Can’t Get Enough of the Duke by Lenora Bell

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Thunderbolt Club #2

Release Date: April 7, 2026

Deckard “Dex” Payne, the Duke of Warburton makes a battlefield death promise to one of his men, Lt John Crewe as he lays dying in Dex’s arms, he promises to find and care for the man’s daughter, Analise, but just moments later he himself is attacked and it is months before he is healed enough to look for Analise. When he finally returns to England and begins his search, he is devasted to learn that Analise is no longer at the school her father enrolled her in and no one knows where she has gone. It takes years for him to track her down and when he does find her, he is shocked to learn she isn’t the docile, young schoolgirl he was imagining, but a beautiful young woman who is anything but docile. He finally convinces her that he was sent by her father to take care of her. But in addition to being older than he imagined, Analise isn’t biddable in the slightest and has no intention of making his task easy. Little by little, she worms her way into his heart, something he thought was long dead.

Analise Crewe doesn’t believe her father is dead, but with no other alternatives, she agrees to let the duke “launch” her into society, something she only agreed to so she can research the ton for her book. As an aspiring authoress, she left school after her father was reported missing and went to work for a well-respected authoress, who believed her work was good and sent her fantasy story to her publisher. But when the lady dies unexpectedly, Analise is once again on her own, that is until the duke shows up. She never expected to be the ward of a wealthy, grumpy duke and when they ended up compromised and forced to marry, she is determined to make the best of things. Too bad her duke is just as determined to keep her at arm’s length.

I definitely liked this story better than the last book and I think that is because I haven’t seen the movie Annie in decades, so I thankfully didn’t make that association. The book has a lot going on and at times I felt a little lost, but overall, it was a fun grumpy/sunshine book with a couple different storylines that ultimately come together in a very charming happy ending. As I mentioned before, I didn’t get the Annie reference (which honestly is a bit cringy) and I wasn’t put off by the age difference, because I have been reading historical romance for years and could easily accept that young women marrying older men was a common practice – but I can also see how it could be off-putting to a contemporary reader. Overall, it was an OK read and if you are a grumpy/sunshine fan – you will probably enjoy this book. This is the second book in the series, but they are very loosely connected, and this book can be read as a standalone title with no problems.

*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. *

You’re the Duke That I Want by Lenora Bell

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Thunderbolt Club, #1

Release Date: December 26, 2023

Sandrine Oliver lives in the quiet village of Squalton-On-Sea and is a devoted and dutiful daughter to her mother who is a paranoid pessimist who spouts the dangers of men and life in general, and who is bent on seeing Sandrine married to the town’s vicar. So when Sandrine is not being lectured by her mother, or pressured to marry the village vicar, she spends her time researching the crumbling Manor house that used to be owned by her father’s family but was lost centuries ago to the Duke of Rydell. Sandrine has tried to contact the duke many times, hoping he will fix up the house or give it to the Squalton Historicial Preservation and Improvement Society (of which she is the secretary), but much to her dismay, he has ignored her. But all that changes one hot afternoon when Sandrine uncharacteristically defies her mother and takes a dip in the sea, only to be accosted by a man claiming to be saving her from drowning. She soon finds herself falling for Danny, who disappears without a word. It is also the same man she sees later in London with a group of rakes, but this man is not the sweet, man she met in Squalton-on-Sea, nor is he Danny Smith, no, he is Dane Walker, the presumed Duke of Rydell and it that is not bad enough, he is pretending to not to know her!

Lord Dane Walker is the “spare heir” to his brother, the Duke of Rydell, and a founding member of the Thunderbolt Club, a group of young rakes who like racing carriages and fast women. He is in the sleepy town of Squalton-on-Sea to check out Squaltonn Manor, a property his father left him, but it is not long before he realizes his family is hated in the small town, so he tells the locals his name is Danny Smith. He sees the manor and knows that it is not the windfall he believed it to be, it is in dire need of repair and anyone buying it will probably want to raze the building and start from scratch, especially given the general air of neglect and disrepair of the entire town. Disappointed, he plans to return to Brighton but is stymied when his horse comes up lame. Instead, he wanders down to the manor and is shocked to see a woman splashing alone in the sea, he promptly saves her and finds himself captivated. Maybe staying in Squalton for a few days won’t be too bad. Sandrine is lovely, smart, and not his type at all, meaning, she is too good for him, yet that doesn’t stop him from craving her. But when he receives notice that his brother has died, he leaves without a second thought, never expecting to see her again.

When I saw that Lenora Bell was launching a new series I was excited. And when I read the blurb and requested this book from NetGalley, I was under the impression that this book was “Grease-inspired”, but a few chapters in I realized that was a huge understatement, this is a straight-up retelling of the 1970 movie classic set in Georgian England with only a few deviations. That said – if you have ever seen Grease then you will immediately see the similarities, from Danny to the Pink Ladies. And if you are a fan of the movie, you will probably be highly entertained. As for me, I liked the movie but didn’t LOVE it, and I felt the same as this book, it was OK, the writing was good and the love scenes were definitely steamier than the movie, but after waiting over a year for a new story, I felt a bit let down and wished Ms. Bell had put her own spin on the story instead of making minor alterations to adapt a well-known movie into an historical romance novel.

3 stars

*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.*