While I really did love this book, I could not ignore the fact that it pulls a lot of similar plot elements from other stories like the anonymous writer of a scandalous newspaper column (seen several times) and the old favorite .... amnesia but none of that made it less entertaining for me but I would never give more than 4 stars for lack of originality.

Our unlikely couple were a lot of fun but at the same time it was almost "insta-love" in many ways so the romance while tainted a bit by speed was still engaging and interesting as it fit into the plot but I felt the author missed a lot of good fun in the ending with the family but if I could write books I would so I just write reviews and at the end of the day I enjoyed this book in spite of any flaws so 4 Stars for pure entertainment value.

I really enjoyed the story of Lily and Nash. That Lily was brash enough to want a bit of freedom for the 2 weeks her family thought she was with the other was a great twist to the story. I loved that even though she couldn't remember her name and who she was, she still knew herself and that part was what the readers saw. Nash was the perfect over-protective brother who was having a hard time letting his little sister spread her wings. I'm glad we also got some closure in the end for Lily and I really liked how that ended! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy!

Will you find the real you? Lily knows that she is taking a chance by going into the tavern but she has no choice as it raining and she wants to hide for and watch for awhile. Little does she know that everything is about to change. Nash knows that he shouldn't be so hard on his sister but he worries about her & her future and now she is angry with him again and he is hoping to find answers at the tavern and he finds more than he bargains for. He saves Lily from harm but she can't remember who she is and he finds that he has to protect her. No matter how much Lily trie she can't remember anything about her life and she knows that she can trust Nash with her life. But everything becomes blurred between them as they find themselves falling in love but what happens when she gets her memory back? Nash wishes that he can give Lily what she wants but he can't love her completely as he is afraid of losing her. But he knows that once she walks away he will lose her forever? What will lily do now? Will she fight for the man that she loves?
A great read I was lucky enough to receive a copy via Netgalley & the publishing house in exchange for my honest review.

The Duke is But a Dream is book two in the Debutante Diaries series. I enjoyed this installment more than the first one. Lily Hartley writes an anonymous advice column for Debutantes in partnership with her sister and best friend. To keep her identity a secret, she dresses as a boy to deliver the column. One night when her family has left town (and Lily by herself), she decides to take advantage of her disguise and go to a tavern. Unfortunately, she gets in the middle of a fight, hits her head. Luckily, the Duke of Stonebridge, happens to be there and takes the unconscious Lily (still dressed as a boy) to his house. Once he finds out she's a women, he's shocked. Then he finds out she's lost her memory and has no choice but to give her refuge as they try to figure out who she is. This is no easy task, as he has sheltered his younger sister from the London scene ever since a tragedy took their other sister and father away from them.

This was an engaging story and the secret about Lily's parentage is revealed at the end. Can't wait for the next installment!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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

The Duke Is But A Dream, by Anna Bennett, is available for purchase 7-30-19. It's book #2 in the Debutante Diaries series, but it works perfectly well as a stand alone tale. Ms Bennett is a new-to-me author so I was curious about her style. You must suspend your sense of belief and what you think you know about history, as told through romance novels. There are a few items that were so out of place in regency society. Ms. Bennett has taken a risk with her plot and in some ways it works but not enough. I give her brownie points for being adventurous. I'm interested in book #3, I'd like to see how it's wrapped up.

Miss Lily Hartley is the author of The Debutant's Revenge, an informative column for young ladies. It's not really revenge so much as a how to, navigating the Ton, marriage mart and relationships. I found it hard to believe a paper would publish such a column, it's more of a gossip rag, or self-published Miss Manners. Lily is adopted, not from relations or ton friends, but left on their doorstep. That's hard to believe too. She's an interesting character but not for regency.

Eric Nash is the Duke of Stonebridge, AKA The Duke of Stoneheart. He's not really interesting and his secondary plot doesn't jibe with Lily's amnesia storyline. That they lead each other into a better version of themselves is lovely. They struggle, fight, make-up. A real relationship. I'm torn in how I feel about this book, I enjoyed it but didn't love it. Give it a try yourself, it's different enough to be interesting.

#NetGalley #AnnaBennet #DebutanteDiaries #TheDukeIsButADream

The Duke Is But a Dream is the second book in the Debutante Diaries series by Anna Bennett. A swoon-worthy romance that is sure to sweep you off your feet. While this is part of the Debutante Diaries series, it can be read as a standalone novel. A stunning romance that is full of delightful twists and turns, mystery romance, and humor. Bennett has created a unique list of characters that are well-written and develop nicely. The secondary characters help to add depth to the plot and make reading The Duke Is But a Dream seems more like a movie than a book. I enjoyed reading The Duke Is But a Dream and look forward to reading more from Anna Bennett. I highly recommend this to readers who love a swoon-worthy romance.

This is first book by Anna Bennett I've read. I'm very happy that I gave it chance. Loved the storyline, characters in the book.
Lily is writing a column "The Debutante's Revenge", which she does anonymously. She always deliver her column disguised as chimney sweep. After delivering column, she decided to stop at the tavern, that didn't go well, she ends up in the middle of the brawl and end up loosing her memory. Good thing that person who rescue her is Duke of Stonebridge. He takes her home where he and his sister take care of her. While trying to figure it out who she is, Caroline (Lily) is starting to feel more than gratitude towards Nash (Duke).

Regular readers of Regency romances (of which I am not one) might be outraged by some of the liberties Bennett has taken with the genre. Lily, an heiress, is a spunky young woman who writes an advice column and has a penchant for getting into trouble. She dresses as a man when she delivers her work and this time, she ends up in a pickle after stopping at a tavern to eat. Well, we all know that this just would not have happened during the period (so much of it would not have happened) but let go of convention and have a good time. Lily finds herself hit on the head but rescued by Eric Nash, the Duke of Stonebridge. He takes her home, discovers she's a woman not a boy, and then the two of them find out sh's got amnesia! Now she's Caroline and there's romance afoot. Oh my! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm not sure why I requested this, since it's not really my genre, but I very much enjoyed it. Light reading and a good time.

A satisfying read with the expected romance but also includes many little side issues going on which makes it stand out from many other books of its genre. Well worth reading.

Lily is a young woman of the ton and, the anonymous writer of a sometimes shocking weekly column for young single ladies of the ton.
Nash is an Earl who, when he attempts to protect a 'boy' from 3 ruffians at a bar, one of the ruffians goes flying into this 'boy' and, she hits her head. When Lily wake up, she is in a beautiful room with a very handsome ma, who is sitting by her bed, holding her hand. Problem is that she not only doesn't know him, she doesn't know who she is, either!
Both Lily, Nash and, his sister spend the next 2 weeks getting to know each other and, trying to figure out who Lily really is. Biological and chosen family are wound together through the course of this book and, it is a thoroughly enjoyable read!

The Duke is but a Dream is the second book in the Debutante Diaries. I haven’t read the first book or any other books by this author so I was surprised at how good it was. The book was paced and written well. The amnesia storyline is a hard one to pull off but I think the author did a fairly decent job with it. Lily Hartley secretly writes The Debutante’s Revenge articles and after delivering issues to editor she decided to take advantage of her family being out of town and her freedom dressed as a boy. She hits her head during a fight and the Duke of Stonebridge “Nash” takes her to his house to receive medical care. Once she wakes up she doesn’t remember who she is or anything of her family. Nash and his sister, Delilah, help her during recovery. As they try to discover Lily’s true identity they come across some of her past she wasn’t aware of. Delilah plays a large part in the ending when she learns the hard way that the man she thought she loved was not a good man. I hope that the next book will be for Delilah, she deserves her HEA. I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a good solid historical romance, and who doesn't love a duke!? I enjoyed this enough that I'm going to go back and read the first book in this series.

I have loved this series! Lily has an accident and circumstances put her in a handsome Dukes home with no memory of who she is. By the end of the book Lily not only remembers her name but knows more about herself that she could have know before the accident! A story of true love and over coming ones fears had me really rooting for these two!

The Duke Is But a Dream is the second book in Anna Bennett’s Debutante Diaries series and I liked it. There are lots of classic tropes at play (maybe too many?) so a romance fan is bound to find something to like in this book. There is a sister duo secretly writing a society column. There is a spunky heroine, Lily, who sneaks out dressed as a boy. There is amnesia. There’s a family secret. And there’s a stuffy duke, Nash, who claims he doesn’t believe in romantic love.

I really liked Lily. But I struggled with Nash. Ordinarily I LOOOVE a stuffy hero because beneath all of that there’s actually passion and strong emotions. But Nash lets Lily go way too easily for me. In fact, his brotherly feelings for his sister were more moving and impressive to me than his romantic feelings for Lily. And don’t get me wrong, I love strong family relationships in my romance. But that’s not really why I’m reading the book…

But overall this is a solid romance. It has a lot of good reviews. I think a lot of historical romance fans will enjoy it.

The Duke Is But a Dream releases at the end of the month on July 30th. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s for the chance to read an advanced copy!

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

I was pitched this book and was intrigued at the synopsis. I’ve only read a couple of amnesia stories and I’m never sure how to feel about them.

I liked Lily and Delilah and the other women in this book. They’re all smart and headstrong and striving to make their own decisions. I wasn’t completely sold on Nash. He’s had some tragic things happen and means well, but comes across as an ass more than not.

Plot wise, it was okay. The entire story is mostly fluff and the serious conflict that was implied turned out to be not really a big deal. I felt like the entire story was me being told they loved each other. I didn’t actively see the jump to love — especially with the head injury and this entire story spanning 2 weeks.

Overall, it was a quick read that did entertain me, but I’m left wondering if 3 stars is too high.

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

The book is well-written but with totally modern sensibilities. If this had been a contemporary novel I might well have awarded it 5 stars but in a Regency setting the situations, actions and sentiments were too jarring and it was impossible to suspend disbelief.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book has a lovely historical romance cover but it's a contemporary book in disguise. The scenarios are not believable for the Regency timeframe but would be fine in a contemporary setting. The writing and dialogue are not sophisticated, again making it a contemporary.

This is my honest opinion. I was provided an advanced readers copy by the publisher for which I'm grateful but not hopeful of being asked again!

The Duke is But a Dream is the second in a series (The Debutante Diaries). Lily Hartley is a young woman who secretly writes a tell-all advice column for young ladies, delivering them to her publisher dressed as a boy to avoid discovery from society. One night she stops in a tavern while in her disguise and inadvertently gets caught up in a brawl. She's knocked out and is rescued by the hero, Eric Nash, the Duke of Stonebridge. Stonebridge takes her home to care for her and when she wakes up they realize that she has lost her memory and work together to discover who she is.

Lily is the younger sister of the main character from the previous book in this series. During that book something is revealed about Lily (it's really what kicks off the plot of the first book) that I expected to be much more central to the story. Instead it's relegated to the side, something that's brought up and wrapped up with unexpected speed.

Overall the book was pleasant and both characters were nice, but it was less engaging than I was hoping based on the previous book. Lily was "spunky" and interesting, but the amnesia storyline bogged things down and there just wasn't a lot happening to pull the reader in and make it really compelling (I'm not the biggest fan of amnesia storylines in general).

If you are looking for something to read to pass an afternoon or weekend, this book is a nice light read, but if you haven't read the author's earlier series (The Wayward Wallflowers), I would recommend that one much more strongly.

Please note: I received an electronic ARC of this book by the publisher via NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

***I received this book via NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

This was a cute story. I feel like I say that a lot, but it's how I feel. The characters were nice and the romance was fairly well-paced. It's also an amnesia story line which I've only read once before.

Lily was a likable character and I really liked her writing. Nash was a little brooding, but not annoyingly so. I'm not a huge fan of overprotective big brothers, but he grew a little and you can tell it comes from a place of love. I would've liked a little more development in the romance, but it wasn't too much of an issue. I would have liked some more development in some of the side story lines as well as the friendships.

It was a fast and enjoyable read, but nothing special. It was a little forgettable, but I would read other books in the series because I like the characters.

This is a fantasy! I am afraid it is the growing problem with Historical Romance. A young lady, is hit in the head, forgets her name, which is Lily. Sister to a Countess, an heiress in her own right. She is taken in by The Duke of Stoneridge, and his younger Sister, Delilah. The problems for me are, his home is never described, they never ride horses, his profanity is not that of a an English gentleman, bloody hell, would work, not the other words chosen. These feminist are worse than contemporary novels!? You either love me, and my tacky advice for so called ladies, or you don't love me. She is a virgin, he doesn't even notice when they have an intimate relationship, while she is recuperating under his roof! I think the whole story is more erotic than I knew, before starting this book. I don't like this much gratuitous sex in any book, much less, about a supposedly young lady, and a gentleman, who is a Duke, with his unmarried, virginal sister under his roof! I should have stopped, refused to finish, however, when, and if I do that, I am punished for being honest. I believe unless things change, I need to read my thousand dollars worth of books that I bought, read, and review those. My integrity is important to me as a reviewer, and I will maintain my honesty. It could have been a sweet story, instead it was turned into something unrecognizable as Historical Romance!
I cannot recommend it! Thank you Netgalley!
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