Oh my gosh. It’s been weeks since I finished A Duke Never Tells, but I still think about it. For me it was the best mix of Bridgerton and Twelfth Night (one of my top 3 Shakespeare plays)! I went in expecting a charming historical romance, but what I got was so much more—layered comedy, mistaken identities, and cute romance that had me completely wrapped up in the story.

I absolutely loved A Duke Never Tells and I’ll try to contain my excitement and stick to only what the synopsis reveals. There are cases of mistaken identity (intended and otherwise), lots and lots of banter, funny mishaps, and other encounters that made me giggle. The banter was witty and would have kept me entertained all on its own, but the story also had just the right balance of heart and drama to keep me emotionally invested.

The characters were so memorable and fun—I can still picture them quite clearly (even the side characters)! The four romantic leads (yes I consider there to be four, even though two of them might technically be considered side characters) had wonderful chemistry, and their back-and-forth dynamic made me grin so many times.

I audiobooked portions of A Duke Never Tells and have to say that I really enjoyed the show that was put on by the narrators! I could tell that they really embraced the era as well as the comical and romantic tones of the book. All in all, five glowing stars from me! And I will definitely be picking up more books by Suzanne Enoch—old and anything new that might come out in months and years to come!

Unfortunately, not my cup of tea. I would have liked for the story to be more fleshed out. It was quite underwhelming and a little disappointing tbh but it has the potential. The intriguing plot drew me in but the story quickly sizzled out.

Thanks to the publisher for this ARC!

I really wanted to like this. It has all of the elements of something I would like - historical, mistaken identities, undercover dukes - but something about it didn't hit for me. A good read, but not great for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to an e-ARC.

I wanted to love this. The premise had all the ingredients for a clever and charming Regency romp—mistaken identities, social satire, and a heroine with some grit. But once things got going, the execution never quite lived up to the setup.
Lady Meg's scheme to pose as a maid had potential, but the story relies heavily on repetitive misunderstandings rather than developing character growth or chemistry. James, as the incognito Duke, doesn't come across as particularly rakish or enjoyable—just blandly pleasant, which kills the tension. The romance felt rushed and more accidental than fated, and by the halfway point, I was less intrigued and more impatient.
It's not a terrible read, just one that feels undercooked. There's charm here, but it's buried under a predictable plot and missed opportunities. If you're looking for something light and don't mind a romance where the sparks barely sizzle, it might still work for you.

Indeed, it is a comedy of errors. Clara and Meg go undercover to investigate the man Meg is betrothed to, and when they arrive at his estate, he is there and lies about his identity.

The book has Spots of humor but is exceedingly long in the tooth. It just drags and repeats itself over and over.

It's fun, it's witty, it's got banter. It's exactly what it should be, and was an easy, fun spring read.

It's been such a long time since I've read a Suzanne Enoch book, but I decided to give this a try as I've been in the mood to read a Historical Romance.

One of the things I like about this genre and Enoch's writing are the heroines. Whether they are innocent or mischievous, all Historical Romance heroines are written with so much charm, wit and banter. I found that even the older females were really interesting characters as well. It's worth reading just for them.

I kind of wish that there were more popular Historical Romance series out now because I used to really enjoy them in the past. But I haven't found more authors that write like my favorites - Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, Elizabeth Hoyt and Suzanne Enoch.

I liked the set up for this story and we got multiple perspectives of the 4 characters living as others as they fell in love.

Moonlight and the Duke was a fun and lighthearted historical romance that I really enjoyed! The story is about a woman named Lady Meg and her aunt who pretend to be other people so they can check out Meg’s future husband without him knowing. At the same time, the Duke also switches identities, which leads to a lot of funny and confusing situations. I thought the plot was unique and entertaining, especially with all the mistaken identities. The characters had great banter and the side romance between the aunt and the Duke’s friend was actually really sweet, maybe even more interesting than the main romance at times. Even though it didn’t have much spice, the humor and creative twists made up for it. Overall, I think this book was a good read that made me laugh and kept me turning the pages.

In this romantic comedy 18-year-old Meg's father arranges her marriage to a man she's never met. She's basically O.K. with it but she does want to learn something about him before the big day. She and her aunt Clara travel to his home using fake names to question the servants, not expecting the Duke to be there. As the drunk Duke finds himself opening the front door, he doesn't want to deal with guests so he pretends to be the butler. Meg soon sprains her ankle falling on the ramshackle stairs setting the scene for the next two weeks. She can't travel so everyone is stuck playing the pretend version of themselves. There are two romances here. Meg and James, and, Clara and Elliott -his man of affairs now playing the Duke. It was sometimes cute but I thought it was slow going. Class differences are pointed out when for example Meg thinks she's falling in love with a butler, but luckily all's well that ends well.

Trading places...

5 stars for Clara and Rinikin.
4 stars for James and Meg.

Meg is betrothed to James by her parents, as she know she needs to marry up (her father is an earl) so that leaves a marquis or duke. She is engaged, without meeting him, to James, at first a marquis, but then a duke, as his father dies. James has a terrible reputation, well earned for diddling with all the women in the ton. He is lazy, careless, and irresponsible. He and the flighty, people pleaser, Meg deserve each other, as they are both shallow.

Clara, is Meg's aunt. She speaks her mind and doesn't care what people think of her. She's smart, independent and fearless. The story would have been better without James and Meg.

Elliot Rinikin is the butler, took a bullet for the last duke, smart and loyal. He mentors the feckless James.
James and Rinikin trade places.
Meg pretends she's a maid.
Let the shenanigans begin.
4.5

What a delightful comedy of errors.
Poor Meg, she was so looking forward to her season in London, instead her father betroths her to a profligate heir to a duke. Unfortunately, before she can make her way to London, the old duke dies, and she's forced into mourning for a full year.  Now her marriage is fast approaching, and she's never even met her fiancé.  So, she concocts a plan with her free-thinking aunt to go check out the duke and his estate.
The estate has been neglected due to a standoff between father and son despite a very caring estate manager doing his best. Knowing that he's to shortly be married at his estate the duke finally comes home.  He answers the door to two ladies in his shirt sleeves and is promptly mistaken for the butler.  Therein begins an absolutely delightful hoax, the butler and the maid (The true duke and his lady) and the duke and the lady (the estate manager and Meg's aunt).  As the romance unfolds and each one ponders their future it makes for a pretty sparkling story.
I have always enjoyed Ms. Enoch's books, finding myself often laughing aloud to the consternation of people around me should I be reading in public. This one is no exception though I did find it a bit slow in places.

Thank you to Bramble for the ARC!

A Duke Never Tells is the newest from Suzanne Enoch. I adored her last, Every Duke Has His Day, and this was just as much fun. Each character starts out as a bit of a caricature, which makes them easy to distinguish from each other even by audio, but as the book goes on they are fleshed out into more real, dynamic characters.

Lady Meg Pinwell has yet to meet her fiance, the Duke of Earnhurst. She has heard nothing from him since their parents arranged their marriage, shortly before his father’s death. Clara, her mother’s much younger sister, convinces Meg to go on holiday with her - undercover - to visit the Duke’s estate and decide if this marriage is truly what she wants. But once they arrive, they are surprised to find the Duke is in residence after all. Then Meg finds herself bedridden with an ankle injury, and they are forced to stay!

I loved all four characters equally by the end - the Duke took some growing up before I liked him, but his POV was entertaining even before I found him truly likeable. The mistaken identity plotline gave each character reasons to believe they could never be together, which provided just a touch of angst so the book remained lighthearted without being overly fluffy.

I would recommend A Duke Never Tells to fans of classic comedies like The Importance of Being Earnest and Some Like It Hot (is it weird to put those two together?)!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bramble for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

Lady Margaret "Meg" Pinwell is about to start her first season when her father announces that he's spoken to his old friend, the Duke of Earnhurst, and secured her a coveted match with said duke's son and heir. Before Meg has a chance to even go to London and have any fun during the Season, the Duke promptly dies, and forces Meg into a year of mourning, since she is now affianced with the new duke.

A year later, with absolutely no contact from the man she is contracted to marry, Meg is unsurprisingly a bit fed up. A missive to her parents assures them that the new Duke still intends to honour the agreement and Meg will become a duchess without ever even having been to London. The new Duke is rumoured to be quite the rake, with a reputation for gambling, carousing and womanising before his father's death. He didn't even show up to his own father's funeral. Meg asks her aunt Clara (her mother's younger sister) for advice, and they think up a scheme, where they will go to the ducal country estate, pretending to be ladies on the way to London, touring country estates. With Meg disguised as Clara's impoverished companion, they will hopefully get the chance to ask the duke's staff about him, so Meg can get a clearer idea of whether she wants to marry this man at all.

Unbeknownst to Meg and Clara, James Clay, the current Duke of Earnhurst is in fact residing at his country estate, arguing with Elliot Riniken, his father's former (now his) estate management about how his irresponsible behaviour has led to the estate being an overgrown mess, with a manor house that's falling apart. Water leaks have led to several holes in the ceiling, the library is partially covered in mould, and most of the staff have run off to get new positions, with the former butler having stolen a lot of the more valuable silver. The reason the estate is in such a dreadful state is that the former Duke wanted his son to return home, and face his responsibilities for a few years before his death. Both men were incredibly stubborn, James refused, while his father just gave up on any and all upkeep of the house or surroundings, because he decided it was up to his son to fix things. Now they're about to host a wedding in six weeks, and Rinikin can't authorise any repairs until the new duke signs off on them. James seems mostly happy to drink himself into a stupor.

Since there are barely any servants left on the premises, the duke himself opens the door when Clara, not actually a noblewoman but the younger sister of a woman who has married an earl, arrives, disguised as a highborn lady, Lady Sophronia, accompanied by her paid companion, Mabel (Meg). Having recently raided the wine cellar, James thinks it will be a great idea to claim he is the butler of the estate, and he takes the two ladies into the duke's office, claiming that Mr Riniken is the duke. Riniken, a former army officer, is a good ten years older than James, so the two ladies are quite shocked by his appearance, not to mention the ramshackle state of the building, and the fact one of the only servants they can see appears to be drunk in the middle of the day.

Since the ladies are pretending to tour country houses, they agree to go on a tour of the premises (in some of the rooms that aren't actively dangerous to enter), but they've not been there long before Meg tumbles down half a staircase, due to a rotten bannister, and injures her foot badly. The doctor proclaims that she needs complete rest for at least one week, probably two, and suddenly James' practical joke will need to be maintained for the duration of the ladies' stay, lest gossip spread to London that the new Duke of Earnhurst is a drunken madman who pretends to be a butler to visitors.

Four people, lying about their true identities, two of them also about the reason they're even at the estate in the first place, are stuck in a house that's falling apart, forced into close proximity while maintaining an increasingly more elaborate deception. Since Meg/Mabel is forced to stay bedridden for a lot of the stay, Clara/Sophronia spends a lot of time trying to get to know the "Duke" better, so they can find evidence to present to Meg's parents for why the match must be broken. Finding herself gradually falling for the man she believes is her beloved niece's intended isn't exactly ideal. Rinikin, on his part, is fighting his attraction to what he believes to be a woman of a much higher status than himself. James, seemingly the world's worst butler, would also be a deeply inappropriate match for Lady Margaret Pinwell, or even Mabel the ladies' companion - but they also can't seem to stop being drawn to one another, kissing whenever the opportunity arises.

In your standard romance novel, you sometimes get romances featuring the mistaken identity trope. Well, in this book, not only do you get two romances for the price of one, but you get mistaken identity times four. Not only that, but you get multiple POVs. Not only do the readers get to see the story through Meg, Clara, James and Elliot's eyes, but there are a few chapters from the POV of James' very supercilious and long-suffering valet.

It's been years since I read a romance by Suzanne Enoch, and this was quite different from any historical romance I've read before. Sometimes you have secondary romances taking place in the background while our protagonists find their HEAs, but in this book, there are four protagonists and both romances come with a number of complications, getting more and more farcical as the story progresses.

While we are given reasons for why James Clay has been completely ignoring his responsibilities for years, causing his country estate to deteriorate so badly, they just seemed rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things. His father was too hard on him, he seemed to always prefer the opinions of Rinikin and treated him as a replacement son (at least in the eyes of James). Because of the weird power struggle between the former duke and his son, most of the staff went without wages and were forced to find jobs elsewhere. Rinikin is at his wits' end trying to keep the business side of the dukedom afloat. It's not until a beautiful woman is badly hurt falling down the stairs that James seems to see that the house is a wreck and he needs to do something to fix it. Not only does he authorise Rinikin to handle craftsmen to come to repair it, but he does a lot of the physical labour himself, especially when it comes to restoring the gardens (this also seemed rather out of character for a privileged nobleman).

Obviously, everything works out fine in the end, with everyone's true identities being revealed in plenty of time for a double wedding and HEAs all over the place. This was a fun enough book, but I think four people running around lying about their identities was a bit too much for me. I don't mind a light-hearted romp, but there were a bit too many complications for me to be likely to want to reread this in the future.

<b>Judging a book by its cover:</b> While I'm delighted to see something other than yet another cartoony cover on a romance novel, I'm not sure that this is a great improvement. The hot pink, the lurid green, the teal of the cover model's cravat. It's all a bit of an eyesore. The guy's smirk isn't exactly helping, either.

A quick little trip to spy on Meg’s future husband has turned into total disaster in this very funny historical rom-com. Basically, Lady Meg is in an arranged marriage to a duke with a terrible reputation, so she and her aunt Clara go playing a part of a lady and companion to visit the duke’s estate. Except James is a grumbly sort of duke who is not interested in playing tour guide, so he pretends to be the butler and introduces his man of business Elliot as the duke. We have four different people pretending to be someone they’re not, and it all gets worse when Meg injures her ankle and they have to stay there (and keep up their roles for two weeks). And of course, we get a double romance here with Clara and Elliot pairing off and Meg and James growing closer together, no one knowing the other person’s true identity. It’s mostly funny and sweet and an enjoyable read, especially since we get to see all four characters POVs along the way.

While I love "The Importance of Being Earnest" and enjoyed this slight adaptation, if didn't quite live up to Enoch's past romance novels.

Oh, my goodness. This was such a fun regency romance. Suzanne Enoch gives us four main characters, all of whom I fell in love with and was so happy to see them all find love themselves.

Right away, we meet Meg and her rebellious aunt Clara. Clara eschews all societal expectations, preferring to publish pamphlets than settle down with a man. So when Meg decides she wants to meet the roguish rake she’s been betrothed to before their wedding, Clara is all too happy to help her niece. This help comes in the form of a ploy to disguise Meg as a maid to Clara’s lady. Of course, their meeting the Duke of Earnhurst doesn’t go according to plan - especially when the duke and his man of business unknowingly play the same game of pretend that Meg and Clara are playing.

This whole romance - truly a comedy of errors - was enjoyable from start to finish. This regency romance was just fun from start to finish, and I read through this one faster than I usually read historical romances. I don’t come across a lot of romances with more than two point-of-views, so having six characters narrate this story was fun and unique.

I loved that Enoch gave us two couples finding love. It was double the love for the characters and double the enjoyment for the reader. Our four main characters - Meg, Clara, James, and Elliott - all had clearly different voices, making it easy to get lost in the story without losing the plot. I did get a bit of anxiety from all these characters thinking they were falling in love with someone they couldn’t have, knowing they were all headed for a wake up call before they end. But, Enoch gave these characters their happily ever afters with minimal issues when the truths were all revealed.

From all the secrets, to the couples who got to fall in love, this regency romance was fun from start to finish. I could’ve easily read separate romances for both couples, but having their stories intertwined made for a memorable read.

I absolutely love a good historical romance, romcom, but they are hard to find! And if you’re like me, and you’re looking for HR with a good laugh, Suzanne Enoch, has you covered with her latest release, A Duke Never Tells!

Miscommunication, mistaken identity, and sometimes drive me a little crazy, but this one was so much fun! Featuring not one but two sets of characters and have swapped their identities and both sets end up, pairing up and falling in love- while not knowing the actual true identity of the other!

Lady Meg has been promised by her father to marry the new Duke of Earnhurst, but she is not interested in a stuffy old Duke, she wants her season and she wants to have fun and fall in love on her own. With that in mind, she decides to scope out her perspective Duke and learn a little bit more about him with her trusty sidekick and BFF, her Aunt Clara. Together, they travel to the Duke’s estate under false identities, casting Lady Meg as the ladies maid to lady Sophronia- a.k.a. aunt Clara in disguise. Expecting him not to be in residence, while there they are surprised to encounter the stuffy rakish Duke and his young and inexperienced Butler. Unbeknownst to them the Duke and his man of business has swapped places, and are also operating under different identities.

When an accident occurs and Meg and Clara can’t leave after a quick visit, this Mötley foursome ends up, spending a lot more time together and some interesting pairings occur!

I had so much fun reading this book and getting all four perspectives from the characters. The story moves at a good pace and I loved the ending and how they manage to work things out and reveal the identities/love interests!

This was an entertaining and enjoyable historical romp - and I loved that it never went any further than kissing - but it was incredibly slow. Now, I enjoy a good slow-burn, and I enjoyed this one. However, I did several times feel like it really needed to get on with the story. There are also several POV characters - the four main characters, and then three minor characters. There really didn't need to be that many POV characters and the minor characters didn't add anything that couldn't have been reworked into the main four. The mistaken identity plot was hilarious and often pushed the boundaries of credulity. Meg and James were both a little silly and Meg was so set on hating the Duke that she was blinded to a lot of things about both him and his man of business.

The audiobook narrator did a great job bringing the characters to life and highlighting the absurdity of the situations they found themselves in. I would recommend listening to it.

*Thanks to Bramble and Dreamscape Media for providing an early copy for review.

Lady Meg Pinwell, 18, enjoys spending time with her spinster aunt, Clara Bosley, 26, as Meg prepares for her debut presentation to the Queen. Her parents, Gregory and Josephine Pinwell, Earl and Countess of Brunden, expect Meg to marry either a duke or a marquis. But when Earl Brunden returns from a trip, he announces that he has betrothed Meg to James Clay, son of the Duke of Earnhurst. Before even meeting James, his father dies and as his betrothed, Meg is thrown into a year of mourning for the late duke. At the end of that time, Meg is now told she will marry James in 6 weeks even though she has never met the man. So, Meg and Clara don simple clothes and with Clara calling herself a silly name and Meg as her companion, also with a silly name, arrive at Earnhardt Castle under the pretense of wanting to tour the place. However, as James has been ignoring the needed repairs on the Castle for years, it is in terrible shape. When Meg trips on the stairs and sprains her ankle, the doctor says she must rest for a fortnight meaning they will be staying at the castle for that time. In addition, James and his man of business, Riniken, swap identities leaving the duke to pretend to be the butler and Riniken the duke.

As this story moves forward, we find the women falling for James and Riniken, but which one do they desire? While this was at times a mIte confusing, I found that the reader has to pay very close attention to what is being said by each of the characters to keep up with the farce. However, this story is clever, fun and funny. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.