Lady Alice Ancaster, sister to the Duke of Ripley, having debuted years ago and then spending several years abroad, was in no rush to marry, instead devoting herself to helping the poor children of London. But when her brother and his two friends, who are also Dukes and known as “Their Dis-Graces” pulled another of their stupid, drunken stunts, that ended with her brother almost being killed, she knew she needed to do something to protect herself. Since her brother had not wed and seemed destined to get himself killed, leaving her to the mercy of his heir – their vile, distant cousin Viscount Worbury or as she calls him Cousin Worm. She sets out for London and the Marriage Mart and has no trouble finding suitors, no, her trouble is her brother’s friend and fellow Dis-Grace, the Duke of Blackwood, the man she fell in love with years ago and who chose a life of a wastrel over her! But when one of the young boys she watches out for gets on the Worm’s bad side, Blackwood is the perfect man to help her save him. Then later when her brother goes missing, it is once again Blackwood who she turns to for help, but this time his help will cost her. They end up married and presumably on their way to HEA.

Giles Lyon, the Duke of Blackwood has always loved Alice, but at nineteen, he knew he wasn’t ready to settle down and marry, so after sharing a kiss with a young Lady Alice, he walks away from any chance of a future with her. Now after a stupid, thoughtless prank that could have easily left her brother dead, he feels bad about their behavior and vows to stay out of her way. But when he learns that she is being seriously courted by a very eligible duke, he can’t seem to stick to his vow and follows her to London, never expecting to end up married to the only woman he has ever loved. Everything seems perfect, but sadly life gets in the way and happily ever after isn’t as easily attained as one would think.

Having absolutely loved the first two books, I had high expectations for this book. Sadly, this book was not the book I had hoped for. In the first two books, Alice and Giles are already married and seemed to be estranged, but in reality, they were not at odds, just busy taking care of everyone but each other. It takes them a very long time to reprioritize their lives and put each other first. I liked the story, but it was long and repetitive, with nothing really keeping them apart or together. The result was that I just didn’t feel the romance that was so prominent in the previous books. This book has a lot going on and had some fun moments that Ms. Chase is known for, but in the end, it fell a bit flat and ended a bit too abruptly and had no epilogue, which was disappointing. Overall, light on the romance but still a fun read and a book I would recommend to readers of the series, but not a book I would read again.

3, maybe 3.5 stars

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

My Inconvenient Duke by Loretta Chase is a wonderful historical romance. The main characters are a feisty lady, Lady Alice Ancaster and one of her brother’s best friends, the Duke of Blackwood. This is the third book in the series and while I have read the prior books, this book can be read as a stand alone. Each book focuses on a different duke.

Lady Alice realizes after being woken up by her brother and his friends' antics that she can not depend on her brother. In her world, she would be left to the horrible cousin to take care of her , if anything happened to her brother. At the rate he was going, she was not going to have a brother much longer. She has spoken to her family and the “boys” were told to leave London, so Alice can make a great match.

The Duke of Blackwood understands that he is banished to the country, so he doesn’t muck up Alice’s chances for a perfect husband, but he just can’t leave her. He seems to show up where she is and often at a perfectly helpful time. It isn’t until they journey to find her missing brother, that Alice realizes that she has gone too far.

I enjoyed this novel. I loved how the main characters have an affinity for each other. I love how they listen to each other. Mostly I loved the love between the main characters. My Inconvenient Duke by Loretta Chase is a great read.

ARC Review! My Inconvenient Duke, Loretta Chase’s most recent (and final) book in the Difficult Dukes series, has been one of my most anticipated reads since her last book was released (in 20XX). So I was absolutely giddy when I get the opportunity to read an early copy. This is the story of Lady Alice Ancaster, younger sister to the Duke of Ripley (MMC in book 1 of the series) and best friend of Cassandra Pomfret (FMC in book 2), and Giles Lyon, the Duke of Blackwood and the third of a trio (including Alice’s brother) of misbehaving dukes the ton has nicknamed Their Dis-Graces. For years Alice has watched her brother and his friends scandalize the ton with their ridiculous antics but when a drunken escapade nearly results in Ripley getting killed, she has had enough. After Ripley’s latest near miss, Alice realizes that the only way to protect herself from ruin at the hands a despicable cousin who would inherit if Ripley died is to marry. For his part, Blackwood, who has been (mostly) ignoring the feelings he’s had for his best friend’s little sister for years (the one kiss they shared when they were teens definitely doesn’t count). When Ripley goes missing and Alice and Blackwood go after him, they find themselves facing an opportunity they never thought possible: marriage to one another. But with Alice’s need to court Society to further her social causes and Blackwood’s desire to shun Society in favor of his friends, can they make it work?

Let me start by saying that this is not the book/story I was expecting. The first 2 books in the series teased a marriage in trouble so that is 100% what I thought I was getting here. Instead, it was a brother’s best friend, second chance romance with some miscommunication/adjustment issues that resulted from a sudden engagement/marriage. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing (I happen to love both the brother’s best friend and second chance tropes) but it definitely colored my reading experience. I will also say that some of it felt a little too similar to the previous book (10 Things I Hate About the Duke). That said, this is a Loretta Chase book and so it was still a highly entertaining reading experience. The FMC was fierce, the banter was top notch, the side characters was stellar, and I still very much enjoyed it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the e-ARC; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Satisfying read!

I took to Lady Alice Ancaster straight away. Also to Giles Bouverie Lyon, eighth Duke of Blackwood, one of the three Dis-graceful dukes. When their disgraceful lordships, Ripley, Blackwood and Ashmont showed up at any ton function, the rooms emptied. Not that they were invited anywhere because they weren’t. Most of the ton ran when they hived into view.
It’s Ridley’s sister Alice who’s our focal point and Blackwood.
A girl Blackwood had taught to shoot when she was fifteen, who’d he first met scrambling out of a second floor window when she was ten, bold and cheery as you please
Alice has grown up. She’s spent a year abroad with her friend Cassandra Pomfret. Alice is part of the Minerva Society that takes on street children, educates and house them and find them employment
At the moment however she’s realized that if something happens to Ridley his black hearted heir, Penric Ancaster, Lord Worbury would make her pay.
Alice decides the only way to be safe is to marry. Taking herself and her aunt to London she sets about the task. Only things keep happening and the man who’d broken her seventeen year old heart is there to pave the way and provide her with backup.
A sort of enemies to lovers romance with intrigue and danger thrown in for good measure. Wonderful!

An Avon and Harper ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

My Inconvenient Duke by Loretta Chase is an entertaining mix of romance, humor, and drama, though it doesn’t fully meet the high expectations set by the previous books in the Difficult Dukes series. Lady Alice Ancaster needs to find a husband to save her family’s dukedom, and the Duke of Blackwood—her brother’s best friend and former crush—reluctantly steps in. Their love story spans years, from unspoken longing in their youth to navigating marriage’s challenges.

The book shines in its witty dialogue and mature portrayal of relationships, showing how love requires effort and compromise. However, the pacing felt uneven, with a slow start and a rushed conclusion. While Giles and Alice’s chemistry is apparent, the romance occasionally takes a backseat to subplots and secondary characters.

Despite some flaws, the clever banter and heartfelt moments make this a worthy read. Fans of the series will appreciate its humour and resolution.

Lady Alice Ancaster is in want of a husband. Why? Because of her scandalous brother; who she feels is hell bent on recklessness to the point of death. So she seeks out a husband in order to escape the clutches of the dastardly. cousin who would inherit.

Giles, the Duke of Blackwood at 19, was told to chose b/w his friendship & his best friend's little sister. Choosing friendship over Alice starts to take a back (carriage) seat years later when Giles finds himself attempting to play behind the scenes knight errant to Alice's season.

My Inconvenient Duke is the third book in A Difficult Duke series. Having not read the previous two novels, after reading this one I look forward to starting from the beginning. I loved Loretta Chase's dramatic writing flare and the angsty banter between Alice and Giles. There is nothing like the drama of a Chase novel; when you know anything can happen. And as scoundrel-y as the dukes were, I always love a friendship group b/w MCs, & this friendship brought a lot of tension to Blackwood & Alice's story. There is nothing like an MMC who doesn't feel like he is capable of love & a FMC who everyone is trying to protect when she can clearly and without a doubt protect herself and those she cares for. I always wish to be more like a Loretta Chase FMC!

I will note that I did feel a tiny bit lost having not having read the previous books in the series, mostly because the timelines b/w the three books appear to happen simultaneously. I will rectify this immediately and reread My Inconvenient Duke afterwards and update my review!

He really is inconvenient....

Since I somehow blocked out all the events of the prior two books, I'm coming in cold on this one. Lady Alice is determined to take her future into her own hands after her idiot brother and his two idiot best friends almost shot his face off. She goes on the marriage mart at 25. Giles, a duke who was attracted to her ten years ago when he was 17 choose her brother and his friend to run wild with. All three chose to mess with not so innocent women, drink, have fun and do nothing but cause trouble. For ten years they ran free.

I thought Alice was better off with her Gallahad duke who truly liked and wanted her. Unlike Giles who, while he may have thought of her as the one who got away, was only too happy to go with the flow, have fun and not be a grown up. This continued way too long and didn't show lack of growth on his part. But, its Loretta Chase and the writing is superb.
Recommend, because I liked Alice.

This long-awaited final book in this author’s Difficult Dukes series was both a letdown and entertaining. The second book in the series was published four years ago in 2020, and I had to go back and skim-read it to refresh myself. This book is most definitely my least favorite of the series, but perhaps that is because I had such high expectations for it.

In the previous two books, Giles and Alice are already married but estranged. In this book, I expected to learn the reason for the estrangement and their resolution. That isn’t what I got (at least not to me). I never really felt the romance in this story nor the sad emptiness when the two are apart. It was just presented as business-as-usual because – well – it was business-as-usual. Each put their friends, their projects, etc. before their marriage and romance. Even at the end when Giles does such a sweetly romantic thing, it doesn’t have that heart-quivering, exciting, uplifting feel of romance.

There were many moments of entertaining, witty humor – especially in Giles’s internal dialogue, but that wasn’t enough for me to believe in the romance. For me, we could have done with less page time skipping around the countryside looking for lost urchins and brothers and more time on the romance time between the two main characters. Many parts of the story just felt slow and a tad draggy.

The opening chapter is excellent and sets the stage for Alice’s sudden decision to participate in London’s Season and find a husband. The chapter gives us an excellent feel for the dynamics between the three friends but doesn’t give a reasonable explanation for them (especially Giles) continuing to (at nearly 30) cling to decisions made in their teens. One would have to believe that the three would have some intellect and moments of clarity to run their vast estates and see them profitable. However, all actions described would make us believe they did nothing but drink, carouse, party, gamble, and participate in debaucheries. Personally, I had a hard time meshing the two attributes.

I am a huge fan of this author and always appreciate her wit and humor, which are displayed in her characters and situations. I especially enjoyed Giles’s internal dialogue in this book, but had a hard time translating those internal dialogues into actions on the romantic front. We were introduced to two new characters (or maybe they were in the previous books and I’ve forgotten) who would make good MMCs for future books. I really liked the Duke of Doveridge and the Earl of Lynforde and would love to see them find their HEAs in a truly romantic story. Another thing this book lacks – especially as the series end – is an epilogue that brings all of the couples and their HEAs into focus for us. The last chapter might have been meant as an epilogue, but I don’t think so and if it was, it missed the mark for me.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am really happy that Chase's publisher has not tried to get her going on illustrated covers, That would just be wrong. I really enjoyed the two leads in this, particularly their clever and arch senses of humor. It was all very British. I also enjoyed that we got to see the characters actually have to do the work when it came to learning how to be a married couple. This book understood that a fully realized life doesn't end at happily-ever-after, and that true, lasting love involves making choices every single day and learning how to compromise .

<b>Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. My views are my own. </b>

Spoiler warning! Because some of the issues I have with this book can't really be addressed without me spoiling some parts of the plot, skip the parts of the review I've marked with spoiler tags until you've actually finished the book.

While this is the third book in the series, most of the action takes place before the events in <i>A Duke in Shining Armor</i> and <i>Ten Things I Hate About the Duke</i>. You don't need to have read either of the two other books to enjoy this one, in fact, I would say you might enjoy this one more without prior knowledge of those stories.

Lady Alice Ancaster has known Giles Lyon, the eighth Duke of Blackwood since long before he was a duke. They first met when she was eleven and he was thirteen, and he was one of her brother's best friends and partners in crime. By the time she was seventeen and he was nineteen, there was a clear infatuation between them, and they shared one very memorable kiss. Knowing that Alice deserved someone better, and fully aware that he wasn't ready to give up his wild and reckless ways with his two bosom buddies, Blackwood chose to leave it with that one kiss and studiously avoided Alice thereafter.

Eight years later, their drunken antics take an almost fatal turn, after they play with a loaded pistol and the duke of Ripley, Alice's brother only barely escapes a shot to the head. Alice is furious with Blackwood for letting things go so far (of the three Dis-graces, he is reckoned as the most sensible one). She declares that she hates him, and only a few days later, she sets off to London determined to find a husband. The idiotic stunt proves to Alice just how likely is that her brother will die unfortunately young and their loathsome cousin, Lord Worbury will inherit both the title and the estate. Worbory hates Alice because she and her best friend Cassandra beat him up for torturing a kitten when they were younger, and he hates Ripley and his friends for looking on. Worbury is already living beyond his means, promising his creditors money once he becomes the next Duke of Ripley.

Alice's aunt, Lady Julia, orders Ripley, Blackwood and Ashmont to stay far away from London while Alice tries to find a suitable husband. While Alice has lived a perfectly respectable life, the presence of her dissolute brother and his best friends will make it more difficult for her. Ripley and Ashmont dutifully agree, but Blackwood is unhappy with the idea of leaving Alice alone in London with Worbury still lurking about, so he stays behind to sort out some financial affairs (or so he claims).

Of course, after a series of chaotic events, involving the odious Worbury, a scruffy street urchin in need (whom readers will recognise from the previous two books in the series, not to mention in a slightly cleaner guise in <i>The Dressmakers</i> series), dealings with the criminal underworld, and then Ripley's sudden and unexplained disappearance, Blackwood and Alice have spent so much time travelling about unchaperoned with one another that Alice is likely to be at the centre of a terrible scandal, unless she and Blackwood marry. So they decide to do so (it doesn't hurt that deep down they have loved each other for over a decade) and for a blissful six months, their marriage seems like it will always be harmonious. That is, until the Duke of Ashmont gets himself into even more trouble than usual, and Blackwood has to go off to save him from himself.

<spoiler>
For two books now, Loretta Chase have been dropping hints about the marriage of Lady Alice Ancaster and the Duke of Blackwood, a union which so shocked polite society. In <i>A Duke in Shining Armor</i>, they appear to be estranged, but having gone back and looked at all the mentions of Alice, some of those hints may have been a bit misleading. Having also gone back and looked at <I>Ten Things I Hate About the Duke</i>, I don't understand why Cassandra, Alice's very best friend in the whole world, a person she refers to as a sister not in blood, wouldn't know the truth about Alice and Blackwood's marriage. Alice and Cassandra correspond regularly, and I don't understand why Alice wouldn't have told her friend that she and Blackwood had to spend more time apart because Ashmont was so out of control he had to have someone sensible accompanying him. Everyone who knew the three dukes would have understood why such a thing would be necessary. That most of society didn't know the truth about the Duke and Duchess of Blackwood's supposed estrangement doesn't seem strange at all, but why would Alice have kept the truth about her actually really happy marriage from her friend?

Obviously, it's because Chase wrote this book last, and can't really go back and rewrite her previous book for the details to fit in better. It is just frustrating that after two books setting up the strange and sudden marriage of Alice and Blackwood, and then their estrangement and supposed enmity, it turns out that nope, there's nothing. It feels deeply anti-climactic to have waited since 2017(!) to find out the truth about Alice and Blackwood, only to discover that their marriage was fine. They married because they loved each other, somewhat suddenly to avoid a scandal, and got along splendidly, with the exception of a few rows, where they realised their mistake and apologised to one another before it could ever become a big deal. I shouldn't be disappointed in a book because there isn't enough drama, and two very enjoyable characters have a happy marriage. But I was led to believe that there would be drama - and now I feel short-changed.
</spoiler>

The release of a new Loretta Chase book is always a treat, and it's difficult to describe my delight when I was granted a NetGalley ARC for this back in November. Obviously, I read the book almost instantly and had to re-read it now to remind myself of the plot details before I wrote my review.

Loretta Chase has written some absolute classics, including <i>Lord of Scoundrels</i>, which is 25 years old this year. It's a book I have read multiple times, but never actually reviewed (must absolutely rectify that later this year). I happen to think two other books in the series are better, and I've re-read them more often, but that does not take away from the fact that it's a great book, with a stupendous heroine. Chase has also written a lot of books that are fine when you read them, but a bit more forgettable once you put them down. This, sadly, is one of the latter ones. There's nothing wrong with it, as such, but having first read it right after my re-read of Ten Things I Hate About the Duke, which is a full five-star read and so very perfect, this paled in comparison. There's the issue that I mentioned in my spoiler section, and there's the fact that Alice and Blackwood running around after a street urchin seems to take up far too much of the plot, both in the first and last quarter of the book.

It should be noted, that Loretta Chase is a queen of the romance genre for a reason, and even a not-perfect book by her is worth your time. Some of the things that annoy me about this book won't matter at all if this is the first book in the series you read. While writing this review and finding books to link to, I also discovered that there's a short story, featuring Lord Loveden (who is Alice's main suitor in this, before it becomes obvious to everyone, including her, that Blackwood is the only man she could possibly be happy with). So now I've got more Loretta Chase to read.

<b>Judging a book by its cover: </b>This cover differs from the other two in the series, in that on those books, there is a woman seen from the back, apparently running away or towards something. Here, the woman on the cover, who I guess is supposed to be Alice, is happily wandering about the garden, wearing a dress looking nothing like 1830s fashion (which to be fair, was awful, so well done cover designers). She's probably a lot happier, dreamily drifting along since her marriage came about in a much less dramatic way than that of Olivia Hightower or her best friend Cassandra.

I was excited to read a historical romance centered in London area. The book definitely gave me Bridgerton vibes without much spice.
I enjoyed the setting and the characters, the only thing I disliked was the lack of romance. Yes there was a relationship in the book but I think there was more focus on the other events happening and seemed to skip the romance.
Overall, I enjoyed it but wished it had more to it as far as story and romance

I’m torn on my thoughts and how I feel about this book. I will preface it to say that I haven’t read the first two in the series and that this is also my first Loretta Chase book. However, based on other reviews I’ve read for this one I don’t see how that matters. Alice and Giles were secondary characters in the first two books BUT majority of this story takes place before either of those.

Before I get to what didn’t work for me, there’s some things I did enjoy. The last quarter of the book was really enjoyable. There’s a bit of a time jump once they marry and the banter between Alice and Giles was great and wished it had been there the whole time. I liked and can appreciate being able to get a full love story of it’s always been you with a second chance and then allowing your spouse space to do what’s needed for them to find fulfillment in life. It’s a great notion and I think that was achieved.

But there are a few things that I wasn’t a fan of. The POV switches to a few other secondary characters on top of the MMC and FMC. This was confusing because it started so close to the beginning of the story and I wasn’t expecting it. I got used to it pretty quickly but threw me at first. I liked Alice and Giles well enough but didn’t connect with their romance. There’s a lot of action that’s keeps the pacing up but it overtook the romance part of the story for me. I believed in their pent up feelings but found their decision to be together anticlimactic because I was waiting for a passionate declaration and didn’t get that.

At the end of the day, I didn’t love it but liked how the story ended in a full circle and complete. It’s an epistolary story with several letters exchanged between main and secondary characters.

There’s one page encounter and several occurring off page. It was lower steam.

I received an advance reader copy from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars rounded up. This is definitely an example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. There is A LOT going on in this book, as it covers not just the backstory of how Alice and Blackwood ended up together but also fast forwards to explain how they became estranged—as seen in books 1 and 2 of the series—and how they eventually reconcile. On top of that there are several villains of varying degrees and a lot of moving pieces to fit in. At times, the pacing is a bit uneven, with the first half moving somewhat slowly then the back half speeding through a lot of plot. That said, I really liked how we got to see Alice and Blackwood’s relationship develop over time, including through the rough patches when the outside world starts to impede on their time. Though they both are stubborn and independent, they recognize a kindred spirit in the other and feel they can finally act on the feelings that have been brewing since they were younger (albeit out of necessity due to circumstances). Both also has their own flaws and vulnerabilities that they need to deal with in order to become a better partner, which they learn to work through in a refreshingly mature manner.

Other notes: Having read Ashmont’s and Ripley’s points of view already it was interesting to see how their actions taken out of context of their own stories were viewed by other characters (by Alice and Blackwood as their long suffering sister/friend, particularly). There are a number of sympathetic characters introduced here that seem ripe for their own series or spinoffs, so hopefully we will see more of them in the future.

Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for providing an ARC for review!

After having seen Alice and Blackwood´s marriage in the firs two books I was curious to their back history and how they ended up married but spend a lot of time separately. In this book we do spend a lot of time prior to their marriage and I was very cautiously reading hoping I would not be left brokenhearted. Their marriage in crisis was just learning to work together as a married couple. Which could feel a little underwhelming depending of how you look at it, I loved it.

Chase's romance novel felt a bit scattered, with two characters who we were told were in love without seeing them develop the romance, and an extended epilogue made for an odd ending.

My Inconvenient Duke by Loretta Chase

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 1/5 🌶️

Thank you to Avon, Harper Voyager, Netgalley, and the author for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

My Inconvenient Duke is the 3rd book in Loretta Chase's Difficult Dukes series. Loretta Chase’s historical romances are always amazing, featuring complex characters and fantastic chemistry. Each of the Difficult Dukes books can be read as standalone books, however, My Inconvenient Duke brings together characters from the previous books and presents a conclusion to the series. Reading this was super fun and I enjoyed all of the historical elements throughout!

Lady Alice Ancaster, sister to the Duke of Ripley, has known Giles, Duke of Blackwood since she was 12 years old. She wants to safeguard her future by finding a respectable husband. Alice has a perfect candidate in mind. When trouble arises, the wrong man shows up. Giles is all wrong for Alice, but she can’t ignore how interesting he is.

When Alice was 17, she and Blackwood had a moment. A moment he stopped as he made a choice to stay friends with her brother. Giles, the Duke of Blackwood, is known as one of the three Dis-Graces. He dislikes the many rules his social class must abide by. Blackwood offers to look after Alice while she is a part of the Marriage Mart. Giles knows he is the wrong one for her, but he cannot resist being heroic for Alice. Feelings arise and Blackwood begins to understand the choice he made all those years ago might not have been the right one. With enemies to deal with, Alice and Blackwood work together long enough to allow their feelings to surface.

Overall, this is a great historical romance with excellent chemistry, an intriguing plot full of action, and fantastic banter throughout. I’d recommend My Inconvenient Duke to all fans of historical romance!

This was a quite lighthearted brother’s best friend romance; a little more ton-centric than Loretta Chase’s older works, but this also is the first new release I’m reviewing by her.

Basically, Alice has a messy rake duke for a brother, and his antics combined with his heir being a gross loser means she needs to find a husband fast. Which should be easy, but it only works as long as her scandalous brother and his duke friends stay away…. and our hero obviously doesn’t. Blackwood and Alice had the beginnings of what a romance, but Blackwood backed out because Feelings Are Scary and She’s Too Good For Him and Thou Shalt Not Break The Bro Code.

In classic Loretta Chase fashion, we also get the villain’s POV, but I’m going to be honest, there wasn’t a lot of menace there, a lot of his actions were kinda pathetic. There’s also fairly large underworld/lower-class component; Alice and Blackwood are forever running about the grittier parts of London, which was probably the most enjoyable part of the book.

I like Loretta’s writing— it’s sharp, funny, and her characters always give good banter, but the plot just wasn’t very interesting to me and I found myself skimming a lot of the book. I thought it would pick up post-marriage (surprise! they do marry midway), but it kind of meandered along to the end.

The sex:

Blackwood gives classic (reformed) rake sex— tender, but very thorough, like, he GETS a woman’s body, you know? Again, classic Loretta Chase sex scene, though a little less explicit but also less flowery than her older stuff from what I remember.

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 3.5/5
Heat Level: 3/5
Publication Date: January 21st

The final installment of the difficult dukes series by Loretta Chase is here and does not disappoint! This can easily be read as a standalone. I have only read the second book in the series and I still want to go back to read Ripley’s story.
The timeline of this book will crossover with the first two books, and you get to see some events that happen there from the perspective of Blackwood and Alice. It’s a story that has a timejump in it at around the 70% point.

Everyone here knows how much I love a story that has mutual pining and whew, the pining here was topnotch. I also really love a hero who claims to know himself and feels he isn’t good enough for the heroine. What I find refreshing in this book is that Blackwood is very resigned that he will never end up with Alice, but really desires her to have a happy life and will do everything in his power to give her that, and so he’s very much a big brother to her in his behavior. Normally when this type of trope enters the book, it’s met with lot of jealousy across the board with the resigned hero, the typical ‘If I can’t have her, no one can and no one else is good enough for her.’

The story very much focuses on the growth that Blackwood is going through. He has dedicated himself to being one of Their Dis-Graces, because he refuses to conform to the rules of society that have been stomped into him from when he was growing up. During his time ‘protecting Alice from any scandal’, he slowly begins to have doubts if the life of Their Dis-Graces is what he actually wants. Through society’s (and Alice’s) eyes, he’s a blackguard without any brain, although admittedly everyone knows Ashmont is the worst, and he lets them perceive him that way.
Meanwhile Alice is a typical rebel and tries her best to abide by the rules of society, but her bluestocking ways cannot be hidden away.

What at first glance seems like a himbo/bluestocking pair, eventually turns out to be a very smart golden retriever hero with a loose cannon heroine combo and I ate it up!

The only thing that bothered me a bit was the end of the book. It felt like it was an added on thought and like it was needed to tie up all the loose ends. In my opinion, those ends would’ve been fine left open, it meant that the story wasn’t really going anywhere in terms of further relationship development between Blackwood and Alice.

Thank you to Avon Harper Voyager and Netgalley for providing an ARC.

Thank you so much to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this ARC provided for review. All opinions are my own.

I have read and enjoyed several of Loretta Chase’s other books and I was really excited to receive My Inconvenient Duke. Unfortunately, I found myself quickly going from excited to frustrated to bored.

Loretta Chase can definitely build a character and a plot! I think pacing was where it fell apart for me—too much time spent on things that didn’t build the romance or felt repetitive? Full disclosure that I had not read the first two books in this series (I don’t usually read interconnected books in order, but it’s never been an issue), but I had read the summaries and understood that everything was happening all at once. I did not expect, however, that so much of the book in the last third would be spent showing events we (presumably) had experienced in other books through a different lens. I don’t object to post-wedding conflict, but everything from the wedding on felt summarized and rushed, which was disappointing.

Overall, while I did not enjoy this book, I’m sure it will find its readers, and I will still be picking up Chase’s next book, as I’ve enjoyed so much of what she has written until now!

As per my stated policy, I only post online reviews of books I enjoy and want to recommend. As such, I will not be posting this review on my social media.

Upon first meeting Blackwood in the earlier books, I had a feeling I was going to like him. I couldn’t wait for his book. I imagined his would be a story filled with angst and pining and drama and while this storyline and backstory should have set that up, I felt it lacking in so many ways.

I love the idea, loved the general idea of the characters, what throws them in each others paths, the ways they interact with each other and the ultimate happily ever after.

What was missing for me was the romance. It almost felt like women’s fiction with a little side romance. With the backstory of Alice and Blackwood, there should have been heart pumping, heavy breathing moments of stolen looks, accidental touches, gazes from afar, painful realizations about their love and their childhood and that stolen kiss. Instead they communicated so clearly and explained and solved all the complications so effortlessly (and to be honest unrealistically) and so quickly, that there was no time for all that good stuff that makes romance novels so incredible to read.

Was the story good? Yes
Do I love Blackwood and Alice together? Absolutely
Did the story lack romance? Unfortunately Yes
Would I read more books in this series? Also Yes!