Such a sweet story with a duke and a governess who met again after 15 years and a lot of misunderstandings. I enjoyed the whole story a lot and was happy to read Olivia Drake and her story because she was unknown to me and now I have some of her other books to read :)

Storia molto romantica, con un duca ed un'istitutrice che si rincontrano dopo 15 anni ed un sacco di fraintendimenti dopo. La trama non era particolarmente complessa, ma mi é piaciuto ed ho scoperto cosí una nuova autrice, Olivia Drake, che non conoscevo e della quale ho molti libri nuovi tra cui scegliere :)

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

“The Duke I Once Knew” was a good read. I liked the main characters and the secondary characters as well. It was great to see Abby and Max get a second chance at love.

Miss Abigail Linton, Abby meets Max, the Duke in a coach.
Drama over another woman, plenty of angst and steam.
Fasted paced read.

Abby has devoted her life to her parents after her mother had a debilitating fall from her horse. Abby was now approaching her 30th birthday and her parents having passed away the previous year all that awaited her was the expected roll of looking after her family’s young children. Abby needed to escape so took up a position as governess to the Duke of Rothwell sister. You are taken on a delightful journey with Abby realising lost love and becoming a spirited individual who will make her own decisions in life.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I've been on a very good historical romance streak lately, reading many enjoyable romances and The Duke I Once Knew by Olivia Drake continued the said streak. I loved both Abby and Max, and I loved their relationship and their chemistry. Abby's meddling family drove me crazy and they certainly added some drama to the story. Not to mention some of Rothwell's friends who tried to come between him and Abby. But, of course, this is a romance novel, so Abby and Max got their HEA despite all the interferences. This is the first Olivia Drake's book that I've read but it won't be the last. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, even though I can't figure out whose story it will be. Maybe Valerie's?

*I received a free copy from the publisher via Netgalley and chose to leave a voluntary review. Thank you!*
This was the first time I have read an Olivia Drake book - now I am trying to find all the previous series. Character development and a real story that catches your attention. Terrific historical romance fiction. Highly Recommend!

It was a pretty quick read. I like Abby when she finally got a little backbone and stood up to her family as well as when her sister came to visit. I loved Max and how some things change when it's pointed out that his sister is at the house and how his actions would affect her standing. The only part I wished was different was that we could see what was done to the person who hurt Abby in the end. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy!

Mac and Abby where in love when they were young and after years of being apart they are reunited again when Abby becomes his sister's Governess. Mac is determined to go d a replacement for her but when old feelings start appear again he is not so sure he can let her go again.

Both Mac and Abby must overcome old hurts to find true love in each other again .

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

While the premise sounded charming I knew from the first few pages that this was not going to be a good fit for me as I do not care for this particular style of florid writing. I also did not really like either of the characters. Abby is judgmental and fond of drawing incorrect conclusions. Max has no real substance to him. My favorite parts of the book were the scenes where Abby's family appeared. I did enjoy the depictions of their thoughtless self involvement. Otherwise I did a lot of skimming,

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a good second chance at love story with a rakish duke and his lovely neighbor, reunited around her sudden freedom from caring for elderly parents and his visit back to the estate to sponsor a boxing match. Throw in interfering relatives, irresponsible teenaged girls, a catty, social climbing widow and you have a path which forces them to earn a HEA.

I love a reunited lover story. It is one of my favorite tropes in romance. I haven't read much by Olivia Drake, but this book has made me realize that I need to.

From the beginning this tale was filled with emotion. The chemistry between Abby and Max jumped off the page and I was cheering for them to let go of their past and embrace their future.

I will definitely be looking for the next book in this series to come out.

Historical romances are my guilty pleasure so I jumped on the chance to read The Duke I Once Knew. The synopsis held promise of the type of light and fluffy romantic read that I love losing myself in once in a while. I am a complete sucker for “lost lovers over time”.

While I found this book to be a fairly quick and somewhat enjoyable read, I honestly couldn’t wait to get to the end of it. I needed this book to be finished. I couldn’t get enough of the storyline of a second chance romance but I could not stand the characters at all! Any of them! Well, except maybe Goliath. Him I enjoyed.

I was expecting Max and his friends to be your typical rogues; flirty, temperamental and just all out impossible to live with. That I was prepared for. What shocked and annoyed me was Abby. I had such high hopes for her at the beginning with her want for independence but all my hopes were just shattered. I understand that women were meant to be seen as obedient and meek during this time period, but come on! I had such respect for this woman holding her ground and speaking her mind but she turned out to be such a doormat, especially when it came to Max, that I just lost interest in her. I also got the impression of a snob from her. I mean, there is being prim and formal and then there is taking it a little too far. Sure, she had her moments where her guard was let down but those were fleeting and far between. I prefer a female lead with more spunk and tenacity than compliance and apologies.

I probably could have forgiven Abby her conflicting personality traits had I not been constantly reminded of them. It seemed every page or so was Abby second guessing something, wondering if she had misread something, thinking about how improper her thoughts were or trying to decide how things would have been if something had played out differently. We got a lot of this from Max as well, but I found it more irritating coming from Abby for some reason. I think I had just expected more growth from her character.

There was also a lot of repetition throughout the book that made me feel that it could have been done at least 50 pages earlier. During those moments, I found myself skimming a lot because there was no new information, just a lot of facts and thoughts that were unnecessarily repeated.

Though I did have some issues with The Duke I Once Knew, I did find the overall story quite enjoyable and the parts that held my interest were very quick to read through. This was my first work by the author and I will keep an eye out for other titles by her.

I received this copy from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press to read and provide my own opinions.

This is escapism at high level, suspend your belief and be ready to entertained! This was a lovely book, well written, and with great characters.
I really liked it and hope to read other books by this writer.
Recommended!
Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this ARC

4.5 Stars!!! Great book! I loved this book. Max & Abby were cute together. I felt bad for how Abby was basically an unpaid servant to her family! I did roll my eyes at how easily the rift between Max & Abby could have been avoided. It was still a great book! I do wish there was a longer ending & an epilogue. I feel like the story just ended with a lot left to tell. Other than those few things, it was a very entertaining story & I would recommend it to anyone who likes romance, especially historical romance!
*I received this book at no charge from the publisher.*

The Duke I Once Knew by Olivia Drake was a delightful second chance romance that was provided to me by NetGalley for my honest review.

Abigail is a spinster daughter, who has set her life aside to take of her ill parents, then her sisters, brothers and their families once their parents passed. Unfortunately, they treated her as a servant, with no thought as to what she might want, so she took it into her own hands to apply as a governess to the younger sister of Max, the boy she loved as a child. They had planned a life together, but when he moved away after his mother's death, they lost touch. Once Abby's employed Max returns and the sparks are palpable...but they each harbor an anger towards the other for not writing years ago. But they had, so what happened to those letters? Could Max get past his reputation as a rogue and find his way back into Abby's heart? Could they both forgive? An enjoyable story!

I have not read a book by Olivia Drake before, but upon finding this on Netgalley I decided to give it a shot since it sounded good. I read the first few chapters but couldn't get into it. I found that the characters didn't quiet pull me in, the story was very slow. The writing was good itself on its own, but it did not keep me wanting to read the book.

Abby and Max were separated through no fault of their own and managed to overcome family drama, meddiling and injury to have a steamy interlude. I was instantly drawn into the story and can't wait for more from Olivia.

I really wanted to love this one! It had two tropes that I love. Duke needing a governess and second chance romance. However, it didn’t win me over as I hoped. I expected a bit more angst and romance. These two did a dance around each other that could have ended a bit sooner if they would have spoken about the past.

Abigail became a pushover in her family by being the youngest and going along with whatever her family wanted her to do. It was good to see her get a backbone and take charge of her life. While she was a bit on the prudish side, I did like her character.

Max, Max, Max. There were so many times that I wanted to shake him. He really wanted to make himself believe that he loved his lifestyle as it was without love. However, He knew he loved Abigail. He just kept fighting it.

Since it was a first in a series, I’ll round up to three stars. While I wasn’t in love with it, I did enjoy it and will be reading the next book in this series.

** Review will be posted to the blog in at a later date.

Great story with reunited childhood loves but with obstacles in the way, lost letters, family that means well but not, a widow in need of money that will stop at nothing to gain a Duke, broken hearts and one rogue rake that has his flings thrown in his face by the one girl he destroyed when she was 15, but the biggest obstacle is their love that they still have for each other while she hides hers, he try’s to smash it because he won’t ever get married or have children (fears his father engraved into Max’s head)

They fell in love when she was 15 and he 16, but tragically something happen and his father split them apart in more way then one. Now Abby is 29 almost 30 a spinster and is a unpaid servent to her much older siblings (like her oldest brother is 60 and the second youngest or 5 is 7 years older then Abby) since she became the caretaker of her sickly parents and after they past her siblings say her as the maiden aunt that will be there to sooth her many nieces and nephews and to be pushed from one sister house to her brothers house when they need her ‘servitude’. That made her want to become her pawn person and have a job, even might get her a husband and then children is that happens, but she finally stood up for her self in front of her beloved family. She knew taking the job as Gwen governess might cause problems but Abby was hoping that her long lost love a rakehell, playboy/ rouge will never find out that Abby is there in his country home. But an unexpected case of the measles, a prizefighter and future mistress in the make will bring the rake Max Bryce Rothwell to the only place close enough to protect is investment in the boxer, and hopefully entice a widow to his bed as a mistress but the she wants titled and money). First time in 15 year Since Abby sees Max in the library with his mouth on the widow’s lips and his hand up her skirt, Abby know the stories she heard but comparing the boy she knew to the man she watching will force her broken heart to become encased in unbreakable stone, if she to stay out of her family’s bouncing maid she will have to push her love for the boy she knew to the back of her mind to keep her job as governess and not to let memories to make her a fool for Max ever again.

Abigail "Abby" Linton is tired of not being in control of her own person. Her family never takes into consideration what she wants or how she feels. Abby is ready for a life of her own. That is how she finds herself taking a position as a governess at a neighboring estate. Abby should have known her position was too good to be true.

Maxwell "Max" Bryce, the Duke of Rothwell, is beyond shocked when he arrives to find his first love is working in his employ, and as his sister's new governess no less. Max wants to fire her, but gives her until he finds a replacement before she has to leave. In the meantime, how is he going to avoid her?! Being around Abby brings old feelings to the surface. It isn't long before the past comes to a head, and suddenly Max isn't so sure he wants to let Abby go after all. Can they make it work the second time around?

THE DUKE I ONCE KNEW is the first in author Olivia Drake's exciting new UNLIKELY DUCHESSES series. I felt an instant connection to both the hero and heroine, Max and Abby. Second chance love stories are some of my favorites and theirs did not let me down. Although either is loath to admit it, they have never stopped loving one another. Something so small has held them back from each other for years. I wanted to cry at all the years they missed being together. Luckily for them, fate smiles upon them and reunites them. Their path isn't easy, but they are strong enough to get where they need to be. THE DUKE I ONCE KNEW is a very raw, gritty and powerful love story. Ms. Drake's UNLIKELY DUCHESSES series is sure to captivate.