My Review:

So I was so saddened to have to DNF this author, especially since she is the only modernistic historical author I actually have enjoyed. But I did have to DNF this one. I loved the hero and I am so curious to see what happens to him. However, the issue I had was with the heroine. I didn't like her motivations to have a career. Its very not of the time and the way the heroine acted about it, felt like she didn't understand the society she was in. She felt very contemporary to me and even though sometimes this author writes them a bit more modernistic at times, this heroine it was super obvious and it was less subtle. So I am having to pass on it. I can read heroines who have to work because their circumstances demand it, or they have little options. This heroine has other options actually, she was born in higher society, she probably doesn't even need a career....she just wants to have one to have one lol It just didn't feel authentic to the time at all and I am more stricter with the historicals I read. So while it was really hard for me to DNF this one as I do love this author both as a person and a writer, I just can't with this one. But if you like modernistic stories where the heroine wants to have a career in this way.....then this one will be for you. But if you prefer more authentic heroines, I would say to pass on this one and read her backlisted books.

Second story in the Doves of New York.

Heiress Eliza is in London to find a match - only she isn't interested in anyone...until she runs into a mystery man referred to as the Duke, in a secret hallway during a party. Simon, is no gentleman, but a prize fighter trying to save his sister's daughter. Their interactions are entertaining and the story is intriguing.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Harper St. George delivers a gritty, passionate historical romance that stands out from the typical ballroom fare. Eliza is bold, impulsive, and craving freedom; Simon, the so-called “Duke,” is all grit, heart, and bruised knuckles. Their chemistry crackles from the start, and the class tension adds depth to the heat. While Eliza’s recklessness sometimes tested my patience, I admired her fire—and Simon is the kind of protective, layered hero I couldn’t help but root for. A little uneven in pacing, but overall a satisfying, steamy escape.

The beginning of the book was a bit slow, but I liked the development of Eliza and Simon as characters. They had a cute relationship

Eliza and the Duke was a wonderful next installment in Harper St. George’s historical romances set in Gilded Age New York and Victorian England.

In this second book in the Doves of New York series, strong-willed and impulsive Eliza wants one night of adventure in London before tying herself down to the stuffy nobleman she’s agreed to marry for money.

But she doesn’t bargain for her attraction to “the Duke,” the nickname of Simon Cavell, a scrappy Whitechapel prize fighter who has pulled himself up into a life of respectability. He’s still tied to the crime lord who helped raise him, and he’s hoping to break free and save his niece as well after just one more fight.

This was a set up for a delicious and scandalous romance that I absolutely ate up. Watch out – I think this might be Harper’s spiciest romance yet. (That carriage scene! omg!)

Overall, such a fun historical romance in a period of time that I love to read about. Perfect if you love the series The Gilded Age (which I do!).

I liked the idea of this book, but the execution just didn't work. I felt like the first half of the book and the second half of the book were written by two different people. The writing toward the end of the book felt very passive, and I had a hard time caring about the characters. I am more interested in reading more about Eliza's sister, Jenny, and Lord David. I have not read the first book in the series, and I found it difficult to navigate all of the characters and their relationships to one another.

This was a fun premise for our second Dove sister installment - a bareknuckle brawler and hired protector who falls for the not-for-him American heiress already transactionally affianced to a lord. I really appreciate the ways St. George weaves together her two series, and loved seeing our cast of characters back together in myriad ways. I struggled, though, with the lack of real tension throughout (despite the established stakes!) and wished that conflicts were allowed to really develop before being miraculously solved (by side characters?). Also, an odd plot point never explained - we have known our MMC is called "The Duke" - but only in White Chapel, and we never learn why or how he came to this alias? I loved the glimpses we get of Jenny and Lord David, though, and I look forward to seeing St. George go indie for book three.

3.5⭐️
2🔥

Quick Breakdown

Historical Romance
American Heiress(ish) x Prizefighter
He’s Her Bodyguard
Betrothed to Another
Forbidden Romance
Alone in a Carriage
Dual POV
Open Door - Mild

Thank you @berkleyromance for the eARC & physical copy & @prhaudio for the gifted ALC #berkleypartner

Eliza has traveled with her sisters to London in order to secure husbands & inherit their fortune from their father’s side of the family. Betrothed to a man she doesn’t love, Eliza is desperate for one night of adventure. When she discovers that the man her brother in law has hired has their security is a secret prizefighter, she coerces him to take her out on the town in exchange for her silence. Mutual attraction & forbidden desires run rampant & Eliza must decide what she wants more - her family fortune or love.

I enjoyed how this didn’t feel like your typical historical romance. First, neither MC belonged to the gentry. Eliza wasn’t raised around wealth & Simon grew up on the streets of Whitechapel, becoming a prizefighter known as “the Duke” before focusing on working hard for a legal club. Both MCs were young, too - Eliza (19) & Simon (22). It’s not uncommon for FMCs to marry young in histroms, I appreciated how mature Simon was for his age given his backstory. He was the perfect level of protective & obsessed with Eliza.

The ending was everything! I really enjoyed how the circumstances played out to let Eliza & Simon live out their HEA. And the lead up to Jenny’s book has me absolutely feral for book three!

Thanks to @berkleypub and @berkleyromance for the free published copy and e-ARC and to @prhaudio for the review copy of this audiobook!

As per usual for me I read book two of this series before book one. But other than occasionally getting some characters confused, I was able to follow it. Eliza is refreshing. A very modern woman for her time with a very progressive mother. The Americans in Victorian London setting is a fun vibe. Eliza has a strong sense of her own individuality.

Simon is working class. A club bouncer and professional brawler. It was nice to read a Victorian era romance that didn’t center on the gentry. He’s a great main character. Loyal and dedicated, he tries to protect Eliza from himself until he gives up and gives in.

Forbidden romance always leads to great spicy scenes. And this one is no exception. The carriage scene! 🔥🔥🔥 Lots of passion. Lots of pining.

Saskia Maarleveld yet again demonstrates her versatility with accents as she gives voice to American and British characters from various classes.

It was a quick read with a very exciting ending. I can’t wait for book three.

Set in London in the year 1878 inside you’ll find...

✔ An American Heiress
✔ A bodyguard who knows how to defend and protect
✔ Strangers to Lovers
✔ Forbidden Love
✔ Fights for social issues
✔ The carriage – OMG … the carriage!
✔ Secrets … so many secrets.
✔ Will do anything to take care of those you love
✔ Slow burn that’s Spicy☕🔥🔥🔥

While this is part of a series it can be read as a standalone.

A historical romance with characters that are strong, resilient, resourceful, and when they fall … they fall hard! I loved the grit and danger that Eliza and Simon find themselves in as they uncover secrets and defy expectations.

This captivating adventure has tension, passion, and plenty of spice making this a satisfying read. I can’t get enough of Harper St. George and I don’t know if I’ll be able to wait to find out what happens next! With all the secondary character arcs one can hope there will be more adventures soon.

Thanks to Berkeley Publishing for the ARC of this book! This was my first book by this author but I do love a regency romance! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and it was a bit of a twist on the regency romance since the MMC is not someone who holds a title and the FMC was an American heiress. It was a fun romp that I read in a day and if you enjoy regency romance and authors such as Julia Quinn and Sarah MacLean, you would likely enjoy this one! This story has a great romance with the perfect amount of spice that regency books are known for. I would recommend it!

Eliza is my spirit animal! She is so adventurous and daring. She sees what she wants and she goes after it, maybe without fear isn’t good for a woman in her time. But she wouldn’t have met the Duke otherwise. Their chemistry and slow burn were done so well. She just wants a night out on the town before she is shackled to a bore.
They met by accident but then they both couldn’t get the other out of their head since. She was betrothed and he was not marriage material. I love these sisters in this book . They are very unconventional for the ton. They are heiresses from America so they are accepted but just barely. There were as usual multiple avenues of pushback for this relationship and there were sweet family moments.
Her sister's love stories are running at the same time as hers and getting to see them from a different perspective is always special.
I could not put this book down and read it so quickly! If you know me you know I have been reading pretty slow the past few months so it's nice to breeze through a book. This author never disappoints.

Thank you berkley romance for the gifted copy

I started this book not knowing what to expect. I loved it. Eliza and Simon aren't really part of the ton but have relations that are. I feel that both Eliza's and Simon's characters are well developed and very likeable. I really liked getting a tour of the "less fashionable" areas of London. It wasn't the usual historical romance story. I liked it so much that I have to read the first book in this series.

Thank me later and grab your copy asap!

Eliza Dove and her sisters have come to London to make prestigious marriages and receive their inheritances. She’s already engaged to a (boring) Lord when she decides she wants just a single night of freedom before she latches her life to his. Enter: the Duke. Simon Cavell is a prizefighter, an uncle, a guard, and a *piece*. Eliza manages to convince him that one night won’t ruin everything… except what will they do with their hearts afterwards?

This delicious story kept me turning pages. I love how HSG connects her gilded heiress of the first series to these Dove women… and makes the London she created even more lush with detail. Simon is from the other side of the city, and we really get into the Whitechapel/workhouse type of scenarios when Eliza goes out with him, and follows him, and, well… we just get to see some different tings from her.

Also, this felt spicier than her other books?! I loved it 🤣 I was thrilled that Eliza got to choose her own journey and ultimately her own future, and that Simon was such a doting partner. All in all, an easy five stars for a highly anticipated read! Let’s have a second for the beautiful cover?!?!?!!!

London, 1878.

American Eliza Dove and her sisters are heiresses, but with strings attached: in order to secure money left to them by their grandmother, they must marry suitably. As illegitimate daughters of a wealthy New Yorker, London seems the best place to find husbands. Eliza has successfully engaged herself to Lord Mainwaring, a man approved by her father and who is currently galivanting on the Continent for a Gran Tour prior to settling down. Eliza is stifled by this future existence, but knows it's the only way to secure her much-needed dowry. Then she meets Simon Cavell, known in bareknuckle boxing circles as the Duke. When he catches Eliza's eye, it's not just for the thrill of exotic boxer, but because of the man he is underneath. Simon has worked most of his way out of his Whitechapel existence, but his niece is still under threat from the man who once held power of Simon and his sister.

I always love opening a new book from Harper St George: her writing and characters are so strong that I'd read her in any of the eras she writes. Her gilded age heiresses books examine the class mixing of wealthy Americans with the British aristocracy alongside the rise in the English working class and the new political ideas circulating in the late Victorian era. She doesn't shy away from discussions of birth control, and her author's note talks about the Victorian ideals of motherhood and the affordability of wet nurses vs the rise in unsanitary baby formulas used by mothers forced to return to factories. Pit those social trends against the beginnings of women's access to education and suffragism, and you find characters like Eliza and her sisters who can think about dreaming big.

Eliza and Simon have a classic class difference relationship - one where he continues to say he isn't good enough for her (though in her case, she wouldn't get her inheritance if they married), and where she has to grapple with her heart vs her head. Their tenuous statuses - her as illegitimate and him as an orphan and bareknuckle boxer from Whitechapel - keep them just on the periphery of society. What Harper St George gives us is excellent execution of a classic Victorian era trope.... and a very steamy carriage ride!

This is the second book in the Dove Sisters series, which is connected to the Gilded Age Heiresses series. While there are many overlapping characters, this can certainly be read as a standalone.

Eliza is just another rich, untitled heiress and is *gasp* American, therefore gauche and in need of a husband who will raise her status. She is betrothed to a philandering viscount obsessed with his GI tract when she stumbles upon the sexy, mysterious prize fighter named Simon who is most definitely not a duke as the title suggests… The catch? She will only get her inheritance from her evil father if he approves of her match and Simon most definitely does not fit the bill. Simon is a bad boy (he boxes) and is making ends meet in the ring, taking care of his orphaned niece all while trying to pay off his Peaky fuckin Blinders esque ex-guardian who demands an arbitrary amount of money from him for taking him off the streets. Will he ever be able to get away from Thomas Shelby and have a happily ever after with Eliza?

Through the story we are taken through more seedy streets of London to see the conditions of the working class which contrasts with the upper echelons of Society that Eliza is part of. It is a well researched novel with meticulous details woven which I am a sucker for. I love the explanations Harper St. George gives in her author’s note as well. This is my second St. George novel and I will 100% be reading the rest of the series. I don’t remember the last time I was this excited for the next book in a series to come out because the mere crumbs that we got of Jenny and Lord David have me in a chokehold - they were the best part of the story oh the ANGST 😭 3.5⭐️

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Finally got time to read the newest installment in The Doves of New York series. I enjoyed at as one does when they read a Harper St George. Great historical writing with lots of research on boxing having been done. You can tell!

While part of a series this book can be read as a standalone. I really like Eliza. She’s is feisty and knows what she wants and tries to get it whether it be Simon or attending university. This is much more indicative of her American heritage than her sister’s book. It was a little over the top/unbelievable at times especially the physical attraction being ramped up so quickly but overall I really enjoyed her character. I truly enjoyed Simon as a regency fellow but felt that his character being split between who he acts like and where he’s from didn’t work. His accent came and went at will and he has a niece who he raises who calls him Papa which was weirdly written and seemed more like an after thought than intentional.

Overall this was a good book but I feel like her next with Janey will be the best!!

A heartfelt thank you to @harperstgeorge @berkleypub and @berkleyromance for the #gifted e-book and @prhaudio #PRHAudioPartner for the #gifted audiobook.

This captivating second installment in The Doves of New York series stands strong as a standalone. I am eager to dive into the author's previous works after this experience.

Set against the richly drawn backdrop of 1878 London, this enchanting romance is a true gem. I have a particular fondness for stories from this era, especially those featuring strong, spirited female protagonists. Eliza is a remarkable character who is fearless, adventurous, and delightfully reckless. Determined to explore the shadowy corners of London before her impending arranged marriage, she crosses paths with Simon (aka the Duke), a rugged prizefighter struggling to protect his sister. Their immediate attraction is electric, and Eliza and Simon share an undeniable chemistry that kept me riveted until the end.

The author masterfully captures the contrasting worlds of high society and the gritty streets of Whitechapel. Simon’s backstory adds depth and emotional resonance, while Eliza’s fierce commitment to reshaping her destiny is nothing short of inspiring.

The narrator’s performance brings the characters to life, perfectly conveying the intense emotions woven throughout the story.

If you’re drawn to historical romances with unforgettable female leads, this book is an absolute must-read. It will be available on June 24, 2025. Don’t miss it!

I've been waiting for this one since last year after seeing glimpses of Eliza(and her sneaking around haha) when I read The Stranger I Wed and I was excited for her story - and it definitely did not disappoint! It kinda reminded me of the first few historical romance books that I'd read when I was dipping my toe into this genre many years ago - with the touch of angst that class difference brings and the forbidden romance vibes!

So, the Dove sisters have come all the way from America to London to find husbands - as they need to be married to someone with an aristocratic background to get their hands on their inheritances. With their eldest sister happily married, Eliza and Jenny have their futures planned out too as Eliza is betrothed to Lord Mainwaring while Jenny dreams of becoming an opera singer!

Eliza has resigned herself to an ordinary marriage of convenience but her rebellious streak has her sneaking into unexpected places - and she ends up meeting Simon Cavell, a manager at the Montague Club who moonlights as a prizefighter. She's determined to have her share of fun before getting married and proposes an exchange - she'll keep his secret in return for a night of fun! What could go wrong?😂

Both of the protagonists were excellent in this one and I loved the chemistry between them! Eliza was curious, brave and a bit impulsive but also very intelligent! While Simon was the perfect counterpart for her with his protectiveness and admiration for her. Both of them care a lot about their families too. There was lots of yearning but I also loved the fact that these two didn't beat around the bush when they realized their feelings for each other - so there wasn't any unnecessary angst. Also, loved the carriage scene 🔥
I was actually wondering how things would work out with the inheritance given their circumstances but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the events near the end! I'm so so excited for Jenny's book now - because I think it's going to be amazing with the way it's been set up! I hope we get to read it soon!

Delightful Historical Romance with a dreamy firey mystery man and a feisty heroine heiress ensconced in a loveless future marriage of convenience. The Duke (no spoilers) has an intriguing past that Eliza Dove is determined to discover. Their chance meeting in the back hall of a London club unravels the smooth path to marriage for Eliza and turns the Duke’s world upside down.

I loved the gritty hero and the tenacious heroine. The chemistry was on the page and those pages turned quickly. Eliza and the Duke did not disappoint.
Thanks to @netgalley and Berkley for an advanced reading copy.