Phoebe Smythe, Countess of Borwick, has suffered greatly in her young life not only losing her husband and son in a carriage accident, but also miscarrying her unborn child at the shocking news. Grief stricken she rents a small seaside cottage in Cornwall to heal her soul. When she discovers a wounded stranger on the beach, she nurses him back to health while losing her heart to the handsome man. Who was he? She is called away to help nurse her pregnant sister before he can tell her and she knows that she'll never love again.

This was a sweet story, but I feel like I read almost the whole book just by the blurb. There was too much information about the plot and could definitely be tightened up to keep the reader guessing if Phoebe and Andrew ever find each other again. I really felt such sorrow for Phoebe. The book opens with a heart wrenching chapter that pulls the reader in. Andrew was a dashing hero who realizes that he'd found his future duchess and then loses her without ever knowing her name. I felt the middle of the book dragged a bit and there wasn't a twist in the love story until near the end. I had already figured out what was about to happen early on in the book so it was not a surprise when it finally happened. I've read and enjoyed other Ms. Aston's books and look forward to reading about the other duke's stories.

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I really felt for Phoebe in this book. The woman is really dragged through the mill physically and emotionally, I even shed a tear at her situation.

Her joining with Andrew was a big sigh, that the two finally find a strong a beautiful love is a wonderful moment.

The storyline is a little bit of real life drama, it has beautiful moments cast to paper and it’s very satisfying to read.
I adored the characters and story but it was the emotional aspect that really made this a winner for me.

I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review

Do you ever watch a movie trailer and feel that you have seen the entire movie? That is how I felt about the description or blurb of this book. It details 85% of the plot. The Duke of Renown has a young widow, Phoebe Smythe, who rescues a man who on the coast of Cornwell. Andrew, The Duke of Windham, has been shot and she assumes he is a smuggler. She nurses him back to health and although they have feelings for each other circumstances take them in different directions. Neither knows the others true identity. The double identity twist was unusual and fun.

I like both the main characters and was happy to get each of their POVs. The story itself is good but the flow seems choppy. The dialogue didn't have much emotion and I never had angst or was concerns that they wouldn't get together. Some extra plot time was taken to set up the other Dukes to be used in the series. I will look for the future books but I'm not on pins and needles waiting for them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

After the death of her husband and young son, Phoebe Smythe takes a break from her life and rents a small cottage by the sea under an assumed name. Andrew Graham returns home not only a changed man because of what he witnessed during the war but also because he is now, after the death of both his father and brother, the Duke of Windham. The one person who is not happy with this development is his younger half-brother. Said brothers has the brilliant idea for a get-rich-quick scheme: kill Andrew, assume the ducal title, get access to all the Windham money to pay off his debts and continue living the high life. The brothers entire confrontation had serious Scar-kills-Mufasa vibes - I loved it!

Luckily Andrew and Phoebe cross path in the right moment. What follows is a cute case of mistaken identity, she assumes Andrew is a smuggler while he thinks Phoebe is not part of the Polite Society. This part of the book really delivers and you just wanna stay forever in the cottage with these two. All the while Andrew cannot stop being charming even as he bleeds out and the way their relationship develops was entertaining to follow.

The book struggled in the beginning with appropriate character (re)actions and it reminded me at time of an overacted stage play, it recovers from this after the first few chapters though. I also didn't enjoy that Phoebe, in her own words, took advantage of her drunk husband to beget a child on the very first page. That was straight up not needed and made it a lot harder to like her. (It was also weird in context: she understood consent later and knew not to ogle a naked Andrew while tending to his wounds!)

During the course of the book the other Dukes of Distinction also showed up, they will have their love stories explored in future installments. I enjoyed getting to know them in this story and the sneaky hint at what will happen with them got me curious to check their books out.

And Alexa Aston did it again . A gem she wrote . Phoebe a widow who has lost a young child try to find her purpose in life and deside to marry again so she can have more children finds a man without his senses and bring him to her cottage to help him . Andrew just been shot from his half-brother been saved by an angel . The two of them find love for the first time and it so beautiful to read ,
I received this novel from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a great premiere book for Alexa Aston's new series "Dukes of Distinction!" This is a heartbreaking, heartwarming story that will have the reader truly rooting for the two main characters, Phoebe and Andrew. Phoebe, a widowed Countess, finds what she believes is an injured smuggler on her beach while living under a false identity. She nurses him back to health, and then the adventure starts!

The tropes are widowed heroine and mistaken identity. This truly was unlike any other historical romance I had read and I found that I could not put the book down. We also meet the other Dukes and I am looking forward to their stories as they each have their own unique, delicious personalities.

Thank you Alexa Aston, NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for an ARC. This is my honest feedback.

Duke of Renown, is such a sweet story. Some sad parts plus a couple of shocking spots. Andrew and Phoebe are so cute together.

I first thought the dialogue was kind of stiff without really putting my finger on why. I then realize that certain parts (not all dialogue parts) lacked emotional descriptions which made the dialogue seem clunky int the first chapter. When the story came to the couple meeting, I became hooked! I had a hard time putting down the story and I really liked the double mistaken identity trope. I have rarely read a doubled mistaken identity historical romance and I indeed liked it in this book. I absolutely liked the chemistry between the hero and the heroine and thought the steamy scenes were well written.

I liked the ending of the story and the book contained several chapters after they officially became a couple which I enjoyed, and I think is seen to rarely in romance books. But I do think it is individual if you would enjoy this or not. Overall, I had a great time with the book and can recommend to any person that enjoy historical romance and especially if you like the mistaken identity and a widowed heroine tropes.

Such a beautiful and heartwarming story! I think Alexa Aston's new series "Dukes of Distinction" is going to be very special if this 1st book is anything to go by. This is Andrew and Phoebe's story and it's filled with tragedy and danger, as well as humour and heated passion. I love their characters, both of them have so much love to give and they certainly deserve their HEA.

That isolated cottage on the coast of Cornwall that Phoebe rents sounds so wonderful and it made me want to go join her:) She's there to recover and mourn but that's all put aside when she discovers a man on the beach with a bullet hole in his chest! They share the small cottage as she nurses him and brings him back to health. The attraction between them is sizzling hot but secrets have been kept and not having used their real names, when Phoebe has to leave to help her sister, Andrew is at a lost how to find her. Months will go by before he sees her again and their reunion had me misty eyed. All is right with their world until danger, in the form of Andrew's half brother, shows up!

All in all, the characters, the plot and the story itself, made for a book I didn't want to put down! There's even a cat in the story and that made my day:) We also meet the other Dukes in the series so I'm very much looking forward to reading their stories!!

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

After a terrible tragedy Phoebe Smythe, Countess of Borwick rents a cottage on the Cornish coast. The peace and isolation is helping her heal.
The news from home means that Captain Andrew Graham is forced to leave the war and his men to take up other duties. What he will face is going to be just as difficult and dangerous.
This is a very amusing and at times tragic historical romance. Our characters have very good reasons for leaving society behind. Will that help or hinder them as they move forward with their lives?
Really good fun.