Isn't it scary and just a little magical when a kiss with a stranger turns your world upside down. Lady Henrietta Prince works hard to get her family's vineyards up to the standards where they should be and not to mention profitable. But when she kisses a stranger her world goes a little topsy-tervy. Not only is he a stranger, but also the distant heir to her father's dukedom. Now Ash Ellis isn't really about the hard work, more like no work and all play, basically Henrietta's complete opposite. Tropes you'll find- do opposites really attract? slow burn forced marriage of convenience, and oops I've fallen in love with my spouse.

Lenora Bell continues to delight with her fresh storylines, intriguing characters, witty banter, and feel-good happy endings. As with the first book in this series, The Devil's Own Duke reeled me in and kept me on the line from beginning to end.

I loved the journey Ash and Hetty traveled in this story. They both turned out to have unexpected layers, Ash in particular. He was such a complex character, jaded and bent on revenge, but with a soft, noble center and social conscience rarely revealed. I really enjoyed his evolution as he and Hetty gradually became more emotionally involved; how he finally opened himself up to the possibilities of love and happiness. By the end of the book, he had transformed into one of my favorite Bell heroes.

Hetty had my respect and admiration for everything she had done - and continued to do - to manage and protect her father's estate and her mother's vineyards, to fight for respect as a vintner, and for recognition of her sparkling wines in a man's world. She wasn't without flaws either but I enjoyed how she met every obstacle head on, especially the sizzling chemistry between her and her "marriage of convenience" husband. These two only had to get out of their own way to realize how good they could be together. Bell guided them over shaky ground, and through life-threatening obstacles, with a deft hand until they finally reached a happily ever after filled with laughter, love, forgiveness, and acceptance that had me sighing with delight. Now if we could just get a story for Ash's best friend and business partner, Jax. I'm not above begging. ;-)

4.5 Stars
*ARC received for fair and unbiased review

The Devil’s Own Duke was a perfectly fine romance novel, but not one that’s going to stick with me for a long time. In fact, in the two or three days since I finished it, I have already forgotten so many of the details. That said, I think this book is definitely for someone and so I’m going to try and explain what did work for me and what didn’t the best that I can.

Lady Henrietta Prince is a winemaker who thinks that she has a good grasp of what’s going on on her father’s estate and if he would just get married again to have a male heir, her life could continue to be as wonderful as it is at the moment. Except, it turns out, her father has been keeping secrets about their overall financial health from her and also, this scoundrel is claiming to be the long lost heir to the estate. When the two wind up in a marriage of convenience, Hetty is determined to convince Ash that they need to keep the vineyards and not abandon the wine making in favor of stables. She has lists and rules for their marriage and is determined not to let herself fall in love with him. Obviously, that goal doesn’t work out so well.

Now, I am usually a person who loves lists and rules and the breaking of said rules, but for some reason, the pacing of this book didn’t quite work for me. It was a book where it felt like there wasn’t room to breathe in spaces where I felt needed that and too much space in times I thought we could move along quicker. It could have just been that I was grumpy because on paper this book seems like something that would absolutely appeal, but unfortunately, it just didn’t quite work for me.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit, but maybe not as much as her usual books

Should I read in order?
So I believe all of Bell’s series are in the same ‘universe’, if you want to start at the very beginning (How the Duke was Won). This book I think is fine as a stand alone though. Most of the focus is with the hero and heroine either in London or at the heroine’s estate. There is minor page time of prior characters, including the heroes from For the Duke’s Eyes Only and One Fine Duke. Beatrice and Ford (heroine and hero from prior book, Love is a Rogue) and other members of the Boadicea club are mentioned but it’s nothing extensive.

Basic plot:
Hetty’s main goal is to get recognition for her endless hours of work in her vineyards. She knows she has some of the best wine around and can’t wait to be taken as seriously as a wine from France. Ash is the owner of the gaming hell The Devil’s Own Staircase. He is willing to take high stakes risk and right now his eyes are set on Rosehill Park, Hetty’s home.

Give this a try if you want:
- Mid to higher steam – A few full scenes in detail, lots of kisses, touches and thinking about each other
- A working heroine – I found the plot line of a heroine run vineyard fascinating
- A bit of enemies to lovers feel in the beginning that gets moved to marriage of convenience and getting to know each other
- Have to give a shout out for the kitty loving readers – I love furry friends in the storyline and this one features 2 cats
- Gambling hell owner hero

My thoughts:
I do want to address the hero and heroine being related – Ash claims to be from a branch that split off long ago. They are seventh cousins and the lineage would have to be traced back to the 16th century to find the connection of a secret marriage to maid. So it’s nothing close and it’s only briefly mentioned in the beginning.

Hetty is very orderly, she’s a planner, she makes lists, she alphabetizes books without even realizing she’s doing it. She knows how things are supposed to be and she works hard to get everything to fall in line. She’s organizing a ball for her father to choose a wife by midnight so he can sire an heir when she meets Ash.

Ash is unpolished, a go getter, a bit rough around the edges. He’s a self made man, coming from nothing. And he wants Rosehill Park. He has plans for the future and he thinks he can manage Hetty to be able to get what he wants.

I found myself liking Hetty. She’s cautious and doesn’t want to let herself get hurt. I liked her passion for wine making. Ash I wasn’t sure how I would feel about. I’ll be honest, in the beginning I wasn’t a big fan and I found myself setting the book down and not caring if I picked it back up. This is one of the few books that really got better for me in the second half (maybe because that’s when the steam picked up :P )I ended up liking Ash and appreciating how he treated Hetty (despite the lying)

This book WAS a bit unbelievable to me. I’m not sure how the whole Duke plot point would actually play out – it seems a bit far fetched, but I am able to suspend my belief for that. I do wish there had been a bit more depth to both characters. It didn’t quite grip my heart the way I wanted it to, especially with Ash’s background. Still I found it enjoyable overall!

But there was also a lot of sweetness here that I enjoyed. As you get to know Ash, he really becomes this sweet man that would do anything to see Hetty smile.

This book did feel a touch darker than Bell’s other work. Not that her other work didn’t have serious themes running through it – this just didn’t seem to me to have as much humor (that could just be my mood not picking up on that though!)

A gorgeous love story with a sexy, stunning cover and plenty of sweet and steamy kisses! I'm a fan of Lenora Bell. Thank you, Netgalley, for my arc.

I’ve been waffling on how to rate this book since I finished reading it. I really wanted to like this as the premise sounded amazing, but unfortunately, a few things didn’t click for me. Much like Hetty’s wines, I felt like this book needed to sit and develop a bit more to deliver on the flavors I was looking for.

After her mother’s death, Lady Henrietta Prince’s focus has been on reviving her family’s vineyards and restoring the reputation of English wines. Her father, the Duke of Granville, unexpectedly gets left without any heirs. To keep Rosehill, the family estate, in the family, Hetty throws a ball for her father to pick out his new duchess. At that ball, Hetty shares a kiss with a handsome stranger…who claims he’s a distant long-lost heir to the dukedom. The handsome stranger, Ash Ellis, is a gambler and his scheme to become Granville’s heir is his biggest gamble to date. However, when the two are forced to marry, they must put aside their animosity towards each other if they wish to achieve their individual goals.

I really liked the idea of this book. The premise had a lot of promise as it’s a blend of a marriage of convenience with a bit of enemies-to-lovers, plus you get a seemingly strong, independent character with Hetty. I’m also a sucker for main characters who run gaming clubs, so Ash checks that box. However, as a romance novel, the book hinges on the chemistry between the main characters, and unfortunately, I found that chemistry was missing.

I didn’t see any sparks between Ash and Hetty, whether that be romantic sparks or “I hate you” sparks. In their first encounter, I found Ash coming on to Hetty way too strong, and it was giving me “you’re trying too hard” vibes. Their first kiss felt like it was happening more to drive the plot forward than because of any attraction between the two. I think the romance developed a bit more as they spent more time together, but I don’t think it ever grew into a full flame. When they both started to feel like they loved each other, it felt like it was coming out of nowhere as I just didn’t see any sort of connection between them. It’s always tough to like a historical romance novel when you don’t see the characters feel any desire for each other.

While the chemistry between Ash and Hetty wasn’t there, I will say I liked them separately as characters. I just don’t think they work together romantically. Hetty is a more unconventional female lead – something that I’ve come to expect from Bell’s work. I also love how passionate she was about winemaking and devoted to the craft. It’s not a passing fancy but something she views as her profession. Ash was an interesting character. He’s pulling a con on Hetty and her father, but he’s doing it for a good reason as he was to gain more power to advocate for ending child labor in factories. I will say, I think the moniker of the “Devil’s Own Scoundrel” didn’t really fit him for me. Sure, he thinks he did a terrible thing in the past, but he acted in self-defense and all his actions were driven by his desire to help others.

Outside of Hetty and Ash, we see many Bell’s previous characters in various scenes, which is always a fun easter egg for her readers. I will say, I truly disliked Hetty’s father. That man is the worst and didn’t care one whit for his daughter. He was incredibly self-centered and thought only of himself. On the flip side, I did love the inclusion of both Hetty and Ash’s cats into the story. Lucifer (aka Lucy) and Bacchus were great additions to the tale, and I loved how the cats were the opposite personality of their owners. It was a nice bit of mirroring as Lucy more closely resembled the image of Hetty in Ash’s head initially and vice versa with Bacchus and Ash. I found that pretty clever.

In terms of the plot, I wasn’t super impressed by it. The marriage of convenience storyline worked okay for me, and I enjoyed the plot focused on Hetty winning accolades for her wine. I will say on the wine plot that the conclusion felt a little too fairytale-like for me. It seemed everything came together too perfectly. Meanwhile, the storyline with Ash and Coakley felt like it was just there to add a bit more drama, but the drama it brought was very short-lived, so it didn’t feel like it did enough for me to justify being such a focus of the story. I almost feel like the plot was a bit half-baked and could have used a little more development to make all the pieces work together.

Outside of that, I sometimes found some scenes repetitive as we get Hetty or Ash recounting actions that literally just happened to a different group of people. There were also a few scenes that I wasn’t sure why they were in the book. The biggest one was the visit to the local village and the missing kid. That didn’t add enough to the story or to Hetty or Ash’s character development to warrant the number of pages it got.

I’m so sad this book didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. When it comes to Bell’s work, I feel like I really enjoy her stuff 9 times out of 10. However, it seems like in every series of hers, there is always one book that just doesn’t work for me. I think The Devil’s Own Duke is that book in the Wallflowers vs. Rogues series.

I can definitely see some people loving this book, but the lack of chemistry between the leads hampered my enjoyment of the story. Luckily, it’s a pretty quick read, so it’s worth giving it a go if you’re on the fence about it. And if you want to check out a Lenora Bell book that I think is great, check out For Duke’s Eyes Only. That is one of my favorites of hers and is such a fun twist on Indiana Jones!

I love stories with witty dialogue, colorful characters, and humor amidst the drama, and this book had it all. The way Hetty and Ash met, especially the occasion for the ball, was highly entertaining, but the reasons for Ash’s actions melted my heart. Who wouldn’t love such a scoundrel?

4/5 stars!

At a ball held at her family's home in London, the heroine kissed the hero, never realizing that said stranger will be her father's heir! As the heroine and hero struggle in their new marital landscape due to the duke's decree, they learn more about each other and their pasts. How will the couple get their happy ending when obstacles are in their path?

I enjoyed reading this book. The hero and heroine were definitely made for each other, even as they personally try to deny their attraction to each other. I liked the female sisterhood in the series and how the hero's circle of friends grew. I didn't like one character as much but it's one that is important to the story. Overall, an enjoyable book in a Lenora Bell series that I look forward to reading more from.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own.**

This was an exciting read by one of my favorite authors. Ms Bell writes a tale of a gambler and a bluestocking who have different ideas of making money. Ash owns a gaming house while Lady Henrietta is in the wine making business. Ash is a guy who loves his pet cat and also shares a kiss with Henrietta at a ball. He is supposedly the heir to said Lady's father, but who really is in it for himself. When Ash threatens Henrietta into marrying him, he gets more than he bargains for.
Henrietta is no small pushover and know hows to deal with Ash.
Lots of kisses with a passion that turns into something wonderful for both of them. The happy ever after is the key to a great romance.
I appreciate Net Galley for this ARC title in which I gave an honest review.

“The Devil’s Own Duke” by Lenora Bell was delicious like sparkling wine! Lady Henrietta Prince, a vinter, was in a role reversal with her father. The Duke of Granville needed to marry for an heir, so Hetty had a ball for him to choose his next duchess that night. When the clock struck midnight, while kissing Ash Ellis aka The Devil’s Own Scoundrel, she heard footsteps and they went chasing after her father through the garden. Her father did not want to marry any of the ton members and Ash revealed his play. The gaming house co-owner was the long lost heir to the dukedom and Hetty would fight his claim while her father rejoiced!

I loved the animosity and chemistry between Hetty and Ash! It was hilarious how her father got them married. The warning stares from her fellow bluestockings to him were entertaining. When she first met his cat, it not only showed he had a type, but what an angsty scene!

I loved that Ash had qualms when it came to Hetty from the beginning. She was adamant about keeping Rosehill Park where her family vineyards were located to honor her mother’s legacy, produce and make a profit, and put English wine on the map. He had other plans for bigger profits. Although he saw her wine business as a passion project instead of profitable, he still placed a challenge to showcase her product.

I love reading about anti-heroes. Ash may not always be honorable, but when his secrets were out, love did conquer all and Hetty chose him. His devastating “down-bringing” and her moral compass had her wanting to be partners for his passion projects and for the greater good.

Thank you to Net Galley, Avon, and Harper Voyager US for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Hetty is a Prince and Ash is Cinderfella...

Hetty Prince (she is a prince) is busy running her father's dukedom, while her father drowns his sorrows in drink and loose women. Hetty is also a talented vintner, crafting sparkling wine with her mother's French methods.
Unfortunately, Ash (who is a reverse Cinderfella, a gambler, a con artist, and Robin Hood). is intent on swindling her and her father out of the dukedom for his own means and gain. Yes, its to help child labor, but I don't like a con or swindle no matter the outcome. He's impatient and out to take a short cut to wealth.

Hetty is interesting, a hardworking, focused vintner butI felt like she kept being played by the men around her, first her father and then by Ash. They both ultimately use her for their own purposes and self gain.

Still, the writing is solid and I do so enjoy a Lenora Bell book.
Recommend.
4.5

Lady Henrietta Prince hasn’t been to a ball in years. After dancing with a handsome stranger she decides to do something impulsive and kiss him. Little does she know, she just kissed The Devil’s Own Scoundrel, owner of a notorious gaming den and the man looking to take over her fathers dukedom and take what she’s worked so hard to create.

Ash Ellis is the owner of The Devil’s Staircase, a gaming den where he likes to part noblemen from their money. After a rough upbringing, working in a factory and joining a gang as a child, he’s determined to change the nobility and help the less fortunate. He believes his only way to achieve this is by claiming that he is the lost Duke of Granville.

Hetty’s father immediately accepts that Ash is the lost heir and he suggests that Ash and Hetty should marry. Hetty believes this is the only way she can keep her wine business going.

I liked this book. I loved how the two meet in the beginning and that Hetty is a strong, intelligent woman. Under all of Ash’s hard exterior is a big softy and there is quite a bit of steam between them!

This is the second book in the Wallflowers vs Rogues series.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I'd say that this one was a 60/40 split for me. For the most part I genuinely enjoyed it but I did have some issues with it. To start I found the story fun and easy to read. In my opinion there was quite a bit implausibility in play here. Somethings I found could simply ignore or let go but others though really bugged me. Despite that detail, I liked the characters and enjoyed their chemistry.

I’m not sure why, but it seems as if Lenora Duke’s historical romances fly under the radar. She has written some of my favorite series and HR’s and she checks all of the important boxes.
Strong heroines with feminist tendencies-without being an anachronism; a smokin’ hot, clever hero; supportive friends who could carry their own books, original plotting; check, check and check in Bell’s The Devil’s Own Duke .
Henrietta Prince (Hetty) is the only child of the Duke of Granville, the man without an heir. Hetty is determined to find another wife for the Duke so that he can sire an heir, preventing the ducal estate from becoming an escheated estate, reverting to the crown. BTW, this is still the law in England, women can not inherit titles.
But never fear, Ash Ellis owner of the gambling hell, The Devil’s Staircase, has his own plans for the dukedom. Ash claims it as a long lost heir, risking his life with one roll of the dice.
The Duke of Granville doesn’t really care; he just wants to make tracks to the Continent. In fact he cares so little he basically forces his beloved daughter to marry Ash Ellis, the new heir presumptive. Hmm, a little weird, unless father really does know best; but he is excused because he is a partially sympathetic character, but a dreadful father.
Hetty discovers that Ash is planning to tear out her Rosehill Vineyards to build up a racing stud on the land. Hetty is appalled, she has been working to improve the grapes and the wines coming from the vineyards started by her mother. Her late mother was a Frenchwoman who brought vines and vintner when she married the Duke.
Hetty is positive the wines from the Rosehill Vineyard, especially her sparkling wines, can stand up to anything France has to offer with their champagnes. Not such an odd idea since sparkling wine, or champagne as those French poseurs like to say, was invented in England about forty years before Dom Perignon started rattling on about drinking stars. I love history! Look it up…..
Hetty and Ash realize they can not deny their mutual attraction, while realizing they can come to agreements in their new life together. In other words, mature behavior instead of immature reactions; yay, grown-ups!
Ash comes from a horrible background, where he and his best friend and gambling hell partner, Jax Smith, have fought their way out of ghastly beginnings.
My biggest problem with the HR genre is how accepting the women are of mistresses, brothels and cheating. I say all this because I can’t fathom why Hetty wants to make love with Ash in the same pleasure room at the Devil's Staircase, in which he often cavorted with his mistress. Hetty found a letter from this former mistress describing their encounters in great detail. Seems like a really tacky idea. Minor point and I guess it’s all a sign of the times, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Rant over.
I enjoyed The Devil’s Own Duke it ranked high in steaminess, friendship, new-to-me historical information, clever characters, originality and angst-not listed in any order.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC for review purposes.

A long-lost heir, a heroine wanting to forge her own path, and an alliance neither of them planned on.

Henrietta ‘Hetty’ Prince is a lady and the only child of the Duke of Granville. For years since her mother’s death, she’s helped manage the estate and cultivated her mother’s grapes and wine-making knowledge. She’s on the verge of being ready to make a name for her family’s wine when her father and his lack of sound investments leads her right to a deal with the devil.

Ash Ellis came from nothing, an orphan who lived many years on the streets thieving and scrapping for every penny he earned. He’s a gambling house owner with his sights now set on becoming the next Duke of Granville, even if through nefarious means. When he declares himself the long-lost heir, the current duke eagerly embraces him and offers him the right to be heir and the right to Hetty’s hand.

There’s attraction simmering between these two from the start, but they are stark opposites. With Hetty’s plan for world domination in wine and running a business as a woman. Where Ash wants to burn the aristocracy down and use Hetty’s family estate to help fund the fire. I loved their interaction as they spared verbally, right up until Hetty has no choice but to make a bargain with Ash in her attempt to reach her own goals.

With plenty of appearances by Hetty’s friends, some previous heroines in Bell’s books and others upcoming. Add in a dash of suspense, plenty of heat, and a romp in a room with mirrors on the ceiling – it’s a fun read that I eagerly read through. I’ll be honest I wasn’t sure how things would end up for Hetty and Ash and found their resolution pleasantly surprising.

Overall, Bell’s second book in the Wallflowers vs. Rogues series is a great end of summer read with plenty of inspiring moments, the reformation of the bad boy, and a tidbit of suspense. For readers who enjoy Sophie Jordan or Loretta Chase.

~ Landra

The Devil's Own Duke is the second book in the Wallflowers vs. Rogues series by Lenora Bell. A steamy historical romance with undeniable chemistry and lots of drama. A wonderful story that kept my attention from start to finish.

Loved Hetty and Ash's chemistry right from the first page. I am huge fan of Hetty's Club of fantastic heroines and was really excited to see her get her own story. The one thing I didn't get a lot of in this story is Ash's current story or situation about being a gambler. It's spoken more as an afterthought than much of what he currently did. It's like he could have had any profession and it would have worked for the story. He says that he is the "Devil's own duke" but I am honestly sure why this is the case. But when it came to Hetty and Ash, their story and chemistry, I was hooked into this story. This is book two from the Wallflowers vs. Rogues series but we also meet some of older friends from the School for Dukes series so if you have read the previous series, you are in for a treat.

This book could be read as a standalone but I would recommend reading it as part of the series because you really don't want to miss out a single book of this smashing heroines.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*

I’m a huge fan of Lenora Bell. The Devil’s Own Duke is the second book in her Wallflowers vs. Rogues series. Works very well as a stand alone.

I overall found this an interesting read in regards to Lady Henrietta’s career as a Vigneron. Lady Henrietta is in saving her mother’s vineyard and bringing English sparkling wine into the public eye. The problem is that her father, the Duke, lacks an heir. In comes a rogue that owns a gaming hell and has a devilish reputation. Ash Ellis discovers that he is the missing heir to Henrietta’s family. Ash is part con man, part boy who survived the grew the streets and part secret philanthropist. Ash is a complicated hero. I came around to care for him despite being uncomfortable with his lies and point of view at times. Ash but his attitudes are somewhat true to the times. Readers looking for more historical points of view will really enjoy this character.

I love Lenora’s characters and that she is branching out from characters in the upper class in this series. I missed some of her usual humor in this book, but I’m really looking forward to the next book. I’m also hoping Ash’s friend, Jax, has his own HEA!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.#NetGalley #Lenora Bell #TheDevilsOwnDuke

The Devil's Own Duke is a lovely book. Book's premise: Ash Ellis claims he is the distant relative of the Duke of Granville and thus the heir to the dukedom. He intends to convert the land from a vineyard to a horse breeding farm. Hetty is the duke's daughter. She is a winemaker and the vineyard is her life. She is willing to battle Ash to prevent the vineyard's destruction. As the two battle for the land; they are also battling their feelings.

The two main characters, Hetty and Ash have great chemistry. Bell does a great job with developing the relationship as the two match wits with each other, support each other, and grow to love each other. I also enjoyed the supporting characters too (e.g. Hetty's father). As with many of Lenora Bell's books there are several scenes that will make you laugh out loud too.

Book's weak point: The villain. The introduction seemed pointless and did not move the story much for me.

Overall, a great read.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review. All opinions contained in this review are my own.

4 stars

The Devil’s Own Duke by Lenora Bell is the second book in the Wallflowers vs Rogues series. This story centers around the incredibly beautiful spinster and winemaker, Henrietta (Hetty) Price and Ash Ellis, a scheming gambling hall owner who climbed out of the gutters to find financial success.

The pair find themselves in a marriage of convenience after it appears Ash is the lost heir to a dukedom currently inhabited by Hetty’s dad. Hetty isn’t anxious to marry, but she feels it's the only way that she can keep her budding wine company open.

The book was really enjoyable. I read it in a single day. There was humor, mystery, and a small bit of steam. Hetty and Ash are dynamic characters. I loved seeing Hetty and her bluestocking friends who all have very nontraditional female roles. I look forward to reading future books about them. I really enjoyed the will they or won’t they nature of the story. Typically, I get annoyed by that but this author did a fantastic job holding my interest.

My only criticism is that it feels like the book moves at a really leisurely pace in the beginning and then a bunch of things happen all at once in the end. I enjoyed the twists and turns at the end, but it felt like they could have been spread out more.

Tropes include:
Enemies to lovers
Secret child
Wallflower vs rake
Class difference
Hero from the streets
Marriage of convenience
Revenge

I was invited to read an ARC of The Devil’s Own Duke, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #thedevilsownduke