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11_11bookcraft's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lilbroccoli's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
elinorsbookshelf's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
3.75
talkflowers2me's review against another edition
3.75
A solidly good book. The premise was not super unique but the characters were lovable and the way she intertwined the character for the next book in the series with the plot was well done, and it made me want to read the next one when it comes out.
I did like how the characters worked together to figure out the conflict, which was external to their relationship. I wish Peter’s character had been more memorable. I feel like there was a lot of “telling” for him about his character, but not a lot of “showing.”
I did like how the characters worked together to figure out the conflict, which was external to their relationship. I wish Peter’s character had been more memorable. I feel like there was a lot of “telling” for him about his character, but not a lot of “showing.”
joannedrake's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A sweet debut. Some of the threads could have been more developed - I could have read much more about Belvoir’s, for example - but overall, enjoyable. Selina could have been a bit more confident in herself, and Peter could have had more personality, but the side characters of Lydia, Georgiana, and Iris all need their own books.
aoifesbookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I've read Alexandra Vasti's four novellas and enjoyed them. This, combined with the ARC reviews I read, left me with high expectations for her debut novel Ne'er Duke Well. Sadly, it fell short. While I did enjoy the story, Vasti's other work has impressed me far more. I do think this story had the potential very strong opening to the series in its own right but there were elements of it that I felt simply didn't work or weren't very well done. The plot itself wasn't too bad but the world building had some issues, which is something I do think could be fixed with the addition of a novella which I'll elaborate on later.
Lady Selina Ravenscroft is the secret owner of Belvior's Library - an erotic circulating library for women. The purpose of the library is to aim well bred ladies with some practical knowledge they would have been otherwise sheltered from. Selina is yet to find a problem she can't fix and the newly minted Duke of Stanhope is about to find that out. Peter Kent, is a radical from New Orleans, has found himself inheriting a dukedom and fighting for custody of his two younger half-siblings, Lu and Freddie. Selina has a plan; in order for Peter to become more respectable in the eyes of the Ton, he needs a perfect English wife. As Selina plays matchmaker she slowly but surely realises what everyone else guessed before her - she is Peter's perfect match.
My biggest issue with this book, particularly the first 40%, is that read as though it was the second book in a series — a book that could certainly be read as a standalone, but added enjoyment and understanding would be gained by the readers if they had the additional context of a previous instalment. It just felt like I was always missing a little bit of information and a little bit of context. The obvious candidates for this hypothetical previous book would have been the Earl of Clermont and his wife Faiza Khan, whom we are told eloped to Scotland with the help of Silena. These two characters are said to be close friends of our lead couple in Ne’er Duke Well, however we never actually meet them on the page which I found to be an odd choice and I was left wondering why they were mentioned at all. There is also a brief sentence or to alluding to the fact that the Earl of Clermont had to travel to Louisiana to inform Peter of his new duties as Duke and a few other offhand comments, such as Selina's role in the marriage market or the existence of Peter’s now deceased grandfather, that made me pause and think “it feels like I should already know this”. Furthermore, Peter and Silena’s disastrous first encounter is referenced once or twice, but we only get the barest of details and do not actually get to see it happen on the page. This again gives the reader impression that this happened in a previous story. I'm not against telling rather than showing in a story, particularly when it comes to setting up characters and context, but it felt a little over done and I don't think Peter and Selina's relationship or even friendship was solid enough for their meet-cute to be omitted in this case. It wasn't as thought they had been previously introduced and simply knew each other. An incident occurred which has impacted their dynamic and it felt like I had been left in the dark. Had I not known this was Vasti’s debut, I would have assumed these moments would’ve occurred in the previous book. While not essential to this story, these are kind of scenes you would expect to have read about at some point in order to understand the characters a bit more. I can’t say that the story was completely weakened by their absence because I am conscious that I have said they could have been in a previous instalment. However, this book is written in a way that assumes the reader had a small bit of prior knowledge — prior knowledge that doesn’t actually exist.
I think Peter in particular suffered due to these omissions. Selina was a well rounded character and we’ve learned a lot about her and what motivates so her but Peter is very one dimensional. At times story felt very unbalanced. We spent very little time with Peter as a character. He is a character in Selina’s story rather than the story being centred on them together. It seemed as though Peter's quest for custody, the action that allows this story to happen, was forgotten about. The big issue is that Silena's involvement in the library could be revealed, which might ruin her reputation. However, the stakes haven’t been built up high enough for this to feel like a huge issue, especially in contrast with Peter’s custody battle. Mainly because everyone thought what she was doing was brilliant and not at all reckless, which felt completely unrealistic for the time period. This is after all a historical romance.
It's alway easier to focus on the negatives so let me highlight some of the positives. First, I really enjoyed the overarching plot - new Duke from America wants his half siblings to have a good home. Peter was really good with his siblings even when they resisted. When it comes to the cast of characters, there were a lot of people to keep track of, but I think Vasti made it work. Thomasin was my favourite but I don't think there was a single character in the Ravenscroft-Kent extended family and friend group that I disliked. Kids can be hard to get right when writing and aside from the final scene, I think Vasti did it well. I get why that scene was included as Peter needed to hear them say what they did but it was far to cheesy for me. One more thing I really did enjoy was the departure was the common "I don't think I'm good enough for you so I'll refuse to admit my feelings and hope you get the hint" MMC.This time it was the FMC!
I know that Lydia will be the heroine of the next book, Earl Crush, which I am looking forward to. As I said, the majority of my issue with this book was that I felt I was missing information but hopefully that won't be the case in the next story. I am keeping my fingers crossed for Georgiana to be the star of the sapphic story unfolding in the yet-to-be- titled third book. I can only assume Will Ravenscroft will also get a HEA at some point too. I've a strong feeling Ivy Price will be the love interest in one of these two stories but which one that will be is anyone's guess!
Lady Selina Ravenscroft is the secret owner of Belvior's Library - an erotic circulating library for women. The purpose of the library is to aim well bred ladies with some practical knowledge they would have been otherwise sheltered from. Selina is yet to find a problem she can't fix and the newly minted Duke of Stanhope is about to find that out. Peter Kent, is a radical from New Orleans, has found himself inheriting a dukedom and fighting for custody of his two younger half-siblings, Lu and Freddie. Selina has a plan; in order for Peter to become more respectable in the eyes of the Ton, he needs a perfect English wife. As Selina plays matchmaker she slowly but surely realises what everyone else guessed before her - she is Peter's perfect match.
My biggest issue with this book, particularly the first 40%, is that read as though it was the second book in a series — a book that could certainly be read as a standalone, but added enjoyment and understanding would be gained by the readers if they had the additional context of a previous instalment. It just felt like I was always missing a little bit of information and a little bit of context. The obvious candidates for this hypothetical previous book would have been the Earl of Clermont and his wife Faiza Khan, whom we are told eloped to Scotland with the help of Silena. These two characters are said to be close friends of our lead couple in Ne’er Duke Well, however we never actually meet them on the page which I found to be an odd choice and I was left wondering why they were mentioned at all. There is also a brief sentence or to alluding to the fact that the Earl of Clermont had to travel to Louisiana to inform Peter of his new duties as Duke and a few other offhand comments, such as Selina's role in the marriage market or the existence of Peter’s now deceased grandfather, that made me pause and think “it feels like I should already know this”. Furthermore, Peter and Silena’s disastrous first encounter is referenced once or twice, but we only get the barest of details and do not actually get to see it happen on the page. This again gives the reader impression that this happened in a previous story. I'm not against telling rather than showing in a story, particularly when it comes to setting up characters and context, but it felt a little over done and I don't think Peter and Selina's relationship or even friendship was solid enough for their meet-cute to be omitted in this case. It wasn't as thought they had been previously introduced and simply knew each other. An incident occurred which has impacted their dynamic and it felt like I had been left in the dark. Had I not known this was Vasti’s debut, I would have assumed these moments would’ve occurred in the previous book. While not essential to this story, these are kind of scenes you would expect to have read about at some point in order to understand the characters a bit more. I can’t say that the story was completely weakened by their absence because I am conscious that I have said they could have been in a previous instalment. However, this book is written in a way that assumes the reader had a small bit of prior knowledge — prior knowledge that doesn’t actually exist.
I think Peter in particular suffered due to these omissions. Selina was a well rounded character and we’ve learned a lot about her and what motivates so her but Peter is very one dimensional. At times story felt very unbalanced. We spent very little time with Peter as a character. He is a character in Selina’s story rather than the story being centred on them together. It seemed as though Peter's quest for custody, the action that allows this story to happen, was forgotten about. The big issue is that
It's alway easier to focus on the negatives so let me highlight some of the positives. First, I really enjoyed the overarching plot - new Duke from America wants his half siblings to have a good home. Peter was really good with his siblings even when they resisted. When it comes to the cast of characters, there were a lot of people to keep track of, but I think Vasti made it work. Thomasin was my favourite but I don't think there was a single character in the Ravenscroft-Kent extended family and friend group that I disliked. Kids can be hard to get right when writing and aside from the final scene, I think Vasti did it well. I get why that scene was included as Peter needed to hear them say what they did but it was far to cheesy for me. One more thing I really did enjoy was the departure was the common "I don't think I'm good enough for you so I'll refuse to admit my feelings and hope you get the hint" MMC.
I know that Lydia will be the heroine of the next book, Earl Crush, which I am looking forward to. As I said, the majority of my issue with this book was that I felt I was missing information but hopefully that won't be the case in the next story. I am keeping my fingers crossed for Georgiana to be the star of the sapphic story unfolding in the yet-to-be- titled third book. I can only assume Will Ravenscroft will also get a HEA at some point too. I've a strong feeling Ivy Price will be the love interest in one of these two stories but which one that will be is anyone's guess!
tori_b_reads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This had all the Bridgerton vibes I was looking for!
I could totally see Eloise as Selina, secretly running a library for the sole purpose of educating the women of the ton.
And we love a good marriage-of-convenience to preserve one’s honor and protect the family from scandal!
I could totally see Eloise as Selina, secretly running a library for the sole purpose of educating the women of the ton.
And we love a good marriage-of-convenience to preserve one’s honor and protect the family from scandal!
haileswhales's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
adrienneleigh's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
pammie823's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0