I have to admit that while I used to love historical romances years ago (including my first loved romances by Jane Austen), they lost their luster for a while. I just liked contemporary or even paranormal romances more recently. Well, thanks to NetGalley and Erica Ridley's newest book, the Duke Heist, I'm beginning to like these again. There's something so fun about reading about the rules of the ton and especially, about the strong women who overcome the barriers of an patriarchal and class-driven society.

I loved Chloe Wynchester. She's smart, strategic and fun. Her book is the first book in a series following the Wynchester family, a group of orphans who make their dreams come true though intelligence, strategy and some really cool skills. A painting that means so much to them is stolen from them by Lawrence Gosling's father. Lawrence is the Duke of Faircliff's and he's in a bad way- his father was an awful person and has made their dukedom a laughing stock as well as totally poor. He needs to be even more ducal in order to bring honor back to his line and that means marrying for a good dowry. Sparks fly once he meets Chloe (really fun meet-cute) and I enjoyed their interactions. However, the interaction between the Wynchester siblings? That is one of the major selling points, to me, of the story. I plan on checking in on this family any time a new book is available. Thanks for NetGalley for a fun read!!

This is a wonderful book. It's a joy to read. It start as a baron adopts 6 orphan children. Ironically, he raise them to be very unorthodox. Society looks down on them. Chloe Wynchester was a former pickpocket before her adoption. She and her sibling tries to get back her family painting. She unintentionally kidnappers Lawrence The Duke Faircliffe in the process because he has the painting. Its a wonderful story about what makes a family blood or love. It also shows unconditional acceptance of another person. All this :Lawrence has to learn. to accept Chloe. A wonderful book. The distinct characters of the Wynchesters are well written.

This is an arc review and my own opinons

Everything I didn't know I needed. While the plot is too crazy to believe, it was great fun reading it. At the end, the book encourages us to be happy with who and what we are, not what others think we are supposed to be. If you want an entertaining romance book with a life lesson embedded in it, this is it. Enjoy.

I love the Wynchesters! This is a new series by Erica Ridley and I am excited to see how the Wynchesters' lives unfold. I enjoy reading about strong characters learning to address areas of weakness as their relationships grow. There were some really fun interactions along the way! This was one of those books I read until 2 in the morning because I was enjoying the characters so much.

The first book in Erica Ridley's new series introduces us to the Wynchester family, a motley crew of former orphans.

When their adoptive father dies, they have to fulfil his last wish, bringing back the stolen heirloom painting. The siblings turn to their sister Chloe to come up with a plan to get the painting back. They come up with a tiny heist plan, using Chloe's ability to blend in with the wallpaper of any room, to snatch the painting from under the nose of its current owner. Thereby accidentally kidnapping said current owner, Lawrence Gosling, the Duke of Faircliffe. But what do you do with a kidnapped Duke? And what plan do you have to come up with, when the heirloom painting you stole back turns out to be a forgery? Right, you need to plan an even bigger heist, and don't fall in love while executing it.

Lawrence and Chloe are both fully fleshed characters and easy to root for.

All of the Wynchesters are strong characters and I can't wait for each of their stories.

Erica Ridley has yet to disappoint me with any of her stories.  "The Duke Heist" is fabulous.
Chloe Winchester wants a painting that her family has had for since she can remember. It is presently owned by the Duke of Fairiffe, Lawrence Gosling who is in dire need of money to save his dukedom, but more importantly, it's people. Together, they both learn that they are both more than what they seem, or portray themselves to be. The first in a new series that I can't wait to read.

I loved this so much and I can’t wait for Tommy’s story. More queer historical romances please. I definitely have a soft spot for family series like this. Especially non conventional ones.

This New series is going to be absolutely phenomenal! The Wynchesters are an interesting, strong, unconventional family and it takes a equally strong person to claim a life with any of them. Such adorable, colorful characters have not been introduced to the Regency before and I’m so stoked to read each of their stories. Chloe touched my heart, her pain and the exposure she faces as she emerges is so brilliantly penned by the author, you can’t help but empathize with her. I’m still not sure her Duke deserves her, but oh how I enjoyed this book from beginning to end!!!

Lighthearted, funny, punny, romantic and with fantastic characters, The Duke Heist is my new favorite book by Erica Ridley! The writing is rather fast-paced, and the story itself is so well executed.

We have the eclectic and not-part-of-the-ton Wynchester siblings on one side, and the Duke of Faircliffe on the other side. And there are definitely sparks! A lot of them.

While The Duke Heist is definitely anachronic in many ways, it's still a historical romance. And I have a special place in my heart for impertinent heroines and the heroes who have to struggle to finally let go and fall for them. I can't wait to see what will happen in the next installment of this new series.

Oh my goodness. The book was incredible and so hard to put down. At first I was disappointed since this meant the town of Christmas might be over (previous series) but Erica wrote the characters well and they grabbed me quickly. Can’t wait to read more in this series.

3.5 stars

I liked this book but found it a bit of a fantasy. It took me a bit of time to get into the story. The writing is good but I was reminded of books like fantastic creatures. I think this was because I felt the siblings came across as very young. This might be because they were wholly concentrating on their hobbies, whether that was acrobatics, spying, painting, disguises, animals or ventriloquism. Chloe, the heroine, seemed to be their main leader and her skill was being unremarkable. Lawrence, the hero, was an impoverished aristocrat who was looking for an heiress to help him continue to employ his households and tenents to their mutual benefit. It's the start of a series so we were introduced to the other siblings and there was an explanation about Bean, their benefactor. Perhaps as the series continues we'll learn more about each character. It looks like book 2 might be a single sex romance. Chloe was originally an orphan and had learnt to be a pickpocket before Bean rescued her. The interaction between her and the Duke increases from kisses to all out passion. I was a bit surprised at the quick volte face of the Duke after he and Chloe had made love. At this stage I'm in two minds whether I'll continue with the series.

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

I adored this book! We have a character in Chloe who strives to be hidden. Lawrence, the Duke, strives to be perfect to compensate for his father’s failings. But the heart of the story is Be Yourself! Be seen! Be who you are and dictate society instead of society dictating you. What a marvelous tale as Chloe and Lawrence find their way. A gem!

I loved this story for its unusual characters. I liked the family who all had unique talents and were a kind loving family despite the tons disapproval of them. I also enjoyed seeing the Duke grow as a person and struggle with his burdens of responsibility whilst fighting against his heart's desire. This was a good stand alone story, with no cliffhangers. I can tell there is another story on the way, though it doesn't interest me as those characters didn't catch my interest as the ones in this book did, but as it's so well written I reckon you could quite easily skip the books on the siblings you're not interested in and still be able to know what is going on, which to me makes a great series. Be warned there are explicit scenes in this, but that isn't all the book contains so it's worth just skipping those paragraphs as I did if you don't want to read them as they add nothing to the overall storyline which is worth reading