Unfortunately, this novel fell short for me. I never really felt the connection between the hero and heroine as the story progressed. The writing was a little flat, and I wish there had been more danger or excitement.

Great, heart-warming characters. Very interesting plot. Vivid descriptions. I felt every emotion. Just enough romance. Kept me intrigued from the first page to the last. Simply a GREAT read!

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

I was a little a confused by this book. I thought I was getting romance but what I got was a little more thriller (I’m not complaining!). That being said, there was a decent amount of spice in the book but I just felt the romance took a back seat to everything else. If you’re looking for a historical romance this might not be it for you.

Perfect historical romance. Low drama, high steam and well written characters. Easy plotline to help keep those pages turning.

Love is wonderful….the second time around! Or so they say. This is second chance romance that gets it right for the most part. The separation is a bit long and the misunderstanding could’ve easily been cleared (in my opinion) but this is historical romance. The couple definitely has major communication issues. Despite the separation, I wouldn’t call it an “enemies to lovers” romance as they redeem many aspects of their relationships fairly quickly. There is an element of mystery is there that keeps you on your toes. Still, it was a bit overdone at times.
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I liked how this book started a switch from the usual cast with Lucy and crew to newer characters. I also liked the idea that this book was more of a murder mystery than just a romance story. I did like the Grimaldis and how they interacted with each other throughout the book.

3.25 stars
This was a nice and sweet second-chance romance, where the hero and heroine were married 10 years ago and after 3 months of marriage split because of one fight—I found the whole separation a bit hard to believe and that they stayed separated for so long over that one fight. Ten years is a LONG time, and that they never even saw each other.

Anyway, Mark, our hero, now needs a wife if he’s going to receive the Home Secretary promotion he wants, and Nicole, our heroine, wants a baby, so when he shows up at her house in France asking her to please come back for a few months to play the role of loving wife, she sees an opportunity to get something <i>she</i> wants out of it. Of course, that means they’ll have to share a bed again—one area where they never struggled during their marriage.

Amidst all this, once they get back to London, Mark’s cousin is murdered, leaving him unexpectedly in line for a duchy—even though he has a pretty profound hatred for the aristocracy, and the duchy in particular, because when his grandfather was Duke he disowned his daughter, Mark’s mother, because she married an Italian nobody.

The story was pretty well-crafted and the characters interesting, but I found their lack of communication difficult and they’re holding back their feelings frustrating. I also found it difficult to believe that neither had been with another person in all that time, yet they had apparently not loved one another enough to try a reconciliation before then. Second-chance romances are not my favorites, because it so often involves things like these, but there have been exceptions so I was willing to give this book a shot.

If you love second-chance romances, you’ll probably like this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

This book isn’t quite like other Valerie Bowman novels. This one really pulled heartstrings more so than most for kind-hearted Nicole. She has suffered so much, for no real known reason.

After a short marriage full of love and bliss, her soldier husband bent on becoming a high-up official essentially bans and abandons her in England. Left to figure out life on her own, with her own “career” with the War Office, she travels to France, where she’s remained all this time, a decade later.

Mark is the product of a noblewoman and mister. His mother’s family disowned her for her choices, and he has steadfastly held on to the promise he made his father upon his death. He will have nothing to do with them. He does do his research and finds them, but he remains devoid of familial bonds. And he wants ALL of it to be a secret. No one can know! NO ONE!

Now a general and aiming for Home Secretary, Mark is prodded by those in charge that he needs to be a family man. Whaaaaat?! He gave up everything for his country, to climb the military ladder, to be at this exact point. NOW he needs to have a family? Well, good for him he already has a wife. Now he just needs to get her to England.

Quietly living a low-key life, visiting and supporting the local orphanage as well as the local police, Nicole’s friends know she is lonely. She never thought she’d see Mark again. They’d just live out their lives like nothing had ever happened. Except he shows up in France for a favor. A big one.

She must return to England and play the dutiful wife for a few months so that Mark can get his new role. Then she can return to France and continue her life. If Mark is going to get what he wants out of this bargain, she has her own condition. In exchange for getting him this promotion, Nicole wants a child. A child of her own to love and love her back. Talk about a man struck! That was the last thing Mark thought.

It was really hard to like Mark. Really, really hard. At some point, I found myself softening to him, but I still didn’t like him a lot. I thought he was very cold, callous, heartless, and selfish. As much as Nicole has obvious and perceived freedom and choices, I felt like for a large part of the first half or so of the book he domineered her and she could never fully get the misunderstandings cleared. Maybe that’s just how it was supposed to be. I mean, I wouldn’t be inclined to try to fix or understand anything with a man who did what Mark did to her.

Enter a whole other plot line, drama, and – gasp! – Mark’s family. There is a murder, the question of the heir, and Mark and Nicole are in the thick of it. My heart broke again for Nicole after they solved the murder and she overhears a conversation where Mark will once again rid himself of her.

I did like the changes I started seeing in Mark, the breakthrough to the good of him. He was supportive of Nicole’s work – always had been – an infinitely proud of her. Now, a decade later working on this murder case together, despite their strained marriage and new intimacy, they worked well together. There was some reconnection and reconciliation like breadcrumbs, but overall it did feel rushed and tied up with a shiny bow.

I also found everything about Nicole’s ties to Bow Street and the War Office highly improbable because she was nobility. A woman of noble standing would not be able to fully act as she did for them without raising questions and drawing suspicion to her outings and goings-on. Not to mention, Mark seemed pretty daft at times, like in the beginning while in France. He could not take the big hints that Nicole’s friend was dropping that were obvious.

A DUKE LIKE NO OTHER - Valerie Bowman

#9 in the Playful Brides Regency romance series

NOT YOUR TYPICAL ROMANCE - 4 stars

Plot - 4 stars - General Mark, hoping for a promotion, is ordered to settle down as a family man. The good news is that he's already married. The bad news is that he's estranged from his wife, who lives in France. Now he'll have to ask her for the favor of helping him out, but perhaps they can work out a deal.

Writing - 4 stars - As with the previous books in this series, I was immediately drawn into the story. The characters are enjoyable, and the setting is well-drawn.

Characters - 4 stars - Both main characters are strong, opinionated people, I liked that they both had backbones and stood up for themselves. They had a tempestuous relationship, and I was definitely rooting for their success as a couple.

Title - 4 stars - Mark is different from most men of his era in that he has no desire to become a duke. He'd rather work for a living, taking care of his country and countrymen. So he is definitely a duke like no other.

Cover - 3 stars - Pretty typical cover for this genre. The woman is always dressed, the man has his shirt off. Lovely dress, though.

Overall - 4 stars - Bowman has created a great group of characters who live their lives in a different way from the typical Regency romance characters. In this case, we have a male spy who has been in danger and survived. And the female MC has also put her life on the line, if not quite so dangerously. They make a great couple, although they are both opinionated and have tempers, so they often clash. This is good when they are passionate with each other, but it has also caused problems in their marriage. I loved that the story was a bit different from the typical in that they are working with Bow Street on an investigation rather than living the idle lives of the aristocracy. It was nice to hear mention of the Cavendishes, although there was otherwise not much connection to previous books. As always, I look forward to continuing with this very enjoyable series.

This book was so entertaining. I was drawn into the story from the beginning and was involved until the end. The characters were complex and interesting. I found the story to be well paced and engrossing throughout the whole book. I was invested in the couple throughout the book and felt all the emotions through both the highs and lows of the story.The side characters were such an integral part of this story as well. This is the love story i needed to read at this time. If you want an entertaining and well written book this is it for you

I liked both Nicole and Mark, but sometimes I felt they both were acting a bit childish in the way they didn't talk about their problems at all. They let a little misunderstanding keep them apart for 10 years and I have to say that those kind of miscommunications can be quite bohtersome haha. It gets me frustrated. Whenyou get to the point when things progress more, that's when I started to really like the story and enjoy it more, but it took a bit longer than I wished.

Overall, it was a quick read to pass time, a story that was enjoyable but in the end it's not a memorable one to me. I'd definitely pick up another book by this author because I liked her writing style, the settings and the depth in her writing very much.

Grimaldi is seen across the Playful Brides books as the spy master, but even the master of spies does not have all the answers. When up for a promotion he has worked his whole life for he is told if he wants to be considered he better get married....to everyone's surprise he already is. Mark is forced to seek out his wife Nicole after a 10 year estrangement. They married young and Mark soon learned that she was just like the rest of the aristocracy but had she changed. Nicole would agree to Marks proposal because she wanted something in return. As Mark and Nicole head back to the ton of London together we are given passion, romance, and a hard headed man who cannot see what is in front of him. We have appearances from some of my favorite Playful Brides characters and a get to watch Nicole and Mark fall in love all over again, this time for keeps.

A well-written story. The reader quickly connects with the characters, and the added mystery captivates and adds interest to the love story.

A Duke Like No Other is a second chance romance between already married Mark and Nicole. This is a sweet story of people with a past learning to love and trust each other.

A delightful book in every way. This book artfully interweaves so many elements, creating a wonderful read in the process. Of course it’s a romance—one with ten years of history and animosity in the best of an enemies-to-lovers storyline. We’ve got a stoic, tortured hero, and a strong, independent, capable heroine; see any issues there? Their history has kept them separated; their future brings them together again in a most intriguing way. There’s also a secondary romance and a big mystery to solve. The book takes many twists and turns to keep things so interesting, I just didn’t want to put this one down. Appropriate heat, and a great HEA (after they solve the ‘who dunnit’ of course). I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. This is my freely given, honest review.

Nicole escaped to France after a falling out with her new husband, General Mark Grimaldi, she busied herself working as a spy in Paris and then retreated to the Lavender fields of the French countryside. Ten years later her estranged husband comes visiting to ask her for a favour, she’s not about to give in unless she gets her secret wish fulfilled. An intriguing and unusual story with a dramatic plotline. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Honestly, when I read historical romance, this is what I'm looking for.

Mark and Nicole had one of the most interesting and authentic romances I've read in a while. She was a very strong female main character, but it didn't bash you over the head with Mark realizing that she was strong, and able to be strong at this time.

There was miscommunication, and just flat out not communicating, but it was done so well, and you could really see the two of them grow separately and together.

Fun, fun, fun. I would have no hesitation in handing this to a fan of Tessa Dare...where the plots border on over-the-top but somehow work and you just enjoy yourself the whole time. My first Valerie Bowman and not my last, fans of Regencies will definitely enjoy this one.

First and foremost, a charming Regency read. I happen to be a fan of Regency romance novels. I like the time period, true, but my favorite part of these novels is when I can tell that the author has done their research. This time and place in the world had such a wealth of rules, traditions, expectations, and so forth. There were important things happening in the world, dynamics between countries shifting and changing. When an author includes details like these in their novel, the story becomes so much richer, more vibrant, and much more enjoyable to read. I feel utterly transported on the back of the author's efforts.



In "A Duke Like No Other," there were some efforts made, clearly. Mark Grimaldi being half-Italian was an interesting feature that I've not encountered often in other books. I liked that dynamic very much. Certain other tropes were heavily relied upon, however, and that was a little disappointing for me.



Our leading man is fiercely determined to make his own way in the world, without ever acknowledging or relying upon the aristocratic ties he has on his mother's side of the family. And he thrives, succeeding beyond all expectations. In the end, he is faced with a situation of having accomplished his goals, and being needed by his family to take on an aristocratic role anyway. So he gets to be in the highly enviable position of having his cake and eating it, too. His main difficulty is his own pride - something he has the ability to affect at any time of his choosing.



I was far more impressed with Nicole. Though she came from aristocracy herself, she is a fiercely independent and headstrong individual. She wants to be useful. She is courageous, a bit wild, and highly intelligent. I absolutely loved reading her. She is a good match for Grimaldi, but honestly, he often did not deserve her. He did her a cruel injustice that was never accounted for. Though this is a HEA story, it came on the back of a lightning-bolt epiphany, not a deliberate choice to change, to be worthy.



Yes, Mark Grimaldi was a self-made man, highly accomplished, and brilliant in his own right. But he was also a jerk who cruelly mistreated his own wife. It rankles me that he got a HEA without accounting for his wrongdoings.

A Duke Like No Other by Valerie Bowman was a delightful historical romance to read. The two main characters are married but estranged, yet there is still hope for them to rekindle their love and get what they want out of life. But first, they must solve a mystery in order to get their happily ever after. I adored reading this book and will recommend everyone who enjoys a refreshing and suspenseful romance to read this book.