This was an exceptional historical romance. A starchy duke? Check. An estranged wife? Check. Generally, I loved this book. I loved the tension, the enemies to lovers and overall a wonderful way to end my reading year!

The Duke and Duchess of Hastings have been estranged for nine years, with the Duke, Julian, disappearing abroad as a spy for Her Majesty and the Duchess, Caroline, throwing herself into her art. While is apartment is under construction during the Parliamentary session, Julian moves home to their Townhouse, and Caroline asks him to play the part of the dutiful husband during the Season to fend off the gossip and whispers from Society. They become closer as Julian enlists Caroline’s help with decoding a message from a dangerous terrorist, and it becomes clear that even though they’ve been apart, the heat between them is as hot as ever.

When I say I want a hero that will crawl across broken glass for the heroine, Julian is what I mean. I think every part of the book was so well done. The book is really hot, especially with Julian writing these explicit love notes for Caroline with exactly what he wants to do together. Typically for second-chance romances you also have to decide if you forgive the transgressor, but in this book I’m not sure either of them are really in-the-wrong. Readers may get frustrated and say that the issue is they just need to talk to each other, but you have to acknowledge that having a vulnerable conversation is really difficult, especially after a loss. This was my first book by Katrina Kendrick, but I’m ordering the rest of her backlist now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm addicted to the character chemistry that Katrina Kendrick writes.

The Wayward Duke is a marriage in crisis (one of my favorite histrom tropes these days). Julian and Caroline married young, and early in their marriage multiple tragedies hit that they were unable to reconcile and grieve together. 8 years apart ends the day Julian walks back into the house they used to share, and as different people they see the love buried beneath the grief. Amidst reconciliation, more disaster strikes: someone is planting explosives and targeting political figures, including the Duke of Hastings.

While I love the chemistry and the heat in this series, Kendrick never shies away from packing a book with plot. Her skills as a fantasy writer are on display as the stakes climb ever higher with the risks Julian and Caroline face. This has all the angst of a marriage-in-crisis/second chance early on in the book, but the second half the conflict is all external, making this book ideal for someone who loves angst but hates a third act breakup.

There's a little unevenness for me in the storytelling here, but I'll allow it in exchange for nude paintings, codebreaking, and a main couple who can't wait to tear each other's clothes off. There's series payoff for those of us who have read the previous 4 books, as Caroline features throughout those, as the Duchess mysteriously estranged from her husband, but you can easily read this first and work your way backwards into the series.

“The Wayward Duke” by Katrina Kendrick is a darkly romantic mystery. The Duke and Duchess of Hastings have been apart for far too long, but can they move forward after past hurt and misunderstandings? As they figure out if love is lost they also have the challenge of solving a mystery that could continue to cause havoc for the London Ton. The author does a great job of showcasing the Duke and Duchess of Hastings as passionate, intelligent and charismatic. I recommend you check out this very enjoyable read!

The Wayward Duke by Katrina Kendrick is a historical romance that doesn’t shy away from the angst—if anything, it leans into it with raw, emotional depth. The longing, pain, and tragedy that envelop Julian and Caroline’s relationship is utterly heartbreaking. The dual timelines, one set before and one after their estrangement, are perfectly paced, revealing just enough of their troubled past at the right moments. This slow unraveling of their story kept me hooked and added to the emotional weight of their journey.
The tragedy at the heart of their romance turned out to be far more devastating than I initially expected. The emotions on the page were so vivid and palpable that I found myself moved in a way I haven’t been in a long time—tears were definitely shed. This book truly embodies the hurt/comfort trope, with Julian and Caroline’s tragic past, miscommunication, and assumptions keeping them apart. They married so young, and tragedy led to misunderstandings that seemed impossible to overcome. Yet, despite all the heartache, there’s a sense of healing and redemption that makes their eventual reunion all the more poignant.
By the time I reached the end of the book, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to either of these characters. Their journey felt so deeply personal and moving, and I was invested in their happiness right up to the last page.
As for the codebreaking subplot, while it didn’t grab me as much as the emotional core of the story, it did serve a crucial role in bringing the estranged couple back together. It was an interesting addition, even if it didn’t hold as much appeal for me personally.
Content Warning/Disclaimer: This novel deals with sensitive topics, including infertility, miscarriage, and infant loss. Please check the trigger warnings if these themes may be difficult for you to read about.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review!

The plotline and the characters are great, but some of the writing is a little stilted making it seem disconnected. It might suit to have the book be a little longer, but with more background because the events seemed rushed. Still, I really liked the characters!

3.25 Stars! I enjoyed the characters in this book, especially Wentworth!
The plotlines felt like they were from different books at points, with the two main characters going from estranged to rekindled (or should I say lit ablaze with the spice!) to thwarting crime. I hadn't read the rest of the Private Arrangements books before this one, but I will definitely be going back to read them now.
Thank you to NetGalley/Bloomsbury USA for the chance to read this ARC.

I ATE this book. Since the last book in the series i read, I was fascinated with this author.
I was so excited to read this one, it completely met my expectations.
The angst was delicious and followed by the first class spice 🥵 I liked it a lot

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC

Satisfyingly angsty and filled with sensuality and pulse-pounding action, The Wayward Duke was so good it’s made me want to check out the other volumes in Katrina Kendrick's Private Arrangements series.

Caroline, Duchess of Hastings, has a bum marriage but can paint like nobody’s business. She and Julian, the Duke of Hastings, have forged completely separate lives from one another after distance and time estranged them. Caroline has been happy with a solitary life spent painting while Julian attends to his interests in other countries; he’s a codebreaker for the crown and his work is dangerous. Julian is so often absent that Caroline has turned the ducal chamber in their home into her art studio. To her, his visits are pure torture and a reminder of what was and could have been.

Once, they had a close and passionate connection that sparked from a near lifelong friendship, but they were forced to marry after being caught in a compromising position. They were happy for a while, but the death of their mutual best friend, Grace, has changed everything. Julian has become so remote since then that Caroline is convinced that Julian loved Grace, not her, believing that was why he fled and left her all alone to face Grace’s funeral – and the stillbirth of their son. They have been living apart for eight years, but Caroline demands change. If Julian is to stay with her while his apartments are being renovated, he must act the part of a loving husband during his one month stay in their house and put an end to the social humiliation she has suffered.

Julian, of course, is dealing with another case. A master cryptographer, he’s been called in to figure out some threatening letters that baffle authorities. He can’t break the code – but Caroline can. Soon they’re getting shot at, nearly blown up, having carriage sex and working undercover together. But can all of this danger lead to a recovered marriage? Or will one of them end up alone and cold in their grave?

The Wayward Duke is Kendrick’s best novel so far. While clichés tripped up her previous book, the strong amount of angst in the plot of this one works in her favour. I did have to ding it because there were a number of repetitive plot points – Caroline nearly dies multiple times for Julian, to the point where her near-deaths start looking like carelessness. Some readers aren’t going to enjoy the deep, dark reason for Caroline and Julian’s estrangement. But he does try to make amends, and when she pushes him away it makes a lot of sense. Neither of them comes off as immature or childish, even when grappling with a near decade of guilt. They’re two wounded people realistically reacting to their pain and trying to fight temptation, and I greatly enjoyed their journey. I actually wanted them to spend more time talking about the stillbirth and mutually grieving the lost child – she rejects him so hard that it lingers over the book. I know it’s nine years in the past for them, but still. Yet the romance is hot, the characters likable and interesting, the sex scenes intense, and the spy plot successfully twisty.

The book seamlessly weaves in the flashbacks to nine years earlier to explain how the estrangement between Caroline and Julian happened, and we see other characters from the series, though I easily picked this book up without having read the other instalments.
Overall The Wayward Duke worked well for me, and could be a fine introduction to Kendrick’s work. It avoids some of her earlier pitfalls, making for a well-wrought and engrossing romance.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this ebook and this is my freely given opinion.

This is book 4 of the Private Arrangements series and while there is some appearances of previous characters and references to some incidences that have occurred in the previous books, I felt this could be read as a standalone story.

This is a second chance at love story about the married Duke of Hastings and his duchess, who have been estranged for years. As a warning, the storyline involves the emotional trauma of a lost child, so if this is a sensitive trigger, be aware of it.

Julian and Caroline have been friends for many years, along with their friend Grace. This story goes back and forth in time, and outlines their friendship, and their marriage, and a background of miscommunication and misunderstanding that hid a passionate love, and the horrible series of events that lead to the downfall of their marriage.

Because no matter how long, Caroline and Julian loved each other, and still do, but do not know how to overcome their past misunderstandings and presumptions, or are too afraid to speak to each other and expose their deepest vulnerabilities and hurts to each other, to fix what went wrong.

A very emotional story that tore at my heart. I liked how the author gave both perspectives of the MCs, because what they present to each other and to the world are very cool, calculated facades that hide a lot of hurt, and passion. Add on to the second chance at love and the renewal of a passionate affair is the added story line of two intelligent and creative people who appreciate each other's talents as well, as there is also a code-breaking spy storyline mixed into their love story, which is partly what brings them back together again after so many years.

The previous books in the series hinted as to their estrangement and this book gives the answers to many questions that were brought up, and gives an emotionally satisfying HEA to their storyline.

But I felt that their misunderstanding over Grace and her place in their friendship/relationship was not quite satisfactorily resolved between the two of them, as Caroline thought for many years that Julian loved and wanted to marry Grace, and she was a second choice that he was forced to take.

4.75 stars out of 5

I loved this book so much! Marriage in trouble is one of my favorite romance tropes and Kendrick handles the story of estranged couple Caroline and Julian with great care to the difficult themes of grief of loss that kept the two of them apart. I am new to this series but The Wayward Duke was easily read as a standalone and now I am anxious to read the others as I thoroughly enjoyed Kendrick’s writing. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy!

3.5 stars

Caroline Hastings, Duchess of Hastings, has been separated from her husband, Julian, for the past eight years. Julian does some work for the government as a code-breaker. The book has flashbacks to scenes from the beginning of their marriage when they were happy. Julian returns after eight years of silence and tells Caroline that he has to move in to the ducal home while his apartments are being renovated. Caroline is horrified that she has to be so close to him after all this time. They agree to pretend to be a loving couple in public, and Caroline begins to help Julian with some code-breaking work. Their safety is threatened when an unknown threat starts leaving coded messages and targeting the ton. Julian and Caroline have to work together and confront the trauma from their past before they can move forward.

This book can be read as a standalone. I enjoyed the characters and the writing, but I was frustrated that Caroline and Julian were estranged for eight years. It just felt really unrealistic and unsatisfying to have them be unhappy for so long. I didn't care for the time jumps throughout the book.

I enjoyed this book, and it took me two days to finish it, so it was good. In the beginning, I didn't enjoy jumping from past to present that much, but I kind of got used to it and once we were back to the present for good, it was easier to read it. I liked the characters, the story was well written, especially the mystery part. However, for me, there were too many sexy time scenes and too little about the rest of Julian and Caroline's relationship. So 4 stars from me.

Leaving this review hurts because I have really enjoyed the prior historical romance in this series by Katrina Kendrick. Moreover, The Wayward Duke features what purported to be one of my favorite tropes: estranged married couple! Plus, my other favorite trope of icy, stern hero! Except reading this novel made me feel off kilter, and I couldn't settle until I realized it was for two main reasons. First, the duke and the duchess didn't really resemble their characters from previous installments, though we saw relatively little of the former. But of the latter, Caroline's passion was painting, and then suddenly in this, she's a linguist and codebreaker? What? It felt very shoehorned in because the author had decided in her plot making to make Julian an expert codebreaker. Oh, okay. Well, I can usually get over stuff like that if the angst and longing is ratcheted up appropriately. And it was ratcheted...but then I realized the second problem: There really was no conflict to prevent the two characters from getting back together. From the beginning of the novel, it's clear from their interior thoughts and exterior actions that they both looooooved each other, and they miiiiiiiiiised each other. They want to have sexy sex sex sex with each other. Which is great. But as a reader, it's extremely boring. Where's the tension?! The angst! The stakes? Because of this, it was inexplicable why the couple didn't hash out the not very convincing reason for their separation earlier. And the "danger" plot didn't really help.

Some of the tension was supposed to be because Julian allegedly loved Grace, their mutual best friend, who passed away, but then had to marry Caroline! But that was waved away by having Julian pose naked for Carolline and discover, nope, nope, he loved her all along. What? Honestly, the novel would have been MUCH better if he had loved Grace and had married Caroline instead. because then there would have been real stakes, tension, and character evolution.

Anyway, I seem to leave harsher reviews for books and authors I have higher expectations of. Unfortunately, I'm going to give this one 3 stars. It just was almost like fan fiction, and I can't recommend it.

This book is EVERYTHING. The Wayward Duke was my first read from Katrina Kendrick, but it certainly won't be the last. This book is delicious - a delight on every page. Highly recommended!!

A great second-chance story! The flashbacks were key to the story and the cryptology was a great metaphor for learning how to love each other again. The subplot of the bomber was interesting and gave everything higher stakes.

I’ve been waiting for Julian and Caroline’s story for EVER. It was worth the wait.

Past mistakes. Second chances. Steamy scenes. This book had it all. I loved reading about Julian and Caroline working together and realizing that even tho they’ve been apart, they’ve always been in love.

Thank you Bloomsbury USA and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you Bloomsbury USA/NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC!

This is hands-down my favorite installment of the 'Private Arrangements' series. I'd been looking forward to Caroline's book forever and OH BOY it didn't disappoint. I LOVE her & Julian; great characters & both delish.

Honestly I could've done without the secondary mystery plot, as I felt like it detracted from the romance a bit. I also wish there was a bit more time spent on Julian & Caroline talking about the events that drove them apart 8 years ago; they seemed to heal and move on VERY quickly.

Regardless, I still super enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more Katrina Kendrick!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

I was sooo looking forward to this book - I desperately wanted this couple's backstory after seeing them in the first novel of the series and counting down the days for the release - and have since read every other book in this series by this author.
I will say, it was both satisfying and a bit of a letdown to discover a little bit more about what happened in their past. No contact...for 8 years??? Holy cow. I appreciated that there was some subversion of the typical groveling trope - in fact, it was this miscommunication trope that wasn't all on the MMC and forced him to grovel (though I do love a good grovel.) Still, their miscommunication was a bit of a letdown - and I suppose, you see elements of how she's pined for him (with the language learning) and...I mean he clearly has loved her and always loved her. The subversion in so far as her thinking he loved their best friend was resolved incredibly fast, which was both surprising and a little bit disappointing.

5 stars for Caroline and Julian!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this one more than I thought I would! The story pulled me in right from the start and I finished this book within 2 days! Caroline and Julian were the perfect couple reunited once more!! Katrina Kendrick did a phenomenal job with showing how these characters grew from their past to their present. Ugh and they were separated for years 😭. But what I loved was the loyalty and the reunion. That is what really won me over. Every moment between Julian and Caroline, intimate and innocent, were so good and I enjoyed their dialogue so much. Ooh and the spice! A truly great hostirical romance filled with enjoyable spice.

Katrina Kendrick has definitely gained a new reader in me! Reading this book only makes me want to go back and read the rest of the series from the first to this one! I am definitely the most interested in reading Tempting the Scoundrel! And I can't wait to re-read The Wayward Duke!

Thank you to Netgalley, Bloomsbury USA | Aria, and Katrina Kendrick for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of The Wayward Duke!