Howard’s writing shines in its vibrant depiction of Regency London. The setting is brought to life with rich detail, from the opulent ballrooms to the bustling streets. The author’s sharp dialogue and clever humor enhance the story, adding depth to both the romantic and dramatic elements.

The plot follows some familiar romance tropes, Howard’s fresh perspective and engaging prose keep the story lively and enjoyable. The character development is strong, and the secondary characters add further richness to the narrative. The MFC Lady Evangeline is witty and hilarious, I love how open she was with her sexuality.

"The Worst Duke in London" is a fun Regency-era romance from author Amalie Howard! I like these characters! The wit and banter is great, the characters are very likeable, the romance is sweet at times, and the mystery aspect of the story was enjoyable. However, sometimes the plot felt a little mixed up, there were some inconsistencies, and the interactions between the MMC and FMC felt a little awkward at times. Overall, this book was fun to read! I will still read more from this author.

Thank you very much to the author, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for the great opportunity of reading this book and for providing me with a digital copy to read and review honestly.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for this ARC.

I do love this series. Continuing with the Hellfire Kitties love journeys we have Effie. Headstrong and outspoken with a love for all animals, she vows to be a spinster for life and never wed. Duke Vale is paid to convince Effie to go to London for the season as Lord Huntington wants to court her sister.

If you've ever watched 10 Things I Hate About You- you'll instantly see the connection in the first chapters.

I really enjoyed this book. It Is fun to read about strong, independent women, during a time it was not allowed, really shine and fully become themselves.

I am excited to see if we get Briar's and Lushings story next!

5 🌟 s for me.

Looooove the story, loathe the cover!

Amalie Howard has fast become one of my go-to sexy historical romance authors. So, when I saw Amalie's book up for grabs as an ARC I requested it without even knowing what the story was all about - I just trust her to deliver a clever, hot, well-researched, and fun romance to get lost in.

The cover though does absolutely nothing to covey the sexiness, complexity, depth, or anything else worthwhile mentioning and excellent the story brings to the table.
I seriously hope the publisher will re-release the entire series with covers that bring out all that makes this book and the entire series one of the best of the last couple of years.

I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to read this story ahead of it's publication date and thank both the publisher Forever and NetGalley.

I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley however the thoughts and feelings expressed in this review are my own.

The Worst Duke in London took me right back to the height of my 90s/00s rom-com feelings while thriving in its historical setting. This is book three in Amalie Howard's Taming of the Dukes series, and all books are based on an iconic rom-com. If you're a fan of 10 Things I Hate About You (or by extension Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew) you are going to be thrilled with this hilarious and heartfelt romance.

Summary: Effie is over the life of London's seasons and would happily spend her life as a spinster taking care of abandoned animals at her local shelter. However, her little sister Viola is determined to have a big coming out and snag the attention of Lord Huntington, the very man who soured Effie on seasons in the first place. Their father declares that Viola can only have her season if Effie goes along to chaperone. Effie is determined to avoid town and steer her sister away from Huntington until she meets Gage, Duke of Vale, and their mutual attraction leads Effie to make Gage a bold offer. Effie doesn't know that Gage, also known as The Destiture Duke, has accepted another offer from Huntington to get Effie to London so Huntington can woo Viola. Complex? Yes. Deeply Satisfying Drama? Also yes.

Gage and Effie are my new favorite historical romance couple. It has been so long since I've given a historical romance a full five starts but I am madly in love with this book. The characters are what make this book shine. Effie's sharp wit and big heart make her so endearing, but I also loved seeing a woman in this historical setting be really open and forward about her feelings of lust. That was so refreshing!

I also felt that Gage had these interesting layers and wasn't a 2-dimensional hero. He's wry but vulnerable and isn't afraid to break society's rules. Even the supporting characters felt more multi-faceted with the one exception being the villain of the piece. He's just our bad guy but that's OK. I can live with that when everything else in this book had me giggling and kicking my feet.

Even though this is book three, you can absolutely jump into this series at any point with only minor spoilers for the couples in previous books. I cannot wait to keep going with the Taming of the Dukes series. Amalie Howard just keeps getting better and better.

I always enjoy an Amalie Howard book, and a retelling of Ten Things I Hate About You feels tailor made for me. What I like most about Howard's retellings in this series is that she sticks to certain things but changes enough that it doesn't feel like a direct translation. Viola (the book's version of Bianca) is a character that I really enjoyed in this, especially in the digressions about why she would entertain the suit from a man who has gone out of his way to make her sister's life terrible. I also really liked the interplay between Evangeline and Gage. Their romance was very sweet and I completely understood what the two of them saw in each other.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 16%

I absolutely love Amalie Howard's Daring Dukes series published through Sourcebooks Casablanca. They are sexy, emotional, and wonderful representation of the marginalized groups that occupied the 19th century. I would not hesitate to reread them in a heartbeat!

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the Taming of the Dukes series. I really enjoyed the first installment, Always Be My Duchess, but I DNF'd Never Met A Duke Like You last year after finding the chemistry between the main couple lacking and the writing to be not up to Howard's standards. I figured I would give The Worst Duke in London a try to see which camp it would fall into and it unfortunately is too much like the latter for me. I think I will stick to Howard's non-illustrated cover books from now on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Lady Evangeline doesn't have any intentions of going to London for the season or of finding a husband. But, her sister Viola can't wait to have her first season despite Evangeline's objections. Their father makes an interesting proposal, Viola can go to London for the season as long as Evangeline goes. To please her sister and keep an eye on her, Evangeline agrees to go. Surprisingly, she finds a connection with the Scottish Duke next door who may or may not be completely trustworthy.

Thoughts 💭
I've read other books by Amalie Howard before and ate them up! She's quickly becoming a go-to author for me. When I saw an advanced copy of hers was available, I jumped to read it. This book is Briderton meets 10 Things I Hate About You. Evangeline is smart, strong, and ahead of her time. I love that her books include strong female characters. Evangeline also has friends who are like-minded (and their stories are in the other books in this series). Gage is understanding and dreamy. Their chemistry and banter were delightful to read. Even though I didn't read the first two books in the series, I didn't feel lost, but I did feel a need to go read them since this one was so enjoyable! If you like historical romance with a touch of The Taming of The Shrew, this is a must-read for you.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Loved the 3rd book "The Worst Duke in London" in the Taming the Dukes series. It was not what I was expecting but totally enjoyable. Going back to reread the first 2 books. Free ARC from NetGalley.

Another winner in the Taming of the Dukes series! The Worst Duke in London is a standalone Regency romance, but having read the other books in the series, I think I enjoyed it more having met the characters before. I loved the Taming of the Shrew/10 Things I Hate About You retelling - it made it slightly predictable but Amalie was able to throw in some surprises! I adored Effie and admired her for taking control of her circumstances but Gage might be the winner of this book in my eyes. Their banter and respect for each other was the perfect balance to their "education and research". While mostly a romance, we are still treated with a little side plot of "was it murder or an accident?" which ties together nicely at the end. I can't wait to see what Amalie writes next.... while I'm hoping it's going to be Briar and Lushing, I wouldn't hate a Pierre spin off ;) 
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the eARC copy. All opinions are my own.

this is definitely one of my favorites from Amalie Howard. I always find her books to be at least pretty good, but I often do not remember them very well months after I read them. Evangeline having an animal shelter was definitely memorable, so I do not think I will forget too much about this one. I did notice that the writing seemed slightly more contemporary than Amalie Howard's other historicals. The circumstances were historical, but the writing was fairly modern. The spice was fun. The fact that it was a retelling made it soooo predictable, but the slight changes that Howard did make were quite enjoyable. I think she could have changed the conflict a bit so it wasn't so much like the movie. also, the secondary romance in this was really sweet.

🌟 Book Review: “The Worst Duke in London” by Amalie Howard 🌟

ARC courtesy of NetGalley. This Regency romp is a delightful twist on Ten Things I Hate About You and Taming of the Shrew, offering a lighthearted and fun interpretation of these classic tales. The chemistry between the characters is deliciously steamy, with banter and dirty jokes that kept me smiling throughout. Amalie Howard made it easy to get invested in these characters and their journey. Fans of Shakespeare retellings will especially enjoy this playful and engaging read! 📚❤️

#BookReview #TheWorstDukeInLondon #AmalieHoward #RegencyRomance #NetGalley #ShakespeareRetelling #Bookstagram

What a fun whirlwind of a regency romance! The spice was great and the characters had wonderful banter. I’d definitely recommend!

This is sweet story but the anachronisms were glaring which took me out of the period it is supposed to take place. It would be interesting to see the author write a contemporary.

This was a hard pass dnf for me. The characters are so whiny and annoying I nearly threw my phone across the room several times. As much as I love A.H. and her work this was a fail read for me. I will not trash it in my review spaces, but I will not review it either.

What a ride! This was a steamy little romcom with nods to the regency, but unhindered by strict adherence to all the societal rules that typically govern the genre. From the start, our characters are frank and forthright about their wants, though Gage, the male main character, withholds his main motivation from the Effie, our female lead.

Effie has been disappointed and bullied during a few social seasons and has decided to remain unmarried, channeling her time, energy, and dowery (when she gets control of it) on rescuing animals. She's curious about sex and propositions Gage, a second son who inherited a debt-ridden Dukedom when his brother died. At the same time, the villain of the story says he'll forgive some of Gage's inherited debt if he gets Effie and her sister to London for the season so he can court the sister.

Effie and Gage have great chemistry and their relationship takes off quickly. Of course, they fall for each other and Gage's deal with the villain tears them apart. As this is romance, you know they find their way back to each other.

This was very spicey, a little outrageous, with lots of comic relief coming from the animals.

I have enjoyed other books by this author, but wasn’t a fan of this one.

The plot wasn’t very original, I feel that I have read this book before.

My other beef was the use of modern phrases, which I found quite jarring. The phrase “hot mess” doesn’t really have any place in a regency or Victorian novel.

Overall, this one was a miss for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever / Grand Central publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and review.

3.5 stars

“That tongue of yours is as sharp as the most lethal of blades.”

Lady Evangeline has no interest in marriage, thank you very much, but the appearance of a persistent suitor for her sister, Viola, encourages their father to make a new rule. Lady Viola can partake in the season and accept a courtship…so long as her sister does the same. Despite preferring to stay in the countryside with her animal shelter, Evangeline caves and travels to London with her sister. It has nothing to do with the penniless Duke of Vale and how handsome he looked with kittens climbing all over him. No, not at all!

Amalie Howard is a consistent author and I usually enjoy her books, but this one was a bit of a miss for me. I loved that Evangeline set up an animal shelter, such a noble thing to do especially in a time when animals were more like property and less like family. I loved that she had a good group of friends too.

The biggest issue I had was the modern language and sensibilities. I don’t read historical romance for present day feminism - I like to see how the women of the time began to carve out the path we walk today. I could see Evangeline being a bluestocking by the day's standards, but some of the conversations she had were too out of place to be believable. I hope this modernization of historical romance doesn’t become a new trend…if I want to read a modern story, I’ll pick up a contemporary romance, you know?

All of this to say - if you like fun banter, a lot of spice, and a flexible interpretation of the regency era, give this one a go!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This author’s writing is delightful- and excellent balance of sarcastic and sweet. I enjoyed reading this. As an ebook it me months, though I can confidently say I would have finished the audiobook in about 3 days (curse you ADHD!). Good read, especially as part of the series. Looking forward to Briar’s book next!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for access to an advanced reader copy. This review is my unbiased opinion.

This is definitely my favorite book from Amalie Howard! It was such a fun retelling and it is perfect for readers who want to dip their toes in historical romance.