A review by emmelnie
Ne'er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti

5.0

If I had to describe Ne’er Duke Well in a word, it would be “charming.” Vasti has two exceptionally likable leads in Peter and Selina. He’s an unexpected duke, an American by birth, so he doesn’t know the ins and outs of Regency society. He needs all the help he can get to claim custody of his half-siblings, and he decides that Selina, the sister of a duke, is the perfect person to advise him how to succeed in his goal. Her solution? Find himself a wife to show that he’s settled and ready to raise children.

 

This leads to a delightful read. Peter is earnest and open, if a bit too easily politically correct, and he’s blissfully ignorant of Regency rules. Selina knows them all and follows them scrupulously due to her secret circulating library (hey, the blurb tells you about it) and her resulting need to appear utterly disassociated from it. I loved in particular Peter’s “courting” scenes, where Selina sets him up with perfectly suitable women who are perfectly unsuitable for him. 

 

Ne’er Duke Well is light and fun and frothy. If things go a bit too swimmingly at times, I took that in the joyful spirit in which it was written. I especially liked the allusions to Harriette Wilson and her memoirs, which this book parallels nicely. And I hope Vasti makes some of Peter’s rejected prospects heroines of their own books!

Many thanks to the author and Netgalley for the chance to review.