This story had me at dis-inherited duke vs. the vicar's daughter because you know with a combination like that and with this author telling the tale, that it is going to be good!

As children, Imogen and the ducal children were too often forced into keeping company and the results were rarely pleasant, especially for Imogen. So when the high and mighty Duke of Penning is de-throned and suddenly showing an interest in the local heiresses--whom he never gave the time of day before--something must be done.

A whispered rumor here and there seems to be doing the trick, until the man himself figures out the source and their confrontation leads to a smoldering kiss that neither one can seem to forget.

With heiresses running for cover every time he tries to approach them and the memory of a moonlight kiss with his nemesis keeping him UP at night (in more ways than one), Perry has to take a long hard look at what he really wants to do with his life now that he actually has the freedom to choose and who he would prefer to do it with. And the more time he spends with Imogen, the second part of that decision becomes much clearer but convincing her that they belong together is easier said than done.

Imogen is once bitten, twice shy having learned the hard way about the fickle affections of a handsome lord, and doesn't take Perry's apparent courtship seriously despite her growing feelings for the man and his almost relentless pursuit.

Reading along as these two clash, kiss, clash some more and eventually realize that they were meant to be together made turning every page a thrilling experience to say the least and the ending was especially sweet.

Ms. Jordan is and will always remain an author for whom I will snatch up a new title without giving it a second thought, because I know that I will never be disappointed by the story inside.

Imogen, the vicar's daughter, works hard to thwart the fallen Duke from finding an heiress and along the way introduces him to a life he never knew he wanted. This enemies-to-lovers slow burn was unique and fun. Imogen's character is well developed and her life choices are a natural part of the story. Perry's fall from dukedom is interesting and although he goes kicking and screaming into his life as a commoner, it is a believable transition. The last few chapters had a lot of going on, probably too much. But other than that, I really enjoyed this unique book.

I am a huge fan of Sophie Jordan. While this isn't her best book, it is still worth picking up. I enjoyed the growth of the characters and the enemies to lovers setup. Oh, and goodness can the heroine hold a grudge. .

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

This one is one that I was so excited for, the synopsis sounded fun and right up my alley. Unfortunately this one didn’t work for me. I couldn’t connect to the characters or the story.

This book was worth the read, if only for its dedication!

Sophie Jordan is a solid writer, so I feel like this is a nice, standard historical romance. I don't necessarily feel like I would rave about it, but I also didn't dislike it. The pacing felt a bit off at times (the ending felt very rushed) and a few plot points felt strange (like what was the deal with her cousin's visit?) but it was a refreshing take on a duke historical. I really enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers aspect of their relationship; it felt like a completely natural progression and they definitely had chemistry. And I absolutely loved their HEA!

This would be a really lovely summer afternoon read!

I received an eARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. It sounded great from the description. Unfortunately, the story was formulaic and didn't captivate like some of Sophie Jordan's previous works. Something about the chemistry between Perry and Imogen just didn't feel natural and their relationship felt too rushed. I'll definitely read more from this author in the future but this book was a miss for me.

I have for the most part liked Sophie Jordan's work but this one was not to my taste. I did not care for the plot where a person has their whole life one way and then something happens to take it all away. In this case the mother of the H knew the whole time and not only kept this secret from her son but then tried to lay blame on everyone but herself. The H was just OK for me. He wasn't awful but he wasn't swoon-worthy either.

The h was truly awful. She held a grudge for a decade because of some off-hand comments about her character. Then she proceeds to try to ruin the H based on her teenage feelings even though she is a grown woman. I didn't find their "love" believable at all.

This didn't really work for me. The difficulty with an enemies to lovers set up is that you have to make both parts convincing. For me, Imogen and Perry disliked each other for such a large portion of the book that it made the falling in love part hard to believe. This problem was made worse by the pacing, which meant that there was only a short part of the book when they actually seemed to like each other. In the end, I didn't feel as though they had much of an emotional connection, just sex. Which is a little ironic, since Perry initially points to pleasure as something he can offer a wife, and Imogen tells him that this is not enough... and yet, that's about all we see of their relationship.

A great start to another red-hot romance series by Sophie Jordan, framing an enemies-to-lovers fling between a vicar’s daughter and a disgruntled former duke. Irresistible in every way!

Not very often does the title of the book reflect the story, but this book was aptly named!! The heroine is the daughter of the local vicar of a nice size town, small, but not too small. It is located on a well traveled road. The hero, is the son of the duke and 3 years older than her. Him and his little sister always acted rude and entitled and made fun of the heroine since her father arrived to be the local vicar when she was 8 years old. The heroine was so happy to be able to play with the duke's children but was bitterly disappointed by their actions. The heroine is now older, enough to be a spinster, and takes care of her father, writes his sermons, and helps him out in many ways. She is at Sunday service and she sees that the duke's son is in attendance. She is surprised because in the past year, it came to light that the son was born before his parents were married and the duke-dom was stripped from him and passed along to the next male in line. To say the duke's son was devastated, would not even begin to describe how he is feeling. The heroine feels a little justified because he was mean to her growing up, but she takes it a little further, since he has been turned into a fortune hunter.
I like this kind of story because the main characters are older, close in age, and have known each other for some time. This story describes how they both develop and grow. It clearly describes how they begin to love each other. It is surprising how much maturity can be learned from devastating circumstances. This book kept me interested from beginning to end. It was a smooth, continuous read and very descriptive. I felt like one of the villagers, lol. This book had no spelling or grammar errors. I was very impressed with the author's style of writing and the creative plot. I give this book 5 stars and recommend reading.

I’ve read a few of Sophie Jordan’s books in the past so this would be an introduction to reading her again as an author. “The Duke Goes Down” is quite an interesting historical romance and I was a little disappointed with this one from Ms. Jordan. The back stories took away from the pace of the story and I was on the edge of becoming bored because it moved so slow. As far as the trope...I do like enemies to lovers, but the heroine held on to her hate/dislike for way too long. I couldn’t get past the fact that she carried a grudge against him for hmm, I think 10 years…I think I would end it their and let you be the judge when you read it.

As far as the main characters, I did not care for them or felt any connection to them. It felt as if I was just trudging along just to get to the end. I would say that she did a good job of providing tasteful intimate scenes between the H/h. In the end, this was not an enjoyable read and I did not like it much. I am by no means putting Sophie Jordan back on the shelf as an author. I still have books of hers on my TBR that I definitely want to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you for the advanced reader. I really enjoyed this enemies to lovers novel. I loved the opening, it was unique for a romantic novel. The flash backs were not as smooth as they could be but they worked for me.
The lead characters are cliche but they work for me.

This book has been one of the most unique regency romance I think I’ve ever read! As much historical romance that I read it never occurred to me that this could happen! (I won’t spoil is for you) this was one of the best plot devices I’ve read in a long time.

The enemy to lovers aspect of this story slightly grinded on my nerves, I am not a fan of gossip monger main character.

I’m looking forward to where this series will go, and I’m very curious about the Duke. Overall I really enjoyed this slightly slow burn romance!

I usually enjoy Sophie Jordan's books but sadly this one wasn't for me. I had a lot of trouble with the pacing - the flashbacks really slowed the momentum down and I felt like I was at least 1/3 of the way through the book before the heroine and hero interacted in the present. I also didn't really care for Imogen or Perry so I couldn't really feel invested in their love story. A bummer, but I'll still be interested in picking up what Sophie puts out next!

Entertaining as all of Sophie Jordan’s historicals are but I didn’t feel the story’s momentum until halfway through. The main characters didn’t seem to have any chemistry or connection in the beginning until, bam, all of a sudden, they did. Then, their squabbling was fantastic and their heat was palpable.

On the whole, it was a new set of people and a brand new direction than what we’ve had til now, and that was delightful to explore. Different circumstances and stations made for a nice change. So even though it was slow to get going, I really enjoyed it.

* I received a free advance ecopy from the publisher via netgalley.

I was happy to read this first book in Sophie Jordan's new The Duke Hunt series. Imogen Bate is the vicars daughter in Shropshire. Peregrine (Perry) Butler has been raised to be a Duke. As children Imogen visited the manor house where the Duke and his sister were less than kind. After assuming the Dukedom Perry has everything taken away. His only future is to marry an heiress. Imogen doesn't want him going after the local girls of wealth and spreads a few rumors to ruin his chances.

I read this light and easy book in one evening. I like Imogen but have mixed feelings for Perry. I came around to him in the end but he still feels like a dandy. The pacing felt off too. Flashbacks show why Imogen takes the actions that she does. There is a ball, another flashback to when she was being courted and then the book seems to leap to a relationship and ending. There is filler with a neighbors situation but not much else. Imogen has one friend who I assume will be a focus of another story but she didn't get much time or background.

I will look for the next in the series and will hope the characters and story have a little more depth. Thank you NetGalley and Avon and harper Voyager for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

3-3.5 Stars! I liked this book. I didn’t like the main male character, Perry/Duke of Penning/Mr.Butler. He was a jerk and I didn’t see enough of a change from him. This was an Enemy’s-to-lover romance with a HEA ending. Its the first book of the new series ‘The Duke Hunt’. I wasn’t crazy about the main female character either but at least she wasn’t a jerk. Most of the book was left unfinished in my eyes. What happened with the new Duke? Winnie & Edgar? It was a bit slow of a read for me. Everything was kinda dragging on and than in the blink of an eye, the book was over. The ‘sexy times’ parts were happening a bit fast - she’s a virgin who hates the guy and yet she lets him up her skirts as soon as HE wants? He was such a douche!
*I received this book at no charge from NetGalley & I voluntarily left this review.*

I was not a fan of this book. The pacing was strange, with flashbacks all over this place. It interrupted the action for me and I felt it would have made much for sense, and helped to develop the characters and their relationship better, if things had been related in a more chronological manner. That being said, the character development left a lot to be desired. I didn't like either of the characters. Perry was a vapid jerk and Imogen was very petty. Then the geography kept throwing me off. Was Shropshire supposed to be a town, or the actual county? I got very confused. I wanted this to be an interesting book with fun characters--which it could have been--but it was not.

A man who has lost his dukedom. A woman who was teased and ignored by him as a child. The parts of the book that explained their childhood animosity were brilliant. The execution of the animosity into adulthood just wasn't fluid. All Imogen had at her disposal was to plant silly false rumors about him? And he is a spoiled aristocrat to the bone. But maybe that's the point and how Ms Jordan wants it. He still teases her and their convenient fall into lust was to me to easy.

But, this won't stop me from picking up the next in this series. There is subtle setups with several characters in this novel that I am sure will have their own stories.

Thank you to Avon/Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the ARC to read and review.

Solid plot, flat execution. It was like all the bones were there, but the charm and panache wasn't. And for me, I need a little bit of character to my characters...that is charming. Maybe it's a personal thing, but I didn't really jive with these two. I do think others might like it though, and it's just a personal preference for the characters.

Thank you netgalley for the advance copy.