No Ordinary Duchess by Elizabeth Hoyt

Tracy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Greycourt, #3

Release Date: December 10, 2024

Raised in Scotland by her Aunt, Lady Elspeth de Moray has come to England to find an ancient diary which she believes will reunited the Wise Women, a secret society sworn to help the women of Britian, trouble is the book is reported to be in the Duke of Windemere’s library, which puts her directly in the crosshairs of her brother Ranulf’s one time friend and now enemy, Julian Greycourt. And as fate would have it, she and Julian are thrown together at every turn. She isn’t sure what happened between Ranulf and Julian, but she knows she should stay away, too bad she finds him so intriguing and desirable! Can the bad blood between their families be laid to rest or is she doomed to love the one man she can’t have.

Julian Greycourt, the heir to his uncle, the Duke of Windemere, is sure that the duke killed his mother and believes she left proof in a book, but which one? Julian is determined to find the truth, but didn’t anticipate meeting Elspeth or falling for her. Dark and brooding, Julian has secrets that he is sure will repulse any woman, but with Elspeth his proclivities don’t seem to matter, in fact, being with her is a dream come true, too bad he thinks her brother killed his sister. Will they each find what they are looking for and find a way to be together or is the past just too much for them to overcome?

Sigh, this series isn’t what I was hoping for, but then the Maiden Lane series is a hard act to follow and left me with very high expectations. Expectations that sadly this series isn’t quite living up to. The book is well written, interesting, intriguing and different, which should make it a hit, but instead it is just OK. The story features a grumpy/sunshine couple, which is always fun, and Julian has some desires that make for interesting love scenes, but it just isn’t Maiden Lane caliber. In addition to that, the Wise Women story line is just not working for me and while I liked Elspeth and Julian as characters, I wasn’t really invested in their romance. Overall, I liked the book, but I wouldn’t read it again. This is the third book in the series and it could be read as a standalone title, but I would recommend reading the series in order for the best reader experience.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *