Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this historical romance. It took me a couple chapters to get hooked, but I couldn’t put it down once it did. Cathrine and John have grown up with families who despise each other. After a scandal breaks out about someone close to each of the main characters. (I don’t want to spoil a major plot so I will leave them unnamed) Unknowingly the two paths cross in a spicy moment at a ball. That discovery doesn’t go over very well. Fast forward some years later. Neither character can stop thinking of the other. When John is caring for his sister alone and her reputation is on the line. There’s only one person who can help fix this before his sister is ruined to society. Can these two work together to help end this heinous scandals.

This book has a bit of everything jn it. Lustful strangers to enemies to friends to lovers. You have two people who despise each other but have a strong sexual attraction. Who are traveling in a small carriage to find answers. You have a one bed at the inn trope. Hilarious best friends of the MMC. Family drama and deception. Twists you don’t see coming. Decent amount of spice and some really sweet moments.

What an interesting group of Rakes to have as heros for this new series. These four rakes have been friends since Eton. They have a special bond and all want to avoid becoming legshackled.

John Breminster, now the Duke of Edington, has been left with a rather complicated mess by his recently deceased father. Find the woman who caused a scandal with his father that ruined two families! A woman no one has seen in over 17 years.

Miss Catherine Forster, is fighting mightily to keep her little family together and out of debtors prison. She fondly remembers her life before the scandal, one of safety, love and security. She has no desire to talk to, let alone see John.

When John appraoches Catherine about helping him with his task, she demands a hefty compensation. They each come to this tenetive partnership with cloudy misconceptions of the past. Each blaming the other's family for their troubles. John needs her help because the woman he seeks is her Aunt. Sje believes her aunt abandoned her and her fsther. He believes the aunt is the root of the scandal.

As they search for the Aunt, an attraction starts to form adding to the tension of their task. There are secrets on top of secrets on top of secrets that they discover,, making it harder to give into the attraction. As the secrets are revealed and things syart to look up, a revelation throws everything of kilter and a sacrifice is made that hurts them both.

The secondary characters are wonderful. We have the Rank Rakes, John's friends, who don't seem to take much of anything seriously. Then there are Catherine's "family", Lady Wethersby and Ariel. Lady and Baronet Wethersby took Catherine when her father passed away. Then the baronet passed away leaving his wife and son, Ariel in dire straits. They are so supportive of Catherine. John's sister, Henrietta is amazing, at 17 she is down to earth and it seems difficult to ruffle her feathers.

Through this whole story I found myself not liking the old Duke much. He created a scandal, hurt two families, broke several hearts and only near death did he attempt to rectify it. Even then he didn't man up and take care of it himself, no, he left it to his son and essentially blackmailed him into fixing it. Not cool, but I suppose somewhat typical of the aristocratic men. Live for their own pleasures, don't truly think about the consequences and leave it to others to clean up.

I am looking forward to this series. Ms. Lloyd has created a world I want to revisit and characters I want to spend time with. I want to see how she brings each of the other three rakes up to scratch and what incredible ladies she has in store for them. The women will need to be strong, self-assured and capable like Catherine. What fun!

I thought the story was ok. The romance was good. The characters were great. Although I do wish that the plot could have been more entertaining and exciting. Maybe add some adventure to it. Perhaps some mystery or suspense. Other than it was a story of two people connecting over a story about ruins.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

For some time, I’d given up on the regency romance category. I read a lot of them last year and they got boring.

It’s a fun read that does not rely on the miscommunication trope as much which I liked. Not sure I like his friends.

DNF at 5%

I saw this book's author all over my TikTok For You page and honestly, she is fantastic at marketing her book because I immediately decided to hit Request when I saw this pop up on NetGalley. However, my expectations were quickly tempered by the first chapter of this book. What sounded like a fun romp read far more like a Victorian novel of manners based on the prose. That's not an issue for me, but it's definitely not what I really want to be reading right now.

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

While I was initially drawn to the intriguing premise of this book, I ultimately found myself disappointed by the lacklustre execution of the romance. Despite the promising setup, the relationship between the main characters fell short of my expectations, prioritizing physical attraction over emotional depth.

One of the main issues I had with the romance was its heavy emphasis on lust at the expense of genuine emotional connection. While passion certainly has its place in romantic narratives, I felt that it overshadowed the development of a meaningful relationship between the characters. As a result, their connection felt superficial and lacking in authenticity, leaving me wanting more in terms of character development and relationship growth.

I do think fans of historical romance would enjoy this book it was simply an okay read for me.
I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book started off very promising and I was enjoying it but there were just too many issues. It started to get that soap opera feel where I was like oh my goodness, this is never going to end. Unfortunately this was a DNF for me but I this this author has promise and I will be giving her future books a shot when they come out

I liked this book. The plot was kind of all over the place. I had a real issue with John constantly leaving Catherine. I wish there had been more romance and chemistry between the characters.

Lydia Lloyd has such an obvious passion for romance as a genre. This book is PACKED with references to favorite tropes and character arcs and that helped bring this book up to a full three stars, as otherwise I just never quite got fully on board with the instant attraction and anger with each other. Their relationship never fully developed the tension that I needed to make it pay off. It did make me excited to see what Lloyd does next and how this series evolves--the future MMCs are in desperate need of women to set them on the right path!

A lovely historical enemies to lovers romance. It had some great characters There was a lot of fun banter and the book had some good steam.

Amazing! I wanted to wait for the second book to be published because I knew I was going to devour this one!

A fun, sexy Regency romp with heart, Lydia Lloyd clearly knows her historical romance and crafts an engaging story with relatable characters and fantastic carriage rides. I'm excited for the next installment!

I started this book and decided not to finish. As a long time reader of historical romance I felt that this book had too many tropes thrown into it and wish it had had a tighter edit. This author has a strong presence and I hope that she continues to work on her craft in the next series installment.

In the inaugural installment of The Rake Chronicles series, this debut author introduces readers to the captivating world of Catherine Forster and John Breminster. Their encounter at a ball sparks an enchanting connection, yet Catherine remains blissfully unaware of John's true identity until a compromising situation reveals his role in her family's ruin. Despite the deep-seated animosity between the Forsters and Breminsters, circumstances force John to seek Catherine's aid after his father, the Duke of Edington, passes away. Catherine, though willing to assist, demands a price. As they embark on their journey, the lingering attraction from years past reignites, shaping a compelling and spicy enemies-to-lovers narrative crafted skillfully by this debut author.

What a debut! Following the author on Insta, I had high expectations, especially when I realized that all my favourite romance tropes were going to be covered and then some in this England-based historical romance.

I was hooked on the enemies to lovers characters, the mysterious aspects around the suspense plot, the engaging support characters, and lushness of the spicy scenes, and and and.

I found this to be a page turner of a romance which kicks off a series with characters in this book appearing in future books. However, When The Duke Loved Me can be read a standalone.

Tropes:
- Enemies to Lovers
- Road Trip
- Hidden identities and guarded secrets

Would definitely recommend to dive into this one and then immediately dive into the 2nd book of series.
Enjoy!

P.S. If you appreciate making an informed decision about potential triggers in this romance, please read on but know they may cover potential spoilers:
child abandonment, death of parents, infidelity (not MCs), threat of sexual assault

P.P.S. I thank the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this book ahead of the publication date in exchange for a fair review.

This is the first book in The Rake Chronicles series and a debut book by this author. Catherine Forster is enchanted by John Breminster when they meet at a ball. She is not fully aware of who he is until they are caught in a compromising situation, and then she learns that he is the same man who ruined her family. The Forsters and Breminsters are sworn enemies, and despite how taken John was with Catherine, he was forced to walk away from her. But when his father, Duke of Edington, dies, he is faced with a problem, one that only Catherine can help him solve. Catherine agrees to help him, but it will cost him. They set out on their journey and they soon realize the attraction they felt years ago still burns strong between them.
A very spicy and entertaining enemies to lovers trope by a debut author. The storyline was interesting and flowed nicely and the characters were well-written. I will say, though, that the steam started a bit earlier than I would normally like, a little more build up between Catherine and John would've been nice to see. But that said, the story was quite engaging and I would love to read more from the author and continue the series.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tule Publishing for providing a complimentary copy. This is my voluntary and honest review.

This is a captivating story of enemies to lovers, set in a historical backdrop of family scandal and betrayal. The prologue introduces John and Catherine, who meet at a ball and feel an instant attraction, unaware of each other’s true identities. John is the Duke of Eddington, whose father had an affair with Catherine’s aunt, Mary Forester, and caused the ruin of both families. Catherine is a penniless orphan, who lives with her friends and writes history articles to earn some money.

When John’s father dies, he leaves a codicil in his will that forces John to find Mary Forester, or forfeit his sister’s dowry to a distant cousin. John seeks Catherine’s help, hoping she knows where her aunt is. Catherine agrees, seeing it as a chance to travel and finish her book, but also to earn money to support her found family.

As they embark on a perilous journey, they discover the truth about their past and the secrets that haunt them. They also realize that they can’t deny their feelings for each other, despite the guilt and shame they carry. Will they be able to overcome the obstacles and find their happy ending?

I loved this story. I loved how John changed from a notorious rake to a devoted lover because he couldn’t forget Catherine after their first meeting. I loved how Catherine was a strong and independent woman, who pursued her passion for history and writing. I loved how they supported each other and faced their demons together. I loved how they became a real couple in the second half of the story, and how they showed their love in sweet and tender ways. This is a story of scandal, trauma, and redemption, but also of love, trust, and hope.

3.5 🌟's

i really loved the first half ish of the book - the angst, the tension, the hURTTT put it in my veins!! sadly, i hated the constant hot/cold between them as it got pretty toxic and repetitive by the end. i also didn't really enjoy the underlying plot of finding mary forster/the family drama stuff .. that's just a personal qualm tho (it was effectively written! but not for me)

overall, a solid debut :0

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to the publisher Tule for the e-ARC via Netgalley!*

I love this author’s social media pages and knowledge of historical romance, but unfortunately this did not live up to my hopes for her debut. The focus seemed to be almost entirely on the physical relationship, and while I appreciate a good spicy scene, I do need there to be more of a foundation for the romance than just sex.

As if coming from rival families wasn't enough to make John and Christine dislike each other, a somewhat accidental clandestine tryst at a country ball was the icing on the cake.

Many years later, John needs help fulfilling a stipulation of his late father's will. Unfortunately for the enemy pair, Christine is the one person who can help him solve a great mystery full of deeply guarded secrets. As much as it pains Christine to assist a most detestable person, she simply can't refuse the financial offer he has made should she aid him in his quest.

When enemies unite for a common cause in close proximity, sparks are bound to fire.

All this and much more in: "When the Duke Loved Me" by Lydia Lloyd, book one of The Rake Chronicles
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Cover Rating: 2/5
Story Rating: 3.5/5
Steam Rating: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 + (+kissing, interrupted scenes, solo scenes)
Ending: HEA + Epilogue
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Series or Stand Alone:
Easily read as stand alone. Mystery plot is solved in this book. Characters in this title appear will appear in future books.
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England, Regency Period (1815)
Historian Bluestocking
Duke
Enemies to Lovers
Feudal Families
Road Trip
Deeply Guarded Secrets
Mystery Plot
Miscommunication
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This is a debut novel by Lydia Lloyd, so her writing style is brand new to me. I found her to remind me a bit of Victoria Alexander with longer paragraphs and explanations. While the pacing throughout the book feels a bit off- slow- the mystery plot is what really kept me reading and not so much the romance. This book feels like a title with a much higher page could be due to pacing.

Overall, this is a tricky book for me to rate based on the fact that, for me, this book reads like a mystery book with a romance and not a historical romance with a mystery plot. I felt like John and Christine's relationship development took the backseat to solving the mystery for a lot of the book. If I was Rating this as a mystery, this is a solid 4, maybe even 4.5. If I'm rating this as a romance, this book is a 3/5. I was just left wanting a bit more in the romance and just wasn't as interested in that plot vs the mystery.

Fans who enjoy a lot of frustration between characters as they deal with their feelings with each other will like this one! There are a lot of back-and-forth sparing matches between John and Christine with some cheeky makeup action after. The mains suffer from miscommunication, or simply refusing to communicate, which adds a bit of angst to their story.

As for Steam, this title uses modern terms and is not flowery. The scenes vary in length with a variety of acts. The steam hits early but returns a bit later in the book as the mains reconnect after several years. If you love a good carriage scene, here you go!
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Read as an ebook provided by NetGalley and publisher. Honest review left voluntarily.
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Content Warning (may contain spoilers):
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De*th of parent (off page, multiple)
Childbirth de*th (off page)
Marital Infidelity (off page, not MCs)
Attempt Se*ual As*ault (off page- eluded to via discussion)
Mild physical vi*lence (on page, not between MCs)
Illness- life-threatening fevers (off page)
Giving up child (off page, details)