** 3.5 Stars **

If you are looking for a light-hearted comical read, this might be the book for you. For me, it fell a little short and leaned more toward the Monty Python version of funny than it does toward the Harry Met Sally version. I liked both of the main characters, but she was very immature (more like 13 than 23) and he was just so milquetoast… I did like him much better than her.

Lord Thomas Hobbs, Duke of Huntley, became a duke at the age of 17. He’d been enjoying his years at school, but immediately gave up his schooling to learn all he could about running his dukedom. He wanted to become a man of whom his father could be proud, but his lack of formal schooling always bothered him. He’d educated himself – probably better than those who actually finished university – but he always felt inferior in that area. His one champion and saving grace during all of those years – especially the earliest of them – was his very best friend, Lady Delilah Montebank.

Thomas has always loved Delilah, but fears letting her know because she sees him as only a friend and he doesn’t want to do anything that will spoil that friendship. So, he spends time with her, supports her and loves her. However, to avoid her and her friend’s matchmaking, he tells them he isn’t ready to take a bride. He’ll just bide his time until Delilah decides it is time for her to marry and then he’ll – somehow – convince her to choose him.

Delilah’s mother is a nasty piece of work and I would have loved to see something nasty happen to her. Yes – I’m bloodthirsty! It is what would have been Delilah’s sixth season if she were actually attending ton events and looking for a husband. Then, Delilah’s mother confronts her and tells her she will either find a husband by her birthday – in a month – or she’ll have to marry the man her mother has chosen – and he is a real toad. So, Delilah blurts out that she’s chosen her man and she’s sure she’ll be betrothed before her birthday – to the Duke of Branville – who doesn’t even know she exists.

Thomas certainly never expected that development! Now, it is the gentlemen versus the ladies trying to arrange a love match between Delilah and Thomas. Enter a love potion – yes, a love potion – a Roma perfume maker – a talking bird – a Shakespeare play and much more and you have a lively, if immature and improbable, romp. I also have to agree with many other reviewers who have said that the first half of the book is much better than the second half. Once the love potion comes into play, it really goes off the deep end.

This was a good story and I enjoyed it – even though the heroine annoyed me with her immaturity and her willingness to upset so many other lives by using a love potion on a man who clearly didn’t want her. So, it was a nice read, but I wouldn’t read it a second time.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

No Other Duke But You is the final book in the Playful Brides Series. Yes, it’s hard to believe, but this is the eleventh love story and I’m thrilled to have read it but forlorn that it’s the final book. Because I adore the Playful Bride Series. If you haven’t read any, you can pick up with any story in the series as they are all in the same universe but stand-alones.
No Other Duke But You features Lady Delilah Montbank and her best friend, Thomas Hobbs, the Duke of Huntley. Now, we’ve met these characters in earlier books, though you won’t be at a disadvantage if this is the first book you read in the series. In a nutshell, Lady Delilah is given an ultimatum. Receive a proposal in a little over a month or be forced to marry a man of her mother’s choosing, Sir Clarence, whom happens to be the son of the man courting Delilah’s mother. And he is dreadful.
So, Delilah sets out to marry the most eligible bachelor, the Duke of Branville. And she elicits the help of her best friend, Thomas. Now, what Delilah doesn’t know is that Thomas has been madly in love with her for years. Yet, he’s never proclaimed his love because Delilah has been determined to remain single. And thus, he waits until she’s ready to enter the marriage mart.
And Delilah never even contemplates Thomas, because he has always been adamant how he’s not ready to find a wife. Admitting he does want a wife when Delilah is not available is asking for trouble, because his best friend is known throughout the ton as being a successful matchmaker. And the only person he wants, is the one person who declared herself reticent to have a husband.
Can you see their pickle? In addition, Delilah is quite stubborn. And if Thomas declares his love for her, she might see it as him saving her from marrying her mother’s choice. He needs to tread carefully. And she’s not even aware of his feelings.
As Thomas tries to insert himself as Delilah’s only choice, and Delilah tries to avoid marriage to Clarence while garnering the attention of the Duke of Branville, who is interested in another, we are witness to a fantastical circus of misdirected love.
“J’adore les fêtes, les boissons, et les écureuils.” She tended to rattle off poor French when she was nervous.

The other ladies surrounding the duke tittered with laughter.
Lucy grabbed Delilah’s elbow, which thankfully served to stop her stream of French. The duchess leaned over and quickly hispered, “You just said you love parties, drinks, and squirrels, dear.”
Delilah’s heart thundered. “I know,” she whispered back, through tightly clenched teeth, doing her best to keep the smile on her face for the duke’s sake.
Though somehow Ms. Bowman is able to match each eligible person with their true love. And I’m quite satisfied.

This was a very entertaining, sweet and funny (with a little family angst thrown in) installment in the Playful Brides series. If you haven't read the previous books, your enjoyment of this one won't be spoiled at all. This is one of those stories that you can't read without having a smile on your face.

Delilah and Thomas have been friends for ages. Delilah, together with her friend Lucy, have been helping all of their friends make the perfect love matches. When Delilah's nasty mother Lady Vanessa decides it's time for her to marry, she tells Delilah that she will marry the vile son of the man Lady Vanessa is planning to marry. No, this won't do at all! Delilah insists she will obtain an offer from Lord Branville, the catch of the season, by her birthday to avoid this fate. Thomas is not amused, as he has been in love with his best friend for years.

Delilah is a delightful character. Though a pretty woman dearly loved by her friends (and Thomas!), she has self-esteem issues because of her frightful mother. Seriously, what kind of mother would tell her child it's a good thing her father is dead, so he couldn't see what a disappointment she turned out to be?! She is clumsy, which I found to be endearing. No matter what flaws Delilah and her mother think she has, Thomas sees the beautiful, loving and caring friend and woman she is. I just adored Thomas. He was always there for Delilah and loved her deeply. When Delilah plans to use a love potion on Lord Branville, Thomas figures out how to let Delilah know how much he truly loves her. Thoroughly charming!

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

Delilah and Thomas have been friends since their youth. Delilah is the daughter of a deceased earl whom she loved very much, and a mother who isn’t exactly kind. Thomas became a duke at eighteen upon the death of his father, which still saddens him.
These two have been each other’s support, confidants, and ‘partners in crime’ for ages.
Delilah has a hobby she shares with another friend, that of matchmaking. She’s spent years doing it for others, but neglected to find her own true love. Her shrew of a mother has given her until her birthday, about a month, to find a match or she’ll be forced to marry an extremely undesirable toad.
Thomas, has a secret. He has been madly in love with Delilah and was waiting for her to come to the same realization but time is running out. Will he be able to convince her that she is in love with him and that it was HER idea all along?
This story is a delight! It has a host of entertaining characters, witty dialogue, and its plot is a romantic regency romp. The two main characters are both truly unique and the heat that builds between them simmers to perfection. Well done.

This is a friends-to-lovers romance with lots of humor and fun side characters. You also get some Shakespeare, mistaken identities, and a mysterious woman who reads palms and makes love potions.

I really enjoyed this story, Thomas and Delilah were great together. I loved watching their relationship go from friends to lovers, a lot of drama and twists and turns in the matchmaking process.

Not to be taken seriously.
Matchmaker Delilah Mountebank must matchmake for herself to avoid her mother marrying her off to an obnoxious man. Unfortunately she let her mother goad her into naming a specific gentleman, who she swears will make her an offer by the end of the following month. Now the clumsy and ungraceful Delilah must try to impress the gentleman, amidst a host of other young women vying for his attention. Little does she realise that her best friend, the Duke of Huntley has been in love with her for years. What follows is a series of mishaps and misadventures that rather mirrors the show A Midsummers Night Dream they are putting on for charity.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Fun fast paced regency

Valerie Bowman’s Playful Bride series comes to an end with No Other Duke But You, Delilah and Thomas’ story. While both of these characters were introduced in previous books, and the reader gets to see some of previous characters again the book reads well as a stand alone story. I really enjoyed seeing how the friends Delilah and Thomas had helped shape who they were.
I enjoyed how the twists and turns of the plot made the story compelling as Delilah and Thomas found their way to their HEA. As a matter of fact the reader gets two HEAs but you’ll have to read the book to see the other happy couple is.
I received an advance reader copy via Netgalley.

I loved this book! This book does include people from the other books in the series. I have read a few of the other books in the series but I didn't feel like I needed to read them all in order to read this book. The story about Delilah and Thomas was so delightful to read about. They had been friends since childhood and Delilah was too busy playing matchmaker to realize that Thomas loved her. She was such a funny character and I loved her impulsiveness and determination to make the “match of the season” for herself. Thomas was so patient with her and her friends’ schemes. He was such loyal, steadfast hero. The book was well written and easy to read. I am definitely going to read the rest of the series!

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. No Other Duke But You is the Eleventh and final book in Valerie Bowmans Playful Brides Series.
It can be read as a stand-alone, you will meet many of the couples from the previous books in this book and I did enjoy reading all of them. Thomas Hobbs, Duke of Huntley has been in love with Lady Delilah Montebank for as long as he can remember. He’s been patiently waiting for her to realize that he is more than her best friend and love him back, so he gets a little desperate when Delilah announces that she intends to marry and that he is not the one she has chosen. During the course of the story Delilah, Thomas and their friends are mounting a charitable performance of A Midsummers Nights Dream and the twists and turns of their story begin to resemble the play with mismatched matchmaking and love potions gone awry. A fun read. Mild to Medium steam. Publishing Date April 30, 2019 #NetGalley #NoOtherDukeButYou #StMartinsPress #ValerieBowman

Excellent and entertaining about two life long friends who are on the marriage mart. Lady Delilah, during an outburst with her mother says she’s going to marry the most popular duke. Unfortunately she really doesn’t want to and Thomas her best friend who is also a duke loves her. Ms. Bowman made delightful characters and a wonderful story line. It’s entertaining and romantic. I received a complementary copy of this book via Net Galley and chose to write a review. I look forward to reading future books by this author.

I loved Delilah’s enthusiasm through the various stories she has appeared in and Thomas is such a sweetheart (how could you not fall totally in love with him?). Friends to lovers is no my favorite trope but what can I say, Ms. Bowman’s writing is excellent and draws me into the stories of these people’s lives. The story reminded of a movie from the 1930’s where everyone is switching around who they should go after – especially the nighttime antics. This story is a fun read which I enjoyed very much.

I think I’m going to have it call it quits and DNF this one. Maybe it was one of those “it's not you, it’s me" situations. I’m not sure, but this book just wasn’t doing it for me.

I wasn’t a fan of Delilah and Thomas. They came off very unlikeable and a bit childish. The lack of communication was driving me insane. Thomas pining for her when he could have told her how he felt. Delilah scheming with a love potion after a Duke that has no intention of marrying.

I’m sure fans of Bowman will love this, it just was a miss for me.

So, I was asked to review this one, and after reading the synopsis I signed right up. Then I waited a while to read it, and forgot what it was all about, so I went in a little blind. I was quickly reminded why I picked this one up, the plot line is an adorable idea. I like how unconventional Delilah is! She makes for a hilariously fun female lead. Her mother is a horrid person, but she has remained caring, compassion, and hilariously awkward. I was under the impression that the male perspective would be someone else, but Thomas did NOT disappoint. He is definitely the duke I'd pick! My hangups with this story were around Delilah's single-mindedness while pursuing the Duke of Bennington. After a while it got a little tiresome for me, which also made me feel like the book was a little too long. After that, she is stubborn in trying to do what she thinks is right, but by that point I was just hoping to get to the resolution. Overall, I think this is a cute and fluffy historical romance read that many may really enjoy, it just wasn't my favorite.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Cute story. Friends to lovers is always fun to read. Nothing too memorable to me but it’s a fun series so I’m excited to keep reading them.

This book was absolutely delightful! I am always looking for a new author in one of my favorite genres, historical romance and I think I have found a keeper with Valerie Bowman. This is part of a series and I am definitely going to seek out the other books.

In this book Thomas, Duke of Huntley, is in love with his best friend Delilah. He's been stuck in the friend zone for almost a decade but when she declares that she needs to make a marital match this Season he realizes it's now or never. It's hilarious as he tries all kinds of tricks to get her to see him in a new light including making her jealous and offering to kiss her for practice. Their hijinks are made more complicated based upon the fact that Delilah and her friend Lucy are self-proclaimed matchmakers who are also trying to steer several other couples towards their happily-ever-afters.

One of the plot elements that I loved the most was that the group of friends which includes Thomas and Delilah is staging a production of Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" as a fundraiser for charity. There end up being a lot of parallels between the characters in the play and the characters in the book as they partner-swap, match-make and attempt to cast spells on one another. It really was just a very fun, energetic love story and I recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the Publisher for allowing me to read an advanced reading copy so that I could provide and honest review.

This friends to lovers historical romance is a fairly good read, but not my favourite of the series.

Thomas is the Duke of Huntley and he is a loveable character. He is kind, considerate, loyal, but his only fault is not owning up to his true feelings. Assuming that nature will take its course doesn't always work.

Delilah, together with her best friend are matchmakers. They have been successful so far, until all their plans turn chaotic this season. Besides, Delilah is being pressured by her mother to make of her own match. Her mother gives her an ultimatum and she sets her heart on someone who doesn't really have time for her. In her zeal to please her atrocious mother, she resorts to using an alertanive method to attract the object of her heart desires.

In the process, she risks hurting a few others whilst in persuit of the unattainable. Love is right in front of her, but she just wants to please her demanding and mother. How far will she go?

I love Thomas who is the epitome of kindness. I found Delilah to be rather single minded and thoughtless. She has her good points which are all overshadowed by her selfishness. She redeems herself towards the end and everything turns out as they should.

I enjoyed reading the first half of the story, but when the potion comes to play, I found it to be over the top and drawn out. The saving grace is the ending.

I was kindly issued with an eARC from Netgalley and the views expressed are my personal opinion

This is such a slow burn, but so worth the wait. Best Friends to lovers is a nice refreshing trope I haven't read in awhile. I can't believe Delilah's mother! I really liked this one.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

As always the first thing I do is thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing us with a copy of this book so that we can bring you this review.For those of us who have been reading the Playful Brides Series from book one have seen Delilah and Huntley's friendship grow from the beginning. So when I first heard about this book coming I knew I couldn't miss it for the world. I looked forward every second of the day to the moment that I would get to read what happened with them. How their story would change from friends to even more. I loved reading how Huntley never once doubted what he felt for Delilah though she was clueless for so long. She got to try her hand at playing match maker and didn't even realize she was slowing trying to match herself with the wrong person. But once things are set to rights everything was perfect between them. The blunders that happen are comical and give this book such a fun edge to it. I know you will all enjoy it as much as I did.I give this book 5 amazing kisses.Happy Reading... Adri

Not my favorite by Valerie Bowman. I'm not sure how to describe our heroine - she seemed flighty and oblivious to what was right in front of her. She was annoying to me. I liked our hero, Thomas, but I wished he had been a bit more alpha.

The story dragged through the middle and then when we finally get a little romance and courting, it was rushed.

I will definitely read more by Bowman - this one was just not for me.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.