An entertaining enemies to lovers romance!

I enjoyed the romance a lot here. The characters had great chemistry and banter. I liked their dynamic a lot. I found it to be very entertaining. I couldn't get enough scenes of them together. The class difference trope was done well too. I really felt the drama and angst.

The writing is fast paced and easy to read. I was quickly immersed in the story and swept away.

When Prince Christian comes to England to oversee his young ward and his ward’s widowed mother Tamsin, he never expected to fall in love with her. While she is a duchess, she became one by her marriage and is therefore not high enough to marry him in his country. Tamsin is quite happy as a widow of means and, while attracted to Christian, she does not want to give up her new found freedom. Can they compromise for a happy ever after? I received an ARC from NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for my honest review.

This was my first Michelle McLean book and I enjoyed every moment of it. This was my first historical romance with German nobility and it definitely makes me want to read a lot more because I love the rules and structure of their marriage rules. Tamsin has so much strength being an anonymous political critic, along with raising her son by herself as her husband passed when he was a baby. She also pushes strongly against Christian when he arrives and tries to make his life horrible while he’s in charge of the estate and her son’s education and other similar things.

I love the trope when one character tries to make the other’s life insufferable and this one was perfect. I loved how Tamsin handled Christian and kept him on his toes, and she finally got her way when they went to London! Slowly they fall for each other, but there is a lot of issues preventing them from getting married or moving forward, especially as Christian has some duties and responsibilities to his title as well. I loved how this one played out and I hope to see these characters in future books!

Goodreads and Bookbub were posted on October 12, 2024. Amazon and Instagram will be posted on release day!

This enemies to lovers romance has a fast pace and well-devoloped characters to keep the reader engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in return for my honest review

I really enjoyed this book from a new to me author. Tamsin is a widow and mother of a 2 year old duke. But is shunned by the ton because she comes from trade. Christian arrives from Germany as the baby duke's co-guardian.

Tamsin, not happy about Christian's blundering attempts to interfere in their lives, embarks on a series of pranks to try to get her Christian out of their hair.

Great banter and shenanigans ensue.

We also have a supporting cast of friends who are constantly eye rolling over the antics as well as Tamsin and Christian's obvious attraction to each other.

This is slow burn and low spice, but has lots of s*xy kisses.

Thank you Entangled Publishing and Michelle McLean for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Really loved the vibes in this book.

It was a fast-paced and enjoyable read. I liked the story and being taken back to this time in historical London. I think it shed light on societal expectations on a woman and how not every woman followed that premise.

Tamsin, the FMC, isn't timid and she is smart. She wants to be beholden to herself after being widowed and fights that societal perspective that she should remarry. Now, to the MMC, Christian, who much in good conscious find Tamsin a husband. I mean, I get his perspective but I didn't enjoy him until he threw caution to the wind. So most of the book, I was yelling at him to get on with it already. The banter and build up of their relationship although cute and lovely, is predictable.

The ending also was fast and I wanted more of a wrap up. This being said, it's still an enjoyable read and I'm glad that I got the chance to read it.

Thanks to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC!

Historical romance has always been my first love of reading so I was happy to request Michelle's newest one. Just this year I read a book by her and knew I wanted to read more! So one of the best things about the book was the German thrown in periodically, not that I speak it fluently but it was fun to read and know what was being said! Tamsin is a strong Regency heroine who is a perfect foil for Christian. Overall, an easy fun read!

As always, thanks to Entangled Publishing for providing me with this ARC!

This story was fantastic! The characters could easily be side characters in Bridgerton that got their own little side story. The whit and banter between the lead characters was perfection. This was a great fast paced enemies to lovers period piece. I will definitely be adding more of this author's books to my TBR!
Widowed Tamsin is living her best life (mostly) until her departed husband's cousin is sent to manage her estate until her toddler is of age to take over. Thru arguments and wacky pranks, the slow burn romance ensues

A cute, fun read. Easily finished in an hour. This enemies to lovers romance has a fast pace and interesting characters to keep the reader engaged. I’d read more from this author if I came across something in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in return for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

A fun frothy historical! I enjoyed reading this and it was a quick pleasant story.

This was a fun easy going historical romance from a time when it's not as simple to be with someone you love. It is clear to the few close people near them that Tamsin and Christian were made for each other. Watching the banter between them as they get to know each other is entertaining. The build up to our HEA is at just the right speed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

I enjoyed reading this one. It is a relaxing read. Something I would recomnend as a weekend, vacation, or beach read.

I read it in one sitting.

Recommend.

*enemies to lovers
*banter
*independent and strong FMC
*duty or desire

Tamsin and Christian didn’t make sense to me as a couple and I found I wasn’t able to warm up to the story.

Other readers will love this, but it wasn’t for me.


Thank you to Entangled Amara and NetGalley for the DRC

I was given this in exchange for an honest review. I really wanted to like this but I was not over the moon about it. The story was slow and hard for me to get into. It got a little bit better towards the end but this took me forever to finish.

“The Duchess Takes it All” by Michelle McLean
A Super FUN Read
YES, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this story. There were times that I truly laughed out loud. Also, there was a time, or two, when the saline water poured out of my eyes and dripped off my chin. Thankfully, I smiled and cheered again. I think most everyone has been in a position requiring them to make very difficult choices. Just maybe not as life changing as the choices to be made by the characters in this story. Yes, this is a worthy read. Oh, and there was a bit of spice in this story; but I think you can handle it. Happy Reading ! !

**Please note that my rating scale is very picky and only the best of the best in the book world earn a 5 star review from me. However, 3 and 4 star books I still very much enjoy reading, and I consider good.

Overall, I would give this historical forbidden romance a 3.5/5! I had a fun time reading this book, and enjoyed watching Tamsin go nuts trying to get back to where she wanted. Truly the female brain was accurately shown here, and it made it funny to read. (Especially her little innuendos which of course drove our dear count mad) I do not read many historical romances but this one sounded interesting, so I wanted to give it a try, and going back in time with my characters was a fun experience. I enjoyed the rollercoaster of emotions that was brought on with women not having the rights they want, but a man in the society willing to give the rights to his true love. Also, this book did contain a little ~spice~ after the long awaited romance finally blossomed. I also definitely did not see the twist coming at the end, and I love being kept on my toes.

However, the end of the book to me felt a little rushed, and I wished that I had more context on some of the characters, which may have been in some of the other books. I think I just wish I had a little more between the last few chapters and the epilogue to see some of the character dynamics a little more before the details in the epilogue were given. This was a great historical romance for those looking for a quick read, with plenty of banter, wit, and cleverness, and I will be keeping my eye out for other books by this author!

The title was intriguing and had me wondering what exactly the Duchess took? Tasmin Palmer, Duchess of Clevesly is in mourning when we meet her. She's confident, mischievous, creative, strong willed, independent, and yet a stickler for the rules of the ton. To her displeasure, we meet Christian August, Count of Rauchberg. He is there to make sure her deceased husband's estates are in order. Christian is noble, stubborn, overbearing, overprotective, dutiful, and somehow always manages to put his foot in his mouth. These two together are hysterical. Christian can never seem to say the right thing when talking to Tasmin and she is definitely not afraid to let him know when he's being obtuse. The things Tasmin does to try to get Christian to leave are horribly fantastic. More than once, I found myself laughing until I had tears in my eyes. I thoroughly enjoyed watching their relationship. They both learned things about themselves and each other throughout the story. Their friends only added to the humor. A few omgoodness plot twists, tears from laughter, tears from heartbreak and the occasional head shake are just a few of the reactions I had while reading their story. I'm hoping that we get more stories involving some of the friends. I would love to read their stories as well.

I love a we cannot fall in love because
1. I am now a widow and no man is in charge of me.
2. You are not suitable to be my wife
3. I will thwart your management of my child.

Witty banter, secrets, and two dummies who fall in love anyway.

Tamsin Palmer, the widowed Duchess of Clevesly, has everything a woman could want, except being accepted by the society due to her unblue blood. And to make matters worse, her departed husband had assigned a co-guardian of their son, the handsome Count of Rauchberg, who seems most insistent on dictating the terms of Tamsin's duchy and how to raise her son.
Christian August has never been so vexed in his life. He's come to help raise the duchess's son, and in return, she's doing everything she can to destroy his peace of mind, and make ignoring the attraction between them difficult to ignore.
This was a wonderful story and I enjoyed reading it. I loved the connection between Tamsin and Christian, and how understanding they were of each other. There was some entertaining banter between them and I enjoyed the pranks that Tamsin played on Christian, made their slow burn chemistry that much hotter. Christian stole my heart in the last couple of chapters, truly a swoon worthy hero.
I enjoyed reading Duchess take it all and look forward to reading more by the author.

3.5 stars

So, the writing wasn't bad, but I really disliked the characters, particularly the MMC. He suffered from what I call the Jamie Frasier problem (I've only read the first Outlander book, please don't come for me). Christian was an entirely period appropriate, pompous jerk. And frankly, even when he fell for the heroine, he still had that "I know best" edge to him.

Now, some people appreciate that sort of thing, but it's not my cup of tea.

Also, the ending seemed really rushed. I almost thought there wouldn't be an HEA (which secretly pleased me since I was made at the MMC, yet simultaneously upset me because it's a romance!) But it turned out right in an abrupt and rather convoluted manner.