2.5 stars rounded to 3

Now, I want to preface this by saying, I love Sophie Jordan. I loved the first two books in the Duke Hunt series and just liked the third. The final book in the series, A Duke Starts a Scandal just didn't feel finished to me. It started out so strong with their meeting but quickly went down from there. It had been a while since I read the third book and kind of forgot the premise so I was confused in the beginning of this book. But that's okay! It's basically never mentioned again after the first chapter. **insert eyeroll here.** It had a lot of good ideas but none of them were fully fleshed out with any real feeling behind them.

Lucian is the newly minted, Duke of Penning, a role he never expected. He needs to keep his former ways of survival under wraps now that he and his sisters are in the forefront of proper society. He just has one big problem. His young, outspoken, and pretty housekeeper keeps judging him at every turn. Susanna Lockhart ran from her scandalous past years and worked her way up to the role of housekeeper in a Duke's home. When the new Duke of Penning arrives he tries to fire her at every turn. He needs her help throwing a house party to find a proper bride but after she'll need to find new employment. She's just too tempting.

*****SPOILER******


I actually liked that Lucian had a background in sex work . He did what he needed to do to survive for his family. I also liked how Susanna didn't judge him for that. She understood immediately that he did it to take care of his sisters. Unfortunately, the villian in this book was almost comical. The resolution was abrupt and over quickly. The side storyline with the sister and valet also seemed shoehorned into the story haphazardly. Susanna and Lucian finally have sex 80ish percent into the book and then ten seconds later he's professing his love. There wasn't a ton of leadup and yearning to make it believable.

As you can tell, I was disappointed in this one. Can I also mention that they gave us this gorgeous cover and it has absolutely nothing to do with this book. This was a very easy read. I literally finished it in one sitting. I enjoy Jordan's writing style overall (I already have her next ARC ready to go on my kindle) but this one would be a skip.

Tropes included: class difference, boss/employee, sordid past, sex work, meddling sisters, house party, outspoken heroine, bath smut

Thank you to Sophie Jordan, NetGalley, and Avon Harper Voyager for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own. #netgalley #avonharpervoyager #TheDukeStartsAScandal #TheDukeHuntSeries

4.5 stars
What a fun, cozy, engrossing read! I've been loving the Duke Hunt series by Sophie Jordan and the Duke Starts a Scandal was a wonderful addition. Susanna is the housekeeper to the new Duke of Penning and they butt heads at every turn. When a house party with designs to find him and his sisters spouses brings their feelings to a head, sparks fly.
I loved Susanna, I loved Lucien, I loved the setting, and I love this series!

Thank you to NetGalley for the review copy!

Vibes: boss/employee, hero and heroines with a past, Two Weeks Notice but make it historical, low angst

After finally claiming his rightful position as the Duke of Penning, Lucian is determined to get his shit together, find a proper wife, and arrange good matches for his sisters--all while ensuring the upper classes don't find out about his past. The problem is, he's quite attracted to his housekeeper, the acerbic Susanna. Lucian doesn't want to overstep--or start a scandal--but is forced to work more closely with Susanna when his valet is put out of commission. As the two plan an important even together, the growing tension between them--and Susanna's own secrets--threatens to ruin everything they're working for.

This was a pleasant, easy read with the light sense of humor you'll find in most Sophie Jordan books. I liked it. However, I feel that for a few different reasons, it didn't quite go as far as it could have. Which will definitely make it appealing to those who prefer a lighter historical romance, but gave me some troubles.

Quick Takes:

--First off, I do want to make it clear that the chemistry in this book isn't lacking. Lucian and Susanna spark from the start, and I absolutely loved their meet cute. He's desperately trying to fit into a role that he didn't expect and wasn't raised for (per the rest of The Duke Hunt series, multiple other people took the Duke of Penning role... without being the Duke of Penning) and sees as a major stroke of luck. She's practical, jaded, and highly skeptical of his suitability as duke. Lucian begins the book seeing Susanna as a problem on multiple levels, but comes to develop a sense of kinship with her--and a reliance on her--that I found really lovely.

And there's great sexual tension here. It's a slow burn of a book, and the buildup of "oops, we overstepped" moments is really fun. These are two people who are trying to stay professional and really failing throughout the novel, and I enjoy that quite a bit.

--The flipside of this is that because I liked Lucian and Susanna's dynamic so much, I was kind of frustrated by how much of this fast-paced, relatively short book didn't feature Lucian and Susanna interacting together. There's a whole chapter (admittedly a brief one) focused on the secondary romance. A cute secondary romance, yes, but there was really no other time devoted to those characters' points of view. So I wasn't sure why they needed to get a whole chapter, when we could've used Lucian and Susanna bonding together.

What this does create is a sense that like... I was happy that Lucian and Susanna got together. But I felt a bit cheated of the time they could have spent together. Even them becoming friendly with each other is kind of a slow burn. You spend a lot of time in their heads, when I would have just preferred to have more time with them talking, or hanging out, or kissing.

--One thing I do think Sophie may have struggled with was the issues surrounding boss/employee romances. Obviously, the majority of dukes in real life probably didn't care too much about the ethical problems with banging an employee. But this is romance, so I'm totally down for romance heroes being more sensitive about these concerns.

However, let's be real--boss/employee romance is very much a thing, a trope people flock to despite the problematic questions surrounding it. And I don't necessarily think that romance readers should be made to feel guilty about liking it, and I feel the same about writers. Sophie is very sensitive about the topic, and I appreciate that. I just feel like she wanted to write boss/employee, but was ultimately reined in by anxieties surrounding reader reactions.

Personally, I really liked how KJ Charles handles this in The Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel. The boss recognizes the issue and feels guilty about it; he's nonetheless tempted; the employee enthusiastically wants to be with him; and they have a couple of discussions about it, making it clear that the boss in no way expects sexual favors from the employee, and the employee will not be punished if he decides to end their sexual relationship. I think something like that could've been done here, and would have enabled Sophie to move the relationship development up a bit in the story. As it is, a lot of stuff happens in the last 25% of the book, which isn't uncommon in a Sophie Jordan novel, but did feel quite rushed here.

--One thing I did really like here was Lucian's backstory. It's something I've seen in historical romance before, but not very often. Like I said before, Susanna has her own backstory, and I respect it, but it is something you're probably a bit familiar with in historical romance. Personally, I think that Lucian and Susanna could have bonded more over their shared anxieties surrounding their pasts. Additionally, I feel that more of the overarching tension of the story, the threat as it were, could have been centered around Lucian's past... which is honestly much more high stakes and scandalous than anything Susanna has to worry about.

The Sex:

Sophie Jordan writes a good, hot sex scene. That said, I have noticed less sex in her last couple of books. Like, maybe one or two scenes, inserted towards the very end of the book. Not sure how I feel about this. Again, the boss/employee aspect really held Lucian and Susanna back, and I think we really could've benefited from the physical aspect of their relationship beginning early in the story. Nonetheless, the inciting event that caused them to get physical is quite cute, and I liked it.

For a lot of readers, I think this low angst, fun historical will be a nice, quick read. For me, I just could've stood to see a bit more drama, and higher stakes. Still, I like Sophie Jordan's books, and there are definitely people I would recommend this to.

Thanks to Avon and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Highly recommend this read. Enjoyed the characters, including the sisters. Pick this book up, you won't regret it.

The best I can say is that, it’s fine. It was underdeveloped and just lacking, though still mildly enjoyable. There is a strong setup, with interesting characters and backstories, but they don’t really go anywhere. The chemistry is superficial and the leads barely interact, so the romance just falls flat. The obstacles are minor and barely get any traction before they’re resolved. The secondary characters felt more unrealistic than normal and the happily ever after was too easy and rang false. Where it ends felt like it should have been the midway point and then the barriers and drama of having a housekeeper become duchess should have filled out half a book. So, overall, it wasn’t a winner and lacked the charm and passion of SJ’s earlier works.

* I received a free early ecopy from the publisher via netgalley.

I was interested in reading this book, but after reading it I'm finding a hard time remember most of what I read. The premise of the book had me interested, and then to find out there is more to the duke than what you first thought kept me wanting to know more. Sadly, the story started to drag. There were a few side romances, which were fine, but they felt like we were only getting the surface of those characters and nothing deeper. The romance kind of drags, and by the time it happens it feels very sudden and doesn't quite live up to what was building up between the two main characters all along. I have enjoyed pervious books from Sophie Jordan, and even though this was not my favorite of hers, I look forward to reading more from her in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Harper Voyager for this ARC.

This series by Sophie Jordan is fantastic. Based off my experience with the first several books in the series I knew I would adore this book. The banter is so entertaining, the lust was top tier and setting was painted vividly. There was one scene that I LIVE FOR in books and this had it, I was kicking my feet giddy the entire chapter. No spoilers but read this book. Read the entire series

I had so much fun with this one. Great plot, interesting well thought out characters.I love a class difference romance and this didnt disappoint. Their chemistry burned up the page. I absolutely cant wait to read more from this author in the future. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for the pleasure of reading this book!

The cover for this book was my biggest motivation for reading. It was a bit of a let down that it's not indicative of any particular scene in the book. I think my overall disappointment with this title is it's lack of anything that really stood out to me. The chemistry between Lucien and Susanna fell flat. Nothin stood out between these two like, for example, the chemistry of Tessa Dare's couples do. Individually, Lucien and Susanna likewise did not stand out to me in the way that heroes do (i.e. Kleypas) or heroines do (i.e. MacLean).
There's not really anything bad about this book at all. There's just not much that's memorable either.

Oo It has been a while since I've read such a forbidden type of romance. The Duke can't fall for his housekeeper! This was a fun read and quite steamy. The tension between the two had me wanting them to just give in already. I loved how they got to know each other and had such complicated back stories. I would definitely look for more by this author and in this series.

Susanna has finally settled in as housekeeper at the Duke of Penning’s estate but when the Duke is revealed to be an imposter, she must deal with Lucian, the new and actual Duke. The two do not get along, but find they are deeply attracted to one another. Both Susanna and Lucian have checkered pasts and are trying hard to keep their worlds from crumbling. When Lucian threatens to sack Susanna for trying to keep his sister’s secret, she quits and he instantly regrets his actions and chases after her leading to their happily ever after.

As someone who has been in romancelandia since the poster for the movie Cordelia dropped, which serves as the reference for this cover, I have been waiting for this book. I will say I was disappointed that the moment seen on the cover does not make an appearance in the book. I like that in an era of bland squeaky clean characters, Sophie is still writing messy characters who act on their impulses. Throughout the book, I found myself reflecting a lot on the romances of 10-15 years ago which I really enjoyed. I loved that Sophie didn’t try to keep the character’s secrets from the reader as I was still able to feel the tension of them keeping their secrets but I never grew frustrated from the lack of information. The book was a quick and easy read, but was genuinely surprised it wasn’t as steamy as I thought it would be. Overall I enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t my favorite Sophie Jordan.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the banter between Susanna and Lucian right from the first chapter during the first meeting. It is beautifully written and almost seems like foreplay for the hot burning chemistry in between the two. I also love how they both see each other without looking down upon each other like most other books in similar categories where there is a power imbalance and painful pasts. This is book four, the final book in The Duke Hunt series. Although it could be read as a standalone, I would recommend reading it as part of the series as the other books are really interesting and continue the main storyline about the hunt for the duke.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

"The Duke Starts a Scandal" is a good but not great upstairs-downstairs romance. The good - the MMC is all about consent and the way an unequal balance of power can play into that, a same sex romance, the MMC's sisters. The not as good - less sex positive than I would have liked, spotty character development, too easy wrap up of what should have been harder to overcome obstacles. I would have liked to have more information on Lucian's first few months at the estate to see how the chemistry between he and Susannah developed. I also would have liked to have known whether Lucian's past ever does come out, and how the family handles it if/when it does. It is such a stress point for him, yet it just falls by the wayside by the end. Still a good pick-up for an easy weekend read with decent love scenes and two(!) HEAs.

3 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary ARC of this book. The opinions herein are my own.

I guess I feel a little bad giving this one star, because I usually reserve that rating for books that are outright offensive, but I'm offended by how bad this book was. I don't think I've ever given an ARC such a low rating, but here we are.

Things I liked:
-The cover. Obviously. I requested the ARC because of the cover. The cover is outstanding.

Unfortunately, the cover is promising readers many things, none of which are going to be delivered in the story. The entire point of all the discourse around the movie poster which this cover is very clearly based on was that people wanted it to be about a housekeeper taking the reigns with a duke or some such entitled dude. Preferably a submissive duke with a praise kink who she pegs against a wall and tortures with pleasure, for example, but whatever. The movie poster did not deliver. Therefore, a romance book is here to deliver on that promise instead. But does this book do that? NOPE. Not even a little bit. Instead it gives us NOTHING.

-There's a side f/f relationship sort of shoehorned in at the end. I mean, it's better than nothing.

-The premise had so much potential. A duke trying to hide his "sordid" past of sex work. The bones of a great story are RIGHT THERE.

Maybe he thinks the very competent and assertive housekeeper sees through his facade as a proper duke. Maybe he's tired of constantly pretending to be something he's not and striving to please other people. Maybe he wants to be able to surrender himself to someone. Maybe she gets off on not being the subservient one in bed since she does it all day long for her job. Or maybe they just get off on this dynamic for no other reason than it's hot. Whatever. What I'm saying is it isn't that hard to write this scenario. And yet we get none of it. What we get instead is the same tired old story, and even that isn't written well.

What I hated:

-Everything else. I mean, there is zero chemistry between these characters. They have no personality. We don't get to know them and they don't get to know one another. They are rude to one another, but not in an antagonistic sexy way. There is no banter. There is no character depth. There is no emotional intimacy. There's just two characters who happen to think one another have hot bods. That's it.

-The author chooses to use euphemisms like "manhood" and "womanhood" and phrases like "With all the working parts that went along with being a woman. Just as he was in possession of all the working parts that went along with being a man." There's zero reasons to include this transphobic language. It's gross and unnecessary.

-There's this sudden POV switch to a third character we barely know that comes out of nowhere. Everything about the scene is completely out of the blue. It makes zero sense. Then we never get that POV again.

-Suddenly, the FMC has like "the sight"? But only for one specific moment in the book and then it's never mentioned again?!!

-There's this moment where she suddenly thinks he looks vulnerable and it makes her see him in a new light. At this moment I felt hopeful. Yes! Use your witchy "sight" to zone in on that vulnerability and his underlying need to be praised and bossed around in the bedroom, girl! But, alas, it's only the wind rustling his hair that makes him look vulnerable. Not anything about his past or personality. And it goes NOWHERE.

-The FMC talks smack with the duke about the ladies in attendance at the gathering. And not like, that one of them is mean, but that they look sickly or have annoying laughs. So yay for pitting women against other women I guess.

-He makes the beginnings of a move on her without any consent on her part and only afterwards is he like oh yeah there's a huge power imbalance here.

-The first kiss scene is TERRIBLE. This was the point when I was tempted to throw my Kindle across the room.

-The plot only gets dumber from there. There is way too much going on and all of it is silly and none of it makes any sense. It's just so bad.

-There are multiple instances where the consent is iffy at best.

-So basically, since they are both such hotties, once they get together and bang it out they are in love. Despite still having zero personalities or knowing much of anything about one another. I can't even tell you a little bit about what their lives together might be like because these characters are cardboard cutouts. AND all the presumable gossip caused by the romantic matches in this book is just completely glossed over. No big deal. Let people love who they love. It isn't like anyone back in this time period would raise an eyebrow or anything, or like these characters spent the first 75% of the book obsessed with being the perfect housekeeper and duke.

In summary, I do not recommend this book. To anyone. It is poorly written. It is boring and silly. And it absolutely does not deserve that smoking hot cover.

*ARC provided by NetGalley

The Duke Starts a Scandal by Sophie Jordan

I was really looking forward to this book, however, this didn’t live up to my Sophie Jordan expectations. The bones of this book were good, but the layering on of the details in things like creating dynamic and complex characters and even watching them fall in love, just didn’t even occur to me.
Susanna and the Duke of Penning had such a great meet cute, when he was coming to reclaim his dukedom from the imposter who was pretending to be him. But then chapter one starts “Two months later…” with no reference in the entire book about what happened in between. These could have been pivotal moments for the couple and how can they possibly recover from the Duke almost killing his housekeeper and then him jumping off of the horse to where he risks his own life instead.
Likewise, both characters have such compelling backstories as to why they are the way they are…but their traumas that have been driving the conflict of the entire book, is explained in a very brief scene. I’m pretty sure she gives her whole life story in one sentence. BUT she never even explains the most traumatic part…that her step-father beat her up and he and her mother threw her out…which is why she literally had to change her name so no one could ever find out her identity.
And finally, my god, when they confessed their love to one another, I was like when? How? Why? This is not how a reader should feel at the end of a romance novel--surprised that the two main characters fell in love. I am pretty sure that in total these two have had three conversations throughout the whole book. They were rarely even in scenes together. I genuinely thought I might have been missing some chapters. I really felt for both of them and wanted the best for them, but how did all of these very important scenes for these characters not even happen at all?
I also wondered if the love of Susanna’s life, who promised to marry her then drowned was murdered by the creep who was then threatening and blackmailing her to sleep with him. How was that awful man also dealt with so quickly as well??? I even though that a good buildup to a third act breakup situation would be the Duke realizing that he was the second employer she fell in love with and would be angry about it…but this strange coincidence was also NEVER addressed. Does she ever even tell him her real name? Who knows…not the readers of this book! “God knew she felt deeper feelings for him than she ever did for Robbie” and my exact note in the kindle is “How? Why?”
I also really love that the Duke addressed the whole sexual harassment theme of their relationship, and that they could not finally be together until she was no longer him employee: “He would never know if it was her choice”. Though we are left wondering what their happily ever after might look like if she is not supposed to be managing the house but might totally be managing the house.
I think this book might appeal to someone who wants a quick and light romance. That forced proximity scene was no joke, I was rooting for them so bad and was so happy that they finally had the time to TALK. And be scared by mice. Poor Susanna had to face the one thing in the house that she could not control--the vermin. LOL!
The absolute best part of the book was when he showed up to her aunt’s house to talk to her. Thank god she left her new address so he could show up and look all crazy with an untied cravat. This scene just hits right every time. “He repeated himself and the deep rumble of his voice felt like a caress, reaching her through the door. ‘Open the door, Susanna.’” YES! Perfect! No notes. Then: “after a long moment” ‘Please.’ It was the ‘please’ that undid her.” Never open the door if the man doesn’t say please.

Some of my favorite quotes from this book include:
“Trampled to death. That would be her ignominious end”
“Are you trying to kill yourself, lass? Or just me?” Because who doesn’t love some scottish words mixed into their romance novels!
“Me reckless?’ He scoffed with a wide wave of his arm. ‘What do you call someone strolling about the countryside in the dark in a storm?’”
“Her lips would likely disappear into her face in prudish aversion if her hand…”
“Meg always said he had a silken tongue , in more ways than one. And yet Miss Lockhart confounded him and left him fumbling and inserting his foot into his mouth” That is how you know it is true love!
“‘Because clearly I will be going,’ she clarified. ‘Eventually.’ Her chin went up. ‘And yet I should not worry myself.’” Turns out he was right on that one.
“With a quick curtsy that lacked her usual care and sincerity, she turned.” Badass woman showing her attitude IN A CURTSY!
“Unless seeing to your duties means being especially accommodating to our male guests” What a prick. She should have SLAPPED him here. How did he not see what was going on? He should have observed that she was so uncomfortable!
“A task they were failing abysmally considering Mattie was even now--potentially--tupping his valet.
“I imagine he will call you out for daring to malign his future wife.” What perfect timing, you have Duke!

devoured this book! so good! great storyline, excellent chemistry, enjoyed the characters!, Classic Sophie Jordan

2.5 stars

This was fine, but not particularly memorable. For one thing, the cover does not relate to any scene in the book, much to my disappointment. But beyond that, the two love interests only have about five meaningful conversations total which to me wasn’t enough to warrant their declarations of love by the end of the book. Also there was a plot line set up for a certain “bad guy” which was resolved way too easily/quickly. Pros: I love the emphasis on consent in situation where there is such a big difference in power dynamics, the rival love interests were not set up to be catty hags, and there was even an f/f relationship between two secondary characters. I’ve read two other historical romances by this author and this one was definitely the best out of the three.

I received an ARC of this book through netgalley but this did not impact by rating or review.

This regency romance is pure fire!! I loved it! I read this in a couple of hours because it was that good. I loved it that Susanna was the housekeeper and that she got her happy ending.
I just reviewed The Duke Starts a Scandal by Sophie Jordan. #TheDukeStartsaScandal #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Sophie Jordan is becoming my go-to for a good historical rom popcorn read. I ripped through The Duke Starts a Scandal in about 3.5 hours. Unputdownable? Yes.

Through a modern lens, a duke who gets involved with his housekeeper raises all sorts of red flags, but the attraction is mutual (though they both try to fight it) . Sophie Jordan also navigates it giving our duke a past that society would find shocking and sordid. Both Penning and Miss Lockhart have secrets to keep and everything to lose.

Built around the Duke's first house party (and with her job hanging in the balance), The Duke Starts a Scandal might be the most memorable entry in this series. I will say, it isn't quite as steamy as the cover suggests, Miss Lockhart has the confidence of someone with much more experience, but then doesn't totally seem that way in practice.

I love an upstairs-downstairs romance. This one was pretty straightforward--new (young, hot) duke falls for his housekeeper (young, hot), but she is planning the house party that he organized to bring all the young, eligible ladies of the ton to try to find a wife. The plot maybe wasn't as complicated as I wanted it to be, but the tension between the two main characters was sexy and well-paced.

At the beginning the duke's valet sprains his ankle, resulting in a week of ordered bed rest. There are inexplicably few servants about for a duke's household and it falls to Susanna the housekeeper to help the duke will all of his valet-y things, such as seeing him naked while he's dressing and seeing him naked while he's bathing. The bathing scene is one of the best in the book, it drags out the moment where she walks in and sees his d*ck and he makes eye contact and watches her look at his d*ck for literal pages.

He's very mean to her and threatens to fire her multiple times so be aware of that if you are sensitive to that kind of content (but also maybe you're into that in which case highly recommend—he's mean to her and orders her around in a sexy way for most of the book).

Overall, I think the plot was a bit simplistic and the upstairs-downstairs "we can't because of society" conflict was resolved a little too easily, but it was very hot and the tension between the characters really drove the book. There is also a small secondary romance that I don't want to give away (she sees him naked isn't much of a spoiler but revealing the secondary lovers would be, imo). There is some gestures toward light dominance and a bit of dirty talk, but nothing particularly scandalous once everyone's clothes are off.