Very good story of love lost, and found. Sam is a great character, she experienced so much before happiness. George is a darling, Sam's childhood friend. So much goes wrong for these two...well written. I hope you enjoy it!

❤️❤️❤️❤️1/2
💋💋

After a horrendous marriage in impossible circumstances Samantha is imprisoned and feels forgotten by everyone.
Her brother and his best friend especially.

That friend is George Duke Of Colebourne, Sam has loved him forever but to him she’s a sister.

The two of them are made for each other, I wasn’t sure they would ever get together so much stood between them.
But Alexa solved all their problems, gave them wonderful adventures and a love for the ages .
Excellent writing and enjoyable reading.
Love the book.

I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review

When Lady Samantha Wallace sees that the man she has always wanted is set to marry someone else she chooses to find the complete opposite for herself. That turns out to be an unhappy and dangerous decision. Even after the death of her husband.

George, the Duke of Colebourne has been given the title of the Duke of Charm because he is a rake who charms the ladies to his bed. After years running wild through society he's tired of that life. It's time to settle down and only one woman comes to mind to be his Duchess.

The characters in this lovely historical romance change a lot over the course of the book. Even bad experiences help people grow.

An emotional story.

I loved it.

When Samantha is widowed she is held against her will by her mother-in-law. For two years she is imprisoned in her room. She escapes on her forced wedding day.
George is jilted at the alter and becomes a rake of the first order. He is irredeemable and becomes known as The Duke of Charm.
When they meet again at a house party sparks fly. Can these two people come to love each other.
Alexa Aston writes a fantastic romance.
I gave this book a 4.75 rating.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What I love about Alexa Aston's stories is that they are always a bit different from the usual genre. She adds that little bit extra that keeps whetting your appetite. I'm really enjoying this series, these Dukes sure know how to make life interesting!! This is George and Samantha's story and wow, what a story it is! What they go through before they reach their HEA is not for the weak of heart.

I felt so sorry for Samantha, having been in love with George since they were children and yet him seeing her only as the little sister of his best friend. When he announces his engagement, she decides to marry and the years that follow are a hell for her. As for George, with his betrothed jilting him at the altar, he turns to debauchery and I didn't like him so much then!! When Samantha comes back to town a widow, George finally realizes his true feelings for her but he has much to prove to her and it might even be too late since she's changed as well.

I was given an ARC of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Samantha Wallace has loved her brother's best friend, George, the Duke of Colebourne, since she was a young debutante. During her first Season she hoped that he might start to see her as more than just a little sister but fate had other plans. .George announces his own engagement, and Sam, wanting to forget the pain this has caused, rushes into a marriage with another man. After the death of her husband, and being essentially held prisoner by her in laws after his death, Samantha and George reconnect and the Duke of Charm is ready to settle down and sets Sam in his sights.

This is the second book in the series and I loved revisiting Phoebe and Andrew from the Duke of Renown. This book does fine as a standalone, but I definitely recommend reading the the first in the series. I loved seeing Andrew and Phoebe's story continue and play such an integral part in Sam and George's story.

Spoilers: This book is a good read with a lot of character development, but what it lacked for me was once Sam escaped her mother and father in law, I kept waiting for them to make an appearance. George decided to leave his rakish ways behind and focused on Sam very quickly, a little too quickly for me. I also found it disheartening that when Sam no showed at their wedding, George seemed to accept it and didn't know in his heart that nothing would have stopped her from being there.

Alexa Aston has created a wonderful series with interesting and fun characters. I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Thank you to Alexa Aston, Dragonblade Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC of this book. This is my honest opinion.

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

Samantha Wallace has loved her brother's best friend, George, Duke of Colebourne, since she was young, and during her first Season, she thought he might start to see her as more than just a little sister. However, he announces his own engagement, and Sam, wanting to forget the pain this has caused, rushes into a marriage with the heir to an Earldom in County Durham. It's now been five years, and George was jilted at the altar, and Sam has been a prisoner in the home of her in laws ever since her husband's death. On the day she is being forced to marry the new heir, her late husband's cousin, she and her maid, Lucy, manage to flee the church, and slowly make their way south, towards Sam's family home. Finding refuge at the home of the Duke of Windham, a family friend, Sam realises that she will be in contact with George a lot earlier than expected, and during the house party at Windham estate, they grow close. For George, he's been known as the Duke of Charm since he was jilted, and normally spends time in the beds of unhappily married women, or widows. He wants more, and though he never expected that it would be Sam who caught his eye, and made him want to be better, he will stop at nothing to prove to her that he is right for her, and that marriage to him will be nothing like that she has just escaped.

This book was as good as the previous one, if not better. Sam had had a horrendous life, both during and following her marriage, and I felt so sorry for her. Marrying Haskett had been a mistake, and once she was in her in-laws home, it was clear that her mother-in-law, Lady Rockaway, ruled the roost, and nothing happened against her will. She wore down Sam, and after she had mourned her husband for a year, and then announced she would be returning to her brother's home, she was imprisoned in her room, with little food, and it's implied her maid was raped while trying to get word out about what was happening. It's only because of the little support the vicar's wife gave her on her second 'wedding day', that Sam managed to escape and get a mail coach to Dorset. She's ready for her freedom, and is more than willing to have fun like most society widows do - but no intention of ever remarrying and finding herself at the mercy of a husband, or his family. George has a reputation around town, that's not unwarranted, but he wants to change and Sam forces him to look inward, and see how much he wants more than he currently has. Their chemistry was lovely, and I always enjoy stories like this one, with friends to lovers. Some parts of it, okay, I thought were a bit trite, and could've been dealt with quicker, but all in all, a lovely book, and I look forward to the sequels.

After surviving the trauma surrounding her husband being murdered, Samantha is determined to return to her families home. Jaded by marriage, she's refuses to marry again. Will reuniting with her childhood friend change her mind?

I really enjoyed this book. Well written and everything you expect out of a spicy historical romance.

My only gripe, and this is pretty little, is that there's no further mention of the brother. Not even in the epiloge. I understand that he's probably getting his own book. But still.😅


*This eARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked Duke of Charm. It was thoroughly enjoyable. There are 4 things stopping me from giving this 5 stars, the first one being that the treatment Lucy (a secondary character - Samantha's maid) received by the Rockaways was kind of brushed off as lesser than that of Sam, when it was, in fact, worse. Her character trait being only "subservient" when you consider what she went through bothers me and strikes me as insensitive (content warning: mention of rape). Second, and this counts as a spoiler: in the end, George's reaction to Sam not showing up to the church is troublesome. He should not have doubted her for a second, much less until someone came to tell him what had happened to Sam. Third, there were some problems of continuity: why is it that Phoebe does not know what pregnancy does to a woman's body? She's been pregnant and given birth before this book! Fourth, I thought that George's love came about too quick... he saw Sam again after years and suddenly he's in love?
But I really liked both main characters and the story made for mostly nice reading.
Anyway, 4 stars.

She did it again , amazing story with characters we can relate . A story which gives you all the fellings . A man who got bored of his wild way of life and his best friend sister who after she became widow had very hard life .
I received this novel from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm so glad that Samantha had George to lean on after escaping her treacherous in laws. Her new friends helped get her through it also. There's only one lady that could change the Duke of Charm. Lucky for George, Samantha came back into his life at the perfect time.