Always Be My Duchess (Taming of the Dukes, #1)
Amalie Howard
Pretty Woman meets the Bridgertons in this witty, vivacious historical take on 90s romcoms by USA Today bestselling author Amalie Howard: Lord Lysander Blackstone, the stern Duke of Montcroix, has only one interest: increasing his considerable fortune. After a series of betrayals, he keeps his emotions buried deep. Money, after all, can't break a man's heart—or make promises it can’t keep. But when his reputation for being heartless jeopardizes a new business deal, he finds himself seeking a most unusual—and alluring—solution . . . Once an up-and-coming ballerina, Miss Geneviève Valery is now hopelessly out of work. After refusing to become a wealthy patron's mistress, Nève was promptly shown the door to the streets. When she accidentally saves the life of a handsome duke, she doubts the encounter will go any better than her last brush with nobility. But instead of propositioning her, Montcroix makes Nève an offer she would be a fool to refuse: act as his fake fiancée in exchange for fortune enough to start over.Only neither is prepared when very real feelings begin to grow between them. They both stand to win . . . but only if they’re willing to risk their hearts.
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3.5⭐️
Thank you so much to Forever and Netgalley for providing an e-arc of this! All thoughts and opinions are still my own
This was my first Amalie Howard book and I can see why so many people love her romances! This story was fun, sweet, and charming. I loved this historical spin on Pretty Woman and overall really enjoyed this story.
This is following a down-on-her-luck ballerina and a cold, closed off duke who strike a fake engagement deal to get what they want. This is full of some of my absolute favorite romance tropes - fake dating, opposites attract, and forced proximity!
I thought this had a fun plot, great characters, and fantastic chemistry! I loved out heroine and her self assurance. She was such a unique character for this genre and I ADORED her.
However, at times, I felt like I was reading the middle of a series. This is book 1 in a romance series but the way some of the characters were referenced felt like I was missing a lot of backstory. I'm not sure if this is a crossover from other series, but I definitely didn't follow a lot of the side character plots/introductions.
I also felt as though this lost some steam throughout the middle of the book. I loved the meet cute and initial fake dating scheme. But the middle portion felt a little draw out and directionless. There was just something missing to keep the plot moving.
Side note - Mary Jane Wells narrates this audiobook and is an absolutely treasure to audiobook narration. This has a lot of French scattered throughout (as our heroine is French) and I loved being able to hear that via audio. Highly recommend on audio!
Overall, I really enjoyed this historical romance. However I'm still unsure about whether or not I'll continue as I didn't feel connected or attached to any of the side characters.
0Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for honest feedback.
I LOVED this book! The characters were fantastic and I loved the depiction of female friendship and I loved that each woman was strong, intelligent and just generally badass.
Also the chemistry between Stone and Neve was on point. Seriously, I thought my kindle was going to burst into flames at one point. But their romantic relationship ship was also couple goals.
And I’m just going to say…ITS BASED ON PRETTY WOMAN!? How can a book be bad if that’s what it’s based on!?
Hopefully, there will be more books in the series because I am looking forward to following the Hellfire Kitties!!
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