Avon Books The Return of the Duke: Once Upon a Dukedom

De todos os três da trilogia, esse foi o que mais me envolveu! O romance acontece em slow burn, mas as investigações e revelações de segredos acontecem de forma dinâmica.Muito bom esse livro! Fico cada vez mais apaixonada pela escrita da Lorraine!

Thrilling read once you get past the first chapter.Excellent end to the series.

Such a great series and sadly this is the last installment of the “Once Upon a Dukedom” series. 💕🏰💫 An enemies to lovers + forced proximity trope.Book #3 follows Marcus and Esme. An heir to the dukedom.. Marcus Stanwick lost everything because of his father, the Duke of Wolffords treasonous actions.. and now all he wants is to put to rights his family name.. to find the others that also conspired to assassinate Queen Victoria. 👑🔪 Past circumstances has led Marcus to believe our heroine Esme Lancaster was his deceased father’s mistress 💄💋and the cause of his mothers death. It’s because of this that he despises, loathes her, but on the other hand.. he’s also incredibly smitten by her. 🔥🤷‍♂️🫤 (I know what you’re thinking but you’ll see how LH has managed to clear that up) And lo and behold, Marcus learns our beautiful but very dangerous heroine Esme is a spy for the Queen! 🥷🏻Not everything about Esme is what Marcus first believed it was.. and they’re so incredibly well matched being good-hearted + fierce individuals.. not only do they solve the mystery behind the assassination, they get their happily ever too!!! AND there’s great action and adventure in this one!5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Pub. 7/26/22

The Return of the Duke is book 3 (and the final book) in Lorraine Heath’s Once Upon a Dukedom series. This was one of my most anticipated historical romance releases of 2022. LH is my favorite HR writer, I’ve read over 50 of her books at this point and it hurts me so much to say I did not enjoy this book. This felt so different from her usual storytelling and writing style and just was not was I was expecting or hoping for when I went in. The spy/espionage trope just is not really my jam and on top of that I found the romance sadly lacking and even the characters not that enjoyable.Marcus Stanwick was once the heir apparent to the prestigious and powerful Dukedom of Wolfford. He was born into a family that had been a favorite among royalty since the days of William the Conqueror. But after his father is found guilty of treason with an assassination plot against the Queen, the family is stripped of their titles, estates, and possessions. This story picks up one year after his father was hanged for said treason and Marcus sets out to find any possible people his father might have conspired with. He wants them to pay like his father had to. This is how Marcus comes to be at the house of Esme Lancaster, also known as “the heartless harlot”. Marcus’ father claimed Esme was his mistress before his death and Marcus wants to find out anything Esme might know about his father’s possible conspirators. But once he meets Esme, Marcus realizes not all is at it seems and there is a whole lot more of the story to uncover…If you enjoy spy historical romances, this might be the read for you: spies, an Agent of the Crown, working to protect the Queen, hidden weapons, a street gang, breaking and entering, decoys, and a whole lot of scheming. This leaned heavily into the espionage side of things for me, which is just not a trope I enjoy much. It didn’t help that the romance and chemistry with the characters just wasn’t there either.Moments I liked: we do get a slightly older heroine, younger hero (she’s 33, he’s 30). I do also love how expansive LH’s books feel because of being set in the same universe, and we get to see familiar characters again. This book connects to a few: Marcus’ brother Griffith’s book is Scoundrel of My Heart, the first book in this series, and their sister Althea’s book is the last book in the Sins for All Seasons series, Beauty Tempts the Beast. We get to see both of those couples in this as well as a minor mention of Dr. Graves (from Scoundrel of St. James series) and get to see almost all of the Trewloves (Sins for All Seasons series). I will forever be a LH fan and cannot wait for the Chessmen series next.2.5 stars/rounded up for GR.

If you r read her books this is another home run. I love how the characters stay interconnected with her other novels. So good!