I love historical Romance, it was my first love in the romance genre, and I really liked this story.
I voluntarily reviewed an Reader Copy of this book which I received through
Netgalley.

Abigail had devoted her life to serving the needs of her family. Being the youngest child it was her duty even though she missed out on her coming out season. She desires to stretch her wings and become a governess. Imagine the horror her family felt at her actually having a job. Becoming the governess for the man she once loved was just what she needed. He was always in London and never home. Her scorned heart cold rest easy as she became comfortable becoming a spinster. Her plans all changed when Max returns home and they finally find out answers that were asked for fifteen long years.

The Duke I Once Knew by Olivia Drake
Subgenre: historical romance
Release date: 10 Jan 2019
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
Format: ebook and print
Length: 336 pages
RRP: US$7.99 (ebook); A$15.99 (print)
Lady Elise Desmond wants to marry the duke. And she will go to any lengths to achieve that aim.
Abigail Linton just wants a break. She is about to turn thirty years old and is still unmarried. She wants some freedom from family obligations. Being the youngest by many years, she cared for her parents before they died. She has cared for her siblings’ children, she just wants to experience something different. Abby has decided she wants to be a governess for the duke’s sister. Her family has many objections like how will they care for, or really control, their numerous children, and the other tasks around the village where they live. Abby is adamant, she will take on the role.
Maxwell Bryce, Duke of Rothwell, left Rothwell Court when he was sixteen years old. He has returned only once, when his father died. He is now back, with some hangers on, and a boxer who is competing in a match, and Max is training him. What he doesn’t expect is to find Abby as his sister’s governess. Abby, the girl he cared for fifteen years ago.
Naturally Abby and Max re-connect and during their discussions they discover letters they had written when they were fifteen and sixteen, respectively. They do talk about what may have been in the letters but there are other issues to overcome before their HEA. Abby also becomes the target of Lady Elise, who desperately wants the duke. So, there are many ways in which this manifests itself, culminating in Elise having herself banned from the duke’s presence.
One of the parts in the story I like has some similarities to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and I have noted this a few times in some of the historical romances. It is the bungled marriage proposal. Our hero says something along the lines of ‘You have to marry me now,’ and she says no, which to the hero is totally unexpected. And yes, I do actually like this as I try and speculate as to where and how the second proposal will be done, and how he will actually convince his heroine to marry him.
A great read.
reviewed by Heather

An easy and enjoyable read. A second-chance love story although I think it fell just a little short in making the romance between the two characters more believable. I expected more build-up between the two characters as they hashed out their differences and explored their relationship further, but overall, it was still a solid read. Loved the witty banter and the characters!

Great love story that provides interesting twists and turns to keep you reading from the very beginning. Great way to spend a few hours relaxing with a good story.

Abby decides she needs to get our from under her family’s thumb so she takes a job as the governess of the Dukes younger sister. The two were childhood sweethearts but she’s under the impression that he will not be around since he hasn’t been home in years. He’s a notorious playboy and the last person she wants to see but she expects he won’t even remember her. The story was good the heroine strong but the hero wasn’t that likable to me. He redeemed himself more as the story came to a close. I received an ARC from Netgalley and my review is solely my own opinion.

This is the first book in a new series by Olivia Drake. Abigail and Max were childhood sweethearts until he went away 15 years earlier. There is some disagreement on who stopped writing to whom. She takes a position as a governess at a neighboring estate that just happens to belong to the Duke of Rothwell, Max. Since he isn’t there Abby decides to remain in the position. Of course he returns to his estate and finds her there. It’s a typical second chance romance with some conflict between the heroine and her family.

Truly enjoyed this book. entertaining plot, characters I actually liked, and a satisfying ending. looking forward to reading any future books in this series.

Aww this was a cute second chance historical romance. I really liked the characters and the way it all played out.

I read this book some time ago and do not remember how I felt during reading it. I would not be able to give it a proper review. I did give this book 4 stars on GoodReads.

The Duke I Once Knew was a quick and easy read with a good supporting cast and a second chance at love romance.

Abigail Linton has spent her life taking care of her aging parents and her siblings’ children. Now that her parents have been gone for a year, Abigail is ready to finally have a life of her own. Against her siblings’ wishes, Abigail takes a governess position on a neighboring estate to care for a duke’s younger sister. Abigail is sure she’ll never see her employer, Maxwell Bryce Duke of Rothwell, as he never comes to the estate which is just fine with her considering the man broke her heart fifteen years ago. But when Max unexpectedly arrives, all those old feelings come back to the surface and Abigail will be forced to face the fact she never got over him.

Abby and Max’s relationship is initially full of misunderstandings and past resentments due to what happened between them fifteen years ago. They do clear up what happened back then pretty quickly which I was happy to see, but that doesn’t mean the resentments stop. Due to issues in his parents’ marriage, Max ended up in the camp that love is misery and is best avoided. This got old very quickly and I wanted to shake some sense into him at times. Unfortunately my issues with Max meant I didn’t love Abby and Max as a couple as I just couldn’t get past how much of a jerk he was 90% of the time. It appears that I am in the minority when it comes to Max though, so it may just be that he’s not the kind of hero I prefer in my romances.

Abby’s family were awful and they treated her more like a servant than a family member. And worse, none of them saw anything wrong with the ways they took advantage of her. There’s a scene in the book where Max calls them out for it and I was very happy to see someone give them a dressing down. Ultimately Abby does stand up to them near the end of the book, but she required quite a bit of prodding to do so and I wish she’d done it sooner. Max’s sister was fantastic and I enjoyed the bond she formed with Abby during the course of the book. Max’s friends that arrive at the estate with him were an interesting bunch to be sure. I really enjoyed the prize fighter that accompanied them and his adoration of small animals was delightful.

Despite my issues with Max, I did end up enjoying The Duke I Once Knew and I will be continuing on with the series.

Olivia Drake crafts a lovely version of historical romance that I really enjoy. This takes place "notinaballroom, which is fantastic...even while hinting at London Society ripples through the countryside even when you're not on an official outing to the country.
The H&h were delightful...both flawed characters but owned their flaws. The heroine was in a place many of us have found ourselves - caring for parents and caring for the next generation of huumans while trying to figure out who we want to be...and often finding ourselves in this place where after years of putting ourselves second we get confusinog from those we love when we finally put ourselves first.

A bit slow and missing the witty banter I usually prefer but a sweet, quick read with two likable leads who manage to not annoy even though if they would just sit and talk for five minutes, all would be solved.

After taking care of her parents, well into her spinster years, Abigail Linton knew that she wasn't going to sit on the sidelines of her family anymore, especially when they are organizing her life right in front of her, and I will admit as a reader I wanted to bust out and say something to those siblings, but thankfully, that’s when Abigail found her mettle and put her foot down, and took a position at the neighboring estate, as a governess, much to her families vocal disappointment.

But all did not go as smoothly as she had hoped, when Max the man that loved and left her, came home from London and was shocked and frankly condescending towards Abby! and even though they overcome issues of the past, forces of the present were determined to keep them apart.

The Duke I Once Knew is a cute little historical romance with a smattering of treachery involved, and even though I wasn't overly fond of any of the characters, the story as a whole was enjoyable. I certainly liked the angle of the older women (if you can call 30 old), finding her love and despite Abby's naivete, she was sensible and less dramatic as a younger character and I enjoyed that.

Olivia Drake is a new author to me and I found her writing style quite pleasant and smooth, until closer to the, when it felt very rushed, but I feel like that wouldn't stop me from picking up one of her books again.

Fantastic book, great for fans of the genre. If you are looking for a fan, quick read, then this is for you! Be prepared to swoon.

This is a new author to me and I really enjoyed the interaction between the characters and I liked the storyline.

I received a copy from Netgalley and I am voluntarily leaving my own honest

We love historical romances, and The Duke I Once Knew has us so excited! This second chance romance is bound to sweep us off our feet! Take a look at the excerpt and add this one to 2019 reading list immediately!

Abby is a special young woman. She is the youngest child in her family – they were not expecting her birth but that did not make her less special in her parents eyes. When her parents fall ill and her siblings out of the house already, it is Abby that cares for her elderly parents. She sacrifices her season, her chance of finding a husband and her own family, in order to care for her parents. While this sounds so odd with her young age, in this time period she would have been viewed as off the shelf!

After the death of her parents, Abby yearns for more. She is tired of being the person her family relies on to care for everyone else, the children, care for their homes – she is sometimes treated more like a cherished staff member than a younger sibling at times! She loves her family and deals with this despite her obvious dislike of the treatment in order to prevent fighting. Against the wishes of her family, she takes the position of governess for the sister of her one true love.

Abby had fallen in love with Max in their teen years and both made promises of marriage and ever lasting love. When he is sent away, they make promises that this departure will not affect their relationship but unfortunately it did. Neither Abby nor Max receive correspondence from each other and this turns their hearts cold to any future love or relationship. Max becomes a non-believer in love and vows to not settle down in any complicated relationship.

When they meet up again, there is years of anger, hurt and disappointment. They argue, lash out and are stubborn to listen to the others side of the story. While you want them to work out their differences, you can also understand why they would be so full of hurt. Their story is one of betrayal, lies and deceit by the people who should have loved them the most.

This is a beautiful story of hope and forgiveness, you keep rooting for Abby and Max throughout the story. You want these two individuals who have hurt long enough, to find happiness and peace (and hopefully together!). A great historical romance read from start to finish.

Loved this book. Finished it in one day because I couldn't put it down. Was he really that terrible? Will she get answers? I wanted to know more.

I enjoyed this first book in Olivia Drake’s Unlikely Duchesses series. This is a second chance at love story between a duke and the girl who grew up as his next-door neighbor. Max and Abby fell in love when they were teenagers, but tragedy tore them apart. When Max‘s mother died, his father took him away to London and they never heard from each other again.

The thing is, this is also a Big Misunderstanding story. Because both Abby and Max wrote to each other. They both hoped for a future together, but someone intercepted their letters and they have not spoken to each other in 15 years. Max went on to be a rake of the first order. Abby ended up taking care of her aging parents and evolved into a spinster. Nearing her 30th birthday, she decides to take a job as governess to Max’s sister rather than be a glorified domestic servant for her siblings. She never expects to see Max, since he has lived so long away from his sister.

Of course, Max comes back, just weeks after Abby takes the job. He has his friends and a potential mistress with him. But thoughts of her, or really anything, go out the window when he and Abby come face to face again. Thankfully, it does not take too long for the misunderstanding to be revealed. But there is still mistrust there. Especially from Abby, since Max swears he will never fall in love and his reputation makes him sound like he’ll sleep with anything that moves.

I liked both characters well enough. Abby was a woman who was finally finding her independence after doing for others her entire life. I liked that she was willing to venture out on her own to seek out the future she wanted. Max probably wasn’t the greatest guy while he lived in London, but I could see him evolving over the course of the book. They did kind of pick back up with their feelings for each other very easily after a 15 year break, but if you are willing to put that aside, the romance is generally satisfying.

Max’s would-be mistress is a decent foil, although I felt like the subplot with his friend Ambrose kind of got dropped along the way. Maybe he will show up in a later book in the series. Abby’s family was pretty hard to like, but I did enjoy Max’s staff, his boxer friend, and his younger sister as secondary characters.

I’m curious to see how the series will move forward and I am willing to give the next book a try.

Overall, I found this and easy and pleasant read.