Loved this M/M regency novella. As always, Erica Ridley includes humor, romance, spicy love scenes and angst as the Duke struggles with doing what society and his family expect of him vs what is in his heart. Great addition to the series.

Undressing the Duke by Erica Ridley is a sexy and sweet regency romance novella between a duke and his valet.
They’ve been pining after each other for decades, but never made a move. Now the duke has to find a wife, but how can he do that when his valet is the person he’s in love with?
I enjoyed this one. It was short, well written and the tension between Donovan and Geoffrey was sizzling. that being said though, I didn’t love it enough for 4 stars or more. 3.5 stars

Undressing the Duke is a super sweet and super cute novella in the Lords in Love series. I am so happy Erica Ridley has started adding a little LGBT into her writing repertoire.

Donovan Sutcliffe, Duke of Southbury is solidly in his 30's and has no wife or heir and he's perfectly happy with that. He has his valet extraordinaire, Geoffery. With their late-night chess games, long chats, and secret violin playing, what more could a Duke want? On Donovan's mother and sibling's urging, the Duke realized he must let go of his longing for his valet's attentions and seek out a bride. However, he must let the man go formally as he wishes to enter his nuptials honestly and honorably.

Ack, this novella was just filled with all the longing, pining, and feels. I loved it. I loved the relationship Donovan and Geoffery had and how we were able to see it grow further once the mantle of man and servant was set aside. I loved how Donovan's family reacted once Donovan finally sat them down and told them what's what.

I am super happy with this book and look forward to more M/M contributions by the author.

*Big Thanks to Erica Ridley, the publisher- WebMotion, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book. All thoughts and comments are my own.*

MM romance has never been my jam, but for Erica Ridley, I'll make an exception! I'd honestly never thought much about the deeply personal work of a valet. Here's to historical romance that is well-researched!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

What a fairytale story. I loved the two heroes and their struggles. I’m especially fond of Lord Southbery, as he’s carrying the main burden of the story line with his meddling mother pushing him to marry. I loved how the author resolved the problem and how she tried to make them equal. Not at all anywhere near reality, but I don’t read these books for its realistic depictions of regency England.
One little niggle: I wished the men on the cover would represent the heroes more closely. The author describes them so beautifully. It’s a shame the models are so generic.

Sadly disappointed in this one. I have loved other books in this series but this one did not meet up with their standard. Very sad.

This was a fun, gay historical romance between a lord and his valet. At times the writing felt a little overdone and over-the-top (which is quite unlike Erika Ridley) but I enjoyed the tension between the two leads and the slow build up of feelings.

DNF at 35%. I'm sure plenty of people will enjoy this, it just wasn't for me.

I've enjoyed other things Erica Ridley has written over the years, so I thought I'd like this too. But I found it hard to connect to the characters, and I wasn't convinced by them and their feelings for each other. The writing also felt quite distant, I don't really have another word for it, almost like the author was conveying the characters' repressed feelings by deliberately creating a barrier between reader and character? Whatever it was, I didn't like it.

This was a cute historical read that was a fast and easy read. The characters were sweet and their romance was clear from the start of the story. It was well-written and engaging.

I received an advanced reader’s copy of Undressing the Duke by Erica Ridley.

I liked that Donovan Sutcliffe, Duke of Southbury found happiness after years of denying the love he felt for Geoffrey Vachon. I loved that his family also accepted him and valued his happiness more than societal expectations.

Thank you to Netgalley and WebMotion for this ARC!

- Erica Ridley does it again! I love the use of the festival throughout these books. Taking the characters outside of London allows for so much more in a great way!
- this one is on the shorter length compared to some of the previous books in this series, and I wish it was longer. There’s a large section of the festival that gets time skipped, and I wanted more of Geoffrey and Donovan. I also wanted more of an epilogue, especially considering that the previous books had one.
- again, dual pov worked very well for this one!
- the only one bed trope is in this one too, and it’s very good!

This was a fun, sweet and sexy little story. However, I think the characters could have been a bit more fleshed out and the story as well.

But, it was an enjoyable quick read and I would definitely recommend it.

This novella was a fun read by the author of the Wild Wynchesters series. I didn’t realize it was a series of its own but I wasn’t lost, so it definitely stands on its own.

This well plotted and entertaining story is enjoyable and compelling. i appreciated the well plotted story and fleshed out characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I love love loved my time with Geoffrey and Donovan. Their story was so sweet and lovely. I understand some of the critique from others about the sex scenes but I didn’t mind them despite how vanilla or “sweet” they were. It would have been great if there was some villain / foe but I think too many of our LGBTQ books rely on tropes like that.

Thank you for the review copy NetGalley and Author Collective 20.

I didn't realiser that it's a mm romance. It was well written and very lovely to read. I read many books by Erica and she has her own style. That's what I like best about all her books. The characters are well developed

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this ebook and this is my freely given opinion.

This is a shorter novella and book 7 of the Lords in Love series, by Erica Ridley. This is a MM historical love story. Donavan Sutcliffe, the Duke of Southbury, is a very isolated, reclusive man who seems to be very burdened by his roles and what is expected of him. One of those expectations is for him to marry and produce a heir to continue the family line; his mother apparently is quite vocal and persistent about his duty to the family, despite having a prolific, married younger sibling who has already produced many healthy sons.

Thanks to his family's loving meddling, Donavan has resolved that he will join his brother and his wife when they travel to Marrywell, and try to find a bride. To help this along, he has decided to let his valet, the tall, handsome, and entirely too distracting and engrossing Geoffrey Vachon. Because otherwise, Donavan would not be able to focus and give a future bride the attention he feels she would deserve. Because he desires his valet far more than any woman he was ever met.

But he hates letting Vachon go, since they have been together since Donavan has been a young man. He does not know if Vachon shares his feelings, and he has been afraid to act on them. But he had resolved to move forward without Vachon to distract him from his plans. Except he really isn't. So after giving Vachon his notice and severance, Donavan decides he needs to give him 2 more weeks, and Vachon can join him in Marrywell for the festival instead. But when they arrive, rather than present themselves as a Duke and his valet, he presents Vachon as his friend and companion instead, and their relationship takes on a new dynamic. Donavan decides to abandon his search for a bride at Marrywell, as they explore their newly exposed feelings for each other.

In the end, Donavan realizes that he doesn't have to live by the expectations and constraints that he thinks others have of him, and he and Geoffrey can find happiness together, not as Duke and servant, but as two people who love each other. This was a short story but a lovely, sweet, but steamy MM love story too.

4 stars out of 5

The seventh and final book in the Lords in Love, a excellent ending to the series. Donovan the Duke of Southbury and his French valet Geoffrey Vachon's story. The story is well written with a very good storyline that flowed smoothly across the pages. I enjoyed seeing them get together. I would recommend. I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for this advanced copy.

It was hilarious, fun, and sweet. That's it.

This was delightful! What a short and sweet story! I love the age of the two Donovan and Geoffrey because this is a older love story! I mean they have been pining for 20 years! Ridiculous! The definition of mutually pining idiots! And I loved it ! It was easy to read and the story told was beautiful! it had me squealing!