The Good, the Bad, and the Duke (The Cavensham Heiresses #4) by Janna MacGregor Another great book by Janna... Thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for allowing me to preview this book. Lady Daphne(a lady on a mission..home for unwed mothers) Paul Duke of Southart (looking for redemption) Their touching story has so many twists and turns, laughter, heartache, mystery, danger, the revisiting of old friends from the first three books, steamy... and of course a very HEA. I grew to love them both...and can't wait for the next book.
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Action-packed Easy-to-read Funny Witty Wonderful characters Page-turner Entertaining Romantic Steamy Happily Ever After Great world building

"The Good, the Bad, and the Duke" by Janna MacGregor
I loved this story. Just a very few minutes into this story and I was hooked...by Lady Daphne's story, her goal to establish a home for unwed mothers... and then I got hooked once again by Paul's story, never able to please his father and having lived up to father's disparagement he was now truly alone in the world, but trying to become the person his brother believed he could be... But then you know all that from reading the official book blurb. But they didn't tell you that you would hate when your eyes got so tired you had to quit reading and rest your eyes... or that your heart just might break a little bit or you might find a chuckle or two along the way. This was a really good well written story. I was gifted an ARC of the story by the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest review.. and ever so pleased that I was offered this as an early read.

This is my fair and honest review for this ARC. I have read books by Ms MacGregor before and have enjoyed them. I thought this one could have been a bit more intriguing based on the earlier books I have read. Absolutely nothing wrong with this read, I just would have liked a bit more to draw me in.

For the life of me, I could not get into this one! Some of it was to do with the time jump, I think, but I just never connected with the characters.

I received this book from Net Gallery in exchange for an honest review
I have read the first book in this series but missed both 2 and 3, book 4 can be a great standalone
I loved this story and would have gave it five stars but as I read a lot of Regency Romance, I like to know the time frame, and the year was never given or I missed it.
This book is great cause it is different in the fact that both the H & H have lost a loved one and are in grief. Paul for his brother who died from rheumatic fever and Dephne who lost her sister.
Dephne has tired to help her family with their grief by being the perfect sister, sister in law, aunt
and keeps all her feelings hidden only writing them down in her personal Diary. Not only her feeling but her dreams of the man she has always loved.
Paul, was always second-best to his father, never good enough, unloved and unwanted. The only way he could get back at his father is to become the worst Rake he could, with women, drinking, betting hurting his friends .
Paul was Dephne brothers best friend, till his reputation come between them.
Paul and Dephne run into each other at Christmas time, when Dephne has been left alone
by her family and had her Diary stolen. At the same time Paul is trying to rebuild his reputation
by building a hospital to honor his Brother.
They team up to find the Diary which has could harm her family in the wrong hands, and
she will help him regain loss friendships.
They are able to spend a lot of time together where they normal would not be left alone together.
There relationship was something new to a regency romance and was great ! They could be them selves not the Duke and The Lady .....
There is love, laughter and sadness. Not to give too much away this is a great book of past wrong,
good people who feel unloved and unwanted. Will True love and family love win in the end ?
Get you copy, a cup of coffee or coco and get started. You will not want to put this on down.

I really got drawn it to the storyline and the characters were well written. I stay up well past my bedtime read couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait to read more books from this author. If you like historical books you’ll enjoy this book

This is an enjoyable holiday romance, although the setup is not at all realistic with the heroine being left behind by her family for Christmas. But I liked Daphne and Paul, and a rake trying to reform is always entertaining. Although part of a series, I believe it can be read as a stand-alone.

3.5*
Love from afar and from above proves that time, understanding and trust will heal the heart and soul.
Daphne Hallworth has secretly loved Lord Paul Barstowe since she was a child. He was a kind and honorable boy who was her brothers best friend. Poor decisions and betrayal ended Paul’s friendship with Daphne’s brother but not from her heart.
After her sisters death, Daphne has made it her goal to become the perfect sister to the point of being invisible to her family and losing herself. So invisible that her family left her at home when they left for the Christmas holidays.
With his bad and selfish behavior Paul alienated most of his friends. Before his death Paul’s brother asked him to rebuild his character and be the man he knew him to be and make amends to his friends.
When Paul saves Daphne from possible ruin and agrees to help her retrieve her stolen property if she will pave the way to help him with her brother. Daphne sees Paul as the same honorable man he was as a boy and trusts him to protect her and keep her secrets. She has a strong will, stubborn and a very passionate woman. She will do anything she has to to protect the ones she loves.
Paul regrets his past and is on the road to redemption when he saves Daphne he selfishly sees her use. She twists him up inside and makes him dream of things he knows he doesn’t deserve. Daphne will fight for what she wants even if it means taking on society and her family.
What starts as an adventure, just might be the chance of a lifetime.

This was a new author for me, but I liked the synopsis and was eager to try this series.

I really liked Daphne and Paul. She wants to be independent, he wants to be accepted. They both have big hearts, lots of loyalty and fantastic chemistry. There are so many characters and titles in this story and I pretty much gave up on all of it right away.

Plot wise, it was a bit dramatic, but enjoyable. I would have liked more conversation and less inner monologue. There was a bit of push and pull, but Daphne definitely went after what she wanted and I really liked that she did.

Overall, it was a bit longer than it maybe needed to be as things got a little repetitive; however it was easy to root for these characters. I’ll definitely be looking into the rest of the series.

**Huge thanks to St. Martin’s Paperbacks for providing the arc free of charge**

The Good The Bad and The Duke on the surface is a regency romance. Between the covers however I was delighted to find a story of lifelong friendships and redemption. This does have the prerequisite plot points you expect from the genre. Boy and girl are drawn together, turmoil ensues attempting to keep them apart, and then the stars align and they grab their happily ever after. More than that, I enjoyed our hero “Paul” swallowing his pride and dusting off his apology britches to set his life to rights finally. Finally! This is the storyline I have been waiting for in this series. I feel that the author did a fantastic job in creating his romantic counterpoint in Daphne. She is no wilting wallflower with more than enough of an independent streak as to be relatable. These two play off of one another beautifully.

This could be read as a standalone novel. However, I feel that the redemption of the male lead, in addition to the multiple supporting character ties, this would be best enjoyed when read in series order.

I feel so bad about not liking yet another Janna MacGregor book, but I didn't like this one! I loved her first two books, but now the third and fourth are not ones I would recommend to my blog readers. A few things to note that turned me off:

The whole Home Alone scenario - I get that things happen and the holidays are busy, but I just found it really odd that an entire household of people could forget someone. Servants didn't remember, parents and brother were oblivious, and no one bothered to confirm with the heroine about her plans. All it took was a "Daphne, dear, are you still planning to accompany your mother and stepfather to Christmas? Are you sure it's a good idea while they are still in newly-wedded bliss?" Something like that. But I set that aside as a possibility and kept reading.

Daphne's decision to go it alone in her brother's house - So let me get this straight. A spinster, but still a young woman, decides that it's hunky-dory to stay in a house, alone, with only her under butler and his mom for chaperones. Now, the author doesn't specify the time period, but one can only assume that this was not done then. So why would someone who is uber concerned about propriety (because she wants to open a home for unwed mothers) think this was a good idea?

Daphne's insistence on going with Paul to a men's only club (that has prostitutes) - Daphne is not an idiot. So why she acts like one when it comes to her journal is beyond my understanding. At first her foray into Reynolds made sense - she was in a panic and needed to recover her scandalous journal from prying eyes. But then as time progressed and Paul showed her how dangerous it was, she STILL WENT and risked her reputation. Let Paul handle it, Daphne. You are way out of your element and clearly incapable of dealing with the situation.

There were so many TSTL moments in this book that by the time I got to the scene where Daphne sneaks out to Paul's place in the middle of the night (all the while knowing a journalist is trying to figure out the identity of Paul's "mistress"), I was not surprised at all. I was annoyed and in complete agreement with Paul that she was "on the path to ruin". She was galloping down it, in fact, with complete and utter lack of intelligence.

Sorry for my tirade, but that's how frustrated I was by the end of the book. Janna is a great author, so I really hope she can return to the quality of story she wrote in the first two books. Fingers crossed!

A great book. I enjoy it so much. You just fall in love with Paul and Daphne. They are great together. I highly recommend this book.

The author provides the basic components of a good romance: a beautiful woman, a handsome man who made too many poor choices before inheriting a duchy, steamy sex and a happy ending.. Many other components were darker: suicide, death of a beloved sibling, self-hatred, child abuse. I enjoyed the lyrical prose — for a while. I also thought the main characters were well developed and interesting. Ultimately, for me, the story included so many issues and side characters, it became overly complicated and long.
I thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for making this book available prior to it’s release.

I'm a new fan of Janna MacGregor and I was so excited to read another Cavensham Heiress story. Daphne Hallworth lost her sister, but she put the feelings of her family before her own. She strived to become the perfect daughter and sister but was never allowed to properly grieve. When she loses the diary that holds all her feelings about her sister's tragic death and her repressed feelings for her brother's ex-friend, she must rely on him to get it back and save her family's reputation.

There's a history between Daphne's family and Paul, but he only wants to make amends and restore the honor of his name. Both situations seem impossible, depending on whose perspective you are looking from, but the journey there is exciting to read.

I've always really enjoyed stories where the heroine falls for the hero in their youth. The Good, the Bad, and the Duke is particularly sweet. Daphne may have fallen for Paul as a child, but she never let her feelings for him take control of her life or cause her to lose her head. Paul's sense of honor leads him to help a damsel in distress even though helping her may not bring back the friendships he lost. This is one of those stories that comes full circle to resolve itself and I loved that sense of the characters making things right in their lives, and the lives of others.

Every Cavensham Heiress novel has a unique flair that tingles the senses and always satisfies the romance monster. I can't wait for the next one, Rogue Most Wanted! If you aren't caught up on the series don't worry about it. I jumped in at book number 3, The Luck of the Bride and haven't felt like I missed too much. The characters always explain their histories with each other so if you don't need the context of their previous stories you'll be fine. This series is perfect for fans of Anna Bennett and Valerie Bowman.
*ARC provided in consideration for review*

First off, I really enjoyed this book, it was warm and human and the snappy conversation and such was entertaining BUT since I have only been indulging myself in historical romance for about 3 years or less I have read pretty much only the best by authors that made the effort to stay within some semblance of historical accuracy which this novel threw aside on several occasions in the relationship scenes.

The story is great and I did not scan anything but I did roll my eyes at the way the author took allowed our heroine and hero to behave in a manner which even someone as poorly schooled in this period as myself knew would never have been tolerated.

The main thrust of the plot is the efforts to regain a journal that was stolen from our heroine which leads to more and more contact with our hero and sparks ensue.

Our couple are both a bit damaged in their opinions of themselves and how they have lived their lives but it was not done to the point of excessive navel gazing plus there is action of some sort enough to keep you interested so with all things considered I give this one 4 Stars and a great ending to the many threads this plots develops as we go along.

This was a classic historical romance - one where our hero has a bad upbringing , ostracized by all around but now wants to redeem himself .

Our heroine , Daphne ,has met our hero , Paul Barstowe, Duke of Southart, as a 9 year old and has never forgotten him ……. he had been her brother's best friend .
Daphne has a plans for the home for unwed mothers she wants to open BUT Paul also has plans for the same property -he wants to open a hospital to honour his dead brother . Having put her thoughts down in a diary that has now been stolen she enlists Paul's help in recovering it ………….. in return she hopes to change her family's opinion of Paul and put his past behind him .

This was an entertaining story with strong central characters , however some of the minor characters did not seem relevant to this storyline ……… they have apparently appeared in previous books and were used to marry the stories together .

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

I was sucked into this story; the hero belittled and unloved by his father who became a gamester and rakehell, trying to put his life on track and repair damaged relationships and the heroine who suppresses her character after the untimely death of her sister. Drawn together in an attempt to recover a stolen journal, each sees the other for who they truly are and begin to fall in love. Family dynamics, long held secrets and a malicious reporter do not make things plain sailing for the couple. Some of the scenes moved me to tears but in the end we get the HEA that the reader is waiting for.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a great read by Janna MacGregor.

This time its Paul's turn.
Paul, now a duke, hasn't always been upstanding.
He's resolute, a gambler, he broke his engagement at their betrothal party.
In previous books, he's been the villain.
So, how do you turn the villain into the hero?

Well, having Lady Daphne as his love interest helps.
Independent, smart, the only one who can see past the Paul's outer facade.

Another great romance from Janna MacGregor. No one does character development better. You will love Daphne and Paul and their adventures together.

This was the first book that I have read by this author. Having said that, I will most likely read another book by her. I liked this book and got hooked right away. I liked the plot, that Lady Daphne got her journal stolen and was afraid what was written in there would be printed in the paper. However, Lady Daphne was to contemporary for the time period (which was never mentioned). She put herself and her families reputation in jeopardy by doing to many foolish things.