As an adventurous romance, I enjoyed this light-hearted read. From Peter Pan’s Lost Boys to ‘second star on the right’ we are treated to a fairy tale like adventure to Iceland and back. The aurora borealis is beautifully depicted as a gorgeous part of Iceland and at a special time for North and Isobel. Both of our H/h have flaws and vulnerabilities that endear them to you. He not wanting the dukedom; she protecting herself from future heartbreak.

Isobel has led a very difficult, transient life so very different from North. His has not been easy lately as he has been handed the dukedom due to the loss of his father and older brothers. Isobel has very good reason for not wanting to travel out of England again, especially not to Iceland. But, the promise of owning her own travel agent is a great incentive to go with North.

Trying not to spoil the story, I was surprised how easy the ‘rescue’ was of Isobel from the pirates. I expected a bit more for resolving this situation. And, I ended up loving Isobel’s half-sister. This being my first Charis Michaels’ book, I plan to go back and read the first in the series Awakened by a Kiss and any other of her books I can find.

I liked the first book in this series quite a bit, so I was looking forward to reading this one. I did t think it was a good as book one but I still enjoyed it as a fluff read, without a lot of depth but it certainly was fun.

This one is loosely based on Peter Pan. Isobel Tinker works as a travel agent for upper crust gentlewomen when she meets Jason, the current Duke of Northumberland. He’s determined to rescue an English group that was captured by pirates in Iceland and he thinks Isobel can help him. What comes next is a growing relationship between Isobel and Jason and revelations of Isobel’s past in Iceland, which she was trying to hard to keep a secret then how to navigate their changing relationship once they’re back home.

What I liked: Isobel’s character and her mother, Georgianna. I also liked how Isobel’s character was clearly meant to be Tinkerbell and I enjoyed those references. I also loved Iceland, since you rarely see that as a setting for any book, historical or not. What I didn’t love was the pacing of the story, which unfortunately made it fall flat in some areas where there wasn’t a lot of action. Also, maybe this was just me and it’s only a small thing, but Jason felt like too modern of a name (even though I know it goes back to the ancient Greeks) and it just took away from the historical setting of the book a bit.

All in all, this wasn’t a serious book at all, but I enjoyed it for the escape from the real world that it was meant to be.

I can't explain how much I enjoyed this book. There is everything I didn't know I wanted wrapped up in gorgeous writing. The characters are strong, and only made stronger by their vulnerabilities. The descriptions of Iceland were beautiful. If you read this book (which you absolutely should) you'll understand why it received 5 stars from me!

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

Isobel is a worldly person after traveling Europe, but it also taught her lessons that were painful and now finds she fears falling back into those paths again so she sticks to a safe lifestyle and not taking any chances. However she still longs to help others travel the world and wants to open her own travel agency, and North - a duke, is the perfect person to help her make those dreams come true! And North finds Isobel everything he desires. But can he get her to trust him?
Great romance and the cover is so stunning!!!!!!

So - I didn’t realize this was a take on Peter Pan until about a third of the way through. Not bad necessarily, just confusing when it took a hard left turn with character names. I thought the romance was sweet but the action resolved too quickly and was kind of anticlimactic. The cover on this is just beautiful - maybe my favorite thing about the book. It was a fun read!

Ultimately this book is fine if what you want is to chill out with a glass of wine and a bubble bath. It doesn’t ask a lot of you, and it certainly has some moments where it is really entertaining. Ultimately though, it also doesn’t give a lot to you. It feels like Michaels was so interested in making sure her story had everything (there is a lot of action in this book) that she sacrificed some character development, and she really lost opportunity for interesting character growth by having all of the things characters were worried about just turn out to be non-issues. Sometimes in life, and in books, the things we are worried about actually happen! Often, we are concerned about things for a reason. Waving them away with a magic wand might work for the plot, but it was narratively unsatisfying for the reader - and I would have liked to see the character development that comes when characters are faced with real challenges (things that happened before the book don’t count, because any growth also happened before the book do not @ me goodreads reviewers).

Ultimately, this book is fine. I’d even read another Michaels book! But I would love to see her let her characters experience the bad thing and trust them to grow through it.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

When You Wish Upon a Duke follows Isobel Tinker, who runs Everland Travel Agency and North, a man in search of someone to help him rescue his cousin. Because of her background, Isobel knows a lot about many different countries, including Iceland. North has one final mission in Iceland, and he seeks Isobel’s help in helping him have a successful one. Isobel is quite happy with her life as a travel agent and has no intention of going back to Iceland. But when North dangles an offer that will secure her future, Isobel can’t resist. However, can Isobel and North resist the growing attraction between them? Will they succeed on this potentially dangerous mission?

Jason “North” Beckett, the Duke of Northumberland, is handsome, charming, and intelligent. A newly retired spy, North resents the dukedom, which has been thrust upon him. North longs for adventure and detests stagnation, so having the opportunity to lead one final mission is like a dream come true for him. North is still grieving the loss of his father and brothers, and he is unhappy about his future. He’s also struggling between familial duty and personal desires. Plus, he didn’t expect to develop feelings for Isobel, which adds to his inner turmoil, especially since she is so resistant.

Isobel is wonderful! She is strong and outspoken, a woman who is comfortable taking charge. I think that is part of the reason North falls for her. Behind her reserved and respectable mask, she is adventurous and unafraid. The more that is revealed about Isobel and her younger years, the more you realize why she chose such a sensible and controlled life for herself. I love that she faces life head-on and doesn’t back down. She is brave and strong and fierce, and she lives her life on her terms, whether it is the wilder, unconventional side or the serious and work-oriented side. Even though she presents herself as a self-assured and independent woman, Isobel still struggles with trauma from her past and feelings of worth. As she journeys with North, she faces these inner demons.

Isobel and North have fantastic chemistry from their very first meeting. The way they tease and flirt is funny and charming, and it’s clear that they are a well-matched pair. I like that they challenge each other and share similar feelings about what they long for in life. I also love their ease with each other. They let their walls down and confide in each other, which is rare for both of them. Of course, responsibilities, being of different social classes, feelings of unworthiness, and more stand in their way, but I enjoyed watching them face and deal with their obstacles.

I also love how patient North is with Isobel and how much he respects her. You can tell that he really understands her and wants what is best for her. He teases and cajoles her, but ultimately North shows an incredible amount of understanding, patience, and love for Isobel. He doesn’t try to control her or squelch her identity as others do. Instead, he embraces and admires her uniqueness, strength, and fearlessness even when he wants to protect and shelter her. They have an amazing love story, and I wholly rooted for their happy ending.

The Icelandic setting enhances the love story between Isobel and North. The Northern Lights, the beautiful scenery, the hot springs, and more create such a magical atmosphere, which is a perfect backdrop for the budding romance between Isobel and North. The high seas adventure, piracy, kidnapped innocents, daring rescues, and more add action and suspense to the story, especially when in Iceland.

Other characters like Isobel’s work friend and both North and Isobel’s mothers are also well-developed and interesting. Many strong and intelligent women in the story contrast with the expectations of society. I love how these women lift each other up, respect, and support each other even though they are so very different. The dialogue and witty banter, as well as the letters included throughout the novel, contribute to the wonderful character development.

When You Wish Upon a Duke is a fun, witty, and swoon-worthy historical romance that I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters are dynamically developed, the story is well-paced and interesting, and the romance is swoon-tastic!!! I also love that it is a nod to Tinkerbell and the story of Peter Pan. Characters, personalities, business names, different elements of the plot, and more are reminiscent of the well-known tale.

Though it’s the second book in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone. That being said, the first book is great too, and another that I highly recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley, Charis Michaels, and Avon for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.


Will post review and links closer to publication date.

This is such a charming and delightful story! I love the well-written characters and plot. The writing is really beautiful, and while I haven't read the first book, I do intend to go back and read it soon. This book is a fairy tale retelling of Peter Pan, which I feel is uncommon in historical romance and makes this story even more unique. I really enjoyed the banter and relationship development between the main characters. Watching them fall in love is such a fun and magical journey! I hope to read more from this author!

A sweet sexy romance with a nod to Peter Pan.

Isobel Tinker runs Mayfair's Everland Travel Shop which sets up tours for proper women to travel abroad. Her past travel experiences and language skills help her run the shop successfully. When Jason "North" Beckett, the Duke of Northumberland seeks her out it is to help with a rescue mission.

Isabel is a beautifully strong character and the H isn’t threatened by her which is perfect. Loved this book and look forward to the rest in the series

This book is one of the most delightful books I've read this year! It's a perfect summer weekend read, and it made me smile, laugh, and all-around just made me feel happy!

I have to admit, I had forgotten that this was a nod to Tinkerbell until I got to the end. Now I want to go and reread because there are so many lovely little bits of the Peter Pan story scattered all throughout! I honestly keep thinking of them looking back in hindsight. I absolutely loved the author's note at the end, and this is the kind of story I love to see coming out of 2020. Charis Michaels, please don't lose this magic!

This book has so many things I enjoy. Strong women, spies, intrigue, stories, banter, emotional connections, pirates, a ball! This is definitely an unconventional regency romance, and it is completely enchanting. And the cover is beautiful!

While I loved the whole book, the writing in the last quarter was simply gorgeous. I absolutely loved how all of the storylines and characters came together and wrapped things up. The ball, and in particular the scene between the three mothers, and then later the scene between Isobel and Wendy, could have gone so much differently in the hands of any other author. I loved the unwavering support between the women and there was just enough drama to make me gasp, but not so much that it bogged down the ending. Would I have liked to see more spice? Sure, but the magic of the story definitely made up for the lack of super steamy scenes!

I can't wait to see where this series goes next!

3.5 Stars. Look at this cover!! Isn’t it absolutely gorgeous! I’m obsessed with the northern lights so having them on the cover drew me in instantly and I was ecstatic to have the featured in the story as well. I read the first book in this series and loved it so I was excited to read this one.

I fully admit that I didn’t read the description of this book before reading it and somehow, because I’m a moron, didn’t pick up on the Peter Pan references until I was about 20% in. Seriously her name is Isobel Tinker, she works at Everland Travel, and her mean boss is named Hooke. The references clearly weren’t subtle but do you know what tipped me off, the references to pirates. I also spent an embarrassingly long time not catching the Snow White references in the first book.

I can honestly say that I have never read a romance that features Iceland (historical or contemporary) so this was a very fun change and extremely unique. Having part of the story set in Iceland gave it that fairy tale mythical land feeling while keeping the story grounded in reality. Like I noted above, I loved that having the location be Iceland allowed for the northern lights featured.

I really liked Isobel. She was strong, independent, and smart. I had to let North grow on me. I really didn’t like him at the start of the book, but he improved as the story went on. The two had chemistry and I liked that we got to see them grow to like and fully trust each other, though the heat level in this book wasn’t as high a lot of Avon books I’ve read.

I did struggle a bit with the pacing of the book. It was a bit long and there were sections that dragged that could have been shortened. The more exciting bits made up for these moments, but I wish the pace would have been more consistent.

I will happily read the next one in the series and maybe next time I’ll figure out the fairy tale Charis is retelling earlier than 20% of the way through.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the perfect mixture of laugh-out-loud fantastic (as in, almost fantasy) hijinks and believable characters - one of our favorite kinds of romances. Jason is a recently-retired spy and currently-reluctant duke who recruits Isobel for one final mission. Isobel has tried to embrace a life of respectability after a wholly unconventional youth, but Jason embodies all of her particular temptations: carefree but respectful, funny but not meanspirited, and - of course - really sexy.

We were in love with the entire trajectory of the novel and all of the unexpected twists and turns - we follow Isobel and Jason from her job at a travel agency in Mayfair, to a long sea voyage, all the way to Iceland, and then back to England to the ducal estate. This book is just so much FUN! We had smiles on our faces the entire time. Loved it!

Charis Michaels is a new author to this reader and was anticipating reading this book for the first time. "When You Wish Upon a Duke" was quite an interesting historical romance that I did somehow like although it had my attention span wavering in and out of the story. It was a story mostly of conversation between the H/h but the pacing was good. What I didn't like was the lack of steamy that I look forward to in my historical romance readings...this was lacking in that department. What I did like was the Icelandic trips that drew me into the story as if I was right there with the H/h. This was just an okay read for me and I felt a bit lacking when I finished.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC for my fair and honest review. All opinions contained in this review are my own.

A fun book with a strong main character, adventure and pirates. There were points in the story where it seemed to drag out and it'd loose my interest, but overall a fun read.

If there was ever a historical romance that should be made into a historical rom-com movie, this is it it has adventure and comedy and just enough slick, quick fixes to insurmountable problems, that it would have the viewers, laughing out loud, gasping in fear at the audacity of the characters, crying over the romance and cheering at the motivational parts. This book has it all.
The heroine is a quiet, unassuming travel agent. She spent her youth traveling with her mother, but no one realizes her mother is an actress. She work hard to make her agency sucessful, profitable and dependable. She notices some man looking in her window, but he doesn't come in or engage in anyway. Her assistant wants to take him out with a saber that they hide in case they have problems, but the heroine talks her out of it. She catches the man in the alley behind her store and she accuses him of stalking. She doesnt believe he is an agent working for the crown who wants to engage her services to return to the one place she will never go. She doesn't believe that he is trustworthy. And she doesn't believe he is a duke. Well, maybe she should read the newspaper more because his face is plastered all over them becuse he is a National Hero who left the Foriegn Agency to take up his Ducal Duties. And it just gets better.
This book had me enthralled, even during the few "it really fits in place' parts that seem too lucky. But I loved this story. The book is very well written and the descriptions place you in that time period. This book transported me into the authors world. It is a smoothly story that has no hiccups. I liked that the spelling and grammar were correct and that I didn't have to guess at what the author was trying to say. (Nothing worse than have to translate the author when the book is written in your native language.) This book deserves 5 stars, in fact I wish I could give it more. I recommend reading this book if you wish to be transported to a different time.

While this wasn't my favorite historical romance I really enjoyed the Icelandic setting which isn't something I've come across in the genre before. I also thought that North was one of the better leading men I've read. Overall a worthwhile read.

A sparkling and unexpected Peter Pan retelling that focuses on Tinker Bell-in this case, Isabel Tinker, a fearless woman who becomes entangled in a secret scheme by a very intriguing war hero. Michaela handles her characters with a deft hand and Isabel and North are instantly a couple to root for.

This was one of those stories where the details and plot revolved around the couple and their relationship. In fact, some of the story takes place "off book," which made a huge difference in pacing, and I really loved it. In fact, I wish more authors did this - amazing. In my opinion, Charis Michaels' books are always really substantive.

Jason, Duke of Northumberland, needs to travel to Iceland to save his cousin Reggie from Icelandic pirates. He bullies the proprietor of a lady's travel agency, Isobel, into helping him and leading the trip. Isobel is sort of this fragile, mysterious heroine with a past; part of that past takes place in Iceland, which is why she's the perfect person to assist him.

The majority of the story is comprised of conversations between Jason and Isobel as they embark on a journey to Iceland. All the action takes place in the back half; most of the drama exists in the characters' pasts and present challenges as told to each other. Eventually, the story involves pirates but it's such a small part of the heavy weight of their falling in love.

The Iceland storyline was well researched. I feel like I went on that trip to Iceland with them. Also, it had a lot of heavy themes, but it really worked. And when you finally get to know Isobel's story, there's a nice emotional payoff. The reader feels like they are right there with Jason as he falls in love with her.

The story has steam but might disappoint some - Jason and Isobel do not have sex until the last chapter. Their relationship unfolds emotionally before it does physically. I also really loved the way the book ended,

I have read almost all of Michaels' books, and I always feel like they are so wildly different. She writes trilogies, but each book really stands on its own, and the devil is in the details. I appreciate that about her as a writer. I can't recommend her books enough. This one didn't disappoint and is a good choice if you are looking for something a bit more emotionally heavier.

"Isobel Tinker was afraid of many things, but Pirates were not one of them." This quote says so much about this book. The story is a riff on Peter Pan in all the best ways. It focuses in on Isobel - who is definitely a wonderful Tinkerbell. It doesn't shy away from how problematic a real life Peter Pan would actually be. The hero in this book shares many qualities with Peter - but in the end proves himself to be far more than the boy who wouldn't grow up.

To say that Isobel is unconventional, would be an understatement. Many romances claim to have an unconventional heroine - but this one really does. The illegitimate daughter of an Earl, Isobel was raised by her mother (a renowned actress). Once she hit her teenage years she traveled throughout Europe as a member of a band of young people who styled themselves as the Lost Boys. This life was adventurous and wholly free from supervision. It led to heartbreak for Isobel - and a strong drive to have a normal, unadventurous life. She has been running a travel agency in Mayfair ever since. Until the Duke of Northumberland walks in to her life and turns things on their head.

Jason is a very unwilling Duke. He is clearly still grieving the loss of his father and brothers and is extremely reluctant to take up the job of managing the family estate. He was an foreign service agent who had zero interest in retiring - but doesn't have much choice now that he is the Duke. There is never any doubt, from the time he meets Isobel, that he is in love with her and isn't going to treat her the way the other men in her life have. As he says, "Yes, I could have rescued you, Isobel, but you seem to enjoy rescuing yourself."

Their trip to Iceland and all that goes along with it is funny, heartfelt, and exciting. Overall - I definitely enjoyed this thoroughly unconventional regency romance.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

I found this book to be a wonderful read and a pleasant way to spend an evening with a book. I have read this author before and will continue to read and recommend this author.