The premise of a scandalous historical romance was incredibly promising. Unfortunately, this novel fell short of my expectations. The initial meeting between the protagonists was intriguing, but the subsequent development of their relationship felt lacking in chemistry.
Historical romances often thrive on the slow burn and the complexities of societal constraints. This novel, however, lacked these essential elements. It felt like they lusted for each other and love blossomed from there super quickly like.
Despite the promising setup, I found myself struggling to connect with the characters and the storyline. Ultimately, this book failed to captivate me, and I was left feeling underwhelmed.
Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect regency romance for Bridgerton fans. I liked this one more than I expected to, as I am fairly new to regency. Super cute.

If you love Georgette Heyer's writing style, but wish her books had some spice - give this one a try. This is actually the second book in a series (the first being The Runaway Heiress) but I read it without having read the first one. I never felt lost as to what was going on, although at some point I did check Orchard's other books because it felt like there was probably a story behind Georgiana's brother's new marriage - and indeed that's the story told in that first book. I really enjoyed this one - the characters are interesting and there's definitely chemistry between them from the start, despite their age gap. Orchard does an excellent job of taking that initial physical chemistry and growing it into something much deeper as they get to know each other better. I enjoyed the humor she added, and the slightly over-the-top villains. She also gives us a wonderful sense of place, especially at the Duke's castle on the coast. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series - and to reading Emma Orchard's previous books.
Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for providing a digital copy for an unbiased review.

Such a cute and sweet regency romance! Perfect for Bridgerton fans or anyone who likes a swoon worthy historical romance!

"A Duke of One's Own" by Emma Orchard is a charming Regency romance that has witty dialogue, good characters, and plot twists. The story centers on a strong willed heroine and a brooding duke whose paths cross in unexpected and amusing ways. . Fans of historical romance will find "A Duke of One's Own" to be a delightful escape into the world of dukes, debutantes, and delightful scandals.

A Duke of One's Own was so much fun! The characters were well drawn and felt realistic, while the writing and setting was also escapist and entertaining. I would definitely read more from this author.

**Review of "A Duke of One's Own" by Emma Orchard**

"A Duke of One's Own" by Emma Orchard presents a promising premise but ultimately falls short. The story follows Lady Georgiana Pendlebury, who finds herself at a scandalous party and is rescued by the enigmatic Duke Gabriel Mauleverer. This chance encounter leads to further complications as Georgiana attends a house party aimed at finding the Duke a suitable bride.

While the setup offers potential for an engaging romance, the plot quickly becomes staid and lacks depth. Georgiana and Gabriel’s chemistry feels meh, and their interactions lack the connection that could have made their relationship compelling. The characters are not fully fleshed out, making it difficult to invest in their journey or care about their fates.

Additionally, the pacing of the novel is lengthy and not enough on developing a coherent and engaging storyline. Overall, this book does not live up to the standard set by other works in the Regency romance genre, earning it a 2-star rating.

A fun, regency-romance with daring characters and several solid plot twists!

This book was fun, with unexpected characters! Lady Georgiana was a refreshingly daring heroine, and while our hero falls neatly into the reformed rake tropes, Duke Gabriel is also the hero every woman dreams of. I liked the nods to classic fairy tales like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, as well as the smart, sassy secondary characters.

Overall, I really liked this book!

The premise of A Duke of One's Own was promising-- lighthearted, regency romance following on the tails of Bridgerton and its impact on all of us. But so many little details held down the story and writing, and it honestly hurt my eyes to read.

I loved reading Georgiana and Gabriel’s story in this regency romance. Thwarting the bad guys and finding true love.

Whether you are a long-time fan of Regency romances, or a newly Bridgerton inspired fan, then you are going to thoroughly enjoy A Duke of One’s Own.

The book begins with Lady Georgiana Pendlebury finding herself in a tricky situation. Bored with the usual round of society parties, she has trusted her new friend Mrs Aubrey to take her to a secret masquerade party. When they arrive, Georgie soon realises that she shouldn’t stay and finds herself in need of a tall, dark, mysterious stranger to rescue her.

Later that summer, reputation still intact, Georgiana and her aunt join a house party where the dashing rake the Duke of Northriding is hoping to choose a bride. Gabriel is a gorgeous Duke with a very bad reputation but he is also very rich so there is no shortage of young women lining up to become his new Duchess.

Georgie has vowed that she will not end up in a loveless marriage of convenience or, worse still, fall in love and get her heart broken by a philandering husband.

Of course, it’s no surprise when Georgie and the Duke recognise each other and the truth about the party and their past connection is revealed.

The chemistry between Georgie and Gabriel is instant. There is a palpable sexual attraction and some steamy scenes. But unlike the other society misses, Georgie is resistant to the sound of wedding bells.

There’s more drama when Mrs Aubrey appears back on the scene with a plan to ruin Georgie’s reputation.

This is an absolutely entertaining romp around Georgian England. Georgie is feisty and fun. She knows her mind and has the support of her family to make her own choices.

The spicy scenes are pretty, well, spicy! So if you like you Regency a little more vanilla you might want to skip those pages.

This was a completely engaging and fun read, perfect escapism for a rainy afternoon. I loved it and will definitely read more from this author in the future.

This was okay. I get that it is a book, and they can’t just get engaged 90 pages in or there’d be no story, but Georgiana’s reasons for saying no to Gabriel’s initial proposal seemed pretty flimsy to me. I guess back then infidelity was very commonplace but the immediate assumption that one or both of them would end up having an affair was like…okay. I did end up enjoying their relationship a lot. Some of the sex was hot but the dirty talk wasn’t really my thing. I loved all the clothes descriptions and stuff and that there was a f/f side couple!

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the digital ARC. All of my opinions are my own.

I must confess that am not the person for spicy romances. I like Regency romances and historical novels, but the “action” is usually just hinted at, This is not the case in this novel, it is quite descriptive. I liked the characters and their families, I was quite surprised how the family situation helped this story to become believable. The story was written well, but I found it a bit standard (a young lady and a man with bad reputation). However it could keep me captivated and I recommend this book.

Lady Georgiana is known for her escapades among her family. This particular evening she's at a masquerade dressed as a boy. Shocked, she is unable to stop looking at the guests. Where are their clothes? She's rescued, then willingly seduced by a gentleman with "glossy black hair streaked with silver-grey." Thinking they will never meet again, she attends a house party and is introduced to the host, Gabriel, the Duke of Northriding, the gentleman from the masquerade. Imagine his surprise when he recognizes Georgie! In need of a bride, maybe he's already found his duchess, but Georgie's not so willing to say yes to his proposal.
A frustrating, scorching read with interesting results.
Explicit sex.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley.

I don't think I've ever read a book that has an opening scene at an orgy, Regency or not. It certainly spikes interest in the character of Georgiana who has been invited there by a "friend". Apparently, this is just another in a series of mishaps for Georgiana, who was invited by a "friend". Fortunately for her, she is "rescued" by a stranger and thus starts the romance between her and Gabriel.

I found this to be a very entertaining story, right until the last few chapters, which I felt could have been shortened considerably. I felt like there was a lot of extra material that didn't really change the story. I can appreciate the style of the ending chapters but think it could have been a bit more concise. I liked all of the characters, who were well-crafted and made my enjoyment of the story that much better.

Overall, a very nice regency romance that had a bit of extra to the norm. I rate it 3.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for giving me a free advanced reader copy. I am providing this review voluntarily.

Picking up A Duke of One's Own, I did not expect it to open at an orgy. Like our heroine, Georgiana, I was expecting this gathering to be a masquerade. But I'm excessively glad to be wrong. Our first encounter with the "rakish" Duke Gabriel Mauleverer was so steamy and I was exceedingly excited to discover that this dashing masked man, the Consent King, would be our hero. The Yorkshire medieval castle setting was the perfect Gothic touch to initial wife hunt set up for this scandalous and engaging regency romance. I absolutely devoured this book and managed to read it all in one day. I'm definitely planning to go back and read The Runaway Heiress before book 3, What the Lady Wants, is released in August.

I haven’t read a regency novel for a while and I was excited for this one. I was expecting a bit more from this book. I had a hard time connecting with the main characters not to mention the lack of chemistry between them. I saw Georgie being too stubborn at times. She didn’t want to marry him despite her attraction to the duke (already previously have been intimate with him) but still felt jealous when he courted the other ladies. I did like how the Duke never really forced her to accept him. The little plot twist at the end was a surprise but not shocking. This book was just not for me.






Thank you to Netgalley for the early copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

A Duke of One's Own is a fun historical romance with endearing characters.

I like Georgiana. She has a slightly naughty streak and is inquisitive. She isn't at all intimidated by the Duke and not at all convinced that they should marry. Gabriel, the Duke, is fascinated with Georgiana from the moment he meets her and once he is formally introduced to her he wastes no time in trying to seduce her. Georgiana on the other hand has been warned off him because of his wicked reputation. I enjoyed watching Gabriel mature from a scandalous rake to loving husband.

The events leading up to the whirlwind engagement and hasty wedding take up the first half of the novel. The second half is centred around the couple getting to know each other better and learning how to express their feelings for each other. Steamy scenes are sprinkled throughout the novel. There is also some tension thrown into the mix by a pair of siblings who want to cause problems for Georgiana.

Fans of historical and regency romance will enjoy this book.

Heat Factor: It’s just the right spice

Character Chemistry: They can’t keep their hands off each other and it’s really the whole problem

Plot: Georgie trusts the wrong person and ends up accidentally attending an orgy and meeting a hottie who delivers on some fantasies she has. Determined to be a more proper young woman, she attends a house party only to discover the mysterious hottie is the Duke and her host…

Overall: This book was so delicious, especially if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if Mr. Darcy talked dirty

So the basic summary here is that Georgie accidentally attends a house party and is rescued by a gentleman, who she almost immediately convinces to do dirty stuff with in a locked room. Abashed, she decides to attend a house party with her better friends (and to shape up! No more capers!) only to discover the host is a Duke and the guy from the orgy.

Gabriel, the Duke, is very obviously obsessed with her from then on (only of course he’s convinced it’s just because she’s unusual and owns her sexuality and is brave and has no shame). He’s adamant that they should marry, but having seen women in her life be absolutely wrecked by men who treated them carelessly, Georgie isn’t interested in any of it. She would very much like to get down in as many ways as possible with Gabriel, but she’s trying hard to remember that if she marries him, one of two things will likely happen: she won’t love him and she’ll want to cheat on him, which doesn’t feel right to her, or she will fall in love with him, and he’ll cheat on her, and it’ll break her heart. So she cuts everything off…or tries to.

Anyway, the entire book is basically these two dunderheads realizing that in fact they have all the right ingredients for a love match and they’re perfect for each other because beyond having similar values and life goals they also have ridiculous chemistry and zero shame in the bedroom.

I’m not saying the book is racy or even remotely salacious even. There are absolutely steamy sex scenes but I think the heat mostly stems from their openness. Georgie is a virgin but she’s far from virginal, and Gabriel talks a LOT, but not with modern vernacular (which is more common in historical books with sex talk, I find). It was different, but I think it helped with the emotional intimacy because it slowed down the sexual tension a little bit by keeping them in character and adding extra emotional context.

I just found myself rooting for their marriage the entire time. Gabriel was so obviously smitten, and there’s just nothing better than a husband who’s obsessed with his own wife. And when I tell you how refreshing it was to read romantic scenes with spouses that were on a sexually even playing field…they were both equally involved, both equally interested, it was neck and neck with the necking, people. Emma Orchard is definitely an author to watch.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

A good historical romance needs good characters. You definitely get good characters in this book. The only area it feel flat for me was too much happening in the plot. Which surprises me to say. The story just chose a more complex path than I think was needed. Especially towards the end.