I've loved Alexandra Vasti's Halifax Hellions novellas, so I was super excited to read her full-length debut Ne'er Duke Well, and I was not disappointed. Selina and Peter are some of my favorite characters I've encountered in historical romance. Peter is the "American Duke," raised in Louisiana, and he is trying to make himself more respectable in order to gain custody of his half-siblings, Freddie and Lu. Freddie and Lu are delightful, the rare children who add to a romance novel. Lu in particular is a total spitfire and a kindred spirit with Selina. Selina's family and friends are full of wonderful secondary characters. I don't want to spoil any of the action, but most of the conflict is external, which I really enjoyed, because it allowed the pair's feelings for each other to really shine through the whole book. This is also a hot historical. Really hot. The end made me teary in a good way, without ever worrying about the fate of our couple, and the conflict was resolved in a truly wonderful way I didn't see coming and which let Peter shine. I loved this book and if yyou're looking for a summer beach/lake/pool read, this should be at the top of your list.

4.5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this regency romp! It is sweet, it's spicy and it has heart! I loved how progressive the characters were for the time.

Our FMC, Selina, fancies herself a bit of a matchmaker and problem solver. When the Duke of Stanhope, Peter Kent, confides his dilemma to her, Selina decides marriage is the solution. As she sets out to find him the perfect wife, they both try to hide their feelings. Because his perfect wife might just be her.
I also found it refreshing not to have our MMC be a rake completely opposed to marriage. Nothing wrong with that trope, but it's a bit overdone in my opinion.

There is no third act break up here. I loved this book!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced copy. My opinions are my own.

This was easily one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 so when I say that I am incoherent with how much I loved it, its really saying something because my expectations were already sky high. Vasti's lifetime of reading and loving romance shines throughout this novel, especially how she uses and subverts classic tropes and zigs where you expect her to zag in the plot. Selina and Peter are our central couple, and their chemistry--physical, intellectual, and emotional--is so special. But Vasti does not just rely on a strong romance to captivate us. The plot and pacing work equally well here, taking the "rakish rapscallion who needs a wife" premise as a mere jumping off point for a plot that encompasses ideas about family, propriety, and partnership that feel universal. Really just exceptional, I cannot wait until this releases in July so I can force it into every single person's hands. I already cannot wait to re-read it. The perfect combination of fun, smart, moving, and sexy!

Whenever I am going through something stressful, I tend to binge on romance novels. One thing that I am finding lately is that sometimes, even romance stories can be stressful. Yes, you are pretty much guaranteed a happy ending but the road to the happy ending often includes too much angst-filled miscommunication. This book, though, is PERFECT for those times. Peter and Selena are wonderful characters and their romance is swoony, steamy and so, so sweet. There are definite obstacles but they work them out together. I loved this book so much and now want to read through the rest of this author’s books. I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

4.5/5⭐️
3/5🌶️

2024 so far has been the year of Regency Era romances for me, and I am loving it! Ne’er Duke Well is unlike any other period romance that I’ve read before. It had an emphasis on women being involved in things that would have been considered scandalous at the time, and I think that the topic was handled really well.

Throughout this book, I loved the different relationships between characters, especially between Peter and Selina / Selina and Peter’s siblings. On this note, I do wish that there had been a bit more information given as to how Peter and Selina had met/how their very initial relationship started. With characters in mind, I also felt as though some of the side characters were two-dimensional and lacked memorable qualities.

I read this book quickly; it only took me about five days from start to finish. It had a fast moving plot that kept me interested, and the spicy scenes were tastefully done. I’m excited for this book to release and to own a physical copy for my personal library. I will definitely recommend this novel for both Regency Era lovers and those wanting to try a new subgenre within romance.

My favorite quote from this book was in the dedication: “To librarians, to booksellers, and to every reader who’s ever handed someone else a boon and said, ‘Try this- I think you’ll love it.’ You change lives.”

My favorite quote apart from the dedication was: “You bring the morning with you. You’re the light, sweetheart. When you walk into a room, I can’t see the shadows. There is nothing in this world that could persuade me to send you away if I thought you wanted me half as much as I want you.”

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to enjoy this advanced reader copy.

What a pleasant surprise! I would never have believed this was Alexandra Vasti's first novel as it is clever, entertaining and absolutely on target. Selina and Peter are an unusual but well-matched (eventually) pair and Peter's interactions with his siblings, or half-siblings to be exact, are just plain wonderful. Peter's desperate struggle to gain the guardianship of his two siblings is endearing and totally outside the realms of most peers. Selina's misguided attempts to find a wife for Peter are doomed to failure or are they? Twists and turns and a delightful finish to an entrancing tale told well! Although I received an ARC, my opinions are my own. I heartily recommend reading this book.

I received an ARC of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

Ne'er Duke Well is Vasti's debut novel. It's a historical romance set in the Regency period and follows a newly inherited duke and the sister of a duke who has a scandalous secret. It was a much spicier take on the Regency romance genre. Selina secretly runs an erotic underground lending library so that the women of the ton aren't clueless when it comes to the bedroom. And although she's inexperienced she's not naive when it comes to spice. It was especially entertaining reading the author's note at the end where Vasti explains that even though she made up the erotic lending library aspect, that all of the erotic books mentioned in Ne'er Duke Well are actual time period accurate books that were circulating around by 1815, and some have some wild titles.

I found the first half of the book addicting and I literally stayed up way past my bed time because it was unputdownable. However, the second half of the book wasn't able to maintain that same momentum for me. I still really enjoyed the novel, but the second half the book knocked it down to a 4 star read instead of 5 stars for me. But this was a very promising debut that brought something new to the table in a genre that really has been done to death (I say as someone who still loves and reads a lot of Regency romances). I will say, however, that I don't quite understand the book title. Am I the only one?

In the end, I give Ne'er Duke Well 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars rounded up!

This was my first historical romance read, and I found it to be quite enjoyable. I love a fast paced book, but this was almost too fast paced for me. While I loved Selina and Peter together and rooted for them the entire time, I wish that the book focused a but more on them falling in love versus lust. With that being said, I still think the spice in this book was great (aside from the choice words used to describe Selina's anatomy).

The story is mainly centered around the custody trial of Peters siblings, but I felt as though the siblings were not featured nearly enough in the book. There was multiple times which I forgot they were even included in the story.

The best character of the story in my opinion was Georgiana! I would LOVE the author to write a book specifically about her journey.

Overall I think I was more invested in Selina's storyline with her library than I was with the rest of the book, but I had a good time reading this and will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

This romantic, charming, feminist story stole my heart from the very first page! I adore all of the characters, especially Peter and Selina, and all of Selina’s family and friends. The witty banter, the steamy escapades, the heartfelt family moments, the immediate connection between the lovers, it all drew me in. I love the idea of the Venus catalog and how Selina is educating the ladies of the ton about sex and their bodies and so much more. Who doesn’t love a Victorian feminist?! It added an extra layer to the story that I really admired and wish had actually happened in real life. Great book!!

This was a fun, enjoyable novel from Alexandra Vasti. Peter Kent never planned on becoming a duke, but now he is, and his first order of business is to gain guardianship of his two younger half siblings. He has no idea how to prove he’s a fit guardian, though, so he enlists the help of Selina Ravenscroft, who has always seemed too smart (and beautiful). Selina has a secret, though, that could ruin herself and everyone around her, so she has to ignore the way she just wants to run her hands through Peter’s hair.

This was a good book, with enjoyable characters and plot. I would recommend this to any fan of historical romance! I also hope some of the side characters will get their own stories.

*I meant to post this months ago but autism hasn't been letting me -- as in my mental health has been terrible and so I haven't seen socials in quite some time. But this is a wonderful author whose writing is extraordinary, so I wanted to be brave and share my thoughts, especially because she kindly granted me an eARC

So, thank you from the bottom of my heart to Alexandra Vasti for this eARC of Peter and Selina’s masterpiece. It was utter perfection.

If Lisa Kleypas and Meredith Duran had a baby, it would be Alexandra Vasti’s books and this book is no exception, oh my goodness!

This book. The prose. The creativity. The dedication to the genre and dedication to exploring all that there is to it! Absolutely incredible — this book is too good for words, but I’m going to try and put my thoughts into words anyway. The romance. The tenderness. The gruffness. The gruff tenderness. It is all done to perfection.

Blurb:

Peter Kent―newly inherited Duke of Stanhope and recently of New Orleans, Louisiana―must become respectable. Between his radical politics and the time he interrupted a minor royal wedding with a flock of sheep―not his fault!―he’s developed a scandalous reputation at odds with his goal of becoming guardian to his half siblings. For help, he turns to the cleverest and most managing woman of his acquaintance, Lady Selina Ravenscroft.

Selina is society’s most proper debutante, save one tiny secret: she runs an erotic circulating library for women. When Peter asks for her help, she suggests courtship and marriage to a lady of unimpeachable reputation. (Which is to say, definitely not herself.)

But matchmaking doesn’t go according to plan. Peter’s siblings run rampant on Bond Street. Selina ends up in the Serpentine. And worst of all, the scorching chemistry between Peter and Selina proves impossible to resist. For the disreputable duke and his unpredictable matchmaker, falling in love just might be the ultimate scandal.

Just SOME of the quotes that made me SWOON!

“It made him strangely nervous, which was also a freakish anomaly. It wasn't as though he avoided the private company of women. In fact there had been times in his life when he'd quite sought it out, though his father's habit of dipping his wick in anything in skirts and fathering children on multiple continents had made Peter too damned cautious to ever be a buck of the first head.”

Had danced with her, had dined with the Ravenscrofts and watched her face shimmer with amusement at her twin's soft-voiced jokes.


And God, wouldn't it be a pleasure to slow her down.

In truth, he wasn't sure he'd ever had a type of woman that he favored. Women came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and he liked soft bits he could hold on to as much as he liked long elegant lines.

"You are too" She hesitated, as if searching for the word, and his pride winced in horrified anticipation.
Her lips made that little pout again. "Charming."


"I am so glad I know you," he said. "You are so clever. So damned sweet. I can't stop wondering what it is that you smell of. I dream about how you would taste.
And Christ, Selina, I want to taste every part of you."


"Marry me," he said.


No one, in her entire life, had ever called her sweet. He must have been imagining someone else.


He made her laugh. He made her burn.


"You can, damn it."



"I'm going," he mumbled. "I'm going. You stay right here. Do not move."
"I might look through the samples"
He leaned down and hitched her skirts up to her waist. "Don't you dare move. I will be right back?" He planted a kiss at the line of her stocking, and she laughed again.


Star rating: 6/5
Autism comfort level: 5/5
Swoon level: 5/5

Watching Peter and Selina fight their emotions/feelings for each other was such a treat because they truly cannot fight it for long. Like they adore each other and just understand each other so well and communicate EVERYTHING.

And the reason why I say that these books are the love child of Meredith Duran and Lisa Kleypas is because every single line in this book has a purpose. Every single character has a purpose. Nothing is there just to be there, but rather everything is interwoven to truly create a masterpiece. That’s what I think, at least ;)

I can’t wait for whatever Alexandra Vasti’s next book and for everyone to meet my mom and dad: Selina and Peter.


Thank you to Ms. Vasti for this perfect creation. <3

she was a cute historical romance. i enjoyed the plot as a whole, but the romance was a bit lackluster in chemistry and believability. i will say it did deliver on what it needed to be, so kudos to that and i had a decent time reading it. i wound recommend to historical romance fans, but that’s about it. i did finish it in one sitting though, if there’s anything to say about that.

This was such a fun read! I’d categorize it as more of a light read, but it still had a lot of depth, some heavy subjects, beautiful writing, and great characters. Some scenes had me laughing out loud! My favorite thing about it is that even though it’s set in a time when women had little to no rights, there are many female characters (especially the heroine, Selina) working to change the status quo and supporting other women. It was very empowering! The hero, Peter, was progressive for his time too. The chemistry between Peter and Selina was great, but their courtship felt rushed to me, and it was a bit too spicy for me personally. However, it was easy to skip those parts without taking away from the main storyline. The main focus was Selina helping Peter get custody of his half-siblings, which was such a sweet story. All in all, it’s a beautiful story of both family love and romantic love. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

When I first started to read this book I didn't believe it would fully keep my attention. I was wrong! The book is well written and had me laughing.

I really enjoyed this regency romance! It features two very well developed leads in this friends to lovers romantic comedy.. Peter who is a duke out of his depth as he was not even raised in England to be a peer of the realm, but was instead raised in America in Louisiana in impoverished circumstances and Selina, a sister of a duke who has a scandalous secret. As the American Duke Peter finds it hard to navigate the social and political waters of the ton. But once arriving in England and stepping into his role he also learns he has two young half-siblings who because they were not recognized by his and their father, could be placed with anyone as their guardian or worse become foundlings. Peter learns in order to keep this from happening, he will have to petition for guardianship with one of his political enemies. But Peter is desperate to adopt them as his wards, wanting to love and protect them even if he feels underqualified to raise them. Enter Selina Ravenscroft, a young woman of means who is an expert at solving problems. When she learns what Peter is facing, she offers to help by concocting a plan to make him more respectable by finding him a wife who is above reproach. The only problem is Selina secretly longs for Peter for herself and the more she tries to wed him off to another that harder it becomes for either of them to find Peter the perfect match among the worthiest candidates.

Some of the things I especially loved about this book were the rom-com moments that Peter's impetuous and too forthright nature create as he is wooing the women Selina recommends. I also loved Selina as a forward thinking woman. She has been secretly running a private library for women of the ton. One that carries some quite salacious reading material. This comes about after finding out how undereducated most young women are in terms of sexual education, and Selina vows to rectify this with her library catalog. But this comes into direct conflict with her ability to provide Peter the respectability he needs to win custody of his half-siblings if she marries him. I love that the conflict is the secret education of women!

Because Peter and Selina are unable to resist one another they do ultimately wind up together. Along the way though, we meet some very charming secondary characters such as Selina's aunt and her long-term companion Thomasin, Peter's two young siblings of course, Lu and Freddie, and some of Selina's close friends who she attempts to match with Peter, Lydia and Iris. We also meet another young woman who becomes a friend to Peter and Selina, Georgiana. The elements of found family for Peter and Selina are lovely. Other tropes that Vasti handles in a refreshing way are the vulnerabilities of both characters and their fears of admitting to the other their true feelings. In the end though they learn to lean on each other and realize they are stronger for it, which is a refreshing change of pace from most romances where the hero and heroine usually end up split apart after a misunderstanding before they can win their happily-ever-after.

I can easily give this book, which I was privileged to read as an ARC five out of five stars. I also hope that Vasti will write other books for some of the secondary characters we meet in this one. I would love to see a novel for Will, Georgiana, Lydia, Iris, and even eventually Lu and Freddie. So, many possibilities abound for making this a series! I would love to read more.

This is my first read of this author and loved it. A wonderful historical romance depicting an independent smart woman who’s met her match. Loved Selina and Peter’s chemistry and how he supports her endeavors and lets her shine. Definitely recommend.

Wow! This was an amazing read and such a fun historical. It had some surprising twists and a different take on "Let's find you a wife." Loved the banter, the side characters and the families. There were some great laugh out loud moments, perfect amount of sexual tension and some great bombshell bits. This book had some great surprises! I can't wait to see what Vasti brings us next as we continue in the world with these characters.

I received Ne’er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti in exchange for my honest review from NetGalley. A fun romance with the perfect balance of steam and laughs.

Peter Kent is an American who happens to inherit the dukedom of Stanhope. He hopes to also become the guardian of his two half-siblings, but his respectability and the law are not on his side. Enter Lady Selina Ravenscroft. She is exactly the proper lady to help solve Peter’s problem.

I loved the children, Lu and Freddie. This book was a wonderful read that really brightened my day..

Perfect for fans of Bridgerton, Vasti sets us in Regency England with a charming American-raised duke and a woman determined to educate the women of the ton in all matters intimate. Vasti is a delightful storyteller, capturing the rollicking emotions of falling in love. While I loved Vasti’s novellas, the full-length novel lacked the same emotional punch I experienced with those works. Regardless, I would definitely recommend!

I'd like to start off this review by paying my regards to the cover artist. Absolutely stellar cover. The combination of blue and green is unique and fresh, I'm in love. Also, thank you for inviting me to review this ARC. I had previously read a novella by Alexandra Vasti and adored it. She excels at writing dialogue and banter which is a main pillar of historical romance and the aspect I most look forward to. Ne'er Duke Well was delightful in that regard and had all the makings of a fun, quick romance read. I admit the premise did not call my interest but I may have changed my mind about the matchmaking trope. The realization and angst it accounts for is stupendous.