We start with Alice being terrified that her idiot brother will be killed sometime soon, so she sets off to find a husband this season, to make sure she’s never at the mercy of her cruel cousin. Her brother’s best friend, the Duke of Blackwood, is all sorts of distressed at the thought of Alice marrying anyone else, even though he has no claim to her. He clearly is nursing a long time affection for her, despite having chosen a lifetime of debauchery with his friends instead of the upstanding life he could have had with her. And when Blackwood hears that Alice’s terrible cousin is in town, he tries his best to protect her. We end up with a wild goose chase in the middle of the book that have Blackwood and Alice in a compromising circumstance and needing to marry. While this seems like the beginning of a happily ever after for them, they get pulled in different directions due to their competing responsibilities. As a standalone read, this book was fine. As a follow-up after the first two books, it fell a little flat because all the hints from the first two books suggest that these two are officially estranged. We learn more about this so-called estrangement in this book and do eventually end up with a happily ever after, but it was much less dramatic than I expected.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for providing a DRC of this title for review.

I think there have been other Loretta Chase novels I've enjoyed more, but it's still one I'll definitely recommend to my historical romance-loving patrons! 3.5/5 stars.

Trope: Second-chance romance; brother's best friend
Steam level: 2
Part of a series, and probably best read in order.

3.5 stars rounded up. I have loved Loretta Chase's books for so long that I feel bad leaving less than 4 stars, but once you get past the strong, true-to-the period writing style, accurate historical detail, fun banter, and dry humor here, you're unfortunately not left with a super-strong plot and the pacing is a bit off. From reading the previous two books in the series, you would think that a Very Big Secret or terrible obstacle had led to a cold marriage between the MC's. But a big chunk of the storyline takes numerous excursions through HR Land tropes instead: there's the machinations of the slimy cousin; the reckless brother who is in danger of ruining his dukedom; the rescued street urchin; the well-meaning suitor who's a great guy but doesn't "do it" for the MFC. And tbh I wasn't that crazy about Alice; she's self-righteous too much of the time, and for someone who looks down on her brother's behavior, her own behavior can be reckless.

I did like Giles. He's more of a "fake rake" with a B-type personality. Your typical late-to-mature guy who was easily led by his buddies. He felt something for Alice when they were younger but was terrified to act on it. There's a lot of rumination about his failings but they're all from the distant past. I never quite got why he judged himself so harshly, and the angst between him and Alice feels largely manufactured.

The final chapter is sweet. I wish more of the plot had focused on the MC's learning to appreciate each other during their marriage. Their romantic connection doesn't really stand out until very late in the book.

Loretta Chase has been one of my very favorite romance authors ever since I read the absolutely best romance novel, Lord of Scoundrels. Her characters are interesting, but what really makes her books so much fun is the witty dialogue between the two main characters. It’s just a delight to read.

This book is part of a series about three handsome and rich dukes who are best friends and who seem to spend all their time in dissipated living and silly escapades. But they’re all going to mature and find their inner strength of character when they meet the right woman.

If you haven read a Chase romance before, you’re in for a treat of discovery.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.


It's been a long time since I read a book by Chase, and I wasn't sure if I would still enjoy her books, but when I saw one of her titles on NetGalley, I could not resist. Rest assured, dear readers! Loretta Chase still has it!! The dialogue between Alice & Giles, Lord Blackwood, was fast and witty and delightful.

Yes, all the "naïve virgin woman and experienced man" stuff got old fast, but I did my best to ignore those bits.

The majority of romance story arcs start with the couple first meeting (or meeting again), proceed through the couple discovering their feelings, finally declaring said feelings, and often the arc ends with marriage. But in this case, marriage happened 70% of the way in. I was actually confused and checked to see if I still had chapters left! After this, Several chapters were just rehashes of events that happened in the other books in this series, and I don’t know why they were included here. The rest of the book ties up some subplot points involving other characters (a street urchin named Jonesy and Alice's cousin Lord Worbury). It was an odd choice to tack this on at the end like that - not bad, just not expected.

Plot: Plot was very exciting. I liked how there was so many exciting plots sprinkled in.
Characters: Individually, I very much like Giles and Alice but I didn't ' really feel much chemistry between the two until maybe like the last two chapters and at that point, it feels rushed.
Spice: 2/5 There's only one fully written out scene and the others were sprinkled about were more light petting than anything.
Overall: This feels more like a plot than a romance kind of book. If you're more into reading adventure then yes read this. If you're more into spice, then I would skip this.

I’m not sure why I didn’t love this one. I enjoyed the 2nd book in this series, which is why I requested this one, but it wasn’t as good. Like almost too banter-y and the location additions seemed distracting.

Loretta Chase is Loretta Chase and even at her…not best, I still enjoy what I’m reading from her. And I mostly enjoyed this one. If only because we’ve been teased by this couple for two books and I was ecstatic to finally get to Alice and Giles. For the most part (or better yet for the first 70-ish percent), this was classic Chase and I loved it. The banter is spot on and so dryly witty. Alice and Giles fall into this friends to lovers dynamic that was endearing, sweet, and hysterical (the Dis-Graces are going to be disgraceful, y’know). So far so good. No complaints.

But I kept wondering how when and why this couple came to be the estranged married couple we’ve seen in the prior two stories. I actually was confused when I got to 70-ish percent and still hadn’t even encountered hide nor hair of a marriage on the rocks. And when it did come….I didn’t even really feel like I needed it. Because it wasn’t done well or even really necessary that far into the story?

It’s Chase, so I still had a good time and I loved Alice and her feral fierceness and Giles and his secret gigantic heart of gold (A Chase classic). But I didn’t *love* it as a whole and I’m a bit sad about it!

We’re back to visit with the Dis-Graces in the third installment of Loretta Chase’s Difficult Dukes series. This is the story of Alice and Blackwood, who are married but estranged in the first two books.

I love Loretta Chase’s writing and the good stuff was present here: great dialogue, interesting characters, well-drawn settings. The problem for me was the plot that included All The Things: evil villain, criminal mastermind, disappearing (3 times!) street urchin, rejected suitors (Justice for Doveridge! Give me his book!), relations in mourning, misbehaving friends, childhood trauma…it goes on and on and distracts from the romance at the heart of the story. I really just wanted more time with Alice and Blackwood.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for an eARC. Opinions are my own.

This was pretty confusing, honestly. For a romance there was a distinct lack of... well, romance. Everything feels taken over by random adventures that didn't seem to ever add up to anything coherent and it only seemed to serve to separate Alice and Giles constantly.

Second chance romances generally have a bit more angst and yearning associated with them, and that was completely missing here. The only hint of romance between Alice and Giles happened years ago with a single kiss that ultimately resulted in nothing and Giles's grand betrayal was to not pursue it any further because he was young and wanted to continue enjoying his freedom and wasn't worthy of her. That's it?

Then once the two finally get together, time jumps ahead another six months and their marriage is bad. Not surprising considering they never communicate and Alice seems to think Giles is a waste of space for the most part, but still, pretty disappointing for a romance.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A very busy story, you won’t be bored. But for all the plot, the romance felt very minimal and I grew a little annoyed.

My Inconvenient Duke takes place in three acts. In the first, the main conflict that Alice and Giles face is her dastardly cousin, Lord Worbury, who is eager to gets his hands on the Ancaster's family assets and take the title from Alice's brother. Having been embarrassed by Alice as a young child, Worbury will do anything in his power to humiliate and degrade her, including making a target of the street boy, Jonesy, that she is trying to save from a violent fate, as so many other orphans face. Sensitive to the needs of children because of her own childhood spent in the care of a neglectful headmistress of a school, Alice seeks to protect Jonesy. During a public confrontation with Worbury when Jonesy and a few other boys tried to steal from him, Worbury makes it his intention to ensnare the boy and possibly imprison or hang him.

The second act of the book revolves around the Duke of Ripley's sudden disappearance. With no information, Alice and Giles are left to wonder about any number of fates that could have befallen him: murdered at the hands of thieves, attacked by someone that Worbury hired, etc. Together, they travel to retrieve him.

Finally, the third act of the book deals with Alice's attempt to overcome the trauma she still associates with her childhood at the Tollstone Academy. She and Giles also have to outsmart the people behind the kidnap of Jonesy, and to put an end to Worbury's scheming, once and for all.

This book is a slow-burn romance, driven primarily by plot rather by character development. The romance between Alice and Giles often falls secondary to the various missions that they undertake. There is very little intimacy in terms of touching, kissing, or sex; also, being that the characters are not in the least romantic, there is practically no praise that passes between them that is not disguised by a joke.

While numerous characters, including Giles himself, claim that Giles is a rakish, irresponsible sort, there is minimal evidence presented in the book to support that. In fact, at one point, Alice draws a mental comparison between herself and the duke, stating that he is the one to follow the rules and implying, to the contrary, that she is not. He enjoys coming up with plans, that is for certain, but that does not make him the misbehaving, brutish man that the readers are told that he is. In fact, his adversity to integrating with society seems to stem not from his desire to continue causing mischief, but from the fact that he is disinclined to associate with others.

The greatest strength of this book was the chemistry established between Alice and Giles. Their exchanges of dialogue are entertaining and fast-paced. They are a match for wits, and the most enjoyable part of the book were the pages when they could carry an extended conversation with each other.

Rating: 4 Stars ⭐️

Spice: 2 out of 5

Characters: Alice & Blackwood

Chemistry: yearning and witty banter

This is the third book in the Difficult Dukes series. My favorite in the series is book #2, The Ten Things I Hate About the Duke.

It’s a second chance romance. The subplots in this book are endless which puts the romance on the back burner. Alice’s backstory, a short stay at a board school and its ramifications were a little over the top. Blackwood’s fear of losing his friendship with Alice’s brother also seemed a bit dramatic. There is a large cast of family, friends, orphans, intrigue, and mystery. The romance was the weakest part of the story.

There is witty banter, yearning, guilt, subplot galore, and mystery.

Thank you to the publisher for providing the ARC.

I did not read the previous books in this series but I don’t think it was super important for me to do so, I didn’t feel lost when the other couples were mentioned. My Inconvenient Duke has all the making to be a very good historical romance but it fell flat for me. There were too many storylines going on and random POVs thrown in that felt unnecessary. Then with the many storylines nothing felt fleshed out. One point I did really like though was that once the couple were married that didn’t automatically turn into a HEA, the end. Instead, we were given time for them to overcome some obstacles.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!
A bit too angsty for my taste and I wish the heroine gave the hero more credit. He seems pretty great to me.

2.5 stars, rounded up

My Inconvenient Duke has most of the things I love in Loretta Chase's historical romances--witty banter, fun scenes, cool historical references, intelligent writing--but the plot overall and the romance between Blackwood and Alice just didn't work for me.

(Side note: I did not remember the plot events from the first two books very well, especially as I said "I should finally read book #2" when I saw this book was being released, only to realize that I already read Ten Things I Hate About the Duke in 2022. Oops.)

The first 75% of the book is how they get together, which felt very dictated by external events happening around them. Alice wants safety and normalcy, but she ditches that quest at the drop of a hat when Blackwood tries to send her home while they're looking for Ripley. There's some tension between them, but it felt spotty and I got the sense that Chase was rushing to get to the wedding.

I also expected their marriage to be more dysfunctional, based on the first two books. It was more that they were focused on separate things--royal duties and her charity work for Alice, keeping Ashmont out of trouble for Blackwood--and I didn't feel like they truly resolved their issues by the end either.

Like always, Loretta Chase delivers. I love this author and she is an automatic buy author for me. This book was amazing. Loved the character development, loved the side characters and loved the plot. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Right off the bat, let me begin by saying that I have not read either of the prior two novels in this series, however that did not stop me from understanding and enjoying this one as it would seem as though all three of these stories take place during the same time frame with events coinciding with each other in some parts.

However, this book has left me feeling very conflicted. On one hand, I enjoyed the banter between Giles and Alice. There were times when their quips made me literally laugh out loud, and it made it easy to buy into their prior history together. The problem I had with this story was that I feel like their romance was secondary to everything else going on which made it hard to connect with that aspect of the story.

She shows up at his house dressed as a washing woman to enlist his help in finding a certain street urchin for which she had a fondness, and he goes with her. Then when her brother goes missing, she demands to accompany him, then takes it upon herself to race off into danger while he is busy elsewhere. Giles points out that unless she allows him to take her back home immediately, she will be ruined so she can either go home and back to the suitor she had there, or she could marry him. Which had me then questioning Alice's true affections for either man as she had a perfectly respectable suitor that she admired very much in Lord Doveridge, who he in turn seemed perfectly amenable to her society work with the less fortunate. But when given the choice between going home before she was utterly ruined and lost all chance of a marriage to that man, Alice instead chooses to accept Giles' proposal (such as it was). She claims she realized that she did not want a life like the kind she would lead with Doveridge, and yet even married to Blackwood, that is exactly the type of marriage she would have. Still doing favors for the Queen and other influential people.

But I digress. The same street urchin runs away again, gets into a spot of trouble, again, and is rescued (you guessed it again) by Lord Blackwood. And then the poor lad ends up kidnapped leading to more drama for our newlyweds. Not that their marriage was off to a good start as it was what with Alice constantly running off to meet with this person or that person to help with her various charitable works (admirable to be sure, but as Blackwood pointed out why couldn't she delegate some of these tasks to other people)?

Of course, Giles wasn't any better constantly running off to keep his friend Lord Ashcroft out of trouble, and honestly these were grown men, why can't this Lord Ashcroft behave his damn self? Why does his newly married friend have to leave his wife at home to come make sure he's not doing anything stupid?

I swear, Alice and Giles spent more time together before they were married than they did after the fact making me care less and less for the state of their marriage (or their happiness in general) as the story went on. I would have much rather preferred to see them together more, finding a way to balance all of their responsibilities and still have time for one another, and in some cases, hashing out their issues and reaching a compromise, for it would seem that was another aspect of their relationship that was sorely lacking, they were both too stubborn for their own good.

Now, I fully understand that I will likely be in the minority here with my thoughts as the story itself is well-written, it just didn't resonate with me the way I wanted it to. However, I do think it will appeal to others who enjoy historical romance novels, and I would read more from this author in the future.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Strong FMC who has to take control of her life knowing she won’t be able to depend on her unreliable brother. At a time where women are at the mercy of others all Alice can do is find a decent man she can marry. The book is detailed and properly researched, though it is 200 something pages it does not go by quickly with the multiple pov’s. I understand the need to be better after realizing that you have no choice in the matter. But the having the sitting in your high horse mentality really bores me/annoying as hell. Though with Alice behaving all proper and Blackwood trying his best everything is a bit serious, but we have some moments where I can’t help but laugh out loud. Blackwood is so attractive in his seriously calm and confident self. I can’t understand why Alice makes such a fuss of him not being as perfect as can be. He’s real fine just the way he is. Unrequited love trope mixed with second chance. I tend to not read these they happen to have a bit to much angst and dramatics for me. But after we put it all aside and they decided to give it a try I was pretty interested. I’ve read many historical romance’s it’s good to see a couple who each has their own life, responsibilities and tends to their friendships. Though it was seen as things were going awry in their marriage from an outsiders perspective. They were very much together. I enjoyed the book and love the authors writing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager publishing I received a ARC for an honest review !

Loretta Chase overcame a serious case of writer's block to get this out into the world, and I think it shows. But more on that later.

This book is about the Duke of Blackwood and Lady Alice Ancaster, and the third party in their relationship: Blackwood's blood-brothers friendship with the Duke of Ripley (who is Alice's brother) and the Duke of Ashmont. Alice is a primal scream of a woman who rages at injustice and often gets into scrapes trying to right wrongs. Cassandra Pomfret, the FMC of Ten Things I Hate About the Duke, is also a disruptor, but Alice is full of barely leashed fury. I loved that, and it (eventually) made Blackwood a perfect match for her.

The book has two main conflicts: Blackwood's (and Ripley's and Ashmont's) continual drunken shenanigans, and a rather nasty villain. Both put Alice's wellbeing and future at risk, which only serves to amplify her rage.

So, the challenge with this book: Rather than the marriage-in-trouble story that I feel was so heavily foreshadowed in the first two books, most of it felt more like a friends-to-lovers story. I spent about three-quarters of the book wondering when we would learn what happened to turn them into the cold, estranged couple we'd been reading about for two books. The marriage-in-trouble aspect really only kicks in at 75%, although you can see it coming. This made for a rather odd and confusing reading experience. I don't think a book has ever upended my expectations like this one.

That said, it's Loretta Chase, and she can turn even an odd reading experience into a beautiful portrait of an imperfect marriage. Alice and Blackwood love each other, but external forces keep them apart. It felt like a truly grown-up book, and I feel like I'd like to read it again to get my head around what Chase has done here; I'd happily do so.

I can understand why some folks are rating this low: They (and I) were expecting another madcap book and got a much more serious one, albeit one with plenty of humor and chemistry.

Stray thoughts:
- I hope an editor puts the kibosh on all the Amusing Capitalization before this is published. Loretta has used it effectively in her books before, but it is overused in the first quarter of the book and starts to be an irritant.
- There is much made of the fact that Blackwood is so intimidating that people often go silent when he enters a room, or nervously leave altogether. But I never felt it was explained WHY he is perceived as so intimidating. Just because of his size and dark hair? Ashmont and Ripley behave just as badly, and yet they're not perceived as so scary.
- Lord Doveridge is hot and I think he and Blackwood's friend the Earl of Lynforde should get their own stories... or maybe one together??
- I fell for Blackwood when we learned that his horses are called Circe and Sappho.
- More detail of Their Dis-Graces' awful behavior has not dimmed my love for Ashmont whatsoever.
- Alice and Blackwood's kisses are very hot.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the advance copy. My Inconvenient Duke is out on Jan. 21, 2025.