Review: A Duke of One's Own by Emma Orchard*

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity. This review is being posted as part of the A Duke Of One's Own blog tour hosted by Rachel's Random Resources.

Title: A Duke Of One's Own
Author: Emma Orchard
Genre: Historical Romance

Trigger warnings:  Guns, Blackmail, Death Of A Parent, References To War

Rating: ★★★★

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Explicit Open Door)

Summer, 1816. A notorious rebel is about to meet her match...

Lady Georgiana Pendlebury is no stranger to breaking the rules of polite society. But when a so-called ‘friend’ invites her to a clandestine party, Georgiana is shocked to discover the event is more scandalous than even she could have imagined. So when a mysterious stranger offers help, she accepts, not realising their encounter will turn her life upside down.

Later that summer, Georgiana is invited to attend a house party at an infamous castle in Yorkshire. The gathering is a loosely veiled effort to arrange a marriage for the Duke of Northriding, who desperately needs an heir. Duke Gabriel Mauleverer has a terrible reputation as a rake, and Georgiana is happy to be a guest purely for the entertainment, but upon arrival, she is shocked to discover that the Duke is none other than the stranger who rescued her weeks earlier.

As the other ladies vie for the Duke’s attention, Georgiana is desperate to avoid their shocking secret getting out. But she finds herself caught, unable to avoid Gabriel’s gaze. Are they a threat to each other? Or could they be the answer to each other’s greatest desires?

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A Duke Of One’s Own is the latest compelling regency romance from author Emma Orchard. Set in 1816, in the middle of the regency era, our story is packed full of all of your favourite regency romance tropes and is perfect for both seasoned regency readers and readers who are newer to the genre.

Emma Orchard is an incredible storyteller who had me hooked from the very first chapter. Her vivid descriptions made the Yorkshire coastal castle setting of Northriding Castle come alive on the page. The chapters set here felt very Gothic in style which I loved, and I was fascinated by all of the little secret passageways and doors which Gabriel was able to use to secretly visit Georgiana.

This is a lighter regency romance read which is perfect if you’re looking for something quick and steamy (no pun intended!). I easily read the whole book in a single sitting of a couple of hours thanks to how fast-paced and engaging the narrative was.

As previously stated, A Duke Of One’s Own is full of all of your favourite regency romance tropes and they are all wonderfully written. This includes an age gap romance between a virgin heroine and a brooding older Duke and a forced marriage as a result of these characters being found in a compromising situation.

Lady Georgiana Pendlebury, or Georgie as she’s known by her loved ones, is our feisty and headstrong debutante FMC. Our brooding, swoon-worthy silver fox MMC is Gabriel Mauleverer, the Duke of Northriding. The way Gabriel talked about Georgie was gorgeous and he fell first, and harder, which was really well portrayed within the story. I’m also a sucker for a good sickbed scene, especially when it’s the MMC taking care of the FMC, and this was wonderfully done within A Duke Of One’s Own. If I hadn’t already been head over heels in love with Gabriel by that point in the story, how he looked after Georgie would have done it.

Georgie and Gabriel had great chemistry and – especially for a miscommunication trope hater like myself -seeing such open and honest communication between the two of them was wonderful. We have lots of really hot spicy scenes throughout the book and they navigated the contrast of experience between Georgie as a virgin FMC and Gabriel as a more experienced and older MMC very well. Their great communication continued within their steamier encounters, particularly around consent and exploration of potential kinks, which was great to see within a regency romance.

A Duke Of One’s Own has great LGBTQIA+ representation within the story which was fantastic to see, especially as the representation came without any real comment outside of just total familial acceptance. Miss Spry – who was, to quote the book, Georgie’s aunts “sapphic companion” – was my favourite supporting character, particularly when she said to Georgie “You’re not a possession, though the law says you are”.

A Duke Of One’s Own is the second instalment of the The Runaway Heiress series but the story also works well as a standalone story and this was my introduction to the series. As I was reading I did find myself getting really interested in the backstory of Georgiana’s brother Hal and his wife Cassandra so I was really excited to see that they were the focus of the first book in the series (The Runaway Heiress) and it has gone straight onto my TBR. Within A Duke Of One’s Own we also get a little peek into the next instalment of the series (What the Lady Wants – due to be published in August 2024) through the introduction of the character of Isabella and I’m now highly anticipating the release of this next book.

Overall, A Duke Of One’s Own is a fantastic spicy regency romp, perfect when you want a lighter historical read which is still packed full of steam and romance. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the series has in store.

Review: The Upper Crush by Evie Alexander*

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity. This review is being posted as part of the The Upper Crush blog tour hosted by Rachel's Random Resources.

Title: The Upper Crush
Author: Evie Alexander
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Parent Arrested, Children Taken Into Care

Rating: ★★★★★   

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Explicit Open Door)  

He wasn’t banking on someone else taking the reins…

Lady Estelle Foxbrooke is done cleaning up the mess left by her wild parents. She’s got a plan: take the reins and save the family estate her way. But then she’s saddled with a business partner she’s hated all her life. He’s her twin brother’s worst enemy and looms in her path like a six-foot-four hurdle.

After a catastrophic business failure, rich and successful James Hunter-Savage has watched his dream life in London crash and burn. Forced to ditch the city for the Somerset countryside, he’s now living with his parents and expected to work with the infuriatingly attractive Estelle. She’s sharper than a whip, pushes all his buttons, and seems determined to break him.

As Estelle and James jockey for position, their explosive personalities combust into passion, sending Estelle’s plans to the edge of ruin. With James’s flimsy reputation in tatters, and the biggest event on the Foxbrooke calendar on the brink of collapse, will they realise their love is worth fighting for? Or are their hearts and hard work heading for the ultimate fall?

The Upper Crush is the latest instalment in Evie Alexander’s Foxbrooke series. Fans of enemies to lovers, workplace romances, forced proximity and small country town settings, with tons of spice, laugh out loud humour and ‘Britishness’ thrown in for good measure, you will adore The Upper Crush just as much as I did.

I’m a sucker for a good enemies to lovers romance and Evie Alexander writes this trope impeccably well. It was combined beautifully with the forced proximity and workplace romance tropes through Estelle and James being forced to work together organising a new music festival. They start to try and get under each other’s skin by pulling pranks and jokes on each other and this really made me laugh out loud, as did their witty (and very British – which I loved!) banter. The increasingly sexual tension between them was also SUPERB.

The Upper Crush is a couple hundred pages longer than the romance books I am typically drawn to but I just could not put it down so completely flew through the story. Evie Alexander has such an engaging writing style that puts you right into the Somerset countryside setting and the story was brilliantly paced.

Although this is the third instalment of the Foxbrooke series, with all the books set in the fictional Somerset village of Foxbrooke and the characters from the previous books featuring in minor supporting roles, the story also works well as a standalone story. The Upper Crush was my introduction to the series but it has made me desperate to sink my teeth into the earlier books, particularly An Unholy Affair to find out more about Eveline and Jack’s love story.

Estelle and James have sizzling chemistry from the very start of the story so it came as no shock when the spicy scenes practically set the page on fire they were so hot. Something I really like in a romance story is when we get to explore spicy scenes from the perspectives of both partners and this was done really well within The Upper Crush. James’ perspective - and in particular the way he described Estelle in those moments – was incredible. I also loved the amount of variety we had within the spicy scenes, including some solo scenes from both James and Estelle.

Alongside all of this incredible steam, there are some really romantic heartwarming moments which just made me melt. If your love language is gift giving you’ll particularly love this story.

Estelle was a strong, badass FMC. I loved the little insights we got into the internal conversations she was having with herself when she was trying to be stubborn and not fall for James. James was your typical charming alpha MMC who had a softer side that you gradually got to see as the novel progressed. As I hadn’t met him before, unlike other readers who had read the earlier books in the series, I didn’t have that pre-judgment of him going into the story and that did mean that I did fall in love with him quite early on, without him having to redeem himself too much.

The Upper Crush also has a fantastic cast of supporting characters who brought so much to the story, particularly both James and Estelle’s families. We have diverse family types represented in the story, particularly through Estelle’s three parents who are in a polyamorous relationship. There’s also lots of scenes with dogs; enough said.

Overall, The Upper Crush is a gorgeous spicy romance read. I’ve been absolutely hooked on Evie Alexander’s writing and the inhabitants of Foxbrooke and can’t wait to read more of the series.

Review: Fake It 'til You Make It by Laura Carter*

 *I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity. This review is being posted as part of the Fake It 'til You Make It blog tour hosted by Rachel's Random Resources.

Title: Fake It 'til You Make It
Author: Laura Carter
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Cheating/Affair/Infidelity

Rating: ★★★★   

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️ (Closed Door) 

Can a fake date fix everything?

On a day Abbey thought would be the best of her life – her boyfriend is surely going to propose tonight, right? – it all falls apart: he tells her he’s met someone else. And then to make things worse, she loses her job.

In an act of reimagination, she splurges her wedding savings on renting an apartment in a building she’s always dreamed of living in and kits out her wardrobe to match.

But when her family invites her ex – a close family friend – plus a date(!!) to her parents’ vow renewal, Abbey realizes her façade won’t be enough. There’s nothing for it but to fake one more thing – a romance. And she knows exactly who to ask... her hot new neighbor...

A laugh-out-loud fake-dating rom com, with a chemistry you’ll be thinking about long after turning the last page. Perfect for fans of The Hating Game and Elena Armas

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Fake It ‘til You Make It is the latest rom com from romance author Laura Carter. Fans of fake dating, mistaken/hidden identity and a good slow burn romance, this is the book for you! Add in a geeky cinnamon roll hero, a dual POV narrative and a family vow renewal and you’ve got Fake It ‘til You Make It, the perfect feel-good Spring romance read.

This was my first time reading anything from Laura Carter (although some of her other books have been on my TBR for a while!) and as a fake dating girlie through and through I was instantly hooked by the plot, particularly as the fake dating was partially to spite a cheating ex. Fellow fans of a good slow burn romance will also absolutely love this because this is a true extreme slow burn where, despite lots of almost-kisses, it takes them until the last 25% of the book to actually admit their feelings.

Our story is told through a present-tense, first-person dual-POV narrative, told by both Abbey and Ted. The dual-POV aspect worked so well within the story, as did the first-person narrative as it gave us a peek into Abbey and Ted’s inner thoughts. This was particularly impactful as the novel really focuses on the idea of you not needing to change yourself in order to be loved and although both Ted and Abbey initially feel the need to reinvent themselves in order to find a partner, through their inner monologues we got to gradually see them find their self confidence and learn to love their true selves.

On top of the fake dating plot, mistaken identity and miscommunication play a key role in the story as Abbey mistakes Ted for his professional athlete brother Mike and he then just doesn’t correct her and continues to dig himself a deeper mistaken identity hole. Abbey also hides part of her identity and they both get stuck in this big situation where their relationship is built on lies but their true identities, personalities and eventually feelings gradually start to seep through. I’ll put my hands up and admit that miscommunication and mistaken identity aren’t typically my favourite tropes by all means but there was something about the way they were written within Fake It ‘till You Make It that just really worked for me. I was hooked seeing how it would play out and found myself shouting aloud at the book on more occasions than I care to admit.

Abbey and Ted both had wonderful depth to their characters and their responses to their respective partners cheating on them was really well explored. They had great banter throughout the novel and their relationship felt really realistic. I do normally prefer to see a bit of spice as opposed to a closed-door romance but the closed-door aspect actually really worked here, particularly as the romance was such a slow burn.

I loved Ted with my whole heart. He was the cinnamon roll hero we’re all looking for in a romance story. I’ll even excuse the whole lying about his identity thing because he was a total sweetheart. The way he spoke about Abbey had me smiling from ear to ear and his POV chapters were my favourite in the plot. I also loved the little peeks we had into his relationship with his brother and would have loved to have seen that play out in person, but I appreciate the practical issues with that given that Ted had assumed his brother’s identity!

Abbey was a wonderful FMC. She was witty and a total girl boss for how she responded to her breakup. Spending your entire wedding savings on an expensive new apartment and treating yourself to a brand new wardrobe? THAT is how you respond to a partner’s infidelity. Through Abbey’s character, Fake It ‘till You Make It explores parental expectations and the idea of trying to please your parents and this was done really well. I loved her family dynamic and the role that played in the story.

Laura Carter also writes antagonists very well and I absolutely hated Andrew with a burning passion.

I would have liked the ending to have been explored in a little extra depth - perhaps through an epilogue - as I was craving opportunity to see more of Abbey and Ted once they were actually together. I really just didn’t feel ready to part with them once the book ended so would love the opportunity to return to their story in some capacity, perhaps through a story focusing one of the supporting characters. I also found that the mistaken identity plot was wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly for my liking. But it is testament to Laura Carter’s engaging writing style that I just wanted more.

If you are looking for a feel-good romance which is packed full of your favourite tropes whilst still being closed-door, you will love Fake It 'til You Make It.