*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
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.
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