I really liked this book. Samantha is a strong character that didn’t let the bad times define her. George turns his life around and by the end he is a hero you can cheer for.

Let me start out by saying, I love this author and her writing style! I read a ton of regency romance and they are typically A+B=C plots(which I still devour) and Duke of Charm was more like A+B-C+C=D haha
I won’t post any spoilers but the Duke was just my cup of tea(haha) Would 100% recommend this author every time.
Thanks so much for an advanced copy!!

I did NOT like this book.
the plot follows Samantha and George (who is her brother's bestie and former childhood friends).
Samantha had a crush on George, but he decided to marry another girl (not for love), and she tells him that he's an ass*ole for not marrying for love but at the same night on a whim, she decides to marry another man (hypocrisy much?).
George is jilted at the altar and decided to become a manw*re (her brother does the same). Samantha's husband dies and her mother-in-law abuses her for two years until Samantha can run away, and at the same time, George decides out of the blue that he wants to get marry and immediately thinks about Samantha. It doesn't get any better from here.

Here is my main issue with this book. It didn't make me feel ANYTHING. probably because the writing was mostly telling no showing, and everything happened too quickly that it felt like the author was trying to throw any possible trope at us.
Moreover, the two main characters felt too immature to me (especially George), and I just couldn't connect with either of them.

lastly, I wanted to give a trigger warning for loss of pregnancy. Although I didn't felt like there was any emotional consequence, & it only served as another trope to add to the drama.

Samantha has been love with her brothers best friend, George, for as long as she can remember. George only sees her as his friend’s little sister or so Samantha thinks. Both look for happiness with others. Samantha is trapped in a miserable marriage with in-laws that are extremely controlling. When her husband dies before they have any children, her in-laws decide to keep her captive so she will have no choice but to marry another of their relatives. George’s fiancé leaves him at the altar, so he spends years as one of London’s most scandalous rakes.

Fate brings Sam and George together at a house party where their desire for each other ignites. Yet, Samantha refuses to marry George, even though she loves him. George, determined to find out why, does whatever he can to get to the bottom of what Samantha is hiding .

This was a sweet love story that does not disappoint.

Lady Samantha loved her brother's best friend, George.
When George proposed to another, Samantha quickly married another.
George was jilted at the altar.
Samantha became a widow.
Alexa Aston gives us a wonderful story of a love unrecognized, pain and unimaginable suffering, and then the h and H meeting again for a second chance at love. There are some unexpected twists and turns in the story.

Another wonderful addition to the Dukes of Distinction series. Sam and George are great leads and the supporting characters only make the story more enjoyable. Can't wait to read the next in the series.
Thank you Alexa Aston, Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest review.

Sam has been in love with her brother's best friend George for as long as she can remember but when he announces his intention to marry another she marries the first nice man that comes along. Unfortunately for her tgat nice man is not so nice and incredibly weak. Left in the control of the mother in law from hell especially after she becomes a widow Sam must find a way to escape and return to her brother. The two friends have the worst reputation though after being jilted and now faced with the man she loved known by the ton as the Duke of Charm she must decide on what her future holds. The merry widow with no one to tell her what to do or take the chance in a reformed rake? A really engaging tale with fantastic characters the only disappointment for me was not finding out that her brother West was ok even in the epilogue especially as I had not yet read his story.

Samantha has been through A LOT. If there is one thing Ms. Easton excels at, it is writing strong heroines. Her heroine's don't get their strength by blindly bulldozing through everything and being so insistent on doing their own thing, that they will avoid good advise just because they want to be "independent". Her heroines are in tough positions, and they endure and Samantha uses her ingenuity and problem solving to get herself out it, which is super cool.

One thing that the author does not excel at, however, is showing the character's growth and maturity. They just either get over stuff, or mature, or change. And it is told to us, and not shown which is frustrating as a ready.

That being said, watching Samantha and George was enjoyable. I liked both of them,

Duke of Charm, by Alexa Aston. This book was a sweet romantic read for me. I enjoyed it Immensely. Let me begin with the author. Alexa, always for me... and this is my opinion, writes wonderful historical romance novels, and “Duke of Charm” is one of many by her.
The writer’s details I think are explained well with good details. It’s almost las though the details are a food source for the readers imagination. Allowing the reader to visualize a romantic world that carries the reader away for a few hours. I did get lost in the story myself. I truly loved reading George and Samantha’s long love affair.
The book has charm, some witty moments. I enjoyed the entertainment, as well as the dramatic action scenes. Some scenes had me holding my breath, and a little afraid of what would happen next for Samantha. I have to say that their were a few people that had it it out for this lady. While Samantha questioned where her brother, Weston was, I wanted to know too. George the dear family friend, stayed by Samantha’s side. He didn’t waiver not once. I loved reading his character. George’s character is portrayed as a strong, dominant and confident Duke. He exudes power with his presence and just by speaking as a true gentleman.
His love for Samantha and Weston who he calls a brother, I found very endearing. His pursuit of Samantha was heartwarming and filled with a heated need took my breath away. Samantha, I had some hiccups about her, but as I continued to read the book, her character grew into a woman with strong ambitions. This love story has daft mother-in-laws, psychotic family members, dear friends you can count on and a charming Duke that can steal ones heart. All while the craziness is happening from jilted betrothed’s at the alter to a shoot out in a church. Ladies being locked away for years and secret kisses in the garden. With this happening around them, George and Samantha find ways to come together. They teach one another the many different pleasures that can be a very irresistible aphrodisiac that they can share together. Samantha turned outs to be a very eager student when it came to these moments. My fellow readers I recommend this book.
Until next... read on!

Regency Romance with Suspense

Samantha had always loved George, but he would choose a different path and change both their lives. Had he known that Samantha loved him, would George have made a different choice? They would never know, and Samantha would suffer for years because of the choices they both made. Could Samantha escape her treacherous fate, and would she and George find happiness together? If you like historical romance with suspense, you might enjoy this story.

Alexa Aston never disappoints, and Duke of Charm is no exception. If you enjoy childhood friends-to-lovers, reformed rake tropes, Duke of Charm has both in spades. So many swoony moments along with the anticipated HEA.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I loved this book. The characters and writing kept me hooked the entire time. Sam's (Samantha) unrequited love leads her to a rash decision marriage that turns our horribly. It goes from bad to worse until her strength and perseverance takes over.
She meets up again with the "Duke of Charm" (so named because after being ditched at the alter he decided to became a charming rakehell).
I have to mention Sam's maid, Lucy, who was by Sam's side through adventures and pain.

Definitely recommended!

Sorry, folks, but I found this hero's unapologetic past of boinking hundreds of OW (married, single, any one who'd let him) inexcusable and undesirable, especially since he supposedly had feelings for the heroine for years but did not man up and declare those feelings when he easily could have. He was too afraid of upsetting her brother. That made him a coward, IMO.

She became pathetic to me also when after becoming a widow decided to be his mirror image in regards to men. Agreeing to have smex with him and telling him to look the other way while she stalked other prey so she could flirt, make advances, hopefully set up some future sexcapades with other guys is just not my idea of romance. The main thing she had going for her was giving up on him in the first place and marrying someone else. Sadly, for her, that became a nightmare when that dude had a milk toast backbone, as well.

The opening scene featuring graphic smex where the hero is xxx-ing the daylights out of a random OW was the first clue this book wasn't going to be my idea of a romance. I should have been the one to turn tail and run then.

Here's hoping others like it. I wish this author continued writing success, especially since I've liked some of her other books. But really? This just felt wrong to me, which was a shame since otherwise I think I would have enjoyed it.

Title: Duke of Charm, Series: Dukes of Distinction (Book 2), Author: Alexa Aston, Pages: 220, stand-alone but part of a series, Not romance safe, OTT manho hero past, heroine wants to become him, not my idea of romance.

Book 1 - Duke of Renown
Book 2 - Duke of Charm
Book 3 - Duke of Disrepute
Book 4 - Duke of Arrogance
Book 5 - Duke of Honor

(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not compensated in any form for this review. There is no relationship or affiliation between this reviewer and author, publisher, NetGalley, or any PR firm.)

So good, so good, so good! Loved every page! fabulous, she knows what she wants and plans to get it.
I never write a spoiler, but really, this is great .I can't wait!! for the next book.

Another historical romance checked off my list. It was like Bridgerton because it was a brother’s best friend romance.

And man it was spicy. Very open door🔥

Samantha was a badass heroine as most historical romance leads are. She is fiercely independent and super super strong. 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

I did wish there was more development in the relationship between them. I felt like overnight George was in love with Sam. I didn’t see that because they kept did a couple time jumps. And we didn’t get a glimpse of how George was thinking towards the beginning of the book.

Other than that it was a very good read. It wasn’t just a romance. And it wasn’t typical. There were quite a few twists and turns.

3 &1/2 🌟/ 5🌟

Sadly this book was archived before I was able to read and review it. Yet it comes up on my feedback saying I haven’t reviewed it, which effects my feedback percentage.

I am loving this latest series from Alexa Aston! The characters are all great and the love stories familiar but at the same time unique. Sam's mother-in-law may have been a little too awful to be completely believable but her overcoming a truly terrible 3 years gave you a good idea of how mentally strong she was. And George's reason for hooking up with just about every eligible woman in London was more developed than what you often get in these types of stories. At first you think that it's just bruised pride at being jilted, but it is later made known that it was a desperate attempt to make sure no one thought he was lacking in some way and that's why he was left at the altar.

There were so many times in this story when you wanted to smack George upside the head though. I swear every time someone told him to go slowly with Sam and not push her he immediately went and did something that anyone could have told him was pushing her. And I was very mad at him when his first reaction to Sam not showing up for the wedding was that he was going to go back to his old ways - it was disappointing that his first thought wasn't that something terrible may have happened to her and makes one wonder how "reformed" he really was. Thankfully Lucy showed up to set him straight. It's probably for the best that Sam doesn't know he had lost faith in her so quickly.

One of my favorite relationships in the book was actually between Sam and Lucy. They look out for another and the fact that Lucy refused to abandon Sam speaks strongly to the bond between them. The relationship that I found most disappointing was the one between Sam and her brother. He had better have a good reason for not being there for Sam when she needed him (both during and after her being held hostage by her mother-in-law). The fact that he was willing to run away again when his sister clearly needed him indicates he has a lot to make up for. His future marriage and happiness was hinted at in book 1 and I am looking forward to finding out what exactly is going on with him.

This book was excellent. It's crazy that it was only 220 pages yet a lot happened. The setup was really perfect and a bit unique. It added a lot of tension to the book from the start.

Samantha, sister to Weston and the Duke of Disrepute (coming in book 3) is in love with her brother's best friend, George, the Duke of Charm. Both men were jilted at the altar and have been cutting a swath through the ladies of the ton for years while Sam has been serving a cold marriage, a crazy MIL, and a murderous Cousin-in-law. When she finally escapes after years of captivity, she meets up with her brother and George at a house party where she's decided to be a merry widow and to never give a man power over her again. Meanwhile, George has decided to retire from the rake life and pursue Sam. I loved that the heroine played hard to get. This book was somewhat realistic in that marriages are hard and anyone who has survived one isn't going to be eager to run right back in.

She really made George work for it. There were also a lot of secondary characters from the first book and I am guessing what will be the rest of the series. You don't need to read the first book to read this one. The author gives a nice quick summary - in fact, so nice, that I was like I need that book too!

Overall, I loved that she wasn't a virgin and she knew her own mind. It would have been so easy to make her a victim but instead, she saves herself and comes into her own. Because they had the history, George's quick turn around from rake to romance hero wasn't hard to believe. And since Sam made him work for it, it was all the sweeter when they finally came together.

I have read Ms. Aston's books before this one, but this one really stuck with me. I loved that there was a lot of action without 200 extra pages of meandering dialogue and bloated descriptions of the scenery. I will definitely be reading the rest of this series!

I am a follower of Alexa Aston and her books always seem to add a brightness to my day. However, this particular book while it is very interesting and lighthearted, I am not putting it at the top of my lists of keepsakes.
Lady Samantha has been in love with her brothers friend. He thinks of her as a younger sister. He intends to marry someone else and gets jilted and becomes the savvy “Duke of Charm” and lulls all the ladies of the ton into his bed.

Lady Sam marries into a house of horrors and basically the book is so predictable that if it didn’t have some key written moments and other characters it would be a bland storyline. This plot had been used before, but with different nuances and thankfully Alexa Aston has added enough twists to make it different enough to keep me reading.

I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

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

When George inadvertently breaks her heart by choosing another to marry, she jumps into a marriage herself only to find unhappiness and abuse from his family. After finally making her escape years after being widowed, she comes across George who has spent those same years in debauchery, after being jilted by his bride at the alter. Samantha is no longer the gullible young woman and refuses to believe that George has changed his ways and truly wants her. He knows in his heart he made a terrible mistake once and is now willing to risk everything to make it right.