Cover Image: Chasing the Duke

Chasing the Duke

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Member Reviews

Sweet, short story that was immensely enjoyable. The romance and the little anecdotes about their past were cute. The way the Duke chased and supported her was sweet. Tracy Sumner did a great job writing a romantic Christmas short story.

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Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: A bit

Should I read in order?
I think the novellas in this series are all stand alones by different authors. This is the only one I picked up, but I loved how the 12 days of Christmas themes are wrapped into the books and now I have the whole series on my TBR at some point!

Basic plot:
Camille has loved her childhood friend Tristan for as long as she can remember. But, he left, and has yet to return and she’s decided to accept a marriage proposal for duty, if not for love. Tristan returns for the holidays though, and soon all the plans go awry.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency time period (1815)
- Soldier turned Duke hero
- Botanist heroine
- Best friend’s sister trope/childhood friends to lovers
- Christmas/holiday setting
- Novella length
- Unrequited love trope from heroine
- Medium steam, especially for a novella – 2 scenes (goodreads has list listed at 118 pages)

Ages:
- Heroine is about 22, hero about 30


My thoughts:
I adored this little novella!

Tristan left a soldier and has returned a duke. Camille is hurt he left with a backwards glance, but he sure sees her now. I think it can be hard in a novella to build that tension and relationship pull sometimes, but I felt it here. I loved Tristan, he’s a bit naughty. I loved that Camille was a botanist and cared about her craft and wasn’t about to give that up for society’s approval.

This one felt pretty steamy for a novella having 2 full scenes, so of course I loved that. ;)

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This was a very lovely friends to lovers novella. Tracy Sumner has a gift for making her characters feel like real people. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

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I didn’t think I would like this one but I did! The duke is so dreamy and I deff recommend if you are into these regal kind of books.

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A totally delightful story about a botanist who had a long time crush on her brother's best friend. Now they are adults and meet again and you have to wonder if they can finally get together. Some things lie in their way. Can they overcome the obstacles? Read this wonderful story and find out!

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Childhood friends who've grown apart find it hard to stay apart once they meet again. He's broken inside. She's promised to another. That may not be enough to stop the attraction from taking over. Wonderful quick read!
Thank you Tracy Sumner and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

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3 1/2 Stars
This is a quick romance novella set at Christmas time. Lady Camille has returned to her family estate with a recent wedding proposal. She has given up on marrying for love and instead is marrying a man who can save her families estate. Tristan has recently become a Duke and has just returned from war. At a dinner with his best friends family he notices how grown up and beautiful Camille has become. Can Tristan win her heart back before she marries the wrong guy.
As with most novellas, this book is very fast paced so you get thrown straight into the story without finding out much of their back story.
If you love a Regency Romance you will enjoy this book.

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I enjoyed this historical romance with the two main characters that were Lady Camille Bellington and Tristan Tierney, the Duke of Mercer. And also the rest of the characters to.

Lady Camille Bellington has like the Tristan Tierney, the Duke of Mercer for years now and has also chased after him. But now she has finally decided to not chase after him anymore since he is back from the war. She decided to take the marriage proposal from the Viscount.

Tristan Tierney, the Duke of Mercer has been gone from London for a while because he want off to the war. He has returned to his family ancestral homes for the holidays. He is surprised to see that his friend's sister again.And is also surprised to hear that she is engaged to be married.

This story was short and very steamy but was fun to read. There were quite a bit of laughable moments.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinion.

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Wonderful story development, rich characters, and a plot that hooks you and never lets you go. I love it when I can immerse myself within a book and just forget about real life for awhile and “become” a part of the story. This book totally delivered!

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The plot of the story was very well written. The author really draws the reader in as you read. I felt like I was an unnamed character in the story. I cannot wait for another story to read.

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Chasing the Duke (12 Days of Christmas #7). By Tracy Sumner. 2020. Tracy Sumner (ARC eBook).

Lady Camille Bellington has been in love with her older brother’s best friend, Tristan Tierney, since she was a child. Now, Tristan, the Duke of Mercer, is back from the war and stays away from Society. Camille loves horticulture and makes a tidy sum with her plants and consulting. But it’s not enough to keep her family’s estate afloat. So she’s decided she will marry for duty, not her heart. She’ll no longer chase the Duke. But now Tristan is attending dinner parties and regaling guests with Camille’s embarrassing childhood escapades. Is it the Duke who is now doing the chasing?

Chasing the Duke is my second book by Tracy Sumner and this author became a must read after the first, To Seduce a Rogue. I really enjoy Sumner’s writing style, wit and charm, and look forward to reading more by her.

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Having just binged on Bridgerton, this was the perfect book to read. The characters are very realistic and I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship between Tristan and Camille. The writing style is descriptive and is to be savored.
Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

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This book is about a poor young girl who meets a handsome wealthy duke and they fall in love. Sounds pretty generic when you say it like that but this was so much more. It was light-hearted and cute set during Christmas time. The characters are so realistic and relatable. The writing was descriptive and truly paints a picture of the setting and time period. It was very short but not insta-lovey which I was very happy about. The combination of a strong-willed heroine with a slightly damaged hero is my favorite. Overall I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of regency romance.

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This was a shorter book, not a novella, but shorter. The heroine was a childhood friend of the hero. The hero was her big brother's best friend. They reunite when he returns from the war; she is 23 and he is 31. She is about to get married to a discount, but then, at a holiday dinner, she let's everyone know her secret: she is a botanist! And (horrors!), she runs a floral business with arranging, supplying and setting up floral displays for parties and balls and also does garden work in re-designing and replanting. She has been hiding it and doing hybridization work in a new plum variety and wants to present it to a male botany society. The hero, whonhas returned from the battle if Waterloo, is a war hero with PTSD. He has been living a lie because he gets startled and has a fit or he can't sleep because if the horrible dreams.
There is so much more to read about and discover. I think this is supposed to be a series, but very loosely connected so it is a stand alone. The story was lively and had a wonderfully informed ending. I hate when a book just stops - I subtract stars for that!! I give this book 5 stars. I like the ages of the main characters and there is definite growth. The reader is sucked into the story and it flows so smoothly. I highly recommend reading this book.

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This was a cute and fast historical romance. The ratio of fluff to steam was perfect. It was such a fun piece to the 12 Days of Christmas.

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Another nice historical romance.
I like the way authors take the name of real seats of the aristocracy and then change their location – hence Longleat masquerading as Chatsworth.
Set after the Battle of Waterloo we have the soldier back from the wars with trauma hidden in his psyche. And a less than stellar relationship with his father. All of which makes him melancholy and less than jovial. But hiding his pain from all but his friend’s sister who had had a young crush on him that resulted in a very public and very unfortunate action in a church.
And we have a young woman with an unusual hobby for the ton – a scientific one at that and so she has a keen mind and is well read.
We then have a courtship of the usual type and trope that goes up and down with many mis-adventures.
Whilst we know from the first chapter that all will be well at the end, it is always nice to read how the author will get them there – if the style of the written word is good and contents are well plotted.

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This book was a very sweet love story. Somehow, you knew there would be a happily ever after and it did not disappoint. 5 stars

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Camille has been in love with her brother's best friend for years. But he has been out of the country for years, so she has determined to give up marrying for love and will instead marry for duty. But just as she decides this, Tristan comes home. While she made her decision to marry to save her family home, can Tristan convince her to marry for love?

This was a great addition to the 12 Days of Christmas series. I loved watching these two find their HEA!

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So good I could not put it down. I definitely enjoyed this Christmas read it was a little steamy but that was definitely fine with me. I truly love a book with women that speak their minds and are not afraid to go against the normal. This book also has a meddling family and that’s always funny as long as it’s not your own family doing it. I would definitely recommend this book

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Tristan and Camille's story is a good idea. It has plenty of passion and is devilishly enchanting.
I have read books by this author before and plan to do so again.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and am leaving this review voluntarily.

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