There isn't enough time for me to gush about how much I adored this book.

I'm so happy I was able to read it and love it.
I can't recommend it enough.

A Duke in Time is the first book in a three-story arc that will have you rooting for leading heroines, searching for lost dowries, and falling for swoon-worthy heroes.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
This is definitely a fast read for me. I enjoy it but something is lacking here so I can't give more than 3 stars here!
I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes historical romance!

I've enjoyed everything Janna MacGregor has written. She definitely has a way with all things historical. This story was especially enjoyable as it was infused with humor, a couple twists and, of course, romance.

Christian/Randford- a war hero who cut himself off from his "wicked" family
Katherine- a now widow her late husband was the H's half brother. She is a strong independent woman who wants and needs to be loved. (loved her character!!!)
I enjoyed reading this captivating story that is well written with characters that are well defined and developed. The author drew the reader in and kept our interest besides allowing us to experience her characters many emotions. Also enjoyed the secondary characters, the friends, companions, and the other wives it really added to the story and can't wait to read some of their stories Their story has a loving and complete HEA.

Ohhhhh Janna MacGregor, you put your foot into this one! A Duke in Time is like no other historical romance I've ever read. Katherine and Christian certianly go through the trials and tribulations one would expect from an encounter of this variety. MacGregor does magnificently with the plot, pace and characters! I highly recommend this adventure of surprises, hurt and love!

This book is a delightful romp as three women show up at the solicitor's office for a reading of their dearly departed husband's will.  It turns out all three lovely ladies are married to the same man. Their husband's brother and head of the family is a Duke, a returned veteran who wants nothing to do with the trials and travails that his brother has left behind.  Therein begins a delightful tale that will keep readers entertained as the story unfolds
Katherine runs a business supply high quality linens to the ton.  She has aspirations to be the royal supplier for linens and needs to guard her reputation. Finding out that her deceased husband is a polygamist and there is a strong possibility her dowry has been swallowed up in his wheeling and dealing is a heavy blow. But Katherine is an optimist, before she knows it she's giving shelter under her own roof to the two other ladies and fighting with the duke for him to man up to his responsibility as the head of the family. 
As Katherine and Sebastian work together on finding occupation for the displaced veterans who are forced to beg and starve in the streets a romance is born. Sebastian is determined to wield his influence where he can on Katherine's behalf as they fall in love. This is an entertaining story with enough twists and turns and surprises to keep readers engaged.

A unique premise! Both Katherine and Christian had led very sad, difficult lives before meeting each other, but found happiness together. I liked both Constance and Beth, and think their stories will be good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

"A Duke in Time" was an enjoyable book. It starts out with three widows -- Katherine Greer, Constance Lysander, and Blythe Howell (Beth) -- discovering that they had the same husband, Lord Meriwether Vareck. Meriwether and Katherine had a whirlwind romance and six hours after the marriage ceremony, Meriwether said he had to go to Portsmouth on business (race horses and gambling). While he sent her letters, Katherine never saw Meriwether (Meri) again. In Portsmouth, he met and married Constance. Meri later travelled to Cumberland, where he met and married Beth.

Christian Vareck, Duke of Randford, had been dealing with his half-brother's messes for years, and with Meri's death, he hoped to wash his hands of everything to do with Meri. He certainly did not want to get involved in sorting out the issue of three widows, one of whom was pregnant. However, he was a fundamentally good-hearted person and Katherine was quite persuasive in her insistence that he, as the Duke of Randford, had to help them out, in particular protecting the relationships of Constance and Beth.

The story has many good aspects -- Katherine's companion, Willa, who is a force to be reckoned with; the interesting bequests that Meri left Christian; the intimate scenes with Katherine and Christian (including one scene that is quite atypical for romance novels); and how the dilemmas of Constance and Beth are resolved.

However, what I found most appealing about the story was the character of Katherine and Christian. Katherine did not have the easiest childhood, but she had a great role model in her mother and a loyal companion in Willa (who was her mother's companion first). Katherine became a self-made woman, starting a successful business (Greer's emporium) producing and selling linens to society ladies. She employs single women whose options for employment would otherwise be rather limited. She offers to let Constance and Beth stay with her as they figure out how to sort out the mess they find themselves in. Christian is nobility (son of a duke, and now the duke), but he choose to accept a commission in the British Army and fought in the Napoleonic wars. Since returning home to take up his duties as duke following his father's death, Christian has taken in former soldiers as employees/household staff, and he wants to use his position in the House of Lords to make sure that the returning soldiers are properly cared for by the government.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Three women all are called to the solicitors office, each going because their husband is dead, only to find they were all married to the same man.
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Katherine "Kat" was the first wife to Meri, who left so soon after the wedding she had idea who he really was apparently. She implores his older brother the Duke of Randford to help them find out what happened to their dowries but he wants nothing to do with his half brothers shenanigans. The Duke however feels a pull towards Kat he cannot deny.
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The story takes us to Kat's thriving linen business and her cause of hiring women who need help, to the ballrooms of London, and to creating a business with Christian, the Duke. Kat and Christian have so much chemistry and kindness to offer, I really enjoyed reading their HEA. That doesn't mean their path was easy, it was riddled with past lies, dead husband issues, extra wives, some Tigers, and a competing business. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ would definitely recommend to anyone who loves histrom with intriguing premise.

After his mother died, Christian was always an outcast in his father's new family. His father and step-mother had a debauched, scandalous lifestyle, and his half-brother Meri grew up to be just as disreputable. Christian vows to repair the reputation of the Dukedom. He is an honorable war-hero with a spotless reputation.....and then he discovers his half-brother was a trigamist. Katherine is living a life of secrets. She has a successful linen business and is being considered as a supplier of bed linens to the Prince Regent. When she discovers the man who left her six hours after their wedding has two other wives she is devastated. Besides the humiliation, this could ruin her business. The three women become friends, determined to protect their reputations. One is pregnant, the other hiding from her brother. When Christian meets Katherine, he is captivated. He asks her help in forming a charity business to hire former soldiers living on the streets. She agrees but as their relationship grows so do her fears that her past will harm his reputation. Christian is a sweet and romantic hero. There are set-ups for the other women's stories in future books. I'm looking forward to reading them!

4 stars. I really enjoyed this Regency romance and the strong heroine at the center of it. The chemistry between the hero and heroine was good, and I look forward to reading the other stories in this series.

What a unique start to a series!

I was a little unsure in the beginning how it was going to play out with 3 widows. Three widows of the same man. Married at the same time! Yes, not just a bigamist but a trigamist.

There were a few twists I didn't see coming which had me hooked till the end to find out just how this will be resolved.

I really enjoyed the main characters. Their interactions, their relationship building to friendship then more. Strong female character and a male character who adores her.

I really enjoyed the friendship that developed between the widows and am looking forward to their stories. I also enjoyed the other side characters as well.

The premise of this book, that our heroine, Katherine, finds herself the widow of a bigamist (with some strange spending habits) was refreshing and entertaining. The friendship between Katherine and the other wives is strong and believable. Katherine herself is an admirably hard-working entrepreneur, and the hero, Christian, has to be the least angsty nice guy in recent historical romance.

A whole lot of summer fun!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Are you ready to meet a new group of strong historical heroines and the men who win their hearts? Duke in Time is the first book of a new series and introduces us the widows of Lord Meriweather.

This book installment focuses on Katherine (Kat) and her interactions with Christian, the elder brother of her former husband.

I enjoyed watching these two together as they navigated the many hurdles thrown in their way by Meri and the way he handles his affairs. The secondary cast was also interesting and the author did an excellent job of world building while also letting the relationship between our main characters grow. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next!

Based on the positive reviews and intriguing blurb, I delved into this first book of a new series of three with hope of a swoon-worthy romance. Unfortunately, despite the quality of the writing style and the original idea, the plot didn’t resonate with me, and I quickly lost interest in it.

The author is a master at crafting Regency romances with intriguing characters, and interesting plots, while delving into social issues of the day. This series explores the problems of widows and single unmarried women trying to support themselves without having to go into prostitution and soldiers coming home from the war, broken and ignored by the people that they fought to protect (much like what happened to soldiers coming back from Vietnam).

It is very rare for the heir of a Duke to join the Army, but that is exactly what Christian Vareck, heir to the Duke of Randford did, to escape the depraved behavior of his father, step mother and half brother, Meriweather. After the death of his father he is called back to take on the role of the Duke of Randford, vowing to make the name respectable again, but he is thwarted by his now dead brother, who he learns left three widows behind. Katherine the first wife, was left behind shortly after the wedding, but she was most interested in Meri's status, to protect her business, a luxury bedding and pillow boutique that caters to the elite of society. She employs unmarried women and hopes to win the assignment of outfitting the Prince Regent's Royal Pavilion. Constance, is very pregnant and Beth, whose brother arranged her marriage, wants to disappear. While the lawyers try to untangle the mess that Meri made, Kate invites the other two ladies to stay with her, to avoid the scandal getting out.

Christian is a real hero and is almost from the beginning enamored with Kate, because of her spirit and beauty. He wants to help the widows and his men who have come home from the war to find no jobs or even respect from the people of England. With Kate's help they pool their resources to create a join venture to help both the single ladies and the soldiers. But Kate has a secret that she has shared with no one but Willa her companion. And there is a villain who threatens everyone she loves.

Love the characters, can't wait to read Constance and Beth's stories. I read an ARC from NetGalley.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

It’s been a tough year for Lady Katherine Meriwether, who is at the solicitor’s office since her husband died. Katherine really doesn’t think things could get any worse until two other women show up who are also married to Lord Meriwether. When Lord Meriwether’s half brother Christian Vareck, Duke of Randford, hears that there are three wives, he is willing to pay back each women’s dowry. Unfortunately, this could drain him financially and put the dukedom in even worse debt since he also must pay off the other debts his brother ensued. Christian also has dreams of helping his former soldiers that also fought with him but he doesn’t know how he can go about this with everything going on. Christian finds out that Katherine owns a store and enlists her help in helping the soldiers and falls for Katherine despite them being together will be frowned on and is not acceptable. Christian is willing to risk all for Katherine but the biggest secret she holds could destroy them in the end.
This book is truly a wonderful romantic regency delight! Ms. Janna MacGregor writes a charming tale filled with crazy hijinks, captivating characters and just a great novel overall. The writing is so refreshing that it kept you enthralled and entrenched in it, never letting up until the very end! The places are realistic and the characters no matter whether they are major or minor literally jump off the pages. It would be interesting to read about the craziness of Lord Meriwether though. Katherine the strong, business savvy heroine is just a fantastic person. She’s kind, caring, compassionate and doesn’t let anything stand in her way. She’d be a wonderful friend that would be loyal to you always and loves with her whole being. Christian the stoic brash hero at first is hard to like but as you get to know him it’s hard to not fall for the guy. The story is not only intriguing, original and is definitely in a class by itself! This is amazing book that will be a joy to reread too!

Starting with a death, the young Katherine learns that the unexpected death of her husband came with many surprises. Two other women appear, both claiming to be married to him – and all are far less well off because of his actions. So we start with a triumvirate of scorned and mistreated women, and somehow, because of Katherine’s innate kind nature – they bond.

Christian, the newly christened Duke and brother-in-law of the three women is far different to his profligate brother. Upstanding and also kind – he's determined to get to the bottom of the mess with his brother’s three widows. He’s never particularly cared for his birth family, but now as the head of the house and a Duke – he's got a mess to sort. Discovering that Katherine has worked tirelessly to build a textile empire, and now employs the other two women she met through her late husband’s death is one thing – to discover that he’s attracted to Katherine, and now in business with her is another.

So – it was a twisted mess from the beginning – and like many family stories, there were reasons (good and bad), choices and ramifications that seemed never ending. But there was something missing here for me – whether it was a flouting of the conventional while crafting an historic romance, the conversations and conventions that were far too modern, or even the *pause for effect* last minute threats entered into the story for dramatic effect – it just didn’t work for me. I felt the characters, while flushed out, still felt formulaic and flat: the expectations of “kind” and “hard-working” were there, but the need to know how or more was missing. And I didn’t feel the connection and romance between Katherine and Christian as much as I expected it for that was what the entire story was leading to – with plenty of stops and breaks for some steamy scenes that didn’t fit into the backstory and virginal nature of the heroine that we were led to believe. The writing was ok – I've read better from this author, and engaged more fully in the story, twists and characters than I did in this book. Fans of dramatic overload and a predictable storyline will find this story amusing – if they can ignore the shortcomings.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aVH /” > <a> I am, Indeed</a>

Reading this book is like riding a roller coaster, there are ups and downs but you know somewhere along the way there is a huge fall ahead. I really enjoyed A Duke in Time. Janna MacGregor did an outstanding job! Katherine Vareck, the main character, is beautiful, intelligent, compassionate, diligent and scared. Christian, the Duke of Randford, is a war hero who wants nothing to do with his half-brother's legacy until he meets Katherine. And then there are the other two wives his brother left behind! It is a tangled-up mess. But in the midst of the mess you know there must be something more and Janna doesn't disappoint. This book has romance, drama, heat, and a lot of machinations. But in the end you are left pining for the next book in the series and thoroughly delighted you read this one. I recommend this book and know that all of the books in the series will be just as good.

Katherine Vareck has just found out that her late husband had a few secrets, namely, two other wives. If this scandal leaks, not only will Katherine lose her good name, but also her business – right after signing a once-in-a-lifetime contract. So, she turns to her brother-in-law, Christian, the Duke of Randford, for help.
Christian, fed up with his family, has avoided them for years. But the new chaos created by his younger brother drags him right back into the thick of it. He tries his best not to get involved but can he stay away from Katherine?

After I read the description, I was extremely intrigued. It started out great. There were a lot of elements that I liked about it. The mystery of Katherine’s parentage and the reason for marrying the “Trigamist” really had me glued. But that was just the first 35% of it.

Katherine was a very likable heroine; independent, caring, realistic. I was interested to know how she ran and saved her business. In contrast, I really did not connect with Christian. He seemed to be a combination of a brooding alpha duke and an understanding beta hero. This just left me confused as a reader cause his character was not consistent.

The twist at the end was surprising but overall, the chemistry between the leads wasn’t strong enough and I was just pushing through each page rather than devouring it.