An enjoyable delight. Always Be My Duchess is the first in the new Taming the Dukes series. Lord Lysander Blackstone, the Duke of Montcroix meets Miss Genevieve Valery one evening. She is a ballerina and looking for work. She has returned to England from France after a titled man hurt her sister and blocked her dancing for rebuffing his advances. Lysander proposes an arrangement where she poses as his fiancé for two months. Being a soon to be family man instead of the stone workaholic he is known as will give him the edge he needs for his next business deal. The money she will make will set up her and her sister in starting a dance school.

This is a very typical fake relationship, close proximity troupe. It is extra fun as it is a loose retailing of Pretty Woman. Unlike the movie she is not a prostitute but is instead the daughter of a titled Viscount whose family disowned him for marrying beneath him. After the deaths of her parents she has turned to dance to support her and her sister. Lysander is interesting too as he is neurodivergent. (His condition isn’t diagnosed or named because it wouldn’t have been known at the time.) Genevieve loves to watch him process things.

One of the best things in the book is the female friend group who eventually decide on The Queens Club as their name. I’m sure the other members of the group will be featured in future books in the series. This is a steamy, fun, romp and is a breeze to read. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. (4.5 stars)

Thanks to @readforeverpub for an advance copy of Always Be My Duchess by Amalie Howard, out July 12th!

When @andkellyreads shared this on her stories and I saw that it was pitched as Pretty Woman meets Bridgerton, I had to request it. I simply had to.

We stan an author’s note at the start of the book with content warnings/explanations and I’m glad this is becoming more normalized!

I will say that I don’t think that the comparison to Pretty Woman is apt…..like, at all. I read @aliciaclarereads review after reading and heartily agree with her assertion that the book sidesteps dealing with sex work pretty much entirely. If you’re looking for a movie comparison, I felt it was much more like The Wedding Date, which also has fake dating after a character experiences a breakup as a central trope. It’s giving “I’d rather fight with you than make love with anyone else.”

I took a lil reading break at 46% so it didn’t keep me riveted - Genevieve and Lysander’s story definitely takes a while to unfold - and while I ended up enjoying it, it won’t be making my yearly favorites. The Queens Club was my favorite element, which is fun because Always Be My Duchess clearly lays the groundwork for further books in the series. NGL, I’m excited to see Vesper tied up in knots over this mystery man!

What to know:
-Neurodivergent MMC
-Starchy Duke, feisty dancer
-Fake dating

CW: ableism, verbal abuse, loss of a loved one, sexual content

High stakes meet cute when running from footpads, Lysander and Neve have an instant connection. He hires her to pretend to his escort for an evening (which then turns into the rest of the season). He's cold and doesn't show emotion well, prioritizing business over relationships. Neve is just trying to survive and care for her injured sister, without sacrificing her integrity. The level of angst and longing and realizations of love in this book are so good!

4.25⭐
R for some 🥵 scenes

If you are in need of something to fill your Bridgerton drought and love the movie Pretty Woman, look no further because you need this! A grumpy duke and an outspoken ballerina short on cash made this book such a fun ride with some spice and scandal along the way.

I love a stony duke with daddy issues who just needs to be comfortable with his emotions. Watching Lysander grow in this book and open himself up to love was just so satisfying. And I absolutely loved how Genevieve put him in his place and didn't take any of his crap. I did not love their instalove moment but it grew on me. The book started a little slow and the pacing was off at times, but overall I really enjoyed this book.

I was so invested in Lysander and Genevieve's story and loved how this book maintained some of the classic parts of Pretty Woman while also adding new flair to it. I also loved the friend group Genevieve found who all had their unique, progressive hobbies that reminded me of Evie Dunmore's League of Extraordinary Women series. I am definitely interested in reading more of this series and seeing how Genevieve's friends fall in love!

Other notes: There was some diversity in this story but I wish there was a lot more! There is also some mental condition representation but it is not named due to the time setting.

"Always Be My Duchess" wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. Using the concept of 'Pretty Woman' didn't work for me. I guess that's because I don't like historical romances having modern nuances to them. I'm sure others will love this book, but it wasn't for me.

✨𝘼𝙡𝙞’𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬✨

Always Be My Duchess
(Taming of the Dukes #1)
Amalie Howard
4 ⭐️

“I have it on impeccable authority that a body can’t survive without its heart, and you’ve had mine in your keeping since the day we met…where you go, I go.”

The description of Pretty Woman meets the Bridgertons spoke to me and I knew I had to read it. The story had such strong Pretty Woman vibes, and I loooved how much it reminded me of the movie but with a historical romance spin.

This was so cute, and fun, and 🔥! The story was well written and a great flow that kept the pages quickly turning. The group of complex characters were all so lovable and relatable. I loved the focus on strong independent women, and the mental/behavioral health rep. I adored Lysander and Nève and how they came to be. Their 🥵 chemistry and banter had me smiling (and lol) throughout. A delightful read and I am definitely looking forward to more in this series.

What I enjoyed;
🏰 Opposites attract
🏰 Fake engagement
🏰 Sunshine/grump
🏰 Pretty Woman/Bridgerton vibes


If you’re a fan of historical romance full of scandal, humor, and feelings, read this one. Always Be My Duchess publishes 7/12/22.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central) Pub for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love romance and I love the Victorian era. I also LOVE pretty woman. So this was great. It had everything I loved and I enjoyed it quite a bit!! Thank you for the copy to review NetGalley

I LOVED this book! The characters were fantastic and I loved the depiction of female friendship and I loved that each woman was strong, intelligent and just generally badass.

Also the chemistry between Stone and Neve was on point. Seriously, I thought my kindle was going to burst into flames at one point. But their romantic relationship ship was also couple goals.

And I’m just going to say…ITS BASED ON PRETTY WOMAN!? How can a book be bad if that’s what it’s based on!?

Hopefully, there will be more books in the series because I am looking forward to following the Hellfire Kitties!!

This historical was such a refreshing take. From the first page you are in the story. A ballerina who meets a duke and helps him escape. Fake relationship. Grumpy hero. A wonderful group of strong women of the ton who have no problem being who they are. The chemistry and tension between these two characters made the entire world fall away. I loved that the duke was neurodivergent. I loved getting to learn about the world of ballet during its time. I can’t wait for more of these books. The scene in his office where he play Neve like a cello I just about exploded. This was just such a unique and wonderful take on a historical. .

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grand Central Pub for the copy of this book for my honest review. This was such a fun regency read that also felt more modern in some of the writing, so it was a great blend of a romance. It definitely had the Bridgerton/Pretty Woman vibe I had been seeing, but it also stood out with it's own twists and turns (and villains).

Always Be My Duchess is a great start to the Taming of the Dukes series, and I would definitely be on board for more.

4/5 stars and a great addition to your summer reading schedule. Out this July!

Lysander and Genevieve are meant to be together.
A stern Duke and a down and out Ballerina make an amazing couple.
Lord Lysander Blackstone, the stern Duke of Montcroix, has only one interest: increasing his considerable fortune. After a series of betrayals, he keeps his emotions buried deep. Money, after all, can't break a man's heart—or make promises it can’t keep. But when his reputation for being heartless jeopardizes a new business deal, he finds himself seeking a most unusual—and alluring—solution . . .
Once an up-and-coming ballerina, Miss Geneviève Valery is now hopelessly out of work. After refusing to become a wealthy patron's mistress, Nève was promptly shown the door to the streets. When she accidentally saves the life of a handsome duke, she doubts the encounter will go any better than her last brush with nobility. But instead of propositioning her, Montcroix makes Nève an offer she would be a fool to refuse: act as his fake fiancée in exchange for fortune enough to start over.
Only neither is prepared when very real feelings begin to grow between them. They both stand to win . . . but only if they’re willing to risk their hearts.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

This was my first Amalie Howard book and I grabbed it from NetGalley because the description mentioned that it was a historical romance with 90s rom com movie tropes and that is pretty much my exact sweet spot. I'm so glad I requested it because I *loved* this story of a neurodiverse duke who hires a down on her luck ballerina to pose as his fiancée so that he can convince a potential business colleague that he wants to buy land from that he's ready to settle down. This is clearly heavily influence by Pretty Woman and it works perfectly here. Content warning for references to violence against women and mistreatment of neurodiverse folks.

5⭐️ First I would like to say thank you to Net Galley and Forever Publishing for giving me a chance to read a eARC. This book is described it be inspired by Pretty Woman which definitely caught my eye. It follows the story of Lord Lysander Blackstone who hires ballerina Genevieve Valery to pose as his fiancé. I really enjoyed this books because the banter, it was amazing. The author never over did it and you could just feel the chemistry between the 2 characters. Both characters have stories that needed to be told and found peace in one another. Honestly sign me up for any books that take place in the victorian era. I highly recommend this books, it released July 12th so don’t miss out on it!

Always Be My Duchess is about a duke who runs into a beautiful dancer and decides to hire her to pretend to be his fiancée so that he can try and secure a business deal. Of course, he never planned to fall head over heals for the woman, Geneviéve Valery, and he has to deal with the fact that he can't control his feelings around her the way that he's been used to doing for his entire adult life.

Lysander (our duke) is the victim of emotional abuse from his father. The man was set on making sure the young man understood that emotions didn't have a place in a duke's life. He took away any chance of happiness when he was a young boy, and continued to try and ruin any of Lysander's plans up until the day of his death. This sets up a big challenge for Lysander, now the Duke of Montcroix, to ever seek joy. Even when he meets Geneviève, it requires multiple instances of his emotions seeping through before he ever starts to accept his feelings for the woman. Despite the fact that the book follows the fake dating trope, the main obstacle in this book is the trauma that Lysander has to overcome so that he can be honest about his feelings for the woman he falls in love with.

The characterization of both Lysander and Néve is so well-written! I love that Lysander is a neurodivergent hero, and the pasts that bring these two together really make the relationship work in a beautiful, unlikely way. The chemistry between them from the jump is OFF THE CHARTS. Sometimes the idea of the hero of a romance constantly being turned on around a woman feels like a little much, but I think that Howard made it work in a way that was believable (primarily because he didn't, erm, take care of himself in private and just continued to let things build up) so that when they end up together, the reader is almost as excited as the characters who are actually getting some, haha.

I also loved the side characters. From the servants to the antagonists (Charlotte and Treadway are THE WORST!!!) to both Lysander and Nève's friends, nobody felt entirely two-dimensional and I wouldn't be surprised at all if I found out that Howard did a lot of character work with all of these side characters. I also adore the Hell Kitties Club and cannot wait to read future books in this series starring these wonderful ladies!

This was my first Amalie Howard book, but it definitely will not be my last. Thinking about this novel I keep humming to myself 'these are a few of my favourite things' but I need to change the lyric from 'few' to ALL. This book captures everything I love in a historical romance from its Pretty Woman retelling to a fake engagement. Adding in the witty banter between the MCs and a cast of characters I would wish to be friends with, this book is one I am looking forward to purchasing and reading over and over again.

Pretty Woman meets historical romance. This was pretty generic, despite being marketed as more modern writing style. Wasn’t for me, but I know others who would enjoy it.

Well this was everything I wanted and more! This Pretty Woman retelling was enchanting and I didn’t want it to end. I haven’t felt this connected to a group of characters since I read Lisa Kleypas’ Wallflower series.
Ok I’m trying to breathe deeply and act cool about this but that may not happen. I loved everything about this book. Amalie Howard has spun gold and handed it to me and I am so grateful.

Neve has come to London to find work as a ballet dancer in order to support herself and her sister (who is living in Paris). She isn’t having much luck and one night everything changes while outside a theater. Lysander, Duke of Montcroix, is somewhat drunk, lost in a not so great part of London and is about to be robbed until an exquisite ballerina saves his life, quite literally.

Lysander offers Neve a job, to act as his date for one night. But one night isn’t enough for the man they all call “Stone”. They make an agreement and a fake engagement ensues.
Along the way Neve makes friends with 4 amazing women that call themselves the Hellfire Kittens. Just kidding Vesper calls them that but no one else does. These ladies have so much personality and life that I can’t wait to see what kind of havoc they wreck on the Ton.

Here are my favorite quotes:

“I’m callous and cold”-
Lysander
“I burn hot”- Neve
“Then burn us both”- Lysander
this is the new I burn for you
“I have it on impeccable authority that a body can’t survive without its heart, and you’ve had mine in your keeping since the day we met.”

I quite enjoyed this spin on pretty woman. It has some of the same elements but it’s really just reminiscent of the Julia Roberts classic.

I enjoyed the H and h but the true treasure in this book was the queens club. Néve’s friends are delightful and a wonderful addition to this book.

When a poor French ballet dancer named Genevieve saves his life, Lysander gets the idea to pay her to be his fake fiancée. Hoping to land a business deal now that he is engaged, Lysander finds he cannot stop the attraction he feels for Genevieve. What starts out as a business proposal turns out to be much more. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Forever for my honest review.

4 stars

A Victorian remix of Pretty Woman, Always Be My Duchess pairs a starchy, neurodivergent duke with a beautiful, badass ballerina in a classic romance with a modern feel.

Having read only one other book by Amalie Howard, I am astounded by the range that she has displayed just from those two books. Where Rules for Heiresses felt like more of an emotional, hard-hitting romance, Always Be My Duchess leans into the rom-com vibes with sexy banter, a cadre of great side characters, and a romance that, while still emotional, is on the lighter side of angsty.

I would have loved for the neurodivergence of our duke to be a little more fleshed out - at times, it just reads like a typical starchy duke - and there are some points in the middle of the novel that feel a bit repetitive, which is why I knocked off a star. However, this is still an immensely enjoyable read and It's a great start to what is sure to be a really fun historical romance series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!