I love historical fiction so I was excited about this book. But ultimately, it just ended up being an okay weird. It was definitely a quick read with a good premise, but it didn't make me feel anything? If that makes sense. I love rooting for the characters or wanting them to fall in love or hating a character, etc. But I just kinda felt like okay, well that's that. So overall, a good read, just not something that connected with me.

Patience had me rooting for her from the beginning, and I couldn’t wait for her to loosen up Busick. They were a strong couple together, and I loved all of the history and other things I learned in addition to it being a great romance! Can’t wait to read more from this author!

If you enjoy historical romance, this book and series may be for you. I enjoyed this book and it had a lot of really good plot stories (disguises, a secret society etc) though in the last quarter of the book, I feel like the action and building of scenes fell a bit short (most of the book beforehand had done a good job).

The Widows Grace, an underground group of widows working together to fight back against legal injustices put upon them due to their widowhood has found Patience Jordan and taken up her plight. When Patience was been widowed with a small babe, her husbands’ uncle swooped in and seized control… that’s not the worst of it, he banishes her to Bedlam and keeps her baby boy hostage!

After the Widows Grace gets her released from Bedlam, Patients clandestinely reenters her home to ensure her son’s safety and feeding. She is enlisted into service by the Duke of Repington as he storms the home with his troops to rescue the baby, his ward.

Now Patience must keep up her ruse to be with her son. She dreams of returning to her homeland in the West Indies where she will be respected and she and her son will be free of English rules… that is until she starts to get closer to the Duke and finds that under his rule, she may find happiness.

…

This was an intriguing story. I have read many historical romances and very few showcase the racism prevalent at the time. This book also gave a realistic insight into the lack of rights awarded to widows and women in general. I adored the Widows Grace group and I am excited to see whom they will help out next.

Overall, the plot of this book held my attention and had me not putting this book down. I would have liked a little more steam with my romance, but that maybe the authors style, this was my first book from Vanessa Riley. Lastly the POV flipped a lot between Patience na d the Duke, where she was written in the first person and he was the third. It took me a little to get used to that, but it did not take away from the captivating plot.

A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby by Vanessa Riley is scheduled to release June 30th, 2020.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Zebra, Kensington Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Blog link: https://pinkcowlandreads.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-duke-lady-and-baby.html

#ADuketheLadyandaBaby #VanessaRiley #Netgalley #pinkcowlandreads

This is the first regency romance I've read centering around a black woman, and for that alone, it's worth the read. This isn't a book that mimics Jane Austen but that makes its own space and puts forth its own voice.

Patience doesn't live up to her name (in the best way), but she makes up for it with bravery and bullheadedness in a world that wants neither from her. I loved the social intricacies exposed in this story: the plight of widows, the rocky road back to society for wounded veterans, and the pressures of living far from home in an unfamiliar society that forgives no etiquette errors. Patience has nothing to lose in the fight to gain custody of her son, but she also finds she has much to gain in the Duke of Repington.

For me, the main detractor was that I wanted more of everything: more about the characters' backgrounds and life experiences, their romantic feelings for one another, and more examination of tricky issues that arise like the mental health of Patience's late husband and the resulting grief of the protagonists in the wake of his apparent suicide. To me, none of these topics are ones to approach lightly or in brief, and the book did not meet its potential to address such weighty concerns once introduced.

I recommend this book to anyone seeking a fresh take on the regency era and to readers who love a woman fighting for what she both wants and needs in a world that works against her. Patience is worth the journey.

#ADuketheLadyandaBaby #NetGalley

I was so excited to read this book. I keep hearing about Vanessa Riley's books, but I'd never read anything by her (my library doesn't own anything she wrote). It did not let me down - this book is awesome!

The book starts off in the middle of the MCs daring break-in of a castle in which she used to live. There is, at the start, a lot of retrospective storytelling. Also, this book is written in first person. I am nerdily excited by this as I have read so few historical romances written this way. There are still some third person chapters regarding the Duke, but the first person in Patience's voice feels more personal.

To give you a brief summary, Patience is a young mother and widow who was throw out of her home by her late husband's evil uncle. The Duke is her son's legal guardian, and brings the cavalry to banish the uncle. He takes on the task of caring for his ward with sincerity, but no clue. She sneaks back into the house to be hired as a nanny/nursemaid to her son and a mutual attraction ensues.

In the midst of their developing relationship, Patience is trying to find a way to access her money, kidnap her son (Lionel) and head home to Demerara (So. American island). Meanwhile, Busick (Duke) is trying to find the boy's mother and ensure Uncle bad guy stays away from Lionel forever.

Both characters are dealing with the loss and guilt over Lionel's dad as well as their own injuries. His is a physical war injury. Hers is mental - being a brown skinned lady in a foreign land has taken a toll and she is trying to figure out who she wants to be.

This story is so sweet and well thought out! I can't leave it without saying the one thing that was not great - the resolution to the Evil Uncle problem was kinda extreme and I wasn't a huge fan.

Otherwise, I can't wait to continue the series. There are many hints at who gets featured stories-- Patience's amnesiac BFF, the Duke's BFF and the kindly widowed single dad/lawyer who helps out the ladies.

The cover art for this book is also really cute.

"I once was funny, a little headstrong, and I had a lot of heart. I wanted to be me again."

Patience Jordan is a widow--and in dire need of help. Following her husband's suicide--so soon after giving birth to her son, in a land that has never been her home--Patience was forced from the house, committed to Bedlam, never to see her baby again. And then comes The Widow's Grace, an order of widowed women who have been wrong seeking to help other wronged widows. Together, they work on a plan to reunite Patience with Lionel so that she can return to her true home in Demerara. And, to Patience's surprise, the first part of the plan arrives with a small army. Literally.

Busick Strathmore, Duke of Remington, descends upon Hamlin to oust his deceased cousin's vile uncle and become a doting bachelor father to his ward. Injured while serving in the Peninsula wars, Busick has rules, plans, and troops to protect Lionel and shape the boy into a fine young man (don't tell him that three months is too young for crawling practice; it's on the schedule and that's that). There's just one problem: he and his men are lacking one thing. Well, technically two very important things for a small, hungry baby...

Barely in residence for twelve hours, the manor is descended upon by the neighboring Countess, who comes bearing a new maid and a new nanny for Busick. Finally reunited with Lionel, Patience must carefully navigate the manor to find the answers that will allow her to be with her son as his mother, while avoiding the precise and somewhat frustrating (and devastatingly handsome) Duke. Together, the two of them will do anything and everything to protect Lionel. But what shall they do about the developing feelings between them?

I would have finished this book in a day had life and a rapidly depleting Kindle battery not have intervened. This is a brilliant work of historical fiction, set in Regency England, with a biracial heroine at the center. The historical elements are remarkably well-researched, and gave life to story as well as expand the horizons and standards for Regency romance.

I adored the ironically named Patience (for she has none), struggling to protect her son and her heart, slowly opening it little by little to Busick. In turn, Busick learns to trust, pull down his own shields, and loosen up on control. They are opposites attract in so many ways (so much snarky banter), but so delightfully real and loving and protective of each other. And, of course, to Lionel. They make such a sweet little family that makes you squee!

I'm eager to see what adventures lie ahead for the women of T Widow's Grace

I would like to thank netgalley and Kensington Books for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable read, made more interesting by its diverse cast. I look forward to the rest of the series.

Unfortunately this one fell flat for me and I DNF’d at about 30%. I couldn’t get into the story, the characters were not likable, and there was absolutely zero chemistry.

"Created by a shrewd countess, The Widow’s Grace is a secret society with a mission: to help ill-treated widows regain their status, their families, and even find true love again - or perhaps for the very first time...

When headstrong West Indian heiress Patience Jordan questioned her English husband's mysterious suicide, she lost everything: her newborn son, Lionel, her fortune - and her freedom. Falsely imprisoned, she risks her life to be near her child - until The Widow's Grace gets her hired as her own son’s nanny. But working for his unsuspecting new guardian, Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington, has perils of its own. Especially when Patience discovers his military strictness belies an ex-rake of unswerving honor - and unexpected passion...

A wounded military hero, Busick is determined to resolve his dead cousin’s dangerous financial dealings for Lionel’s sake. But his investigation is a minor skirmish compared to dealing with the forthright, courageous, and alluring Patience. Somehow, she's breaking his rules, and sweeping past his defenses. Soon, between formidable enemies and obstacles, they form a fragile trust - but will it be enough to save the future they long to dare together?"

We have now moved on from the Gothic to Dukes.

I received an ARC of this book from Zebra publishing via NetGalley. What follows is my fair and honest review.

I really wanted to love this historical romance from Vanessa Riley, but I thought the writing left something to be desired. However, since I was reading an advanced copy, I’m giving the book the benefit of the doubt and hoping that some of the issues I see in the novel were resolved in final edits.

My primary issue with this novel is that I don’t think there’s enough regular prose for the amount of dialogue in the book. That is, the book is written with a lot of dialogue, but not much contextualizing information. This was especially disorienting at the beginning of the book, when characters were talking to one another, but we, as readers, hadn’t really been introduced to them yet. It’s hard to keep track of who’s who when you don’t know who anyone is. I also struggled with the shifting 1st and 3rd POV. The heroine’s chapters/sections are written in 1st person, but the hero’s sections are written in 3rd, and I’m not sure I understand the reasoning for writing this novel this way.

As much as I struggled with the writing, I think A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby succeeds in other ways. I liked Patience as a character, and I think her perspective as a Black woman from the West Indies adds something unique to the historical romance genre. The emphasis on Busick’s struggles with his war injuries also adds some disability representation, and it’s nice to see an author consider how the impacts of war are not just scars or emotional wounds, which you tend to see more of in historical romance. I also loved the idea of the Widow’s Grace secret society, but I wish we got to see more of how the society worked beyond the help of one older widow.

I recommend A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby to historical fiction fans, especially those looking for a Victorian/Regency historical with a unique perspective.

3.5 stars

This is an interesting and intense romance that deals with race and disability in regency England. I normally love wounded hero stories, but I could not get into this one. It is much heavier than the cover implies and is definitely not a lighthearted read. I was hoping for something fun, but this was an emotional and complicated story. The romance elements were second to the mystery/danger elements of the plot.

I really liked the hero, and the novel sets up some interesting characters with the Widows’ Grace group to help disadvantaged women in the time period. But I found the plot sometimes stressful and sometimes boring. The baby does play a significant role in the work, but it was not enough to make it a fun read for me.

The novel alternates between the first person perspective of the heroine and the third person view of the hero. It was a bit jarring for me as a reader.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Net Galley in return for a fair review

This is an honest and sincere review.
Her secret: she is the mother of the child he’s a guardian of. His secret: He has one of his legs amputated, missing. She knows and will keep his secret, he doesn’t know hers.

Patience once upon a time left her home in Demerara (Now part of Guyana, in South America) to marry an Englishman, she had a baby with him and then he committed suicide. His uncle on his mother’s side, a man named Markham, is after her fortune and his late nephew’s estate so, in order to get what he wants he manages to put her into Bedlam and leaves the infant son of hers in the nursery, almost forgotten.

There’s an influential woman that goes by the name of Lady Shrewsbury who runs a foundation known as ‘The Widow’s Grace’ that helps widows who have been maligned by their families or their in-laws, and that woman takes Patience under her wing. She promises the young woman she will help recover the little child but the night before they put their plans into action, Patience disguises as a footman and sneaks into the house to see little Lionel. When she tries to go back to Lady Shrewbury’s lair, she meets Busick, her late husband’s cousin (on his father’s side) who is a duke and tells her that he’s come to take over the house and stand as appointed guardian of her child (he obviously doesn’t know who she is or her relationship with the baby upstairs). He’s come to protect little Lionel and his assets until he Is of age.

The next morning Lady Shrewsbury, who is an old friend of the duke’s, introduces Patience (Jordan) as Mrs. LaCroy, the new nanny for the baby. He, of course, sees through her and guesses that she is the footman he met the night before, but he doesn’t guess the reasons for the scheme, so he takes her for one of Markham’s spies. He would never guess the new nanny’s real plans, or that she’s very attracted to him, and him to her.

She seems to be very protective of the baby, but why?

The first of the two things that put me off a little bit is that although we get both Patience and Busick’s perspectives of the story, the one corresponding to Patience is written in the first person. I usually find it awkward to read romances in the first person, I guess the intention in this case is that being Patience a person of color, the writer wanted the reader to know her core. To really listen to her. To know how she constantly feels inadequate, unwanted, despised, or not enough British. No matter how wealthy her father was, she’s still a foreigner, a mulatto.

She blames herself for her husband Colin’s death. The man was depressed and committed suicide and she feels she gave him the final blow before that happened. She is willing to spend the rest of his life making it up to her son, but she needs to recover and sail back home to Demerara, where she knows they will be safe.

Busick Strathmore, duke of Repington, a former rake, is now a wounded man who’s doing everything in his power to go back to Spain and fight alongside Wellington. I loved him as a character, he’s always trying to overdo himself and as soon as he meets the suspicious nanny, he starts feeling protective of her and of baby Lionel. I love his odd ways, he must have some degree of OCD because he has rules for everything and in his life he needs order. But I loved his shenanigans

And I loved Patience, her strength, her willingness, her love for her baby and how she is protective of her people. Lionel, her friend Jemina, Busick… Also she knows what she wants and how to get it, but she almost never listens. She’s stubborn and she should listen to other people’s opinions and suggestions sometimes, so she could be calmed and consider options. She’s a force of nature, like a river flood.

Actually both of them are quite stubborn in their own way. And protective of their people. They feel attracted to each other almost from the beginning but this is not a quick paced novel. So it doesn’t feel rushed or instant. It’s not a slow burn either, only because it takes time for the writer to get them together doesn’t mean it’s slow burn. All it will take for Patience and Busick to be together is to learn how to trust, and trust doesn’t come in one day. It takes time and sometimes it takes hardships. Love needs to come with trust.

The other aspect of the novel that slightly put me off was the fact that Patience knew exactly who had actually led her husband to his demise (even if she believed that it was her fault too) and was set on demonstrating this. That stole the mystery plot a little bit, so, in the end it was never about who did it but how. Ant the road to finding how, the unveiling of the schemes and plot while falling in love in the process was a quite enjoyable tale.

To compensate for the two facts that put me down I want to remark one that I really really liked. We have this hero that was a rake before the war. We’ve all read all kinds of stories of rakes and rogues and how their love for the heroines lead them to believing in love and thus to redemption and change. In the case it happened before, when Busick was in the battle of Badajoz he witnessed an act of pure love and realized that he wanted that, it isn’t the heroine who changes her, but himself and that’s quite refreshing.

All in all I found in “A Duke, The Lady, and a Baby” to be an incredible love story, and an exciting adventure. A book about two broken people with trust issues who are strong on their own but who find out that they are stronger together. A story of a family coming together, with that warmth that families should provide. A book that you won’t read in one sitting but that you will want it to last forever.

Ps. What kind of name is Busick?

A secret society on a mission to help widows, a West Indian heiress determined to regain custody of her infant son, and an injured war hero with a love of precision- A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby is a suspenseful historical romance that does a lot right and is a great choice for those who prefer a closed door approach to intimate scenes.

I will say, the beginning of the book is a little confusing. The story opens with Patience Jordan sneaking into her former home dressed as a white man to check on and nurse her newborn son. We have no real context and it takes awhile for things to become clear, but ultimately this becomes a very sweet story about a slowly developing romance between two people who feel like outsiders in some way.

Patience is a dark-skinned woman from the West Indies who had come to England to marry her now dead husband. His death was apparently a suicide over gambling debts, but things are unclear. What we do know is that Patience had been forcibly placed into Bedlam asylum by her husbands friend who has now taken custody of her son. We get a lot of conversation through the book about racism and colorism during that time period, and an informative authors note at the back on the real history and glossed over fact of many people of color living in England during that time period.

Busick is a Duke and wounded military man with a great deal of pride and desire to hide his disability due to the loss of a leg. He rides in to rescue his ward, the young infant Lionel, and unknowingly hires the childs mother (Patience) as a nanny. He is quirky and funny, obsessed with order and precision, but known as a former rake who feels now quite removed from the possibility of that lifestyle.

I had mixed feelings about the writing style on this one. As I said, the beginning was a bit confusing and the style creates some level of distance from the characters which I am less used to in genre romance. That said, I ultimately quite liked the romance and appreciated the way that this thoughtfully addresses issues of race and disability in history. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I found this title to be enjoyable once I got used to the female's voice being in first-person and the male character's voice being in third-person, but it was a bit jarring at first.

"A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby" by Vanessa Riley'
Yes, it took me a few chapters to get well and truly hooked on this story. But then I got caught up in the inter-play between Patience and Busick and the suspense surrounding the death of Colin, her husband, his cousin. And as they say, the rest is history. The big questions. Will Patience and Busick learn to trust each other and become a team? Will they resolve the questions surrounding Colin's death?
So, in my opinion this is a good Regency Suspense story with a side of romance. Happy Reading ! !
note: I received an ARC of this story from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Series: Rogues and remarkable Women #1
Publication Date: 6/30/20
Number of Pages: 320
*** 3.5 Stars rounded up ***

This was my first book by this author and it was a very enjoyable read. The storyline was unique for the Regency period and it was well presented. One unusual thing in the story’s presentation was that it alternated between first and third person which may bother some readers, but not others. While this wasn’t an unusually long book, I felt as if it took me a long time to read it – even though it didn’t. I’m not sure why that was – just me I guess. The story moved along at a good clip and it was well-plotted, but I did think the villain was a bit of a fizzle. While there was both a romance and a villain, I did feel that they were subservient to the story the author wanted to tell – which was the treatment and lack of acceptance of people of color during the Regency period.

Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington, was severely wounded and lost a limb at the battle of Badajoz. He was Wellington’s right-hand-man and dearly wants to get back to the battlefield. I did come to like Busick, but it didn’t come easily. I think that was mostly because he seemed to be a cardboard caricature of a dedicated military man. I loved his determination to care for and protect his new ward, Lionel Jordan, who is the son of his much-loved cousin, Colin.

Patience Jordan was a lovely character and I admired her courage and loving heart. I liked her as soon as she graced the page. Just after the death of her mother, she fell madly in love with Colin Jordan. Almost as soon as they married, they left her West Indies home, Demerara, and traveled to Colin’s home in England. Patience did all she could do to please Colin – she adopted English ways, she perfected her speech, but Colin always left her at home in the country while he lived mostly in London. He explained that he was doing it to protect her because as a Mulatto (or Blackamoor – I was never sure which) she would be ridiculed and not accepted.

When Colin committed suicide, his uncle, Markham, swooped in and took over. He put Patience in Bedlam and took over custody of Lionel. The story is about Patience doing whatever she had to do to gain custody of her son and to escape England. You’ll love how selfless, brave, and loving she is.

There wasn’t much time spent telling us exactly what The Widow’s Grace society is nor how it came to be. We are to just accept that it exists and that they found and rescued these two ladies from Bedlam. I really wish that there was more focus on who Patience was as a person rather than what she was. I understand that the author wanted to focus on the story as a person of color, but that isn’t all she was. I wanted to get to know and like her for who she was, and there was some of that – just not enough to suit me.

We got to meet the featured characters of the next book and I liked both of them. They are both mixed-race as well and are struggling to find acceptance within London society. Since I liked both characters in this book, I’ll give the next one a read as well.

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

I stopped reading about a third of the way in. I just never sunk into the characters or the story or the setting. I feel like I need to be invested in some part of the book and I was forcing myself to read. I loved the premise, but this one was just a miss for me.

A book you can read again, again, and again!
An intimate, sweet, and courageous story of Patience, a mother in a strange land trying to recover her son Lionel. She faced injustice and finding hard to love her son’s new guardian Busick Duke of Rippington.
It’s an interracial couple Patience is a mulatto from Demerara falls in love with an English gentleman who takes her to live on his England estate. Patience is thrown into a world where she is constantly trying to mold herself into a perfect wife for her husband and battling censure because of her skin color. Unfortunately her husband dies leaving her to the mercy of Lord Markham her husbands uncle (the Villian) takes advantage to wreak havoc on Patience that ultimately has her separated her from Lionel. When Busick enters the story he comes home to take Lionel into his guardianship and loves the baby like his own. He has been wounded all over his body even has had a leg amputated, but that doesn’t stop him from taking control to ensure Lionel and his soldiers are well. Patience finds support in The Widow’s Grace, a fellow hood of widows supporting each other from others that cheated them out of their lives. The Countess and Jemina St Maur are founder and fellow widows that help her infiltrate to recover Lionel and to find out the mystery of her late husband.
Throughout Patience wrestles with her feelings towards Busick while over coming her self doubt.
This book is so different from the Regency roms I’ve read before. Even after the story finished I read everything else that as a history buff I loved!
Thanks to Priscilla Oliveras for the recommendation and NetGalley for an early copy.

A Duke, the Lady and a Baby was a sweet and easy read. It has a bit of a mystery that I figured out pretty early on and highlights the ways in which women don't have authority over themselves or their offspring among other things. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in the series.