Right off the bat I wonder what in the world happened to the relaxed version of Justine and William from book 1? They were so uptight and very judgmental of Amelia, who is far too old to be treated like a child. They decide she must be married for whatever reasons, and of course Lady Aleksander is called to duty as the matchmaker once again. I kind of enjoyed Amelia’s not putting up with it for the most part.
Amelia was a bit of a free spirit in the first book, but she was younger. She’s still outlandish at times, but mainly she is just a woman who refuses to be caged. I actually enjoyed her personality. She does get herself in a few bad situations, a product of always being watched and coddled I suppose.
Joshua Marly, the duke in this installment, is a stuck down in the dumps kind of guy. He has had some traumatic experiences in his life, but to still be wallowing in such pity for himself makes for a dislikable character. I really don’t see how Amelia comes to care for him.
Apparently I do not remember Beck and Blythe from the Royal Wedding series. Blythe is such a kill joy. Donovan was back, though I really wish there was more of him in the book. Too bad he won’t get his own happily ever after book.
Overall this was an enjoyable story.

Fantastic Story! A Royal Match will have you laughing, crying and certainly rooting for our hero and heroine. Princess Amelia of the mythical kingdom of Wesloria has come to England to find a husband. This is not actually a choice but an attempt by her sister Queen Justine, from Last Duke Standing, first in this series, to curb Amelia’s impetuous nature and help her find happiness. Staying with family friends Amelia seems destined to keep bumping into the nearest neighbor, Joshua, Duke of Marley, under very unpleasant circumstances. She names him The Grim Reaper for the way he dresses all in black and races his horse recklessly throughout the neighborhood. The banter between the two is addictive to any reader especially when they start exchanging letters each unknown to the other. She thinks the writer is an old crone with too many complaints and he thinks they are from the school teacher. The letters show each glimpses into the feelings of the other. They both are doing their share of running. Amelia from herself (she doesn’t think people love her for herself). She is very honest and out-spoken. Joshua from guilt over his wife and unborn child’s death because the match was an arrangement for him to acquire an heir and instead she died. Amelia is so full of life and Joshua appears to have given up on it. They are thrown into each other’s company, sometimes by accident, sometimes not. They may not like each other but they seem to have a lot in common. From their mutual love of dogs and children to their beliefs that love can only exist in a relationship of compatibility. There are many mishaps and funny situations that aren’t to be missed as well as a bit of a mystery ending. Can’t wait for the next in this series.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

I was provided an ARC Ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book features Princess Amelia of Wesloria, younger sister to the Queen of Wesloria, who has found herself being sent to England to look for a potential spouse after being caught in several "compromising" situations with ineligible persons. Her family has high hopes that with the services of a matchmaker, Amelia will find a suitable husband that will curtail her wild ways.

The male lead in this book is Joshua, Duke of Marley, who has withdrawn from Society after the death of his wife and child. His only respite seems to be riding his horse breakneck across the countryside, and writing anonymous letters of complaint to the local girls school whose students regularly disturb his peace.

I enjoyed this book, although it seemed to drag at the beginning. I saw definite growth in both the main characters throughout the story, and was particularly amused by the snarky interactions between the two. If the pace and genuine emotion of the last part of the book had been employed throughout the book, I would have rated it five stars, but that slow start was a bit of a slog. I look forward to seeing what Julia has in store for us next!

Amelia has a good heart and is lively enough jolt Joshua out of the doldrums of his life. The two of them have a lot of chemistry on the page, even if a they misinterpret a good bit of that as irritation. The girls are very funny as they move in and out of their scenes. However, I wanted Amelia to come to a greater understanding of how adults operate in the world, and I am not sure she did. She whined a lot longer than she should have. But the epilogue implies that she finally grew up as her family grew. The letters were a fun addition to the story.

The Duke Not Taken



Julia London



I was sent this book in ARC form in exchange for an honest review.



Julia London takes two people who are not perfect alone and teaches them to be perfect together. From beginning to end the main characters learn about what they need to know, first about themselves then about each other. And with all this there are numerous scenes that are laugh out loud funny. Another one that I have just loved.

Having read the previous book I looked forward to Amelia’s story and wasn’t disappointed, when she met Joshua sparks were bound to fly and they did, she was in her element being free to do as she wished wandering about with no guards, Joshua was hard to come to grips with at first but it was easy to see they would eventually come together even though he did fight against it. I didn’t find it an easy read but I did enjoy it and would recommend it.

The Duke Not Taken
Julia London

This is the second book of this series.
My thoughts on The Duke Not Taken are my own.

I am a reader of many different genres and styles of novels, and hadn’t read Historical Romance novels for a while, so I did borrow the first book of the series from my library before reading and reviewing an ARC of this book to set the mood for the story. And for me this story was refreshing. I liked the fact that Princess Amelia didn’t fit the approved ‘Princess mold’. Sharing her thoughts in an unfiltered way caused people around her to presume the princess was arrogant, but she really had a heart of gold. Lord Marley, on the other hand, was a closed book and held everything inside, struggling with decisions he’d made in the past that haunted him. I knew that “opposites attract” was going to play a big role in this story and really enjoyed watching these two people find their way to each other.

Julia London is a master of the sort of historical story that has you snorting with laughter one minute and feeling deeply for one character or another the next. The Duke Not Taken is her latest story involving the royal family of the fictional European country of Wesloria.
This time the heroine is Princess Amelia, younger sister of Queen Justine, who starred in The Last Duke Standing. Amelia was a thoroughly annoying character in that book and some would argue that she still is, given her tendency to speak the blunt truth without a thought for whether it might offend. Despite this, I grew very attached to Amelia and was thrilled to see her blossoming relationship with Joshua Parker, the Duke of Morley, whom she has nicknamed the Grim Reaper.
I adored the letters that passed between these two throughout the story. They were clearly written tongue in cheek and are full of wit. This story has been a delight to read and is one I’ll be going back to in the future.

Just adored the next in the Royal Match series. These Westloria stories are my favorites! This next in series is about Amelia, the spirited princess sister of Justine in The Last Duke Standing. This was a great story with a spirited heroine and a grumpy duke. Great character development to both main characters. Amelia was definitely an Original. Bonus was the antic's of Beck's feisty daughters. Definitely recommend!

Amelia Ivanosen, Princess of Westoria, and Joshua Parker, Duke of Marley, meet under mistaken identities and do not rub well together.

This romance is entertaining, quick, has funny and emotional moments. And did I say action packed.

I received an advance reader copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own..

The Duke Not Taken is the second book in the series. The first one was Last Duke Standing. Amelia is the sister of the queen of Wesloria. She is sent to England along with Lila, a matchmaker. Amelia does not hesitate to say what’s on her mind. People she meets are not used to being spoken to like this. Amelia and Lila are staying at a friend‘s estate. Joshua, the Duke of Marley is a neighbor. He is grieving the death of his wife an infant child. She is introduced to many potential suitors. None of them interest her. Her dislike for Joshua changes to attraction the more she learns about him. He fights the attraction he starts to have for her. I liked reading the correspondence between Joshua and Amelia. He thinks he’s writing to a teacher at a local school. She thinks she is responding to a caretaker of the estate near the school. I enjoyed Amelia and Joshua’s story.
I appreciated receiving an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The duke not taken-A lovely story about a princess that doesn’t fit in, and a very stubborn hurt duke. Although they agitate each other they end up in the same places at the same time. Soon enough feelings start to develop. In the end they find out they really want the same things in life!

wonderful story of finding a partner in marriage. great characters, entertaining dialogue and a strong point of view. It was a pretty quick read for me and I enjoyed every page.

The Duke Not Taken: A Historical Romance by Julia London
This is the story of Amelia Ivanosen, Princess of Wesloria and Joshua Parker, Duke of Marley - their relationship is dislike to love. She needs to find a husband and he has not gotten over the death of his wife in childbirth. There is angst, dislike, guilt, misunderstandings, laughter, tears, adorable children, good friends, and a little steam to get us to a wonderful HEA.
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Romantic Tear-jerker Wonderful characters Unpredictable Page-turner Entertaining Easy-to-read Happily Ever After Funny Great world building Action-packed.
I enjoyed reading and reviewing this book.

I enjoyed this story and the two main characters. It didn't seem like anything too unique that would set it apart from all the other historical romances out there. It's a solid read, but I wouldnt' go out of my way to suggest this to a library patron.

Princess Amelia is sent to England, so a matchmaker can find her a husband. The Duke of Marley is a grieving and unhappy man. He is even mistaken by Amelia for Grim Reaper/caretaker for Holyfield Estate. She is presented with many suitors. He says he will not be one of her suitors. She is strong and knows what she wants. He is stubborn in his beliefs.

I enjoyed the book. I really felt for the characters. It kept interested from beginning to end. Julia London has created another wonderful story.

Lovely bold Princess Amelia knows what she wants in a spouse but just can’t seem to find it. Men just compliment her beauty while seeing her as a dowry and step up the social ladder. The one man not interested is the only one she will have. Will love win out?

Non-spoiler review:

For the most part, I loved this book. The hero and heroine were unique and compelling people. I feel the hero took too much on himself but one cannot truly keep control over one's psyche during tragedy, so I was sympathetic. The heroine was lovely and sincere in every respect—until the end, at least. The last parts were confusing and disconnected, which was disappointing, though there were still some good moments.

I would say this was a 5-star book until about 80% in. That's when things tilted into unclear plotting that was rushed and too dependent on external conflict (drama that was fully anticipated as soon as the issue was first mentioned early on).

The epilogue was also abrupt and confusing with no real resolution, presumably to hint at the next in the series but it was not clear enough to anticipate anything; just to be puzzled by it and shrug. I was surprised to find there wasn't more to wrap the current book up cleanly, and that it ended as it did. Or perhaps they already did that and then added a bit more to it that stopped it from feeling finished.

That said, I read this in a couple days and loved the vast majority of it. I think it's absolutely worth reading, for the sake of both main characters. Side characters are also interesting. I'm not one to enjoy a huge, quirky cast for the sake of having a huge, quirky cast, but this was well done and felt natural.

Most of all, one could feel and believe the complexities the heroine felt about herself. I wish this could have been more cleanly resolved, perhaps proving how she loves who she is even if others do not. It was a missed opportunity and I would have preferred that as a climax to the shuffle of one character running out of town to perform a task without communicating about it and coming back to redeem themself. There's not much proven there except that the character has enough money to solve their problems. They didn't earn the win, if that makes sense.

But I am nitpicking now, and it's because I so thoroughly enjoyed most of the book and all of the characters, so I wish it could have been that much better.

I definitely recommend reading the book for a diverting few hours. As is the way with romance novels, it's nice to see a happily ever after with two great characters, especially when times are rough in real life.