Review: Never Met a Duke Like You (Taming of the Dukes #2) by Amalie Howard

 *I received a copy of this book from Hachette Book Group Canada in exchange for an honest review.

Never Met a Duke Like You

(Taming of the Dukes #2)

by Amalie Howard

November 14, 2023

Goodreads Summary:

Lady Vesper Lyndhurst is beautiful, clever, and popular. Afforded every luxury as a duke’s daughter, she fills her days with friends, intrigues, and a self-professed knack for matchmaking. She may have sworn off love for herself, but she is rather excellent at arranging it.

Faced with an insolvent estate, the Duke of Greydon has no choice but to return to England in a final attempt to revive his family’s fortunes. He’s been gone for years, happy to have escaped his mother and the petty circles of the ton. To his dismay, not much has changed, including the beautiful and vexing heiress next door.

But when an accident of fate traps the friends-turned-enemies in an attic together, the explosive attraction between them becomes impossible to ignore and even harder to resist. They are total opposites and their lives don’t align in the slightest, but fate, the ultimate matchmaker, appears to have other plans . . .

Review

When it comes to regency romances, I love picking up sequels with standalone stories. Even more so when the series is called Taming of the Dukes ;) Never Met a Duke Like You was a well-paced and relevant story with blunt characters and a hesitant yet sizzling romance.

Never Met a Duke Like You tackled two important subjects: mental health and women's rights. Greydon fought hard for fairer rules. While the changes didn't come easily, I loved the honest discussions. Outwardly Vesper was a proper lady conforming to society, on the inside she held a spark of defiance. When it finally ignited, she confidently went for it (him) ;)

Both Vesper and Greydon guarded their hearts closely due to past traumas. It was nice watching them clear up misunderstandings and continue afresh. Though I wanted Greydon to grovel a little more, he and Vesper made a well-matched pair. Their intimate scenes were unabashedly hot and passionate lighting up the pages of Never Met a Duke Like You.

I adored the supporting cast of characters. The ladies of the Hellfire Kitties cracked me up. They teased Vesper mercilessly while also giving her sound advices. Cat the cat, had suspiciously great timing. Vesper's brother, Lushing's commentaries throughout the story gave me some good laughs. I really hope his story (with Briar please!) will be next. Even Vesper's father had a comedic presence- holding the peace between his daughter and Greydon while also nudging them towards each other.

I super appreciate the Content Guidance at the beginning of the book and the A Letter from the Author at the end. They were very informative and made reading Never Met a Duke Like You a more insightful experience.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the copy I received.