Ne're Duke Well Review

By Alexandra Vasti

Star rating: ★★★★★

Blurb

In this steamy Regency romp, Lady Selina is determined to find the Duke of Stanhope the perfect wife―the only problem is she's starting to think that might be her.

Peter Kent―newly inherited Duke of Stanhope and recently of New Orleans, Louisiana―must become respectable. Between his radical politics and the time he interrupted a minor royal wedding with a flock of sheep―not his fault!―he’s developed a scandalous reputation at odds with his goal of becoming guardian to his half siblings. For help, he turns to the cleverest and most managing woman of his acquaintance, Lady Selina Ravenscroft.

Selina is society’s most proper debutante, save one tiny secret: she runs an erotic circulating library for women. When Peter asks for her help, she suggests courtship and marriage to a lady of unimpeachable reputation. (Which is to say, definitely not herself.)

But matchmaking doesn’t go according to plan. Peter’s siblings run rampant on Bond Street. Selina ends up in the Serpentine. And worst of all, the scorching chemistry between Peter and Selina proves impossible to resist. For the disreputable duke and his unpredictable matchmaker, falling in love just might be the ultimate scandal.

Genre: Historical Romance

Read if you Like:

📗 He falls for his matchmaker

📗 Trying to get guardianship of siblings

📗 She runs an erotic library

📗 Steamy romance

📗 Laugh out loud funny

My Thoughts:

I was lucky enough to hear an excerpt from Ne're Duke Well at an event Alexandra Vasti did months before I was able to read it. Since then I have been incredibly excited to get my hands on this book and it didn't disappoint!

I loved Selina and Peter as a couple. He is so incredibly good at getting himself into scandalous situations and Selena is very talented at getting him out of them. While this could be a burden for Selena, instead she gets to enjoy the freedom of Peter's impulsivity and help him manage the consequences. They both make each other better and happier. They also share a determination to help people regardless of the cost. I think shared values of that sort are truly what makes a relationship work long-term.

One thing that was beautifully well done about this book, was that it is a historical romance that deals with the politics and rules of a completely different society, and yet it is still relatable to modern readers. When Selina talks about the consequences that women face from living in a society with unequal rules for women and men, I thought about ways I have seen women hurt by the inequality of our society. I loved that Selina took this pain and did something with it to make her world better.

On top of these qualities, Ne're Duke Well is sexy and incredibly funny. It is also beautifully written. Alexandra Vasti has a real gift for creating lovable characters and getting into their different head spaces to understand how they see the world and react to different situations. I cannot wait to read what she has in store next!

🌶️🌶️🌶️- Ne're Duke Well has several open-door steamy scenes as well as a heroine who runs an erotic library. Things she has learned from the library are mentioned.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.