Duchess If You Dare by Anabelle Bryant is a captivating historical romance filled with intrigue, passion, and unforgettable characters. Bryant's vivid storytelling and dynamic plot twists keep readers enthralled as they follow the journey of a daring duchess who defies societal norms to find love and adventure.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Tension: ⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 (Once we got to the scenes I did like the way they were written, but in this one the build up wasn’t there for me so it just wasn’t as strong)
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: A touch
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine (And also some minor part from hero’s brother?)
More character focused or plot focused? plot
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: It felt like it took a bit, about 9% (chapter 3)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, 2 months later

Should I read in order?
This is the first in Bryant’s Maidens of Mayhem series.

Basic plot:
Scarlett is out to solve a mystery involving missing persons when she crosses the path of Ambrose Cross

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (my assumption)
- London setting
- mystery focused
- class difference
- duke hero/illegitimate daughter of a commoner heroine
- lower steam – 2 full-ish scenes (the first one is a bit light)

My thoughts:
I was so disappointed in this one! I have read one other Bryant and I really enjoyed it – it was sweet and character focused and had a lot of swoony lines for me. But this one I was disappointed because I didn’t find much of that.

It felt like it took forever for the mains to be on page together and then they were repeatedly apart during the story. Number one way to get me grumpy.

This one is very mystery focused, which isn’t really my thing, so if you are wanting a mystery focused Regency with some light steam, you might really enjoy this one.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A good historical fiction romance novel. Great weekend read.

I liked the premise of this historical romance/mystery more than the actual book. Perhaps it tried to do a bit too much? Scarlett and her Handsome Duke investigate a sex trafficking ring in regency era London...and fall in love. I appreciate when historical romances attempt to deal with women's issues of the time period but this one falls a bit flat.

I was really optimistic about Duchess If You Dare but the execution wasn't there. There was a lot of repetition and it just lost some of its spark somewhere in the middle.

Was not able to read the entirety of the book and cannot give an accurate or overall rating/review . As a librarian for a big library system, we most likely have a copy of this item. I will look forward to reading it in future since I am sure I will.

DNF @23%

I honestly didn't know what the author's intention but everything felt half-baked for me like ideas randomly being put there just to make a subject or theme that weren't well thought.

Overall, this was disappointing

I have read a lot of regency romances of late, seems to be my thing. This one is lacking and I'm not sure why. I did like the mystery and how it tries to shed light on a still very important issues, but I just didn't like the characters. Could be just me, but I think I will pass on the rest of this series.

Scarlett Wynn is an independent strong fighter who fights her own battles, but when her best friend goes missing, she stumbles upon the Duke of Aylesford, Ambrose Cross, a handsome duke who, coincidentally is looking for the man who has taken Scarlett’s best friend. Now they find that they must work together and fight off the attraction that pulls them together.

Duchess If You Dare was a fun and cute historical romance and I had such a great time reading about Scarlett and Ambrose’s relationship. I loved how independent and strong Scarlett was and to be completely honest, she could absolutely beat me in a fight. I loved that she was someone who took her own risks and fought her own battles. Duchess If You Dare also really captures the notion of women not having to have men to protect them or fight their battles for them. Although Ambrose offered to help and protect her numerous times throughout the book, it made it more unique that they both helped and saved each other.

Anabelle Bryant does a really good job in Duchess If You Dare to show that Scarlett didn’t need Ambrose but she also couldn’t deny their chemistry and their love for each other. This is why I gave Duchess If You Dare four stars, loving that Scarlett simply *chose* to love and be with Ambrose and not for the fact that she needed his protection or for him to save her. Scarlett and Ambrose both saved each other and that was one of my favorite things about Duchess If You Dare, that they could save each other, both be independent people, and still find each other and love each other and want a relationship with love and devotion with each other.

Duchess If You Dare was a fantastic book and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for more historical romance to read and to read about an amazing independent woman and how she falls in love with someone who can match her love and her fight.

Thank you again to NetGalley and Zebra Books for inviting me to read Duchess if You Dare and thank you for providing this eARC!

Scarlett Wynn, a Maiden of Mayhem, comes from a tragic childhood. Knowing how life can be cruel to women, Scarlett, as one of the Maidens, has vowed to fight injustice. When a seamstress goes missing, Scarlett is on the case. She scours London for clues as to the missing woman's whereabouts even to the point of searching a brothel where she meets Ambrose, The Duke of Aylesford. Why is he at the brothel; why does he feel so attracted to Scarlett, and what will the feisty Maiden do to put to rights the wrongs she fights against?

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4204819819

We read this book in Heather's Book Club in The Drawing Room on Facebook. It had a lot of engagement and I enjoyed reading this story of a duke and a Maiden of Mayhem trying to learn the truth behind missing prostitutes in London.

DNF.

I struggled to get into this. I thought the feminist storyline would be different than it was. I think this was a case of "it's not you, it's me." Might pick up again later.

DNF. I could not get into this story or the characters. I gave it till about 20% and set it aside as I just was not feeling it.

The plot is intriguing because it surrounds some ladies that are trying to help other woman falling prey to the sex trade, poverty and lack of women rights. Got to love a group of strong women banding together for a greater purpose.

This was not the greatest historical romance I've read. One of my least favorite tropes to read is sex trading, which is present in this story. I do wish that had been better pitched as I would not have picked it up otherwise.

A very interesting premise. A lovely romance, with an unusual heroine and a typical hero. And an investigation thrown in to the midst.

I loved the book and the storyline. I actually was impressed with the strong female lead. I have been recommending this title to many of my historical regency patrons.

Apparently my wifi never decided to let me upload this review so here is an extremely belated review that was in my notes:

I requested this book with high hopes that I would really enjoy, but I did not however. The book’s description promised so much more than what I read. First, I didn’t really see any of this so called group of Maidens of Mayhem. They made occasional appearances while I thought it’d be a bit more centered around them. Also the whole reason why the the male MC started looking for the seamstress as well seemed too odd and random for a Duke in my opinion AND then it barely focused on that. Most of this book was the two MCs having major tension while they tried to find this seamstress and the ending actually surprised me but was a bit anticlimactic. For the most part, I wasn’t a huge fan of their romance but I did like their whole dramatic ending. At times it was slow and I kinda had to force myself to keep reading so 2 stars

A very interesting premise. A lovely romance, with an unusual heroine and a typical hero. And an investigation thrown in to the midst.

Thank you to the publishers, Netgalley and the author for an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The opening scene of this book is a fight scene between the female protagonist and a would-be assailant. And she kicks his proverbial. It's a great start to great read. Scarlett comes from humble beginnings but has now become an integral member of a group of women who have joined together in order to fight crime in London. When her seamstress goes missing her investigation leads her to an illegal trade that puts her life in danger. But she reluctantly receives help from a Duke, a man whose life she saves.

Ambrose is also on the path of the criminals who are behind the disappearance of unfortunate women in London. When he encounters Scarlett his staid and responsible way of life is turned on its head. He has obviously never met a woman like. or indeed, a woman that fills out a pair of trousers like she does!

Sparks fly between these two as they realise their different upbringings have not affected how similar they are in morals and passion. And while they figure out the mystery they also have to figure out a way to get past their social differences in order to build a life together.

I love the way the story and the characters are unexpected. The decision that Scarlett makes at the end (we still get a happy ending, don't worry!) is also unexpected in some ways and I wonder if Ambrose and Scarlett may appear in future novels in this series. I can't wait to read more from this author.