Fun, steamy, and full of the best banter. I will continue to read anything Alexandra Vasti writes because this was absolutely delectable. I highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book! It was tender, and sweet and made me smile multiple times. I have read most of this authors novellas and was excited to read this authors full length novel. Im so glad to have been given a arc of this title and I really had a good time. Its got found family, strong female characters, and men who support them and cute kids!

I absolutely adored this book. Peter and Selina’s romance was a delight. After reading Ne’er Duke Well and her Hallifax Hellions novellas, I’ll read anything Alexandra Vasti writes.

Vasti is a fresh new voice in historical romance. She’s skilled at crafting characters that feel like real people. She also deftly balances the more serious aspects of their stories with a sense of fun I feel has been missing from a lot of romance in general. Her writing is full of voice and heart, and she can write the hell out of a sex scene. This book needs to be on every romance reader’s TBR!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, flirty, historical romance! It has some silly moments, some steamy scenes and some seriousness as well. I loved the fact that the FMC ran her own little smutty library. Peter had me swooning and blushing. I was rooting for Peter and Selina the whole time. The sexual tension and the witty banter were perfection. I'll definitely be recommending this one and I also look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ne’er Duke Well
By Alexandra Vasti

This is the first book I have read by Alexandra Vasti and I am definitely a fan. A big fan. She writes in such an entertaining way. Her characters are vibrant and layered and definitely flawed which means they are all extremely interesting. In this book, Peter, the new Duke of Stanhope, is looking to gain guardianship of his half-siblings, Lu and Freddie. He comes to Lady Selina Ravenscroft and her family for help with his petition. Lady Selina has no desire to be married herself but is convinced that marriage is the answer to all of Peter’s problems. The only issue is Peter doesn’t want to dance with other women. He wants to « dance » with Selina.

This book was absolutely lovely. It had romance, action, drama, heart and sword play (get your mind out of the gutter…. But also yes…. Yes, there was.) I loved seeing the story unfold and watching these two communicate through their issues instead of running away. It was so refreshing.

This is a great book for anyone who loves historical romances, Bridgerton, or who enjoys a little action plot in their rom-com. I will definitely be reading more books by this author!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the free e-arc in exchange for my honest opinions.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I want to preface this by stating I was asked for my honest review of this book, and it was a huge miss for me. I love period romances, but in this book, I could not even get excited about the characters, they were so one noted that they just were words on a page. I didn’t feel like they had any real character or substance till more than halfway through the book, and by that point it was a bit to late personally. I did enjoy that Selina was able to create and maintain a library that allowed women to be more knowledgeable on the ways of the world. But there was just something overall about this book that lost me.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Absolutely loved Ne’er Duke Well!!! I was hooked from the beginning. I love Selina and her mission to not let the women of the ton remain uneducated about their own sexuality. the scheme to get the Duke married so he can have custody of his siblings was adorable. This book was smart, fun, and steamy.

Ne'er Duke Well drew me in with its witty title and lovely cover, and didn't disappoint! I really enjoyed the modern romcom feel to this spicy Regency-era romance. Selina, the FMC, is bold and decisive, and runs a secret library for women of the ton. The MMC is a total golden retriever, loyal and loving. They have great banter and work well as a team to solve challenges. Definitely read the author's note, she added a fun historic detail about one of the characters.

I looked up other books by this author and am so excited to see her next book is about Selina's politically-minded friend Lydia!

This was my first Alexandra Vasti book and won’t be my last! Selina and Peter’s story is so fun…so many shenanigans to entertain you. Steam level is good.

I received an advanced reviewer copy of Ne'er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti from St. Martin's Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Peter Kent has just inherited the Dukedom of Stanhope and he is an outsider in every regard. He grew up in New Orleans and was never set up to live across the sea, and he has radical politics for parliament, but he must become respectable, because he wants to become a guardian to his half-siblings who he is seeking custody of, where his reputation might get in the way. Luckily for him, his friend, Selina Ravenscroft is ready to take on the mission. Selina is a proper debutante, except for the fact that she has a secret that if it got out would ruin her, and she is ready to use her connections to find Peter a future spouse of unimpeachable reputation (not, her, of course, not!). But as it does matchmaking goes awry and Selina finds herself pulled into Peter’s little world.

What I Loved: This book was truly a delight and I cannot wait to read more from the author. I love the trope of the true partner trying to match make their partner and realizing it won’t work out. It allows for some truly delightful humor and I loved the scenarios Peter and Selina fell into when Selina was serving as his match maker and all the ways these matches go awry leave me in stiches. I also like when children are involved in my historical fiction and this book allows for us to have children as side characters while not taking away from our plot. On a more romance note, the chemistry between Peter and Selina is fantastic and the book is steamy. I also liked having our Duke being an outsider, and be from America, that was really unique to me. Also, I need the book telling the story of the two grandma’s romance, thank you! It really had some of the best historical fiction has to offer.

What I Didn’t Like: I found Selina’s worry about ruining Peter to be a bit tiring, while legitimate since this book is not romantically a slow burn, it becomes really a driving force of the novel to the point where it got tiring. The pacing of the second half is a bit off.

Who Should Read It: People who love historical fiction.

Summary: Selina agrees to be a matchmaker for her dear friend, but what happens when feelings develop?

This was such a delightful historical romance! The storyline of getting custody of the children especially tugged at my heartstrings. I loved both Selina and Stanhope so much, and am looking forward to more in this world from Vasti!

THANK YOU to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!
And ohhh, how I absolutely adored this! This book seriously has it all: wit, charm, swoon-worthy chemistry, interesting side characters, and... a CAT! !

The plot flowed so well, in my opinion. Nothing felt jumbled, too drawn out or pointless; Selina deals with many anxieties throughout, from managing the bookshop, to wanting to be with Peter, and then wanting to STAY with Peter... it was great to see those anxieties die at her feet! Because at every point she thought she couldn't do itᅳPeter was there for her to lean on.
Those two have SUCH great connection, and I think Peter is one of the best romance heroes I've read in a long while! The way he refuses to let Selina give up, and instead wants to face their problems together, shows so much love and commitment that we don't see NEARLY enough in romance novelsᅳno miscommunication trope to be seen here! !

If you love a good historical romance with passionate, relatable characters, this book is a must-read!

This was surprisingly my first Regency era novel and I’m glad it was! It was delightful.

Despite being labeled a romance, I felt that the romance aspect wasn’t the main focus of the story. I wish we spent more time building the tension, but I still enjoyed Peter, MMC, and Selina, FMC, working towards being strong partners for one another, figuring out how to go about Selina’s “scandal”, and securing custody of Peter’s half siblings.

I did get a bit bored near the end, though. Hence the 4 stars. But I’m really looking forward to Lydia’s book!

The matchmaker falling for the client is a fave subtrope of mine. This is a friends to lovers romp and I love these characters. Both Selina and Peter had depth as well as humor. She’s feisty and wants to help other women and he’s a big golden retriever and they’re perfect together. The author’s voice is great.

So why 3 stars?

We hear about Peter’s antics but I wish we had seen one or two from his POV to understand him better. I wished we saw more of Peter’s attraction to Selina because it almost comes across as instalust. I needed more of seeing them connect because their entire relationship is a backstory. Apparently, you get that if you subscribe to the author’s newsletter.

The basis of the custody plot isn’t close to how guardianship looked back then, so it pulled me out of the story—although I know that won’t strike most readers. (Like Harriet Wilson’s memoir not being published yet). I struggled believing the backlogged Court of Chancery would care about two natural children without money or property, especially if a duke wanted them when literally no one else did.

But even suspending disbelief, the resolution to the library and the custody plots was anticlimactic. Zero tension, all romping children.

I liked the author’s voice and the how the side characters were set up, so I’ll be back to see what happens to them.

"Ne'er Duke Well" will be available on July 23, 2024. I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley.

3 stars

"Ne'er Duke Well" is a historical romance that is a quick and easy read. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Selina and Peter and the slow burn that builds from their relationship.

Peter is an American who relocates to England from New Orleans to claim his title as Duke and finds himself in a custody battle for his two younger half-siblings. His friend, Selina Ravenscroft, who has never encountered a problem she cannot fix, offers to help him find a wife to win the custody battle.

No surprise whatsoever that Peter and Selina fall in love – what else would you expect from a romance novel???

LOVED the *female empowerment* and *women ahead of their time* themes. Overall, it was cute, and I would read future novels from this author.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195790787-ne-er-duke-well

This book was so fun! I'm not generally a fan of historical setting romances, but this kept me engaged. The chemistry of the MCs was giving bridgerton and the FMC was very relatable. I cant wait to re-read when this comes out !

It's hard to be a historical romance reader and not have heard the buzz about Alexandra Vasti. So many fellow readers told me that Ne'er Duke Well was one of their most anticipated books of the year, so I went in with high expectations. Those expectations were met and then some. This book brings heart, humor, and heat, delivered with a unique voice that sets it apart in the landscape of historical romance. Peter and Selina are earnest, and good, and while there's plenty of drama, none of it has to do with the main characters being terrible to each other. This is a historical romance with modern sensibilities, including plenty of taking on the patriarchy, and the (sometimes surprisingly) bold women side characters hold their own against the main romantic plot. And the romance is truly swoon-worthy. A five-star read and beyond. I can't wait to see what's next from this author!

Since we are deep in the Bridgerton show midseason lull here I decided it was time to break out this ACR of this steamy Regency era rom com. Lady Selina has made it her new mission to find the American Peter Kent aka the new Duke of Stanhope a wife to give him a better chance of gaining custody of his younger half siblings. The more she get to know Peter the more comparable she thinks they might be together. However the Lady Selina take herself out of the running due to her secretly running of a library with a women’s only section called the Venus library to help educate the ladies of the Ton of things that are not discussed in polite society. I throughly enjoyed reading this book and got totally sucked into the sorry and the characters. I found both Peter and Selina extremely dynamic people and I loved the sprinkling in of their back stories. I would love to read more stories from these characters!

This was such a lovely read. Both hero and heroine are complex and lovable characters. It's so hard for me to find an hero in an historical romance that is sweet, uncompromisingly kind and I've never doubted his love, for the heroine as well as his siblings.
Both of them have their own mission in this book, for him getting custody of his younger siblings, and hers it's revolutionalize the education of debutantes circulating forbidden text on sex and erotic novels.
They come together with a plan to make him seems more respectable in the eyes of the lord who'll decide the kids future.
I've devoured this book in a couple of days, and my only complain is that I would've loved seeing their first encounter, while instead we are thrown into a already 2-years old history between the two.

A very cute romp of a fish out of water American Duke trying to build a family with his neglected half-siblings and his love interest who moonlights as the owner of an erotic library!
This gave major Lady Whistledown vibes, and is a perfect amuse bouche for those coming off of a Bridgerton high.
I do agree with some other reviewers that the pacing was a little confusing, especially in the first half of the book. I felt like we rushed through a lot of the build up.