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

4.0

"๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ต, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ. '๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ.'

๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฌ, ๐˜ด๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ. '๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏโ€™๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต. ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ป๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ.'"

This was my first historical romance (not counting the Bridgerton show), and it was so much fun! I absolutely love female characters who push the boundaries a little. Lady Selina Ravenscroft sure did that by secretly owning an erotic library, which was enjoyed by much of the women of the ton. I very much enjoyed this plot point and watching how Selina navigated the secret.

The Duke of Stanhope, Peter Kent, was such a great character too! He was so caring, and his sole focus was getting custody of his half siblings. In order for this to happen, he needed to be an upstanding Duke, so Selina decided he should be married and she would help him find a wife. Along the way, Peter and Selinaโ€™s chemistry was magnetic. I appreciated how he celebrated her every step of the way, and she fought with everything she had for his family. I loved all of the wit, humor, and scandal in this book! The side characters were equally endearing, and I am looking forward to the other books in this series!

The book is narrated by Mhairi Morrison, whose voice was perfect. The story is told in 3rd person, dual POV. Mhairi voices both parts, and she did such a great job (except there were occasional lines for Peter in the southern American accent that felt a little over the top). I loved listening instead of reading with my eyes because the British accent makes it feel so authentic. I highly recommend the audio of this one!

Read if you like:
๐Ÿ’• Regency romance
๐Ÿ’• Matchmaking
๐Ÿ’• A scandalous library
๐Ÿ’• Friends to lovers