story’s strong suit at the beginning, then fast evolved into proclamations of love that I didn’t fully /get/. Saying it was rushed perhaps would be a stretch but it just left me wanting just tad more development. As a result I struggled to connect to the main duo and care enough to keep flipping the Kindle pages as fast as I would have liked. Unfortunately, I just felt no real urgency to keeping reading this novel and I kept picking it up just to move forward and be done with it. That is not the way I expect reading to go for me.

I recognize that my issues with „Misleading a Duke” probably stem from my personal preference and that perhaps it would have been better if I started with the first and then progressed to the sequel. That wasn’t the case and taking into account my minimal enjoyment of the second half I am not sure if I am going to pick up the next novel in the series.

**massive thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

3 stars
We have a woman and man who seem to have conflicts and then trickery to settle the conflicts. Throw in French bad guys, lots of action, and even a little dog.

If action-packed historical fiction is your cup of tea, then might I direct your attention to Misleading the Duke by A.S. Fenichel? The second installment of The Wallflowers of West Lane Series, set to be released on September 29th, deals with spies, secrets, and revenge all while trying to develop a proper relationship.
I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I was going to!! I read the first book in Fenichel’s series and enjoyed it, but was hoping for a bit more. So going into this story, I didn’t have high hopes; however, I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I fell in love with Faith and Nick’s story! I loved that there was communication between Nick and Faith, despite their marriage arrangement, and how they resolved early on to remain honest with one another. Their romance is sweet and saccharine, but there is also enough steaminess to satisfy your romance craving.
I also surprisingly enjoyed the dramatic action scenes. I wasn’t expecting so much adventure and peril, but it was phenomenally done! There was enough to keep the plot moving along without it seeming like it was only for the sake of filling pages. Additionally, even though there is some mention of torture and violence, Fenichel does a good job of keeping the gore to a minimum and using such scenes to emphasize the romance between Faith and Nick.
While this is the second book in a series, it could definitely be read as a stand-alone story. If you’re looking for a historical romance with drama, action, sexiness, and hilarity, then this book is a must read!! I cannot wait for the next book in the series to see what the Wallflowers will get up to next!

*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book started out promising. I do like a good regency romance, especially in Rom Com form and I even enjoyed the little thrilling twist it took — at first. The Duke is a spy and got captured by old enemies and though this offered excitement, it dragged on way too long and was of little consequence to the overall story. It just seemed unnecessary at the end. The enemies to lovers trope completely dissolved almost as quick as it started. The writing itself was enjoyable but the story fell a bit short. I think maybe if I had read the first book, I would have enjoyed it more but the plot felt superficial and the characters underdeveloped.

Great and fun reading. It started out a little slow for me then picked up and stayed solid during the rest of the book. Loved the way it dealt with love, action and treachery and still kept it a fun read. I would definitely recommend this book. I really like period books and this one seemed pretty authentically written. Thanks to the publisher for allowing me an early read it was well worth the time.

Great second book to the Wallflowers series. This one focused on Faith and Nicholas. Loved the storyline- it was intense, romantic, and funny- everything I look for in a historical romance book. The story flowed and I was captivated with the antics of all those involved in the story. Can't wait till the third book comes out. These should be read in order because they reference characters s from the other book too.

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I really like A.S. Fenichel's books and this was no different.
This is the 2nd book in the series and while it is helpful for some background knowledge this book can still be enjoyed as a stand alone.
Faith's mother has been writing to Nick as Faith in order to marry her off to a duke. However, after her friends horrible marriage, Faith refuses to marry a man she does not know. The first book focused on spying on Nick to uncover his secrets, this one has a more direct focus of Faith and Nick and the aftermath of Faith's friends spying on Nick.
I liked how strong and fierce Faith was when faced with men intent of killing Nick. This book definitely ups the ante from the last book with torture and death a real perial being faced. Nick was also sweet and completely enchanted by Faith. But I also wanted to smack him when he left Faith yet again.
I also think this book had way to many miscommunication and it took way to long for them to say I love you (Nick and Faith even point this fact out).
Can't wait for mercy and aurora's stories.

I requested to read and review this book from Kensington Books. This is the first book I have read by A.S. Fenichel. I didn't realize this book was a second book in the series The Wallflowers of West Lane. This book Misleading a Duke csn be read as a stand alone but would definitely recommend going back and reading the first book. This series will keep you guessing until the end. This is not your typical love store which makes it a perfect read for anyone. It has romance, history, mystery and laughter. The Wallflowers will keep anyone on their toes. In this book Nick doesn't even know what he is in for. This for a mature reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC. Very fun book to read. Characters were fun to read about and most were very likable..

Contrary to most historical romances, I do believe this series should be read in order. I did not read the first book of this series because I believed it would not make a difference. However, I was confused during parts of it. Overall, this book was really good. I felt some parts were overly rushed and other parts were far too slow.

Another book I was so excited to read, and sad to realize it wasn't for me.

I realized pretty early on that this was a #2 in a series, but I took this the way most regency novel series do this - there will be slight spoilers for the couple from book 1, there might be some discussions that would be better if you'd read the first book, but other than that, it would stand on its own with some added development for the group overall.

This was not the case here, so I have learned not to assume and to always start with a #1. I assumed the plot as it pertained to the couple this book revolves around would start here - but we jump IN as if this is a new chapter of book one, not a start to book two. I was thrown, and I considered heavily grabbing book one to be as fair as possible, but it became apparent to me over the next few chapters that I just wasn't going to connect to this story at all.

I'm leaving off a rating until release at LEAST because some of my issues might have been solved if I'd known this wasn't a typical regency series and really needed to be read in order, but I do have a few other concerns.

I'd been drawn to this book because it reminded me of Bringing Down the Duke which has a strong female friend group tied together by feminist ideals and a desire to see change happen. I didn't feel the same magic with the women in this book, and it was a big reason for why I didn't connect. They felt like they could have used more dimension, more facets to their lives and motives that would have made me root for them.

I will say that this cover has such charm and I really hope more regency novels go with an illustrated cover - I have no shame about bodice ripper covers but I love illustrated so much more!

This book was a first time read by this first time author, A.S. Fenichel. What can I say about this book....not too much as it did not appeal to me about a quarter way thin the book. I did not finish as I thought some of the characters were superficial and shallow. The main characters did not capture my interest and I found myself just putting the book away. I am not discrediting this author but just this story. Will I read something else published by this author, I say yes as I would like to give them another try at another story. A modest two stars on the direction of what they author was trying to plot although I did not finish the book.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

DNF at around 1/3rd of the book! While the concept of the book really drew me in, the dialogue style and constant "not all other girls" posturing of the heroine was not something I enjoy in my romances. The characters also felt flighty to me, quickly changing their minds but not really being convincing of the 'why'. Someone else may enjoy this work, it unfortunately wasn't so for me.

Fun and smart! If you have readers who enjoy period historical romances, this is one with a more modern take. I look forward to recommending this to readers who like Evie Dunmore's romances.