Not the Duke You Marry by Jess Michaels

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Kent’s Row Duchesses, #3

Release Date: November 14, 2023

Bernadette “Etta”, the widowed Duchess of Tunbridge is feeling a bit out of sorts after her two dearest friends marry. She is happy for them, but can’t help but feel a little jealous and maybe even sorry for herself. Her marriage was by no means a love match, for the most part, he ignored her, just as her parents had always done, but after his death, she moved to Kent Row and made friends, but now they are married and leaving and she wonders what is her next step. She considers taking a lover and even mentions it to her childhood friend Theodore “Theo” Tinsley, the Duke of Lightmorrow, who by all accounts is a rake of the first order. But that conversation doesn’t go well and she is embarrassed. Later she finds a letter addressed to her late husband from Donville Masquerade, a pleasure club, and her curiosity is piqued. She visits the club and decides to join, hoping to find a lover. But instead of an anonymous lover, it is Theo who finds her. He gives her a taste of pleasure, but immediately takes her home. She presses him and he agrees to engage in an affair but makes it clear that it is only about pleasure, nothing more. She agrees to his terms, but wonders if she will be able to keep her word, as Theo has always held a part of her heart.

Theo is and always has been attracted to Bernadette and considers her a friend, a friend he doesn’t want to lose. They embark on their affair and it is clear that they are perfectly matched in bed. Theo is amazed that her late husband didn’t want her, not only is she passionate, but she is clever, kind, and considerate – what more could a man want? As his feelings deepen, he begins to long for more from their relationship and wonders if Etta feels the same. But before he can declare his love and desire to marry her, a hurtful secret from his past will crush any hope he has of HEA with the woman he now knows he can’t live without.

In my opinion, this is the best book in the series. I loved Bernadette and Theo together, I felt their chemistry right from the beginning of the series and couldn’t wait for their story and it was well worth the wait! This book is filled with emotion, insecurity, friendship, a near-death experience, steamy love scenes, vindictive family members, a little heartache, forgiveness, and finally a lovely declaration scene leading to the start of their HEA and as if that wasn’t enough, there is also a very sweet epilogue featuring all the couples. I liked the previous books, but I LOVED this one and highly recommend it to readers who enjoy steamy friends-to-lovers stories. This is the third and final book in the series, but it could definitely be read as a standalone title.
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*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*

Not Another Duke by Jess Michaels

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Kent’s Row Duchesses, #2

Release Date: September 5, 2023

Due to poor investments by his father and then later by himself, Roarke Desmond is broke, and with an infirmed mother to care for, he needs funds. He meets with his cousin, the new Duke of Sidmouth hoping to get the money he needs to care for his mom, but as he tries to bring up the subject, his cousins all complain about their father’s widow, their step-mother, and the money their father left for her and the new bequest she is due to get at the third anniversary of the late duke’s death if she hasn’t remarried or taken a lover. The Duke offers to give Roarke the money he needs and then some if he agrees to spy on the widowed Duchess of Sidmouth and report back to him. But Flora is not what Roarke expected and soon he is falling for her, feelings it seems she returns, making it harder to tell her the truth. But when the duke ups the ante, Roarke will have to decide if saving her is worth losing her.

After the death of her beloved Stuart, the late Duke of Sidmouth, Flora moved to Kent’s Row and has lived in quiet mourning ever since. Unlike her friends, Flora actually loved her much older husband and has no desire to remarry, in fact, no other man has even tempted her to take a lover, at least that was true until she met Roarke. Roarke makes her long for things she never thought she would want again. But when she learns the truth, will she be able to forgive him and give love another chance, or will she close her heart and give up on love forever?

This was another well-written, nicely-paced story installment of the Kent’s Row Duchesses. This story features a down-on-his-luck hero who loves his mom, a heroine who never thought she would love again, greedy relatives, good friends, secrets, lies, lots of emotion, evil intentions, and finally a HEA including an epilogue. I liked this story, but it fell a bit short of my expectations, neither Roarke or Flora wowed me, I am hoping that Bernadette and Theo’s story will be the crown jewel of the series. This is the second book in the series and could be read as a standalone title, but I would recommend reading the series in order.

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