I must admit that it was my first time reading a book by the author but after reading it, I need more, I fell in love with her writing and the ability to make you get lost into a beautiful story without even noticing.
It reminds me of A Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsay although James was way too much of a dominant alpha while Rhy is much more assertive and thoughtful, always looking for consent and respecting Sara’s wishes and decisions.
A fake engagement turned into a beautiful friendship and love story full of great moments and steamy moments.
If you love historical romance, this book is a must-read for sure.

There is a powerful, anti-racist historical romance to be written about an Indian heroine set against the backdrop of 1860s imperialism, but The Duke’s Princess Bride by Amalie Howard is not it. Although it is an own voices story by an author of colour, which aims to unpack racism and colourism, it is underpinned by a colonialist logic that suggests a problematic lack of reflection about the power relations at the heart of its story. Some of what I am going to describe in this review amounts, in my opinion, to a kind of epistemic violence: in that the book obscures or erases the oppression, exploitation, torture and murder of Indian peoples under British rule, both in India and elsewhere in the Empire. It consistently privileges the white gaze, even (and perhaps especially) through the eyes of Sarani, the novel’s bi-racial heroine, and it depends upon the white saviour narrative to deliver its HEA. From my position of privilege as a white British woman I found it deeply unfortunate and shocking; I can’t imagine how distressing, enraging and disaffirming it could be for a reader of colour.

When Princess Sarani Rao’s father is brutally murdered in a British-backed coup by her cousin Vikram — a classic move from the Imperial playbook — she flees her homeland in India, hoping to seek refuge in England. Her late mother, Lady Lisbeth Lockhart, was estranged from her English family when she married the Maharaja of Joor but Sarani doesn’t feel like she has a choice. Assuming the name Sara Lockhart, and passing as a white woman, she stows away on the first ship bound for London. Little does she know that it is captained by Rhystan Huntley, a former East India Company Officer and now captain of the Belonging. Five years earlier, aged 16 and 19 respectively, they had a brief but intense love affair which ended in heartbreak when Rhystan’s family and senior officers intervened to stop him marrying a girl “touched by the tar brush” and Sarani’s father engaged her to Lord Talbot, the local English regent. Now, half a decade later, they find themselves in very different circumstances: Sarani is homeless, orphaned and friendless, while Rhystan has succeeded to his father’s title as Duke of Embry. He is on his way back to London at his mother’s behest, to repair the family fortunes and marry a suitable girl. Circumstances force them into a fake engagement and months of proximity amplifies their strong physical attraction to each other.

There are a number of things about this synopsis that scream danger, but let’s start with the most important: from the beginning this is a romance between a coloniser and someone who has been colonised. Rhystan Huntley is the very picture of white British male privilege: a former naval and East India Company officer, and now a Duke, who owns global shipping interests and boasts a vast fortune. Sarani, in contrast, is the bi-racial daughter of a love match, whose father has just been murdered with the support of the British; she has been raised in an Indian royal court, under increasing pressure and control from England. It is 1861, which means that only four years earlier the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (also known as the Indian Mutiny or the Sepoy Mutiny) had seen an uprising of indigenous people against the colonial regime. The violence, rape and murder that followed led — both immediately and then over the next decade and more — to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, the vast majority of them Indian. At the time the novel is set the British were instituting policies and practices that would mean deprivation, famine and exploitation for millions.

These realities of the period, which were known at the time, are barely acknowledged in the text, apart from a brief and confusing mention of the Rebellion. Rhystan never considers or accepts any responsibility for his part in the systems of oppression which have led to Sarani’s current position; and nor does Sarani acknowledge or push back against the extraordinary damage that colonialization has done to her people. There is very little evidence that she recognises the injustice of colonialism at all. By virtue of silence she appears to accept a world view in which white minority rule is inevitable, even favourable. Thus the deeply problematic context of their relationship is airbrushed out.

The most shocking evidence of this comes at the mid-point of the book, when we discover that Rhystan is also the owner of several sugar plantations in the West Indies. This is not a source of conflict for him, but a point of pride and solace — we discover this information when he opines that he would rather be there than in London: “Perhaps when all this was over, he would visit one of his sugar plantations in the West Indies. It would be a far better place than here, that was for sure.” Far better for him perhaps, but not for the indentured Indian workers (known at the time as ‘coolies’) who would have probably worked his plantations in dire conditions and with very few rights. These workers were shipped to the West Indies in their thousands after the abolition of slavery in the colonies in the 1830s, maximizing the profit potential of British rule in India. This racist system of exploitation is the basis of Rhystan’s wealth and power; the basis of his ability to protect Sarani and provide her with her ‘happy ending’. But it is *never* mentioned, by either of them. Towards the end of the book they sit drinking rum together and Sarani says:

“You really do have the best rum. Where’s it from? The West Indies?” He nodded, and she smiled, lifting the glass for a sip and then licking the bow of her top lip to collect the moisture there. The provocative swipe made his breath hitch. “Tastes like you.”

Like the blood, sweat and pain of indentured servitude then? There were multiple opportunities in the novel for both characters to learn about and confront the injustice that underlies the position of privilege they find themselves in; to do the work of divesting themselves of the colonialist worldview in which an English Duke has the right to profit off the suffering of others. Apart from some ambivalent references to improving British rule in India in the epilogue — which is too little, and far too late — it doesn’t come.

This lack of awareness indicates a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of colonial power. Throughout the narrative suggests that Sarani and Rhystan share a lot of their experiences and troubles in common. Neither of them wants to marry who their families think they should; neither of them feels like they belong; neither of them wants the future mapped out for them by their status and position. Sarani thinks:

“India, England, it was all the same — daughters and sons of the nobility were pawns to be played at will. Unless, somehow, they decided to take back the chessboard. Sarani had run from Talbot and Vikram, unwilling to be prey either to a smarmy rotter or an underhanded assassin, and Rhystan had run from his birthright and mother. Once more, she was astonished by the commonalities they shared.”

“India, England, it was all the same” encapsulates the logic of the novel. But. The position of a rich white English Duke is *not* the same as that of a disenfranchised Indian woman, even if she is a Princess; and it could *never* be the same, no matter the two individuals involved. The novel’s failure to account for Rhystan’s power and the way that he uses it, both as a plantation owner and as a prospective husband, is indicative of how The Duke’s Princess Bride obscures how colonialism works, by making white pain seem equivalent to the pain of people of colour.
The most toxic example of this equivalence comes from Rhystan himself, when he imagines his return to London and to his duties as a Duke as a set of shackles around his neck and body:

“His throat tightened as a cold sensation settled over his shoulders, the mantle of duke cinching like a metal collar around his neck. London — it was the only place he felt imprisoned, caged by virtue of who he was. What he was. A duke first, a son second, and a free man last. He felt the metaphorical shackles clamp into place, his body compacting beneath the weight of the ducal title and the obligations tied to it.”

This metaphor of enslavement is unbelievably tasteless, especially when it is followed a paragraph later with the revelation that he owns plantations and would rather be there. Presumably because then it is other, less free men (and women, and children) who will be wearing the shackles instead.

Much has been made in early reviews of the ways The Duke’s Princess Bride tackles racism and colourism — Jodi Picoult gave a quote in which she praised its “subtle, searing focus on racism, colourism and colonialism.” Certainly the novel is very concerned with the colour of people’s skin but not in a way that works to dismantle white supremacy or racism. Whatever the intentions of the novel, the way Sarani’s Indian heritage is described reads as extremely troubling. She spends most of the novel — more than 80% — passing as white, first on Rhystan’s ship and then in London, while living in mortal fear that someone will find out that she isn’t. She expends a lot of mental energy in her point of view sections on concern about her complexion:

“Her skin was pale enough, but she’d been careless in the past few years, forgoing a parasol. Her naturally fair complexion had taken on a golden hue, hinting at her unusual heritage. Anyone with a discerning eye would see right through her.”

“In one world, she would never be white enough. In another, she wasn’t brown enough. She was a chameleon who didn’t want to be either color, and right then she’d much prefer to be invisible.”

“Looking like a sun-scorched rapscallion from a tropical island would not earn her any favors…Sarani was now careful to wear proper clothing and use a parasol on deck, knowing her skin had the propensity to freckle and turn golden in the sun, and also knowing that Englishwomen took great care with their flawlessly pale complexions.”

These are just a few examples, I could go on. The way that pale, creamy skin is proximal to beauty and Englishness speaks volumes; the possibility of Sarani’s internalised colourism is painful. Looking through Rhystan’s eyes is worse rather than better. Often his admiration of her is structured in such a way as to suggest her beauty is because of her colour, but with subtle cues to underline her paleness:

“The girl’s hair was jet black, a sleek braid that reached her waist, but her skin was a creamy alabaster. He couldn’t determine the color of her eyes from the distance, but he guessed they might be dark. He frowned. She didn’t look native, not that it mattered. Beauty was beauty, and this girl had it in spades.”

“Yes, there were hints of her mixed ancestry in her beautiful eyes and strongly drawn nose, with a golden freckle or two dancing over her prominent cheekbones. But those elements didn’t diminish…they elevated.”

“The faint remnants of kohl had been cleaned from her eyes, her skin scrubbed and polished. Her complexion was fair enough, though it hinted more toward golden tones than rosy ones. She bit her lips and pinched the apples of her cheeks, making them both flush with dusky color. Better.”

The ‘but’s in those first two examples are like bombs going off: Sarani isn’t white *but* it’s alright because… Her pale skin tone is also often placed in contrast to that of the only other people of colour in the book — her servants, Asha and Tej — who are repeatedly described as dark-skinned. As a result they are far more disconcerting for English society, and their association with Sarani puts her at risk of being found out by association: “Rhystan was well aware that the dark color of the maid’s skin would cause some stir, but it was better than the alternative — someone discovering the truth of their deception. It would be his downfall and Sarani’s ruination.”

The whole drama of the novel turns on the risk of Sarani being outed. The main question becomes whether Rhystan and his family will be willing to claim her and love her even once society at large knows that she isn’t white. The denouement involves this very thing. Sarani is subjected to vicious racial abuse at a society event and finally speaks out about her heritage. However, this is only after her new white family and friends publicly stand by her. In particular Rhystan’s ability to “see past color” provides her with the confidence to claim her place in his world, a classic white saviour move whereby a person of colour is legitimised in the eyes of society. However, her self-acceptance is muted: she says she is neither white nor brown but only herself: “The Indians thought I was too white, and the English thought I was too black. But I am neither, and yet, I am both. I am not ashamed of who I am. I’m me and I have always been enough.” This exceptionalism — ‘I am beyond categorisation’ — could be interpreted as another form of denial, which doesn’t require her to acknowledge or work against the structural difficulties and challenges of the racism she has experienced.

From the world described in The Duke’s Princess Bride you would think that Sarani was a unique example of a person with mixed heritage in the British Empire. We are told so often about her “unusual heritage” and that she is “unlike” other women. But this was categorically not the case, either in the colonies or in nineteenth century London. The historical record is far more diverse, and far more subtle and nuanced about the experiences of diverse people in British society, than this book would lead you to believe. I would like to have seen a novel about that, and about how love, of all kinds, might provide a person with the strength and courage to work against colonialism, racism and sexism to carve out a space for themselves, and contribute to the work of dismantling Empire. The Duke’s Princess Bride doesn’t do that. Instead it replicates a colonialist past in which white people have the right to subjugate others and profit from their suffering, while bestowing their largess on a few deserving and exceptional “natives”.

I suggest that anyone who reads it does so with great caution and reference to the following content warnings:
Colonialism; racism; colourism; racist slurs; racist assault; murder; parental death; sibling death; attempted sexual assault; misogyny.

This book has everything a regency romance reader wants - star-crossed lovers, a strong (can take care of herself) feminist heroine, a swoon-worthy duke, steamy scenes on a ship, in a carriage, in a bar, at a ball and (gulp) in a bath! Whoa! This story sweeps you right up into the adventure with a quick-pace. You will root for both the duke and princess equally and love watching them get together. Their banter is superb, even a little dirty, which this foul-mouthed wench appreciates :)

The subject of racism is addressed in a very honest way without seeming preachy. I appreciate the historical accuracy. This is not a book that casts racially different characters and then glosses over the prejudice they would have experienced. These characters are dealing with actual issues of their time and prevailing heroically. Your appetite for a good romance novel will be well sated after this one!

I completely fell in love with this book. There were so many different and beautiful aspects of the book. The scenery that was painted of India was so nice to envision.
Rhystan and Sarani’s love story was truly a delight. There was angst and joy of first love that was lost that happen to find their way back to each other.

A delightful read of two people who fall in love only to separated through duty and lies. Princess Sarani has never forgot the boy she loved and is not your typical princess. She is intelligent, a hellion, trained in how to fight, but is half British, half Indian. This novel shows how judgmental people can be, looking only at the outer layer and not the person within. Rhystan Huntley is a Captain and a duke, but the duke part he could do without. He never got over Sarani's betrayal and she has never left his thoughts. A chance encounter after several years begins back many feelings and memories, both good and bad. But they are stuck together for the foreseeable future, at least until Sarani no longer needs to stay hidden. Both desperately try to avoid the attraction and feelings, by doing pranks or unsavory jobs. But the heart wants what the heart wants and neither can deny it.
I received this novel from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have such mixed thoughts on this book.

The best part of this book: Diversity! So many Victorian era books are set only in England so I enjoyed both the initial setting in India and a pretty awesome heroine who can look out for herself. Sarani was well written as someone who was an outsider in both worlds and faced some terrible racism is strong in spite of it. This was well done and though provoking and made this a deeper book than just a “fluff” historical romance.

But I ultimately just couldn’t get into the romance. I never truly got the sense that Sarani and Rhystan’s relationship went much beyond the physical attraction. I feel like we’re told more of the deep connection they have with each other but I just didn’t see it other than the two of them accepting each other for who they are.

I seem to be the outlier in these reviews though so I’m sure other people will like the romance better than I did.

Review copied from my blog, literarylovebooks.com

This book was amazing (phenomenal, excellent, extraordinary, brilliant)! I was so blown away!

One of my biggest gripes about historical romance is the lack of diversity, so I loved the fact that our heroine was half white and half Indian and how she struggled to find a place in both cultures. I loved how our hero loved her for her and could have cared less about where she came from. I really enjoyed being outside of London for half the book. Something people forget about historical romance is all the research that has to go into it. Howard brought India to life in this story- the power struggle between India and the British colonizers was shown so well.

Also, the tropes were abundant! They were done so well, and flowed through the book perfectly!! It was literally all my favorite tropes rolled into one!

I just loooved this book so much. I’m hoping it will become a series because I need more. Also, just look at that fantastic cover! That dress is GORGEOUS!!!!!!! I’m a cover shopper- and this cover caught my eye and I immediately clicked on it. So bravo on the cover design! The cover, the plot, the characters, the book was fantastic! Ugh. I could gush about it for hours! The book hangover is real right now.

There is so much I could say about this book but what it really boils down to is, I absolutely loved this book! I couldn't get enough!!! Make sure this book is on your preorder list because you'll need it in your life!

This book started out running with Princess Sarani finding her murdered father and escaping her homeland stowing away on the next ship out. Unfortunately, it's owned by the guy she once loved and left. I loved how Sarani was a badass. She stood up for herself, didn't need a man to protect her or fight her fights for her.

The romance in this story is hot. The verbal wordplay between Sarani and Rhystan is so much fun.

I appreciated the ways that Amalie Howard showed both Sarani's struggle with her mixed heritage and her pride in that heritage but also not really knowing her place in either culture. This is my first book by Howard but it won't be the last.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.

I really enjoy Amalie Howard's writing, and this story grabs you from the get-go with a princess on the run. Sarani is a badass and very capable in holding her own and defending herself. Our hero is somewhat of a jerk to start though he is always devoted to Sarani, in his own way. Howard does a beautiful job exploring Sarani's feelings of being an outsider in the two cultures she inhabits, half-Indian, half-English, and around Rhystan is the only place where she feels herself.

The middle of the England plot line felt somewhat convoluted to me, since Sarani was constantly being put into positions where she was in peril and Rhystan would come in to save her--but she's able to do it all herself anyway, so I didn't see why this repetition was necessary. I also wondered why there was mention of Rhystan's sugar plantations in the West Indies without clarifying who is working these plantations. (Based on his character, I'm assuming he's NOT a slave owner, but I'd like it to be confirmed that there are ethical principles in place at his plantation.)

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC.

The Duke’s Princess Bride by Amalie Howard was a delightful read that managed to pack in adventure, passion, ballrooms, a fake engagement, a knife-fighting heroine, and a sea captain duke, and still managed to dig into ideas of colonialism, racism, and identity.

The book begins with Princess Sarani of Joor fleeing her home the day before her wedding after finding her father murdered, presumably by her cousin in a political coup. She stows away on a ship bound for England, where her dead mother’s estranged family resides. Unbeknownst to her, the ship is captained by her first and only love Rhystan. Five years ago he was a mere 3rd son of a duke and a royal navy soldier stationed in Joor, where he met and fell in love with Sarani. Circumstances tear them apart, and Rhystan is left bitter and angry that Sarani would choose duty (and a political marriage) over him. When he discovers her on his ship, he is furious and clearly still in love with her. The passion between these two is undeniable, but they cannot trust one another and spend the journey dancing around their feelings and making each other miserable. When they arrive in England, they have come to a tentative truce. Sarani agrees to pose as Rhystan’s fiancee, for her protection against assassins following her from India, and for his protection against his matchmaking mama.

Once in England, it’s clear both our hero and heroine are struggling with belonging. Rhystan never felt good enough in his family, and with the dukedom thrust upon him, and he tries to resolve his personal feelings and his duty. Can he be the son and brother his family needs him to be? The daughter of an Indian prince and a Scottish lady, Sarani (Sara) has forever struggled with not being white enough but also not being Indian enough in the eyes of society. These personal struggles of the main characters are compounded by snobby and racist aristocrats of the ton, and while Sarani can conquer her assassins handily with her knife fighting skills, finding a home and place of belonging is a bigger challenge.

ARC provided for review.

The Duke's Princess Bride is an action packed romance that starts with a beautiful Indian Princess running from a plot that killed her father and ends in the beautiful ballrooms of Mayfair on the arms of a Duke. Sarani's father is murdered and the Princess of Joor must escape the clutches of those that want her harm. The only ship that she can stow away on has the spurned man she wanted to marry five years ago.

Captain Rhystan has become a Duke since the last time that he saw Sarani and hasn't forget how she broke off their relationship with a note that she was marrying an Earl. Their mutual hatred simmers but below the surface is a passion that threatens to devour them both.

I loved this book. It was an action packed adventure of escape and a lovers to enemies to lovers storyline that I enjoyed thoroughly. There was also heart and social commentary about roles and birth that were explored in depth. Sarani is half Indian Princess and half English, her mother was a Scottish Countess that fled England to marry the man and Prince she loved. Sarani has always felt other because of this. Not Indian enough for the royal court of her fathers and not white enough for London's ballrooms. This becomes a source of contention and watching her find herself to stand up to society was beautiful. This is my first novel by this author and I will be seeking out her other fiction. If you like historical romance this strikes all the right chords, while feeling like a unique adventure that is original in plot and character development.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I recieved an advanced reader copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

I wish there were words to describe how this book has made me feel. I want to say extraordinary, which might seem a bit much, but this story touched me to the core of my emotions. It will be one of those stories that stick with me. It was beautiful, thank you Amalie for writing it.

Princess Sarani Rao flees her home in Joor suddenly in the middle of the night after her father is assassinated. She stows away on a ship captained by Rhyston, the Duke of Embry, who she has a tempestuous past relationship with. He gives her passage to England, but makes her work for her keep on the ship. She doesn't let him goad her though, and she gives it right back. She is educated, capable, and a warrier. She is outspoken and forthright. In the end, her journey to being able to be loved for who she is and not by the color of her skin is something that everyone can relate to.

This book was a pure joy to read. The heavy stuff with Sarani feeling that she needed to pretend to be English to fit in, and how she felt inadequate to be a person of color was so provoking, but it just felt so real and so relevant in that a person can be of mixed race and never feel like they truly belong anywhere. She experiences racism because of heritage, but she still stands tall and proud like the princess she is.

Sarani was a revelation of a character. She was smart-mouthed, strong in her battle of wills with Rhyston, even fighting off unwanted advances with weapons. She was incredible, and so was the duke who loved her.

Wow! What a start to the story!

I was hooked from the opening scene where we join Princess Sarani fleeing for her life after discovering the murder of her father.

And it's just her luck that she stows away on a ship to England captained by her first love, Rhystan, the Duke of Ermsby.

During the voyage to England we learn that Princess Sarani, or Lady Sara Lockhart as she is now calling herself, is no shy miss - she gives as good as she gets - and it's fun to see the battle of wills and sparks fly between our two leads, Sarani and Rhystan!

I could almost imagine being in the same place as Sarani and Rhystan due to the colourful and vivid descriptions - from ship to shore, and from ballroom to bedroom, little was left to the imagination ... and the language!

But the pièce de résistance was how the issue of prejudices and bias, whether class, race, gender or background was interwoven into Sarani and Rhystan's story, although set in a different century, the issues are just as present and relevant today. It was interesting to see how Princess Sarani anglicised her name to Lady Sara in order to "fit in", does it really matter and/or help? To some, yes.

On that note, should you judge a book by its cover? In this case, in my opinion it's what's "beneath the surface", there's so much more to discover - don't let the title fool you!

I had so much fun reading about what Sarani and Rhystan get up to - I started and finished reading in the same night!

Thank you to Amalie Howard for a fantastic story, and to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the fantastic opportunity to read the eARC.