I really enjoyed this novel. These stories are short and sweet. Cynthia Louise is an interesting, loveable character. I wish I could read more about her past (although the choice to leave details out makes sense in this novel - the focus is on her present … her Christmas present haha).

The activists/sports/hobbies that she has are fun and atypical for women of that time. I loved the historical references, and I’ve noticed that the references are clarified and expanded upon at the end. I really appreciate that information.

Thank you to NetGalley and WebMotion for the opportunity to review an eARC of this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. A bit belated on this one, and a bit odd reading about a wintry Christmas in steamy June weather, but a sweet story is a sweet story. Like the others in this series this one's a short read and the story itself happens in a short span of time. But there is some background and the MCs knew OF each other, so the setup has been set up fairly deftly, and it's just a matter of letting the tropes and shenanigans run wild.

It's got grumpy/sunshine and opposites attract, but the classic undercurrents of... are they *really* so different, or did they just lean into their respective life circumstances? As an old spinster with no great fondness for many societal norms myself, I greatly enjoyed Cynthia Louise, and she had the devil may care adventurous spirit of a Deanna Raybourn heroine. Plus she is adept at wrangling a wild puppy, so she's right up my alley.

Vale has the classic strictures of duty that dukes do, plus also has to go the extra mile of propriety thanks to his sister's scandalous match (#9 in the 12 Dukes of Christmas series). Naturally, though, not one of the perfect, proper, pastel belles who've descended upon his Yuletide house party, sharp-tongued and highly ambitious mamas of the ton in tow, actually attract his interest.

Nothing terribly surprising in this story, but it's fun and sweet, and ripping through this series around the holidays would be like enjoying a great cup of hot chocolate or mulled cider.

The spinster & the duke is a very well known topic, that I do enjoy, but feel like is predictable. This has all the great characters I enjoy from this series and the writing is well done. I think this is a good addition to this series

I usually like Ms. Ridley's books, but had a difficult time getting into this one.
Vale and Cynthia were well matched. He thought he needed a paragon of virtue. She thought he needed her cousin. They were both wrong, but also right.

Vale knew his duty, and all about keeping his reputation unsoiled, he was a Duke, after all, ah, the poor fellow, he had never personally encounter Cynthia Finch, until that Christmas yuletide party. A flame started to burn deep within him on their first encounter, she was everything he shouldn’t want, he should stay away from her, but, he couldn’t help himself, he couldn’t deny that burning attraction between them, even when he tried his hardest to fight it, his duty, and reputation, both walked straight out the door when he was around her. This was a delightful, exciting, sexy, and fun tale.

What an awesome conclusion to The Twelve Dukes of Christmas series. This story was so well written and the storyline grabs you from chapter 1 and makes you want to keep reading.

Sadly not for me. the characters were meh and the story fell flat and boring pretty quickly. I did not feel the chemistry between the characters either.

Another must read author on my regency Romance shelf! Erica Ridley knows how to draw you in with her plots and characters. Loved it !

So I noticed that in Erica Ridley's novellas, and I'm assuming her books, she's very light in the steam department. So if you're looking for stuff like that, I would maybe try something else. That's not to say she's a bad writer, but I do like some spice in my books, and the few books I've read of hers tend to be very mild. I did like this book well enough. It wasn't a favorite but Im finding her novellas don't really capture my interest like I had hoped. I feel like things are a little to past paced. I understand that with a novella things have to kind of move fast, but I felt like rather than writing a novella, she just tried to cram everything in as much as possible that it didn't feel believable at all. I enjoyed the characters well enough, and the plot was interesting. I just wasn't blown away by this one. I think I need to check out her full length novels and see what I think. I've heard a lot of good stuff about her novels so I really cant wait to check them out!

This is the last book in the 12 Dukes of Christmas series. You don't need to have read the others but it might be more enjoyable to have done so, as some of the protagonists from the other books make cameos here (apparently some of the action is going on simultaneously).

Cynthia Louise had several disappointing seasons, and now she considers herself on the shelf and beyond the society rules, having decided to enjoy life, take risks and have fun with people who like her for herself. The Duke of Nottingvale is her opposite, a man whose duties are weighing him down. His latest mission is to choose a perfectly proper and suitable society miss to be his bride, and this should happen ASAP. But he doesn't care for any of the young ladies he's gathered to his house to choose among. He is wildly attracted to Cynthia Louise who is there as a chaperone, and it's mutual. But Cynthia Louise is not at all what he's envisioned for his duchess. Is there any way they can compromise?

<blockquote>"I'm a terrible influence," she agreed cheerfully. "It's the best thing about me."</blockquote>

On the first read, I gave up on this about two thirds in for some reason I don't recall, but when I picked it up again it may be my favorite of the 12 dukes series (well, the ones I've read anyway). My Kindle notes of this consist mostly of "haha" for funny bits of dialogue.

The heat level: physical desire gets mentioned but the action consists of fervent kisses and non-graphic references to marital joys.

I have started grouping this author's books in the Fave Authors folder on my Kindle because I've enjoyed several books of hers.

I read an ARC I got from Netgalley and the final version might be different, but I didn't see much need for changes. I am leaving a voluntary and honest review.

Regency romance is my guilty pleasure - I love sitting on the sofa on a rainy afternoon with one! Add Christmas into the mix and I'm usually sold.

This one was a little bit disappointing - the setting/place names kept distracting me from the rest of the story, and every time I raged at the ridiculousness of a village in ENGLAND being called Houville and a town at the TOP OF A MOUNTAIN being called Cressmouth, it distracted me from the story. It was like the author decided that England is actually Montana or something.

The plot on this one was fairly standard RR, none of the characters broke the mold. Not really for me.

Release Date: December 18, 2020

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Cindy Lou is trying to match make her cousin to the dashing Duke of Nottingvale in order to spare her cousin. She did not plan on falling in love with him nor him with her. Where does this leave everyone?

I had not read the other books in the series so I feel that a lot of the inside jokes were lost on me. This is a sweet fluff read that I enjoyed and was a great start to the Christmas season. My one complaint was that it wrapped up too quickly. All that build and one chapter for clean up.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

#bookstagram #netgalleyreads #bookrecommendations #EricaRidley #foreveryourduke

I couldn’t put this down! Beautifully written with a fun heroine and uptight duke-what could go wrong? I loved the characters and their development. The author also does a great job of incorporating history into her work-and then backing up the history with interesting anecdotes about it. This was a wonderful end to a festive and romantic series.

I just love Erica's books! She creates interesting characters and wonderful story lines. Can a hoydenish spinster and a Paragon of a Duke deny their attraction? Will said Duke soften his rigid need for a Paragon of a duchess before it'stoo late? I recommend reading this book to find out!
Thank you Erica Ridley, WebMotion and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

Forever your duke by Erica Ridley brings this holiday series to an end. Alexander, The Duke wants a proper wife to be his duchess and what's written in his fate is he gets the opposite and exactly what he needs Opposites do attract ♥ The dog and her cousin plays quite the part!

This is your typical Spinster heroine grabs the attention of the noble hero who doesn’t want to like her but obviously falls in love. Set at a Christmas house party of a Duke hilarity ensues. What more could you want?!!

This is one of my favorite authors. The plot of the story was very well written. The author really draws the reader in as you read. I felt like I was an unnamed character in the story.

After having recently binged on Bridgerton, this was the perfect book to snuggle up with. I loved the characters and thought Cynthia was delightful, and enjoyed her antics. I’m sure that she had the ton amazed. The author created a clever and fun plot.
Many thanks to WebMotion and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Historical romance with a variety of diverse characters. Fairly typical of the genre but some humour along the way.

I loved this book. It was a little slow in the beginning but once things started happening, it got good.
Cynthia Finch is a spinster, she is honestly too old to be on the marriage mart. She is also not a refined lady. She likes to do, what she likes to do. She knows what needs to be done. So she decides to help her younger cousin.
She decides that her younger cousin would be a great fit for the Duke of Nottingvale.
Every year, he throws a Christmas party. This year, however, he is looking for a bride.
Unfortunately for him, he is not interested in a young lady just out of the school room. He goes through the motions and looks for the perfect duchess.
The young debutantes don't catch his eye, but Cynthia does. Soon he starts seeking her out. He was the perfect proper Duke until he met Cynthia Finch, the hoyden who thumbs her nose at society's rules.
I am sad to see this series come to an end, however, Erica Ridley is very talented and she will be writing many more books that I get to look forward too.