I loved how caring Griffin was, and that Esmeralda was determined without coming off as spoiled as most females tend to do in this type of story.

Pages read: 36

I find the writing and attempts at banter decidedly lackluster, which means I already very much do not ship it. And it's one of those romances where the attraction is built solely on the hotness of the two individuals, which just is not how I like these things to shake out. I'd prefer them to be less attractive but more interesting.

Full review posted at Reader's Edyn on 02/02/20

Esmerelda has had a rough go of it. Her mother was cast out after being widowed and then defying her brother so that she could remarry for love. Mother and stepfather have both since passed away, leaving Esmerelda to support herself and her younger sister. Now running a struggling employment agency, and the owner taking advantage of her, she is wondering where the next amount of money will come from for the past due bills. When the Duke of Griffin happens into her agency, she can’t afford to say no to his requests to chaperone his twin sisters during their debut despite her numerous excuses to try and escape the offer. The Duke posses many problems even though the money is more than she could ever expect to bring in over the next year. What harm could fall in six weeks anyway? The Duke refuses to take no for an answer and she’s run out of excuses. If only he wasn’t so dang intriguing.

Griffin is immediately taken with Esmerelda – a Rake by notoriety, his past deeds have set up a possible disaster for his sisters’ debut season. He is in need of extra helps to ensure their reputations remain intact. He knows Esmerelda is the one he requires, and he’ll stop at nothing to ensure her acceptance of his proposal. Before too long, he’s craving quite a lot more from her and considering how best to redirect her refusals into surrender. In a moment of heated emotions, Griffin makes a disastrous mistake and he’s not sure how to fix it. He isn’t accustomed to losing anything he’s wanted – he’s never wanted anything more than Esmerelda – and he isn’t about to start losing now.

I am so thrilled to have been able to read and review this book as an ARC. Unfortunately, life happened, and the review never occurred, so I just re-read the book and would willingly do so several more times. I enjoyed myself immensely while reading this beautifully told story of two extremely strong-minded individuals who ultimately attract to each other despite their seemingly opposing personalities and stations in life. Imagine Griffin’s shock when he discovers that Esmerelda is, in reality, one of his peers. I absolutely adored their burning passion and the fact that they fought it for as long as possible without giving in too easily despite their raging desire to succumb. Their sharp wit and delectable banter heightened each engagement. I effortlessly played each scene vividly in my mind as the drama unfolded. Adding delicious detail to the plot were several additional characters. Sometimes I find there are too many characters added to a story in an effort to fluff the content. Not so in this case. Each individual added a memorable contribution and I ended up discovering each one to be just as likable as the last; desiring to find out more about each of them. The other two rakes, Rath and Hawk were delectable, and I am thrilled to know that I have the other two books of the series to dive in to next. I am more than willing to spend several more hours with each of the Rakes of St. James. Even Griffin’s sisters, Sara and Vera, were captivating – so similar in appearance yet completely opposite in mannerisms and delightfully entertaining. I do have one question though – What is Griffin’s name? The entire book he is only referred to as The Duke of Griffin and everyone calls him by his title or Griffin. I don’t recall ever seeing his name mentioned anywhere. Odd, that. He had to have been someone prior to inheriting the title.

I did truly find the entries of MISS MAMIE FORTESCUE'S DO'S AND DON'TS FOR CHAPERONES, GOVERNESSES, TUTORS, AND NURSES as included at the beginning of each chapter, to be highly entertaining. What a thoughtful and insightful detail to add. A little something extra added for the benefit of the reader to be able to have a bit of comprehension into Esmerelda’s determination to behave in particular ways as authored by the founder of the agency. I was quite annoyed with Napoleon’s storyline – I won’t ruin that detail. While I understood the way things worked out, I believe Griffin should have sought some sort of retribution even if just a dressing down of the offender. Now that I think of it – the same holds true for Mr. Forescue for taking advantage of Esmerelda when she took over the agency. That would have been quite satisfying to see to be certain. Unfortunately, such details were unnecessary to complete this lovely book, so I will just have to leave it be. Regardless of the undesirable outcome for such scoundrels, I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with these wonderful characters and look forward to beginning the next book in the series – Hawk’s story – which I shall begin forthwith. Assuming the next books are just as enchanting, and I would be shocked if they were not, lovers of HR are sure to gladly embrace the Rakes of St. James and their unexpected journeys toward love with exasperating, competent women who confront them at every opportunity and arouse their passion like no other.

Kindle ARC version provided by publisher/St. Martin’s in exchange for an honest review.

I was hoping for better. I loved other series by author but this was a slow start and never really caught my interest. not sure if I will continue with the series.

What’s it About? A playboy duke, in this case, the Duke of Griffin is forced to hire an above reproach chaperone for his twin sisters so that they don’t suffer for his bad decisions. Enter said chaperone, Miss Esmeralda Swift whom the duke takes a fancy to and from that point on is a game of flirtation and romance that may or may not lead to a happy ending for these two.




Overall reaction to the book? Last Night with the Duke sounds like a pretty good read, there’s the unrepentant rake, and the innocent but intriguing miss thrown together by fate or what have you. And for the most part it is a good read. But it had some elements that didn’t help the book be what it could have been.

The duke has his world turned upside down with the presence of Esmeralda in his life. I enjoyed his conflict, he should have to suffer a bit with his emotions after playing fast and loose for so long right? He also had to care about his sisters at least a little in order to justify hiring a chaperone for them right? Well here’s the first issue I had with this book, he hardly spends time with his sisters, in fact there is barely any relationship between them beyond the social niceties that are required. So why would he want to hire a chaperone if he didn’t really have a relationship with them? Why would he care about their reputations? The evidence says he doesn’t because he hires Esmeralda because he thinks she’s beautiful, not because she’s qualified to do the job. Way to think with the wrong head there buddy. He’s not particularly likable for a good portion of the book but I think that had to do with the feeling that this character was just running in circles until it was time for him to fall in love with Esmeralda. Instead of growing into hero material, he kind of stays stagnant for too long to ever really get a good feel of who he is aside from an arrogant duke.

And Esmeralda, while a stand up for yourself kind of girl, didn’t really convince me that she was the woman for the job, either as a chaperone or a duke’s wife. She spent too much time longing for the life she felt she should have had instead of really making a go out of the life she was living. Her sister was another negative for me as she was such a brat and didn’t have many if any redeeming qualities.


But one of the biggest problems for me was the inconsistency of the pace in Last Night with the Duke. The beginning is so dang slow it’s almost a turtle’s pace. A whole lot of nothing going on with subplots that go nowhere had me rethinking my commitment to reading the entire book. Then at around the 60% mark things start speeding up until it felt like I was being shot through a canon to the ending which wrapped EVERYTHING up much too quickly for my liking. Esmeralda and her Duke barely had a real romance, much less anything really steamy happening between them for 80% of the book. Not really my cup of tea.

Click It or Skip It? Skip It. The blurb sounded better than the actual story. I would check out this author again though since I read an enjoyed a novella of hers.

This was a good book, but one I wouldn't search out to re-read. It had some good points in the beginning but then just fizzled.

The Duke of Griffin is determined that his reputation not tarnish his younger twin sisters’ reputations during their debut. He decides to hire a governess to make sure nothing goes wrong. He doesn’t plan on his attraction to his chosen governess to get in the way.
This wasn’t a bad story. It was a pretty standard plot and relationship builder. Nothing really bad or notable stuck out to me. The book was pretty sweet and didn’t really include any hawt parts, but that’s pretty standard for this author, whose previous books I’ve read.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Last night with the Duke by Amelia Grey uses some typical set ups but is still a fresh new story. The writing is superb. I lost myself in the story and the characters are unique and believable. Can wait for the next Amelia Grey novel to release.

I absolutely loved the sexy, dirty talking Duke and the independent Esmeralda. But I just wasn’t fond of them together. I’ve been hunkering for a historical romance to read on the train and this was a perfect candidate. The pace was little weird for me though, it alternated between quite fast and really slow and nothing in between. I wasn’t obsessed with the characters or as interested in the story. And I just didn’t feel like the relationships between them were real. I mean the Duke was unconventional but really let’s be real here. But also I felt that the first part of the book set good ground works but then there wasn’t much of a follow through with the second half. It was a very weak attempt and Griffin get’s a little too forceful for no reason at all. It was a cute story.

Esmeralda Swift runs Miss Fortescue’s Employment Agency, while she has never been a chaperone, she knows most everything about the position, and when the duke of Griffin, who was literally passing by, offers her to chaperone his twin sisters for the Season, Esmeralda must refuse, and whatever outrageous demands she makes, he accepts, even if Griffin is as stubborn as she is. Chaperoning Griffin’s sisters will be a very hard task indeed, because Esmeralda wonders how she will ever be able to resist the Duke’s considerable charms.

LAST NIGHT WITH THE DUKE is not a complicated story, not much happens in fact, but Ms. Grey’s sumptuous writing makes it a delight to read because of the engaging characters and lovely period details. Griffin and Esmeralda’s road to romance is a quaint and elegant pas de deux: they try not to succumb to the attraction: darling, it just isn’t done! She is but a servant, really, oh but one doesn’t choose whom to love, does one? LAST NIGHT WITH THE DUKE hit the spot for me! It’s a simple love story between people who oughtn’t to fall in love, and it’s very well done. I liked that there were no misunderstandings, the push-and-pull was realistic regarding their differences in status, and the chemistry between Esmeralda and Griffin was palpable; it felt real to me, and I just basked in the loveliness of it all. I also liked that Griffin did not try to change Esmeralda, he did however try his darndest to get her to wear other colours than her dowdy grey!

LAST NIGHT WITH THE DUKE is a the type of story that could have easily have put me to sleep, or have me skipping pages, but it did not happen because of the quality of the writing, and it takes a real talent to capture my attention when there is so little action, but neither did I feel like slapping anyone, and that is very good indeed. LAST NIGHT WITH TH E DUKE is mostly the road to romance for these two wonderful characters, so readers shouldn’t expect lots of action; neither is there any sex to speak of, but the sexual tension could be cut with a knife. The richness of the descriptions, the superbly conveyed sentiments and emotions kept me entertained and happily reading along. LAST NIGHT WITH THE DUKE is a great beginning to a new series, and I am very much looking forward to Rath’s and Hawk’s stories.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
Reviewed for Buried Under Romance by Monique

A youthful trick by the Duke of Griffin and his friends (the Rakes of St. James) ten years ago may lead to disaster for Griffin's twin sisters and their first season. He hires Miss Esmeralda Swift as a companion for his sisters, charging her with he!ping him weed out the potential "bad" suitors. Sparks f!y right the the beginning, creating a delightful repartee between the two. However, as their attraction increases her spunkiness gets a little lost. While the storyline is pleasant, I would have liked to have seen the intrigue part of the story be expanded. The culprit is supposedly uncovered and dealt with in just a few pages. Disappointing! However, since two more stories will be coming maybe all is not so cut and dry. All in all this is a nice read with very likeable characters.

The Skinny

Esmerelda Swift is an enterprising businesswoman who runs Miss Mamie Fortescue's Employment Agency for women. She has run the agency and cared for her younger sister for some time, but things are becoming extremely tight. They need incoming jobs for Miss Mamie's to continue its employment services....and keep their home. She has everything to lose.

When the Duke of Griffin whirls in and demands Esmerelda chaperone his twin sisters for their introduction to the ton, he won't take no for an answer. After earning his nickname as one of the "Rakes of St. James" for his own behavior with young ladies of the ton during his younger days, he is now concerned for his own sisters' safety and protection during their debut as rumors swirl. Especially when "Miss Honor A Truth's" weekly scandal sheet is released...and the Duke and his sisters find themselves the center of Society attention.

A strong but friendly chaperone is the perfect answer. Esmerelda throws up a myraid of excuses and finds herself, her sister, and their dog living at Griffin's home and ushering the argumentative twins to events while keeping the peace.



The Players

Esmerelda (Esme) - disowned granddaughter of a noble, quietly operates a servicewomen agency and cares for her sister

Josephine - Esmerelda's 12 year old sister

Griffin - Benedict Mercer, Duke of Griffin, named one of the Rakes of St. James

Lady Vera - the forceful and cantankerous twin

Lady Sara - the sweet twin

Rust Rathburne - Duke of Rathburne, Griffin's friend and another of the Rakes of St. James

Sloan Knox -Duke of Hawksthorn, Griffin's friend and another of the Rakes of St. James



The Quote

If there was a yelling and a shove when they both wanted to play the pianoforte, what would happen when they both started vying for the same young man's attention?



The Highs and Lows

Esmerelda. Her past is important and often Essie turns to in her own thoughts. She is the granddaughter of a viscount, nobility in her own right. However, since her mother chose to love an Irish poet against the wishes of her father, Esmerelda's mother was disowned. Both her mother and stepfather have since passed on, leaving Esmerelda to care for her 12-year-old sister who is a mix of bratty and sweet. Esmerelda's life went from governesses to becoming one, and she worked her way up to now own Miss Mamie Fortescue's Employment Agency, a small company that places servicewomen with high society families. Essie is an enterprising, hard-working, independent, and stubborn woman. I admired and revered her for those qualities, but at times they also seemed like a facade. Essie is hired for her strong backbone, but at every turn in her new employ she is ready to rush and pack her bags, knowing she will be fired. Her independence and confidence were like the spikes and drops in a diabetic's blood sugar.

The Attraction. I didn't find there to be any romance in this "romance" novel. Benedict Mercer, the Duke of Griffin, is inexplicably attracted to Esmerelda the moment he hears her voice while eavesdropping on her reprimanding an employee. And again when he sets eyes on her. The insta-lust remains that throughout the entire book. There is no real development of their relationship, no growth. They spend very little time together, and their "romance" is some secretive kisses and make-out sessions in the library that can't go too far. Essie's commoner "miss" status draws Griffin like a moth to a flame, and ultimately what he also uses to push her away. A Duke can't marry a mere commoner, but he can dally with one. Flirt, tease, bemoan the fact that he needs to settle down with a "proper" lady. It was a bit of a farce watching Griffin's intentions completely change as soon as he learned of her family heritage and nobility status. It didn't seem authentic or believable.

The Goofs. Historically, this is not quite accurate. In no Regency world would a single, virginal employment agency administrator with a teenage sister and a rascally dog be a live-in partial chaperone. Essie doesn't conduct the full duties of a chaperone, only the public facing ones. All of the planning and orchestrating has been done by Griffin's aunt, who can't go out due to a skin condition, which seemed engineered on her part to force Griffin toward a woman. Not to mention how a Duke would not be entering a women's employment agency. No, there are servants for that - even the housekeeper at worst would have been sent.

The Twins. While the twins are quite snotty and catty, they show some development. They fight over everything left and right, and there seemed to even be a slight streak of malice in one of them, aimed at the other. They are high-spirited and high maintenance. However, their undying love for the same man is soon overcome and resolved, and Sara ends up finding her own love. Once the twins got past their tit-for-tat, I enjoyed their characters immensely and hope they make more than just cameos in the remainder of the series. In fact, I wonder if Rath or Hawk will wind up falling for Vera.

The Mysterious Revenge Plot. The entire plot of the story revolves around blind Sir Welby's first-hand accounts of a group of young men bent on ruining Griffin's sisters. Reputations and perceptions are the powerhouse of the ton, and even the slightest mar is a death threat for a young woman - just like the dozen women Griffin, Hawk, and Rath innocently damaged a decade prior when each young lady appeared at a clandestine location, unchaperoned, in the middle of the night to meet their secret admirers. While there are rumors continuing to abound, Griffin and Esmerelda are suspicious of every young man who shows too much attention or none at all! When the Season is half over with no attempt of harm, they begin to question the validity of Sir Welby's claim. The mysterious revenge plot drug on...and then dissipated. It was quite anticlimactic.

Last Night With the Duke by Amelia Grey
The Rakes of St. James #1

5 Stars! Right from the beginning I fell in love with Ms.Grey’s writing style! Her characters are full, the story is engaging and the dialogue is wonderful.

Griffin and Esmeralda were fantastic together. From the first moment they are on the page together you could feel the chemistry begin to simmer. I am intrigued by the secondary characters and look forward to their stories.

I am very glad I took a chance and requested this arc from Netgalley and I am super excited to check out this author's back list!

~Paragraphs and Petticoats~

Good start to a historical romance series. I enjoyed the main characters, The Duke of Griffin and Esmeralda, and enjoyed the relationship that developed between them. Great characters, an interesting storyline, and a sweet romance made this one enjoyable.

Fab read great characters and an enjoyable storyline with a bit of suspense and a lot of romance what more can you want :)

"Last Night with the Duke" is the first book in the Rakes of St. James series by Amelia Grey and by the looks of this book this series promises to be highly seductive and entertaining. The Rakes of St. James are three single dukes who were given this name after a wager between the three of them when they decided to send love letters to all the debutantes that year asking them to meet them in secret. They signed them as secret admirers. The duke that got the greatest number of girls showing up was to be the winner. The wager was supposed to be secret and only harmless fun. But when all twelve of the girls show up and the wager is soon heard by the whole ton, the three dukes became infamously known as the Rakes of St. James.

Well it seems that someone is out to get revenge. When news spreads that a group of young bucks have decided to take advantage of the Duke of Griffin's twin sisters, the Rakes of St. James are determined to protect the twins and find the nefarious group who is out to ruin the twins debut season. With his ailing aunt unable to help him, the Duke of Griffin sets out to find a chaperone to assist him. He never expected to find one that is not only perfect for his challenging sisters, but one that is perfect for him as well.

Esmeralda Swift has the responsibility of not only taking care of her 12 year old sister Josephine, but also to run the employment agency that was left to her by her former employer. She hardly has money to buy coal and knows that she needs all the employment that she can get so when the Duke of Griffin comes into tell her that he wants no one else but her to chaperone his twin sisters and accepts not only her sister but her dog to accompany her, she find that she can't deny his offer. If only she could stop fantasizing about the infamous duke and keep her thoughts purely professional. But when the Duke also seems to be having similar thoughts it gets harder and harder for them to keep their distance from one another.

A beautiful regency novel with an intense chemistry and heat that constantly simmers. I enjoyed not only the two main characters but also all the secondary characters too. I truly can't wait to read more from the Rakes of St. James!!!

Amelia Grey kicks off The Rakes of St James series with a passionate tale of secrets, scandals and seduction: Last Night With The Duke!

Benedict Mercer, The Fourth Duke of Griffin, is not in the best of moods when he steps through the doors of Miss Mamie Fortescue’s Employment Agency. With rumours circulating all around the Ton that his twin sisters will end up bearing the brunt of his past follies and indiscretions – not to mention the fact that he has just received word from his aunt that she would be unable to chaperone the twins as she’s been taken ill, Benedict is at his wits’ end. To make matters worse, nobody seems to be willing to help him at Miss Fortescue’s Employment Agency – until he claps eyes on Miss Esmeralda Swift. Eagle-eyed and armed with a no nonsense attitude and a take no prisoners approach that makes grown men quake in their boots, Esmeralda has all the credentials Griffin requires for the perfect chaperone for his sisters. However, Benedict had not counted on developing an infatuation for his new employee…

Esmeralda is far too sensible to fall in love with a rake like the Duke of Griffin. A man whose reputation is tainted by scandal and has a list of indiscretions as long as her arm would never make a suitable husband and besides, a duke could never possibly contemplate a future with somebody like her…or could he? While his offer of employment is way too good to resist, Esmeralda vows to keep her relationship with the duke strictly professional. However, she soon finds herself falling for his devilish charm and charismatic personality and common sense and practicality soon fly out the window!

Passion soon ignites between Esmeralda and Griffin, but with so many obstacles standing in their way, does their love stand any chance of surviving when they are divided by a vast social chasm? Or is their relationship simply not meant to be?

Amelia Grey certainly knows how to tell a good story and I was charmed and completely engrossed by the first delightful installment of The Rakes of St James, Last Night with the Duke. An enjoyable and delightful read that sizzles with humour, passion and emotion, Last Night with the Duke captured my intention from the very first pages with its beguiling blend of well drawn characters, delicious wit, sparkling dialogue and enthralling romance

I thought Esmeralda was a fantastic heroine and her sparring with the sinfully seductive Griffin were an absolute joy to read!

Although I would have liked more attention to be given to the historical era which the book takes place in with regards to the attitudes of the characters and their behaviour, on the whole I found Last Night with the Duke to be a fun and entertaining romantic read that fans of Sarah Maclean and Tessa Dare will simply lap up!

I enjoyed Last Night with the Duke because it was well written, with a likable cast of characters and witty bantering that kept me entertained. Griffin and Esmeralda’s connection developed wonderfully, the chemistry between the two was believable, and didn’t feel rush, despite the initial instant falling in love vibes they gave off, and I enjoyed their journey to falling in love.

I couldn't finish because I was continuously annoyed by the author's inability to add. The ages and lengths of time did not sync.

Enthralling? Enticing? Enchanting? Exquisite . . . I loved this book from start to finished. I loved that a duke, Duke of Griffin, would take a fall so great that he could not fathom the results. He just wanted to make sure that his past deeds did not impact the debut season of his sisters. She was way more important than his reputation. He takes matters into his own hands by obtaining her a chaperone for the season. Never knowing that she, Esmeralda, would be the key to changing his world forever.

I found these characters to be enticing, enthralling, and enchanting in various ways and at various times. The exquisiteness of it all coming together and making this historical romance just a bit more enchanting. The banter. The scenery. The characters. The whole of it all bright me to a different level of romantic endeavor.