I had been impatiently waiting for this book, and it was definitely worth the wait!! Every bit as well-written and wonderful as the Halifax Hellions series. The combination of sweet MMC plus chaotic children is in my opinion always a recipe for success and this book definitely has plenty of that. Not to mention how much I loved all of the side characters in this book—I’m really hoping we get stories for Georgiana, the Hope-Wallaces, and prequels for Clermont + Faiza and Judith + Thomasin. I can’t wait to get more from this author!!!

Spoilers ahead: <spoiler> I started to get a little frustrated with Selina because she started down the very common road of being paternalistic and deciding what was best for Peter despite what he clearly wanted. But in a lovely turn of events, instead of taking matters into her own hands and fleeing into the night without a word, she actually COMMUNICATED WITH HIM!! Practically unheard of in an HR and an absolute delight. </spoiler>

A big thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! All opinions are my own.

Ne’er Duke Well is such a delightful, smart, and sexy read. It effortlessly drifts from laugh-out-loud funny to emotionally intense to red hot and back again in the most enjoyable way. Selina is admirable and lovable, and it’s so easy to root for her and Peter from the start. I wholeheartedly recommend Ne’er Duke Well and I sincerely hope we get sequels featuring some of the secondary characters (Georgiana, Will, maybe a grownup Lu?!). So glad I got a chance to read the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC for this book in exchange for my honest review.

The writing in this was pretty wonderful. Vasti has a very good understanding of the time period, in which is was very easy for me to fall into 1800s England. The characters were very likeable, and they had a certain charm about them, their manners, while proper, still very fun and exciting.

The book is a decent length, but I did get the feeling that the two main characters, Peter and Selina, did seem to have feelings for one another rather quickly (Though it was about a little less than half way through the book). In my mind, I would have liked more bonding time with them before they actually acted out on their feelings, even if poor Peter did get rejected at first.

The book did a good job at keeping my attention, but I do fear that romance books in this time period usually aren't for me. But I did love that both Peter and Selina had agendas that most people at the time didn't approve of. It brought more depth into their character.

This novel has a well crafted, if predictable, plot with some clever twists for the female characters that are refreshing. The story does drag at times and could be edited for a more compelling read.

Peter, the Duke of Stanhope, is a rather unconventional English duke. Raised in America by someone other than his mother, a third son, he is dragged back to the British island to fulfill his destiny. Peter became the heir when those ahead of him in his family line didn't make it.
Lady Selina is the daughter of a duke and a bit unorthodox herself. She has a secret she has shared with only one person, her twin, who is off to war on the continent. But this clandestine part of her life may have dire consequences some day, of which she is painfully aware.
Peter is in the midst of a custody issue regarding his two younger half siblings and about to go through the court system against a judge who doesn't look kindly on his claim. This chancellor has a number of reasons to think Peter is not exactly perfect parenting material, some of which made this reader laugh aloud.
Selina and Peter, when not engaged in verbal barbs, have a healthy attraction to each other, and Selina also likes his siblings. In her very managing ways, she wants to assist Peter in reaching his goal of obtaining his siblings. Selina comes up with a plan - Peter should marry. She also has a list of three possible candidates. The problem is Peter wants none of the candidates, and Selina wants Peter.
The trope is a familiar one in romance novels, and yet the way this story is told is so very, very good. There is a great deal of detail on both of the main characters' backgrounds, the secondary characters are well developed and entertaining, and the love scenes are very well done. They are never excessive or vulgar, but heated and very much into the realm of "lovemaking." The use of humor and detail is wonderful.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in its entirety without putting it down. It is the first I have read from this author, and I hope to read more from her in the future. I will definitely recommend it to fans of historical romance.

This is one of my new favorite historical romances. It's a tender friends to lovers romance between two people who care more deeply for each other than they're brave enough to admit for much of the story. It has a few romcom elements, but it's also spicy and deeply loving.

Peter was not raised to be a future Duke. Abandoned by his father at a young age, he grew up in Louisiana, raised by his mother and then his father's mistress after his mother's passing. Neither he nor his father expected him to become a peer of the realm, but that's exactly where we find Peter at the beginning of this story. He's out of his depth, making plenty of political enemies as he stands for the abolition of slavery, and desperate to take guardianship of his younger half brother and sister.

Selina is the sister of a Duke. As a woman of generous means, she does not have the pressure to marry that her peers do. On the sirface she is a perfectly respectable lady, but she secretly runs a circulating library for women of the ton that features salacious books. She crosses paths with Peter when he's desperate to find a way to care for his siblings, and she decides the best way for Jim to make himself appear stable and respectable enough to parent two young children is to be married.

This book really highlights the importance of family, the value of being able to be vulnerable with those you care for, and being willing to lean on each other for help instead of trying to brazen out solutions alone. I love the way Peter and Selina grow throughout the story both together and individually.

Petwr is charming but impulsive, so the story has its fair share of romcom-y moments. There is definitely plenty of romantic tension, banter, and a handful of explicit intimate scenes, and it's also really sweet.

I really, really enjoyed this book, and I think you will also enjoy it if you love friends to lovers romance, books that illustrate strong family and sibling ties, and couples that show how much you can accomplish when you lean on each other for support.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lady Selina takes it upon herself to find a wife for Peter, newly inherited Duke. Surprise! She’s his perfect match. An incredibly charming, joyful, swoony, heartfelt romance that stole my heart.
Alexandra Vasti is one of my favorite writers and is a fresh, talented voice in historical romance. Her characters are full of life. Peter and Selina are a joy to read and their love story is charming and romantic. I cannot wait to see what Vasti writes next as her secondary characters in this novel were just as wonderful as our main characters!

📚✨ Book Review ✨📚


"Ne'er Duke Well" by Alexandra Vasti is a delightful Regency romp filled with unexpected steaminess. Lady Selina's determination to find the Duke of Stanhope the perfect wife takes an unexpected turn when she starts considering herself for the role. The story unfolds with scandalous reputations, matchmaking gone awry, and scorching chemistry between the disreputable duke and his unconventional matchmaker. Vasti weaves a tale of romance and passion, adding a touch of scandal that keeps readers hooked. An enjoyable read that takes Regency romance to new and steamy heights.

🌹📖 #NeerDukeWell #AlexandraVasti #RegencyRomance #BookReview #SteamyReads #RomanticEscapade #BookishDelights" ✨📚

What an excellent debut novel for Alexandra Vasti! Her writing was witty, nicely paced, and hooked me from the first paragraph.

In “Ne’re Duke We’ll”, Peter Kent, newly inherited Duke of Stanhope, finds out that he has two younger siblings. They were appointed to live with a distant relative, but Peter wants to petition to be their guardian. The only problem is he’s a foreigner with radical ideals that not all English aristocracy agree with. He needs help if he wants to become their guardian.

Lady Selina is an old friend and a problem solver. She comes up with a plan to have Peter marry to seem more settled and prepared to take care of the children. It seems like a great idea, but she didn’t count on her feelings getting in the way. She’d love to marry him herself, but she has skeletons in her closet and is afraid that if they were to come to light, she would ruin Peter’s chance to get the children.

The story was nicely paced. It was a quick read and had many humorous parts, including but not limited to all the side characters. It dealt with more progressive topics for the time period, such as feminism and abolishing slavery. The main characters were like-able and the spice was nice and spicy. The only reason I didn’t give this a 5 star rating is because some of the end seemed a tad rushed. But I will definitely be looking for more books from this author in the future.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for releasing this arc to me in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 ✨

My first historical romance and it gave bridgerton vibes, so I automatically loved it. The tension and eventual spice between the two characters was absolutely chef's kiss!

Vasti’s books keep getting better and better. After devouring her novellas I was eager to get my hands on a copy of Ne’er Duke Well. It did not disappoint all of the characters are enjoyable and you’re rooting for them! I’m excited to see if any of the side characters get their own stories. This book will for sure be a reread in as many formats as possible!

I enjoyed this book, it was a very quick read and easy to get lost in the story. I think there are quite a few side characters that can get slightly confusing but I understand that the author is most likely fleshing out a whole universe. I enjoyed the direct language regarding slavery in this time period as well as the author’s inclusion of more diverse characters overall. I think that the main female character was a little underwhelming but still relatable.

This was such a delightful book. I was in the mood for a historical romance and this book did not disappoint. I would recommend this book!

4.5⭐️

A downright delightful, darling, and dazzling debut! I adored Vasti’s Halifax Hellions novellas and Ne’er Duke Well was one of my most anticipated releases for 2024, and it exceeded all my hopes! Before diving into the characters and story, I want to mention Vasti’s meticulous research. If you’ve read her previous work or follow her on social media, you’ll recognize her attention to detail when it comes to historical romance facts. Vasti’s passion and love for romance and kinky etymology and history is apparent in all of her work and I relished reading about her research in her author’s note.

Now to the characters! Vasti’s heroines are some of my most favorite characters to read about because they are brilliant, passionate, resourceful women with lives, love, and aspirations beyond the confines of societal expectations. They are unapologetically themselves and own their pleasure, and Selina is no exception. Selina’s character is fiercely loyal, immensely clever, and incredibly tenderhearted, though she reserves this side for those within her inner circle, and there is no problem she cannot solve. And then there’s precious Peter. This man is head over heels for and completely bewitched (body AND soul) by Selina. He has a heart of solid gold and I adored how supportive he was of Selina, in all of her endeavors… even her failed attempts at matchmaking. They complemented each other so beautifully and their love story was so soft, sweet, and damn sexy.

The entire cast was superb and it is truly a testament to Vasti’s writing how the side characters are just as endearing and memorable as the MCs. I need to know more about Lydia, Georgiana, and Thomasin ASAP. Then there’s darling Lu and Freddie who round out the cast and bring so much charm and humor (I laughed out loud so many times at Lu’s quick wit) to the story. If you’re a fan of a found family, you will adore this cast of characters.

The tension Vasti built between Selina and Peter was so damn delicious and she wasted no time delivering some spectacular spice. I loved the focus on the family and how it comes in many different forms, strong women shucking convention, and women taking ownership of their pleasure, education, and bodies. I also appreciated how the men in this story rallied around Selina, Lydia, and even little Lu when she wanted a rapier and fencing lessons. These men encouraged and supported the women and didn’t leave them to deal with the despicable titled men who sought to belittle and silence their progressive pursuits.

Basically, if you’ve been looking for a friends to lovers story where the MCs are super softies and totally smitten, the stakes are low, the matching-making is doomed from the start, and there’s an erotic lending library and a sexy bath scene, then you are in luck because Ne’er Duke Well is just the book for you!

If you like a good regency era romance THIS IS IT! Think Bridgerton but with less drama and so much more substance. Sibling custody battles, marriage set ups, scandal, and a FMC who came up with a brilliant way for the of society women to be educated on things that matter. So witty and so many good passages I highlighted while reading! I will be highly recommending this book to anyone who likes historical romances!

If Bridgerton was also your gateway drug to Regency romance, I absolutely IMPLORE you to pick up this one by Alexandra Vasti! It was funny, sexy, and full of heart.

Lady Selina, promising debutante and younger sister of the Duke of Rowland, has a little secret - she runs an erotic lending library, the Venus catalog, which allows women of the ton to take it upon themselves to be educated on all things proper ladies shouldn't be well-versed in and that's... well, sex. The scandal!!! 🫢

Peter Kent, the ninth Duke of Stanhope, is also not one to avoid scandal. Originally from New Orleans and a radical politician with a less than stellar reputation, he only wants one thing- to obtain guardianship of his two half-siblings. The last thing he wants is a marriage, but it may be just what he needs to gain favor from the conservative judge set to proceed over his guardianship hearing.

He enlists the help of the ever clever Lady Selina. Her solution = a courtship and marriage to a proper English woman with an impeccable reputation that rivals his own, and that's definitely not herself.. And well, you know what they say about the best laid plans... 🤭

I loved that the book was easy to read and hold my attention, especially for me, a very beginner historical/regency romance reader. I especially loved the modern and progressive tones in a time period that is easily frustrating. But I will say it was an interesting choice to have missed the entire first 2 years of Peter and Selina's acquaintance. What may feel insta-love was a culmination of friendship, chemistry, and attraction for years that we unfortunately did not get to really see play out. Thankfully, I've found out this may be available as bonus material in Vasti's newsletter.

Thank you to Netgalley & SMG for the eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions.

Ne'er Duke Well is the first full-length historical romance from Alexandra Vasti, and it is set in the same universe as her Halifax novellas. Dear reader, I wanted to love it, but I really struggled from the start. While I adored the novellas about the Halifax twins (less so the Halifax brother), as a former editor, I had some serious quibbles about this foray. First, there wasn't really any conflict between the main characters, Peter Kent (a newly arrived New Orleans native who has inherited a dukedom trying to secure guardianship of his illegitimate half siblings) and Selina Ravenscroft (daughter of a duke, and secret proprietress of an erotic lending library). We are told at the outset that there was a muddy meet-cute interaction but we NEVER get the real details of it, and they are already in deep like with each other. So unfortunately I was never sucked in. It was actually very weird, like I was missing a scene. And it was an *even like* with each other, so no tension that one of them was surprised that they liked each other, or really had a true concern that the other person didn't like them! Er, ok. Instead we were treated by the tediousness of being told as a reader how great the characters were. The tension was over Peter trying to secure guardianship, and Selina trying to marry him off because she isn't suitable because of said lending library.

Thus we were treated to Peter meeting several other female characters that Selina has picked out, and frankly, I was more entertained by the chemistry between Peter, and one of the prospects pretending to be an idiot that Peter and Selina. At last! Some tension!!

Moreover, while Selina seemed a more fleshed-out character, Peter appeared in his book actions to be everything fairly boring and honorable, but we are told by the author that he is Reckless! That He Takes Want He Wants! Except there's ZERO action showing this. It's bizarre. He very nobly and constantly tries to do the right thing over and over and over again. In fact, he's kind of cardboard. We're told him many interesting things about him (never knew that his illegitimate brother was his brother until he died [actually that raises another issue that his character seemed to act until that moment like he always knew he was he was his brother until that scene, argh!]; that he was really raised by a servant and not his mother; that he grew up in New Orleans; that he is an abolitionist), but he doesn't seem to embody any of these traits. Mostly I read and thought: Really likes Selina, really wants to get those kids. That was it. That was the sum total of Peter, Duke of Stanhope.

Last, Peter's half-sister Lu was incredibly annoying. It seemed to make NO sense that she was so resistant to go from what sounded like a horrible home environment to her half-brother's. Her attitude went on and on, far too long, and seemed there to be disagreeable and create conflict, and not because it made sense. She was not cute in wanting to fence or see boxing. It seemed there to make her character tween cool, instead of her character actually being cool.

I have to rate this on a scale, because the overall quality of writing is excellent, and Vasti is good at writing humorous bits very well. But if I scale it against her best work (five stars for In Which Mathilda Halifax Learns Restraint), this is a three-star read. Compared to most of the rubbish out there on the market, it's a four-star read. I will average it to 3.5 stars, and select four here because I want Vasti to keep writing and being supported! But perhaps get better beta readers and a better editor to point these things out next time.

Ever since reading Vasti's short novellas last year, I knew I had to get a hold of this book! I fell head over heels for her writing style and steam level. Unfortunately, while these were highly present in the book, there were some parts of the plot I didn't like. Please refer to my pros and cons below.

3 stars.

The American, Duke Of Stanhope wants to gain guardianship of his father's children, and Lady Selina Ravenscroft helps aid him by finding him a match.

Pros:

- Fast pace writing style
- Strong heroine / Funny Duke
- Steamy scenes (3+ major ones, 1 especially hot)
- Friends to lovers trope
- Forced proximity trope

Cons:

- I'm not a fan of kids in books. The kids are 10 and 12. They are in about 15% of the book.
- Not enough depth/story telling and a lot of chatter between the characters
- While it was fast-paced, I found myself bored, I wish the MCs had more of a spark in the beginning.
- The hero is sweet and not an alpha. (I'm thinking I don't like cinnamon rolls heroes), but he did have his moments that made me swoon.

Like I said, I loved Vasti's previous novellas, especially the 2nd one, and this full-fledge book fell short. I couldn't get invested fully. The steamy scenes' are what saved this book from being 2 stars. I'm still a fan and look forward to her next one!

Thanks to Netgalley and its publisher for this arc, all of my reviews are my own.

What a delightful read! It’s such a refreshing change of pace to have a male lead who is just a solid, pleasant, lovable dude instead of having to get through all of the layers.

Peter just can’t help but find trouble. He’s like a golden retriever who doesn’t notice his wagging tail is knocking things off of the coffee table. He’s loyal and he means well, but sometimes his choices have unintended consequences. Selina, on the other hand, is a fixer. She enjoys the challenge of solving problems, and she’s good at it.

It’s nice that this book wasn’t just a series of big misunderstandings (which it easily could have devolved into), but Selina tells Peter about the issue before they wed. When it seems like it’s going to blow up in their faces anyway, she TALKS to him instead of proceeding with her exit plan and leaving us with several chapters of should he go after her? Does she want him to come after her? Why hasn’t he come after her yet? etc etc.

My favorite parts: when Peter doesn’t know if he’s just become betrothed, Peter’s declaration when Selina thinks he’s “practicing.”

The only thing I would’ve liked to see was a little bit more of their connection before they got together, maybe a few more stolen moments when they’re starting to realize what they mean to each other before it all comes to a head. That’s what made this more of a 4.5 for me.

“It was a perfectly dazzling, perfectly Peter sort of plan … No subterfuge or secrets. Everything out in the open, a kind of reckless honesty.”

Peter Kent is the least ducal Duke around. But he somehow needs to pull it together in order to be granted guardianship of his younger siblings, Lu and Freddie. He reaches out to his friends for guidance. Selina devises a plan to have him caught up in a whirlwind romance with the “perfect” lady. To all around her, Selina should be included in that group; however, Selina is hiding something… She runs an erotic library!

The sparks fly and the shenanigans are plenty in this steamy historical romantic comedy. It tugged at my heart strings, had me laughing out loud and fanning my face! Definitely an enjoyable read!!