I apparently received this from Netgalley but I was unable to read it as it was archived and I couldn’t download it in time.

Enjoyed this tale although a little different in the Regency world.
Ebook from netgalley although purchased book too.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

Getting revenge has never felt so sweet. For Lady Sarah Merrington, she was basically engaged to marry the handsome Duke of Vexen when she was younger, but after he met her, he went to her father and refused. Now, she has grown up, and become accomplished while living with the mysterious Lady Whitmore at her home that provides second chances for young ladies. Now that she is ready, Sarah comes across the Duke again, but he thinks she is only Miss Sarah, at least, at first. Once he realises the truth, that the young lady he once sat in a tree with has become this beautiful and accomplished woman, he wants nothing more than to make her his duchess. But Sarah wants him to feel rejected just like she had, and will do anything to make him fall in love, and then suffer heartbreak. However, the sparks fly, and soon it looks like Sarah may have to forgive and forget, to have her happy ending.

I found this book such a fun and quick read. I was going through my kindle to-read shelf, and spotted it, and thought it was a perfect book for a rainy Sunday morning, and it definitely was. Okay, Sarah was a little young and naive at times, but her 'heartbreak' and dejection over the perceived rejection by Vexen, had affected her a lot, and she needed to find somewhere to recover. With Lady Whitmore, she flourished, and became extremely accomplished, and was ready for her revenge - or so she thought. However, meeting Vexen again, who had grown even more handsome in the meantime, it made Sarah reconsider her plan, especially as she got to know him. The sub plot surrounding the truth about Lady Whitmore and her background, I enjoyed, but it was an easy 'mystery' to guess at. The romance was good, I didn't like Sarah's parents, but all in all, a decent book.

This is a super fun read. I really enjoyed this one!

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This one just wasn't my favorite. It wasn't terrible, but I also wasn't all that excited about it. I'm not sure if I would recommend this- HR is a big genre, and this isn't a standout.

I am the queen of wandering attention and usually I'm always in the middle of several books at once. But I enjoyed this enough to finish it in one morning. Yes, it's predictable but it's also funny and sweet, for the most part. I enjoyed the banter between the couple but the female villain is rather stereotypical.

Sarah wants to become the perfect lady to get back at a handsome duke who disappointed her when she was sixteen and acted hoydenish. She's also hoping to impress her parents who used to either ignore her or criticize her. For this purpose, she's spent time at Lady Whitmore's village, learning to sing like an angel. Lady Whitmore's village is a discreet place for people with secrets (it looks like this is part of a series but I don't know if any of the other books have been published). Lady Whitmore agrees to invite the duke to an artistic exhibition, and Sarah's plan works, as the duke, Leo, is quite taken with the all grown up Sarah. They engage in a little game to see who capitulates to their mutual attraction first, but there is a widowed lady who wants Leo for herself and she is not beyond lies, threats and light blackmail in order to achieve her purpose. There is one premarital sex scene, not very graphic. Both Leo and Sarah also have some family matters to settle but it is perhaps left a little halfway.

I read a digital review copy from Netgalley, and I'm reviewing it voluntarily and honestly. I am the queen of wandering attention and usually I'm always in the middle of several books at once. But I enjoyed this enough to finish it in one morning. Yes, it's predictable but it's also funny and sweet, for the most part. I enjoyed the banter between the couple but the female villain is rather stereotypical.

Sarah wants to become the perfect lady to get back at a handsome duke who disappointed her when she was sixteen and acted hoydenish. She's also hoping to impress her parents who used to either ignore her or criticize her. For this purpose, she's spent time at Lady Whitmore's village, learning to sing like an angel. Lady Whitmore's village is a discreet place for people with secrets (it looks like this is part of a series but I don't know if any of the other books have been published). Lady Whitmore agrees to invite the duke to an artistic exhibition, and Sarah's plan works, as the duke, Leo, is quite taken with the all grown up Sarah. They engage in a little game to see who capitulates to their mutual attraction first, but there is a widowed lady who wants Leo for herself and she is not beyond lies, threats and light blackmail in order to achieve her purpose. There is one premarital sex scene, not very graphic. Both Leo and Sarah also have some family matters to settle but it is perhaps left a little halfway.

I read a digital review copy from Netgalley, and I'm reviewing it voluntarily and honestly.

I enjoyed this historical romance story with the two main characters that were Lady Sarah Merrington and Leonard Blackmore, the Duke of Vexen. And also the rest of the characters too.

Lady Sarah Merrington want revenge against the Duke of Vexen because of something that happened when she was young. She get her chance to do this at a charitable event.

Leonard Blackmore, the Duke of Vexen has been invited to host a charitable event but he is surprised to meet a young woman from his past.

This story was fun to read with the different types of secrets that everyone has. There are quite a bit of twist and turn with in the story.

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

For this one, I just wasn’t a fan of the characters. I found them to be a bit boring in their chemistry with one another, and the plot felt a stagnant and just ‘meh.’ I would have liked to have seen more of a banter-filled or angsty dynamic between them, but instead it felt like they were constantly missing one another’s flair.

In the end, I gave this one a 2 out of 5 stars.

So we have Sarah who was hurt with Leonard and felt rejected with him because he felt that she needed to grow up and she really did need to grow up and obviously she kind of still needed to since to her she still wanted to play games. Now Leonard hears this lovely voice and is instantly captivated and there is just something about her, and let the games begin. its cute and fun and reminds me of Tessa Dare's books.

Lady Sarah Merrington has never forgotten being rebuffed by a duke she was to marry. Now she is staying with mysterious Lady Whitmore to learn how to reinvent herself. But she is more interested in paying back the duke for what he has done to her. After all young ladies need a second chance to remake themselves. The duke is just the object of her displeasure and he is bound to pay for the fool he made of her. The duke feels that no harm should come from his decision as he felt she was too young to be a wife, let alone a duchess. Never did he believe that this would wound her to this degree. However, when they accidently meet, she feels that her chance has finally come. What an interesting plot line in this book. Just how will they come to terms with each other and the problems that seem to surround them. This is a hard one to put down as I was very curious in the solution to their dilemma.

I loved everything about this book. It was an amazing read and I was sorry it had to end. I liked that Sarah finally got her HEA with the man that was perfect for her. Leonard got the missing part of his life and his own HEA. I can not wait for the next book!

If you're looking for a book that will give you a good laugh and a warm feeling, this is the book for you! How to Fool a Duke was a quick, cute, light-hearted read that made me smile the whole time I was reading it. I really enjoyed Leonard's passions and watching Sarah grow up a little more, and I felt like they shared a good chemistry with one another. The overall premise, the Whitmore village, was creative and offered a different type of setting beyond the usual London town scene of so many regency romances. (If you liked Tessa Dare's Spindle Cove, the Whitmore village will likely appeal to you!)

There were a few points where I felt like this story got a little lost and used a vague or awkward connector to bring it back. I think this was likely caused by the sheer number of different plotlines running throughout the book. At times, it felt like the book didn't know where to go because it wasn't sure which plot it should be following. This led to confusing and unclear scenes that jolted me out of the story and made me reread a little bit to try to understand why this was happening. These issues were a little jarring, but not enough to make me put the book down.

Overall, I found this book enjoyable as a quick Sunday afternoon read. If you are willing to overlook a few inconsistencies and confusing scenes, then the ultimate love story of this book will give you the warm feelings that we love so much from these types of books.

I am incredibly fond of Mary Lancaster's books and always look forward to her next one, I do prefer her earlier books (The Imperial Season) set in Vienna and really enjoyed her series like the Blackhaven Brides series, The Unmarriageable and the Season of Scandal.

I was really interested to see how her collaboration with Violetta Rand would be, and while it has a great set up with the enigmatic Lady Whitmore in her Castle set in a seaside village, where ladies can re-invent themselves in order to be accepted by the ton and make good matches, obviously a set up to kick off a new series. Unfortunately it wasn't as sparkling as her solo work.

Lady Sarah Merrington is working hard to develop her beautiful singing voice, with the ultimate aim of making the Duke of Vexen fall in love with her, so she can reject him. Lady Sarah is still smarting from her last encounter with Leonard. She had been betrothed to him at sixteen, while still a young girl, at sixteen she wanted to be liked for herself, so she accosted the duke's carriage by throwing crab apples at it. The duke found the prank and Sarah amusing, but also immature and he therefore cried off.

An art aficionado, and well respected pink of the ton, Leonard is invited by Lady Whitmore to open an art auction, when he arrives he is captivated first by Sarah's beautiful singing, and then her accomplished self.

While the premise was good, the will they won't they of the story arc was a little irritating, Sarah gave up on her chance to make the duke grovel a little too early for me, the chemistry between them was a bit hit and miss, also the the whole plot jumped around a lot, and was a bit inconsistent in terms of the plotlines and just felt like it all needed to be more tightly edited and pulled back a bit.

I did like this but I didn't love it like I usually do.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book and all opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable book. The plot moved quickly. There was many different elements going on at once. This was more than just a romance and I look forward to the next book in the series.

I love a story with a few surprising twists and turns thrown in, and Mary and Violetta you did not disappoint. I also loved the idea of Lady Whitmore having a place that would give young ladies a second chance for supposedly failing in the eyes of their families, society, or the marriage market. What a novel idea to showcase their talents to let them shine in their own way.
This is a fantastic story and I highly recommend it.

This is the 1st book I've read written by Mary Lancaster; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I can’t wait to read more of her books.

The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.

I loved the characters.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.

The premise was interesting but as I read through this historical romance… there were a few issues/problems that prevented this from being an excellent read—non existent chemistry between Leo and Sarah, how Leo was unable to recognize Sarah despite previously growing up together and being betrothed, the childish and petty revenge scheme, slow and predictable storyline that ultimately fell flat, and the bland main characters that failed pique my interest.

I absolutely loved this book. Sarah and Leonard are so perfect for each other. She wants to get even with him for his earlier rejections; he wants to prove that he is the only man for her. When other surprises come into play will love be enough? Readers will enjoy this delightful romance..

Sarah is a very personable girl that's been told to curb her tomboy ways. The Duke she planned to marry isn't interested in a unrefined bride. Sarah goes away to become the perfect bride and show Leo what he's missed out on. Sparks fly!

Love or Revenge

Two years ago, he rejected her, and now she is seeking revenge. Could it be that simple? As it is often with love and life, things get tangled and complicated. Secrets are uncovered, and hearts are stolen. Not everyone has good motives. Some will do anything to ensnare a duke. Could Sarah and Leonard find love, or do revenge, family secrets, and the motives of others stand in the way of their happiness? If you like historical romance with secrets and twists, you might enjoy this story.