This is a series I’ve read before and I’m so glad I came back for more!
Paul is a character we’ve seen before as an antagonist. When we meet him here, he’s working to reform his reputation as he also takes his place as a Duke.
Daphne is a dear friend to two of our prior leading ladies and the younger sister of a prior hero. At 25, she is struggling to find her place in a world that doesn’t encourage independence among women.
I loved watching these two become reacquainted! Mishaps and intrigue craft the perfect environment for them to spend time together that society normally would have prevented. Watching them together, we discover that there is much more good in this Duke than he gives himself credit for.
The author did a fantastic job of weaving the secondary cast into Daphne and Paul’s story without letting them be over powering or confusing. For loyal readers of the series, there will be rewarding glimpses of prior characters, but there isn’t so much of a focus on the secondary cast that reading in order is necessary. Any of the books would be a good place to start.
The true affection between Paul and Daphne is heartwarming and makes you root for them to get things figured out. This is a great story for the holiday season!

How two completely logical, forward thinking, individuals could wring such deep emotions from me, well, the pile of tissues beside me is true testament to that. Friends to lovers, family secrets and tragedy, a desire to make the world a better place, this story had it all. It all blended so easily and seamlessly as we got to know Paul and Daphne. There are perfect individually, and beyond perfection when they join forces, and their love and attraction for each other is simply amazing!

Lady Daphne Hallworthy was preparing to accompany her family to their country home for the Christmas holiday. Lady Margaret and Lord Truesdale, the four-year-old twin children of Daphne's brother Alex, the Marquess of Pembroke and Lady Claire, erupt into a sibling battle which leaves little Lady Margaret crying on the floor. Aunt Daphne rushes to pick her up and console her which results in a need to change her traveling dress. Thinking she has plenty of time after changing Daphne spends some time writing in her journal before heading back downstairs. Upon returning to the entryway she finds no one there. Home alone for Christmas!

Paul Barstowe, Duke of Southart is new to his title. His older brother had recently passed away followed soon thereafter by his father. Paul hadn't expected to be Duke. He had a very contentious relationship with his father and did all he could to annoy him; drinking, gambling and behaving as a veritable rake. Now he has promised his dying brother to reform himself. He knows there is much to be accomplished in that direction including attempting to gain the forgiveness and restored friendship of his old friend the Marquess of Pembroke. That might be difficult after meeting up with his sister Lady Daphne and putting her into a compromising position - at her insistence.

The Good, The Bad and The Duke by Janna MacGregor is the fourth book in her The Cavensham Heiresses series. Janna MacGregor has written a well-developed plot and storyline that kept me turning pages. I loved reading the surprises in this story. It was great to finally get to read Paul's story and be reunited with beloved characters from previous books in the series. This is a great story! I highly recommend it!

A Historical romance with heart,emotions and passion.
Daphne had something stolen from her that if the contents got out would riuion her family and herself
Paul is a person that Daphne shouldn't associate with but she need his help to find her lost article.
When they were young they a connection and they are finding that they still have that connection and it is growing each time they are together.
Good story,romance and passion.
Voluntarily reviewed

The Good, The Bad, and The Duke is a wonderful love story that is tender and steamy and incredibly touching. Paul Barstowe, the Duke of Southart is a rogue and a gambler with a past that has left behind broken relationships, but underneath that brash exterior lies a big heart that’s left him wounded and vulnerable. Daphne has had a crush on him since she was a child, and their reunion starts off auspiciously, but the chemistry between the two is palpable. Watching their relationship develop was such a treat; each of them bears the pain of their pasts, wary of opening their hearts to another. This book is filled with am emotional intensity that is unexpected but so welcome. There are so many layers to this story, as well as to each of the characters and I found myself completely invested in what happened to them!

Lady Daphne Hallworth is twenty-five years old and has resigned herself to being a spinster. She has had offers but wanted none of them. Because she is wealthy in her own right and has a loving family there is no need for a husband. What Lady Daphne wants most is to open a home for unwed mothers, to protect them from what happened to her sister.

Lord Paul Barstowe has recently become a Duke after the deaths of his brother then his father. He loved his brother and wants to build a hospital in his name for people suffering from the same ailments. Unfortunately he spent most of his life aggravating his father and proving he was the bad son. Now he has to earn back his respectability. Notes from his father delivered deliberately after his death do nothing to help his self-worth.

An emotional and saucy historical romance with very lovable characters. Our heroine has lost something very precious to her, but potentially dangerous to her family and will risk anything to get it back. Our hero is much too hard on himself for things that where beyond his control.

You will laugh and cry while reading this.

It is part of a series but easily read on it's own. It will however tempt you to read the previous books in the series. I hope there are at least two more coming. (Maybe set in Northumberland)

I loved it.

Lady Daphne Hallworth is the quintessential "good girl" and all but invisible, so it is no surprise when her family departs to their country estate for Christmas and she is left behind. Rather than join them, she decides to use her time alone to chart her future. She plans to use her inheritance and set up her own household and start her charity - a home for unwed mothers. Events in her past have made this charity very near and dear to her heart - so with no one around to naysay her, she decides to visit her solicitor and get her plans in motion. But her plans are derailed when her reticule containing her journal with her deepest, darkest secrets and fantasies is stolen and she has to chase the thief - right to Reynolds gaming hell and Paul.


Paul Barstowe is the new Duke of Southart, a title he never expected to inherit and one he doesn't feel worthy to bear. But when his beloved brother Robert died from Rheumatic Fever, Paul swore to honor his final request and become a better man by giving up his wild, wicked ways and becoming the honorable man Robert always believed him to be. Paul spent his life trying to gain his father's approval and when he realized that was a lost cause, he began acting out to gain his father's attention - and it worked, so well that he ended up pushing away all his friends - save Robert and Devon. But determined to turn over a new leaf, he has taken his seat in parliament and is trying to establish a hospital specializing in the care of Rheumatic Fever patients to honor his brother's memory. He has found a piece of property that would be perfect and starts to make plans.


Fate throws them together and they strike deal, he will find her journal and she will convince her brother that he is truly redeemed and deserving of acceptance. Seems easy and straightforward, a perfect plan - but fate is not done with these two and they will have a lot to overcome before there can be a HEA.

As in the previous books, I thought the writing was a bit wordy and repetitive and I felt like the story was too busy, too many characters, too many plot elements, too many implausible scenarios and drama for the sake of drama. That said, I did like both Paul and Daphne and felt the chemistry between them and really became invested in their quest to find redemption and love with each other. This is the fourth book in the series and I would highly recommend reading them in order rather than starting with this book.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*

He’d been desired before, but never with that look. She thought him noble.
He stumbled back a step.

Fourth in the Cavensham Heiresses series, we finally get Paul Barstowe, the Duke of Southart's story. He is the friend of the previous heroes of the series who has become the outcast due to circumstances out of his control and of his own making. Our heroine Daphne is the younger sister to one of the previous heroes and she has always held a tendre for Paul. When Daphne ends up accidentally being home alone during Christmas time and desperately searching for her stolen diary, Paul ends up partnering her on the adventures.

Even if you haven't read the previous books in the series, there wouldn't much of a problem starting here. The author does a good job of relaying the how and why of past relationships, there would be a missed deeper connection but Daphne and Paul's relationship is the main focus of the story and that starts in this book. Paul's history is a little bit of wrong place, wrong time with some ill gotten luck, his father was cold to him and while he had a loving relationship with his brother, that brother is now deceased. His two closest friends are still wary and cold to him but since obtaining the title of Duke, he has been working hard to make something of himself.

Daphne is surrounded by happy marriages and is starting to get tired of hiding in the shadows as a way to not cause problems as she didn't want to upset anyone after her sister died. When she gets left alone, she finds it a perfect opportunity to get her life in order. I liked the premise of these two coming together, enjoyed a few flashbacks to how she and Paul interacted in their younger years but the physical attraction started immediately and was the focus throughout the vast majority of the story.

I feel like I'm beginning to notice a trend in historical romance where there is an insistence to feature blowjobs. The first one featured here isn't between the hero and heroine but the heroine's desire to watch and want and the heroine's second sexual encounter with the hero where she does the act, felt out of place in this. I, personally, read historicals for a different feel on the romance between the heroine and hero, I like the focus to be more on the words or feelings and not physical acts in the bedroom. I'm not saying this can never work for me but, here, it didn't.

I also like to read historicals for the time period feel and as Daphne and Paul never venture from about three locations, her house, a gaming hall, and his house, I couldn't even tell you within ten years when this story was supposed to take place. I like character driven stories, with the thread of wanting to find Daphne's diary, this story was mainly focused on Daphne and Paul but they never ventured from Paul finding Daphne gorgeous but constantly and morosely thinking he wasn't good enough for her and Daphne wanting Paul, with her wanting to stem only from him being nice to her when she was younger and his good looks. There was also a lot of repetitiveness, with Daphne being close to TSTL with insisting on putting herself in obviously dangerous (reputation wise) situations, Paul objecting but then eventually going along with her, so much rinse and repeat.

There just wasn't enough meat to this story to keep me actively involved, I felt like I was passively reading because all our main characters did was lust (kind of lukewarm meandering lust, at that) and our hero was a little bit of an Eeyore about how he wasn't good enough. I've read the first in the series (debut) by this author and thought she had good promise and then really enjoyed the second, but this one felt like a lackluster phone in. I do, however, find the cover to still be as gorgeous as ever.

This was my first time reading a book by Janna MacGregor even though I've seen so many of my friends and followers reading her and praising her stories. I was not disappointed with The Good, the Bad, and the Duke. I just wonder what took me so long to read a book by this author. I enjoyed this book. It was irritating to have to put it down to work or indulge in life. I adored Paul and Daphne and thought their slow-burn, with lots of teasing, romance was delicious. I loved the storyline of trying to get the journal back and learning the heartache behind both characters. I loved the secondary characters especially the twins. This was such a well-written and we'll paced novel that sucked me in completely. I cannot wait to try something else by this author!

The Good, the Bad, and the Duke encompasses one man, Paul, the Duke of Southart. Lady Daphne has loved him for what seems like forever. Although he was her brother’s friend, Paul took time to be kind to Daphne. His kindness lends itself to indicating he cared for her very much, too.

Sweet, strong, independent Lady Daphne has been left at home with no family around for Christmas. While being kind to a street lad, he steals her reticule which holds her personal diary. It has inflammatory, private information within. The book is a mix of romance, angst and the search for the boy who stole the diary.

With a chance meeting, Daphne and Paul are thrown together and end of searching jointly for the lad and diary. This charming story has so much going on between Daphne and Paul that includes the disagreement between her brother and Paul, as well as, between other secondary characters. Daphne agrees to assist Paul to reconcile with her brother and his friends in exchange for his help in finding the diary.

Included in Paul’s difficulties is the relationship he had with his father, the former duke, and his brother. His father was continually cruel to him while a child and kept on even from the grave through his solicitor. The gambling vowels and the unkind address on them given to him periodically would have brought a weaker man down. The meanness of his father continued to haunt Paul.

Daphne was like a breath of fresh air in her independence. From the way she refused to contact her brother or mother about being left alone in town, to the way he did whatever needed to be done to retrieve her diary.

You will love, The Good, the Bad, and the Duke with the strength of these characters, their trust and respect for the other.

The Good, The Bad and The Duke was a sweet, sexy and simple Regency romance and the first book I've read by Janna MacGregor. I enjoyed the story overall and the characters were good, it was a little bit too - I suppose risque is the best word - for a regency romance and I would classify it more akin to a bodice ripper.

Which is great!

I really liked how Paul Barstowe was portrayed in this book - as both a rake and as a good man - I know it's typical of how Regency romances are but I liked how it was done in this book.

Daphne Hallworth was also a pretty good character with a nice way of showing she is determined to control her own fate and control her own fate she does.

The storyline was unique in that Daphne got herself into a spot of bother and then did her damnedest to get herself out of it even if it caused problems for her later on down the line.

The story that follows was good, well written and with concise dialogue; lots of light humour, sweet romance and sex scenes that were well placed and not overly long like I've seen - just right.

I really liked both of their charity ideas and thought they were both great ideas to follow through with.

I think the book was missing a little something but I can't quite put my finger on it. I missed the Bow Street Runners which are usually quite frequent in these kinds of books.

Overall, I would say The Good, The Bad and The Duke is a solid 4 stars and recommended for anyone who loves a Regency romance novel with a set of characters to love and hate.

Another Cavensham Heiress falls! I really love this series, and Daphne and Paul fill it out nicely.
Daphne is tired of being a wallflower, and has decided that she has waited long enough to live life. She is going to use her independent means to found a home for unwed mothers. This is a personal quest for her, and she is not going to let her family dissuade her. Meanwhile, the love of her life, who has never shown her the least bit of interest, is having some interesting times of his own. Paul has inherited a title, after the unexpected death of his beloved brother, and his detested father. In an attempt to refashion his life in a way that would make his brother proud, he is paying off his debts, and reforming his behavior. Unexpectedly, Daphne offers Paul a Quest, that will allow him to redeem some of his self-perceived sins.

A fun read, overall!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ah, the perfect time of the year for stories that take place at Christmas! The beautiful cover of this book was the first thing that caught my attention. Janna MacGregor is a new author to me. I have the first three in the series, but this is the first one I've read. Yep, another author who is now on my auto-buy list! You don't have to read the others before you read this one, as it can totally stand alone. However, you'll want to read them all, in order to get more of Paul. I know I want more of Paul!

The beginning of this book was just perfect, funny and sweet. We meet Paul as a very young man and Daphne still a girl. Even then you could see their connection and special friendship. Fast forward to years later. Paul is trying to turn his life around, having become a duke since losing his family, and after losing his dearest friends due to his past behavior. Then there's Daphne, who feels like she is disappearing and becoming invisible. Her family inadvertently leaves her home alone when they go to the country for Christmas. Hurt, she brings her journal to the park to write, and she is robbed. After chasing the child thief in an attempt to retrieve her journal, she runs into Paul. He agrees to help her get it back, and in turn she will help him ease the way back into a relationship with his lost friends.

Thus begins a beautiful romance. Paul is reeling from the loss of his friends and brother, and dealing with the animosity of his father from beyond the grave. He is desperately trying to make amends and become the man his beloved brother knew he could be. Daphne can see past his prior bad behavior...apparently she is the only one who can see the real man inside. They already had friendship; it was lovely seeing their love grow. I spent the last third of this story in tears, as they try to get Daphne's journal back and deal with hardship and heartbreak along the way. Everyone needs a little love at Christmas, and this book will gift you with just that.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review of this book, and all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Wonderful! In true Christmas spirit and joy, we get to see Daphne and Paul find love, redemption and hope. I loved Paul as a self-deprecating and flawed hero, someone that wanted to do the right thing, yet had no idea how to go around it. Daphne's quiet (and not so quiet) passion for life, family and friends. It was lovely to follow how they find each other again, and how their feelings bloom in between all the events surrounding them.
The supporting characters are delightful to read and Rufina is simply too cute for words.
And now I'm even *more* intrigued about William!!!

Full Disclosure: Janna MacGregor is one of my favorite authors and her Cavensham Heiresses series is one of my favorites. This 4th book in the series does not disappoint.
While Paul, the new Duke of Southart, has been portrayed as a villainous rake in the previous books, Lady Daphne has been in love with him since she was a young girl. He had been a friend of her brother but he damaged that relationship with his bad behavior - which eventually led to her brother's happy marriage.
As the Christmas holidays approach - Daphne is left behind in a scene reminiscent of Home Alone. She goes upstairs to change and when she comes back down her whole family has left her behind. Her brother thought she was traveling with their mother and step-father and they thought she was traveling with her brother's family. Left alone in London, she goes for a walk only to have her journal stolen. The journal contains her thoughts and secrets and would be disaster if it's contents got out. Luckily for her, Paul spots her and decides to help with the journal search.
The chemistry between the two is amazing. The pages sizzle with it. But surprisingly, it is in the quiet times when this book really shines. These two misunderstood people recognize something in each other. He has always lived down to his father's low expectations by being a scandalous rake. On the other had, she has always tried to be the good girl, becoming almost invisible in the process.
One of the most touching scenes in the book occurs between Paul and Daphne's little neice, Lady Margaret. It will bring a tear to your eyes.
There is additional sorrow to come as each tries to sacrifice to say the other but there is nothing that will keep these two from getting the Happily Ever After that the deserve in the end.
I received a free advanced copy of this book.

Lady Daphne Hallworth is ready to celebrate the holidays with her family at their country estate but when they accidentally leave her home alone, Daphne uses the time to work on her dream opening a home for unwed mothers. Her alone time isn’t problem-free: She’s in a battle to win the property for the home against her brother’s best friend-turned-enemy, Paul Barstowe, Duke of Southart. And an urchin has stolen her personal diary, which holds secrets that could devastate her family. Daphne has always harboured private feelings for the man her family scorns. Paul, long considered good for nothing, aims to open a hospital to honour his late brother Robbie and restore his reputation. They make a deal: He will help her find her diary if Daphne can change her family’s opinion of him.
This is the fourth book in the series, it could easily be read on its own however this debut series just keeps getting better. Paul has been portrayed as the villain in previous books but I’ve always felt he was misunderstood & wasn't given a proper chance to explain himself & I so wanted him to be redeemed. Daphne & Paul were friends when they were children & she’s always fantasised about him. He was abused as a child & his late father is still tormenting him from beyond the grave with weekly small debts that need paying. Paul wants to be a good duke but his self esteem is so low. I loved this book & found it a roller coaster of emotions, there was humour & also some parts especially a couple of letters had me reaching for the hankies. The characters have depth & the pace was good & I read into the early hours to finish it.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Who loves a reformed bad boy that doesn’t feel like he is good enough?

*waves hands like a maniac*

I do, I do!!

I don’t generally pick up a lot of romance novels anymore and books like this make me wonder why. I tore through this book like it owed me money.

Daphne is one of my favorite kinds of female leads. She is strong willed, independent and goes for what she wants, to hell with the consequences and Paul is…I just love Paul. With family drama, secrets to be kept and just enough sexy-time to make it interesting, this quick read was my perfect introduction to this author. I look forward to reading more from here and will be going back to read the earlier books in this series!

The Good, The Bad & The Duke is a feel-good Regency era romance that is the perfect read for a cozy winter night.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book to read and provide my own opinion.

I really love this book!!! I met Paul back in the first book and fell in love with him then! He's the man everyone loves to hate. I was hoping Daphne would tame him and she did!! Janna MacGregor Does not disappoint! I truly love her Cavensham Heiress series!!!

The Good, the Bad and the Duke by Janna MacGregor was one of those romances that really tugged at my heart strings. I have been enjoying The Cavensham Heiress series. This is the fourth book of the series and I know it is not the last. According to Goodreads, there is another book going to be published in June next year.

Lady Daphne Hollworth has been unexpectedly left behind, so she decides to take matters into her own hands and use the time to plan her future. Paul Barstowe, Duke of Southart finds that she is alone and does his best to help her. Little does Paul know that she has loved him all her life. Little does Daphne know that Paul has always cared for her. Together, they work to help Daphne recover a missing item and maybe - just maybe - recover from their own wounds and find each other.

I think the book really hit me because of how sad the characters are. They love each other truly, but do not want to hurt the other. I love the Cavernsham family with the various family members. I love their loyalty and obvious regard for each other. The Good, the Bad and the Duke by Janna MacGregor was a lovely read.

Paul is a rogue who is trying to right all the wrongs that he has caused. Mainly the friendships that he threw away. But it wasn’t going to be easy. Those ex-friends detest him. Redemption comes in the form of Lady Daphne Hallworth. Daphne has had her journal stolen. A journal that has her very private thoughts and dreams in it. Paul would move heaven and earth to keep the wrong sort of people from getting a hold of that journal. Will that happen? Will he get the journal back? Will he be able to mend the relationships with his friends? And more importantly, will he be able to keep the happiness that he found with Daphne? Or will he be forced to let that go?

I hated Paul’s father. What he did to Paul when he was alive was awful. He was beaten for any little slight as a child. One beating was so bad that he couldn’t sit down without a pillow for a week. Once Paul’s brother saw what was going on, he stopped it. But he couldn’t stop the emotional abuse. The way that Paul acted in the first couple of books was a direct result of how his father treated him. Even after death, he was still torturing Paul. Those notes (actually the titles of them) were heartbreaking to read. There was an explanation towards the end of the book about why Paul’s father treated him the way he did. It was a weak explanation but it did bring some light about why Paul was abused.

I got shivers reading Paul and Daphne’s scenes together. Even before they kissed, you could tell that they wanted each other. But once they kissed, it was like a fire was set. Those scenes set this book on fire. What I liked is that the author kept the sexual attraction and tension going after they had sex. Every sex scene was on fire. There were a few times I had to put down my Kindle and go “Oh my!!”

What I also liked about this book was that Daphne was the only one for Paul. He could see her across the room and no one else existed. Everything he did after a certain point in the book was for her. I loved it. I loved seeing that it went both ways. I loved seeing them interact like they were the only people in a room. It was romantic.

I did like the storylines in the book. The author did a wonderful job of bringing them together. There were no forgotten plotlines. After the plotlines merged, the flow was flawless. It didn’t get choppy.

I will warn everyone that you will need a Kleenex or two while reading. There are a few scenes where I was moved to tears. The main scene, after Paul reads his father’s final letter, made me a sobbing mess. The other is the scene where he read his brother’s letter. Again, sobbing mess over here.

What I also liked about this book was that the villain in the other books was made into a hero. The author chose to give an explanation to his actions towards Emma and Claire. He was given a chance to redeem himself. I loved it!!

The end of the book made me happy. And the epilogue, I was ecstatic. Out of all the books I have read this year, this one has touched me the most. Paul deserved his HEA with Daphne. With everything he went through, that man deserved every bit of happiness that he could get.

I gave The Good, the Bad, and the Duke a 4-star rating. I enjoyed reading this book. The plotlines were wonderfully written. I came to care for the characters and got emotionally invested in backstories. You will cry during this book, so read with a box, or two, of Kleenex. Any quibble that I had with the book was minor and had no effect on my rating.

I would give The Good, the Bad, and the Duke an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is mild violence. There is no language. There are triggers. They are child abuse. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Good, the Bad, and the Duke. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Paperbacks, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Good, the Bad, and the Duke.

All opinions stated in this review of The Good, the Bad, and the Duke are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**