Absolutely wonderful!
This is a low-stakes romance and I didn't mind that. Not every romance needs to be dramatic or filled with issues. Sometimes I just want to read a sweet romance that has me grinning from ear to ear. I enjoyed this for what it is and had a grand time reading this in one sitting.
The cover to this is gorgeous! Cannot wait for the next one.
Also, this can be read on its own even though it is part of a series.

All Hetty wants to do is cultivate the vineyards at Rosehill Park. She wants her family's wine to rival that of the French. However, at every turn her dreams are stalled because of the infuriating men in this story! Her father wants to marry her off so he is free to do what he wants, and the man her father wants her to marry is most certainly a charlatan--along with being a rogue and and owner of a gaming hell. I did enjoy this story, but I had a hard time warming up to Hetty's love interest, Ash. I am just so tired of men who think they know better than women. However, I will give Ash points for his devotion to his cat, Lucy.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Lady Henrietta Prince is focused on getting her father to marry and birth an heir after the death of her mother so she can keep her precious vineyards and creating wine that rivals her French competitors. A missing heir, Ash Ellis, burts into Hetty's life unexpectedly, and stakes a claim on her father's title and the vineyards she loves so much.

I'm conflicted because I actually really liked these characters together, but I constantly felt like something was missing. I can't put my finger on it really. I found Hetty to be truly insufferable in the beginning, but as the book went on I grew to enjoy her character growth. I guess one of my issues is, Ash is supposed to be this devil who is not good, but he never acts like it besides the lies he tells. He isn't an alpha, but a beta and so his characterization as this terrible good for nothing scoundrel was never believable in my eyes. The next thing that I didn't like is how quickly things wrap up. It's like she finds out about his lies, and instantly forgives him when he gets hurt. For someone as proud and as strong as Hetty, that was not believable.

I did enjoy some very light-hearted moments between Hetty and Ash. They had a cute relationship with each other and their cats. I'd say if you like Lenora Bell already or want something pretty fluffy and low angst then this might be up your alley.

3.5 stars rounded down.

This book is. a light, fun read perfect for a quiet afternoon. Hetty and Ash form a marriage of convenience when he proves himself to be a long lost heir to her father's kingdom. Hetty doesn't trust that Ash is the heir at all but decides to marry him anyway to keep her beloved estate and vineyards.

If you are looking for a fast, entertaining read this book is perfect for that. There are vineyards, wine competitions, gaming hells and witty banter along with mischievous cats. I did want to feel more chemistry between the two main characters throughout the book and definitely would have appreciated more of a grovel in the end on Ash's part. He completely forged being the here and, while he confessed, I wanted more of an apology out of him. I did enjoy the friends they had and would like to read more books in the series.

I had not read anything by Lenora Bell in the past and am glad to have picked this one up. I will be looking for more books from her in the future. If you are a fan of historical romances with non-traditional characters, I do think you would really like this one.

I was provided an ARC for my honest review. The set up in here of Ash, our devil of a hero, and Hetty, our Lady heroine coming together at a ball in a fit of attraction only shortly after to find out that they are entangled in a plot of lies and disappointment, vineyards, rogue cats, and missing heirs to the dukedome.

Bell's romances are always light and fun and this definitely delivered on that. We also had very engaging characters with some unique back story.

This fell a bit flat for me in a few ways, one was that a lot of the plot points seemed to be items a modern writer needed checked off a box, and another was a lack of chemistry between the characters. After loving the first book in this series I was hoping for a bit more than what I got with this one.

After the death of the family's last male heir, Hetty wants her father to remarry and produce a son so the ducal estates won't revert to the crown. Hetty has devoted her life to the vineyards on her father's land and is on the brink of making a breakthrough. Then, gaming house owner Ash shows up claiming to be the long-lost ducal heir. Her father suggests Hetty marry Ash to unite the family. Can she convince Ash to let her keep her vineyards?

This Regency romp is lively, fun, and a little outrageous, if not particularly plausible. I enjoyed the characters a lot. The information about wine-making was interesting and well done.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The Devil's Own Duke
Second book in the Wallflowers vs Rogues series
Rating: 4 stars
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC given through NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.

The Devil's Own Duke is the story where two people married to forge a business arrangement and were honest with each other that they would not fall in love with each other....it all went wrong!! LOL
Ash and Hetty were a very sweet couple who loved to butt heads. Both were very stubborn and were determined to stick to their conventions about what they wanted in their marriage. I loved how they both saw how wrong they were. Early in their marriage they begin to realize that there is room in their hearts for love and that they both very well deserve it.
There's wine tasting, child saving and an evil villain that come to play an important role in the story. Overall, I really liked it and I especially liked towards the end of the book were they admit that they don't have a perfect marriage, but they work out their problems because they love each other. Aahh! <3

I'm looking forwards for the next one!!

I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an advance reader copy of this story.

The Devil's own Duke is book two in the Wallflowers vs. Rogues series. It is of course also a stand alone book. I had an interesting time reading book one, Love is a Rogue, and was wondering how the other ladies stories would fare. I'm sad to say that the two main characters were duds. The hero's best friend and business partner, Jax, has possibilities. Hettie and Ash never resonated with me, I just couldn't make myself like them. Ash is not a nice person and his reformation was a huge stretch in a short time. The con he was running could have turned out so much worse & he never thought or cared as long as he got his way. Hettie is hard to describe, mostly she's too modern. Her ditzy father leaves her to run his estate & she's making sparkling wine, which is American champagne. The vineyard and the wine process and terms were as I've read & gotten from several local vineyards. There're a lot of modern phrases too, like it's 5 o'clock somewhere in the world. I'm not sure who's story is next but we've got plenty of ladies who need a husband.

#LenoraBell #TheDevil'sOwnDuke #Wallflowersvs.Rogues #historicalromance #romance #series

This is my first Lenora Bell book and I enjoyed it. I liked that Hetty was a strong female character and that she took over running the family vineyard after her mom passed. There was instant attraction between her and Ash, who claims he is the heir to her father's dukedom. This was overall a good book. The reason that I didn't give it 5 stars is that it a few things seemed a little far fetched (not including examples so there are no spoilers), but I did like it.

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

The Devil’s Own Duke is a well-intentioned book, continuing Lenora Bell’s pivot away from a cast of all-Duke heroes to highlight heroes of the lower classes. The basic setup is great, although one key element is what leads to the whole thing falling apart as the story goes on.

The characters are intriguing. I really liked both Henrietta and Ash; class warfare is a staple of the historical romance genre, and I love what was done here, with Henrietta being a strong minded advocate for women, but has a lot of room to grow in terms of awareness about her privilege as a member of the aristocracy, and Ash wanting to leverage his possible connection to the aristocracy and eventual inheritance to work toward reform of child labor laws, influenced by his own dark childhood. While I wasn’t sure how to feel about him at first, especially with the way he dismissed her (albeit before he really knew who she was and that she was different), I came to warm up to him as the book went on.

I also really liked the appearances of the characters from prior books. The ladies’ society is still my favorite part of this series, and I loved seeing the women interacting and discussing women’s issues (which are not at all anachronistic, contrary to popular belief).

However, the book hinges on a deception, and in cases like this, I feel mishandling it always reflects badly on the deceiver. In a romance, that makes it hard for me to believe in the relationship going forward without them believably making amends. I understand Ash’s good intentions, as I previously noted, but I still was like, “Really?” And to have the reveal happen so late in the book, then be overtaken by an external crisis which literally threatens their lives, after which it apparently doesn’t even matter anymore? Like, Henrietta literally reverts from “it’s all a lie!” to reassuring him that he is noble, because of his ambitions. I mean, that’s great, and not untrue, but it still doesn’t make up for the fact that he lied! You may love him now, but what about later on when the glow of the honeymoon has worn off? What else does he have the capacity to lie about?

This book was sadly a bit of a disappointment, but that’s purely a matter of taste. Deception/Big Lie plots are ridiculously hard to pull off, and so I’m not surprised this one was more of a miss for me, and there’s also this sense of ambiguity here where even Ash isn’t 100% sure if he is the heir or not, something which obviously could not conclusively be answered, given the genre limitations. But it’s still a pretty fun read, and I think most historical romance fans will enjoy it.

Lenora Bell just writes a compelling story, every time. I have now read enough to recognize past couples, which gives me warm fuzzies every time. I was hesitant going in because she did NOT make it easy to like Ash, early on, but he won me over as he *actually changed* to become a more empathetic and caring person who supported the hell out of his wife. These two people who just needed love and support finding each other charmed me.

Lady Henrietta Prince wants nothing more than to make her family's vineyard profitable and gain recognition for English sparkling wine.  When Ash Ellis comes along and claims to be the long-lost heir to her father's dukedom, Hetty is not convinced.  Her father insists Hetty marries the gambling hell owner - the perfect solution to secure his line and the best way for Hetty to keep the family vineyard.  But Ash is not convinced the vineyard is the best venture for the estate, so Hetty can't dare let her guard down with him, and certainly can't fall in love.

I enjoyed these characters - Hetty was headstrong and independent, and although she was slow to trust Ash, she wasn't independent to the point of being closed off, she just had very clear goals for her vineyard. And although Ash was gruff and a rogue, his ambitions were not shallow, and he had a cinnamon roll center - particularly when it came to his cat. The character development was good throughout the story as they learned to trust one another. Some of the side characters (like the Duke and his mistress) were a little over the top and perhaps unrealistic, but I found it funny.

This is book 2 in the Wallflowers v Rogues series, and I'm really enjoying this series so far.  While we do get appearances from characters from previous books, this can be read as a standalone.


*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*

I fully intended to absolutely love this book because I have loved every book I’ve read by this author. I just couldn’t get there with this one and I’m so sorry to have to say that. Since I’m reading an advanced copy, there are several things I sincerely hope are corrected prior to publication – there are smaller things – like a completely naked man suddenly having blood on his sleeve – and there are huge things like the entire process of being declared the heir to a duke (which is the entire premise of the book). If you add in that I neither liked nor was invested in ANY of the characters, you’ll see why I just couldn’t love the book. The only character I found unobjectionable was Jax, who is our hero’s friend. The other characters in the book seem more like cardboard caricatures – even with Ash’s noble intentions, I couldn’t like him or what he did. He did have an epiphany, but – well – that didn’t make up for the rest of it – at least not to this reader.

Ash Ellis had a very, very hard life. He was raised in an orphanage and went to work in a bottling plant when he was eight. The work was grueling with long days, no sleep, little if any pay, the punishment was often and severe, and starvation-type hunger. When John Coakley offered him a chance to escape that existence, he jumped at it – only to find that he’d jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Coakley was cruel, took all of the goods they’d pickpocketed, beat them regularly, and virtually owned them. They’ve finally managed to escape Coakley and Ash and Jax now own their own gaming club, The Devil’s Staircase. That, however, isn’t enough for Ash. He wants revenge on the aristocracy for all of the mistreatment he and other children have suffered – and he’ll get it by fair means or foul. When the germs of an idea take hold, he acts and gets himself declared a ducal heir.

Lady Henrietta Prince is the daughter (and only child) of the Duke of Granville. Since her mother’s death, Hetty has secluded herself on their country estate, Rosehill Park, where her French mother had been revitalizing the vineyards. That became Hetty’s mission in life, she’d continue her mother’s work and make their wines a profitable entity. She loves Rosehill Park, it is her solace, her refuge – and she certainly isn’t going to allow that upstart rogue who claims to be her father’s heir to tear it apart.

Upon meeting Ash and hearing his claim, Hetty’s father accepts the claim as real – after about a 5-minute conversation. Hetty’s father and his lover are cartoonish – outlandish – and in no way believable. Then – he tells his new heir and Hetty that he wants them to marry. This man could be a pervert of the first order, and the duke wants him to marry his daughter just as soon as he meets him.

I found everything about this book to be implausible, improbable, and very, very unlikely, and since I also did not care for the characters, I cannot recommend the book. If you choose to read it, I hope you love it. The author is one I normally love; I just could not love this particular book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After her mother dies, Henrietta takes over the family vineyards while her father turns to alcohol to cope with the loss. Henrietta is determined to make the wine respectable, but her plans go awry when a new mysterious heir to her father’s dukedom enters the picture. Ash owns a gaming hell, but has made a legitimate claim, backed by evidence, that he is in fact a long lost heir. Henrietta could stand to lose all, but when her father decides she should marry Ash to stay on the estate, she begins to see the benefits of the match herself!

I really liked a lot of things about this book: Henrietta’s knowledge of the vineyards, Ash’s desire to reform the world by joining the upper echelons of society, and the fantastic friend groups (we all know I love to read friendships). But, this book felt pretty disjointed to me for the first 40%. It felt like there were a lot of pivots throughout the book that didn’t completely make sense to me. Almost halfway through the book, the story picked up and I could enjoy it more as the plot developed and Henrietta and Ash got to spend more time together.

I am excited to see where Lenora Bell continues to go with the series. Wallflower and rogue pairings are my favorite and since that is the series title, I think it is safe to say I will continue to read them all! I would recommend this book to any historical romance lover who loves the direction historical romances have been going recently - I do!

I enjoyed the wine story in this book! It was so different and I loved learning about wine in Great Britain. I enjoyed the heroines determination and his past leading him to his work in the present. There were times, however, when the “stuff” in the story seemed to take away from the romance and it felt difficult to sink into their connection.

This was my first book by Lenora Bell. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The two main characters were quite likable and the plot was well written and never seemed to drag. There were humorous aspects as well as some light drama.

Henrietta and Ash are two strong-willed and driven people. Both intend to be successful in their respective pursuits no matter what, or who, stands in their way.

Hetty is hoping to achieve acclaim through her wine venture. In order to pursue this completely and to remain in possession of the land hosting her vineyards, her father must remarry. Or, so she thinks. In her attempt to marry him off, an “interloper” by the way of our hero, Ash, claims he’s the true heir. Thus relegating her father’s marriage as unnecessary and potentially preventing her from retaining her land and vineyards. A mutually beneficial marriage is her best bet if she wants to keep her land. Their marriage allows Ash to have Hetty’s help easing him into society and Hetty will have time to prove her vineyards can be profitable.

Ash also has higher achievements he’s looking to attain and gaining the dukedom will help him achieve these. He wants to improve the plight of poor children and child labor laws. Due to his own childhood, he wants to prevent other kids from experiencing what he did.

As a gaming club owner, he’s gambling on his actually being the heir as well as with his relationship with Hetty, whom he is drawn to.

While they continue to pursue their individual aims, their lives become entangled and they realize there’s more to the other than they initially thought. Ash finds that not all society ladies are entitled and empty-headed. Hetty realizes that Ash isn’t the scoundrel she initially assumed.

Ash’s past comes back to haunt him, and by extension, Hetty. Watching them overcome their hurdles was exciting. Seeing them begin to trust the other and building their relationship was truly wonderful.

I really enjoyed these characters. I feel like their backstories are well fleshed out and what drives them is obvious to the reader. Hetty and Ash are both strong people with their own wills. Seeing their love develop and watching them swim through the various troubles they find themselves in was fascinating.

I definitely plan to read more from this author and look forward to future installments.

I normally like strong women characters but I just couldn’t get on board with Hetty. It’s like she was doing everything she could to stand in the way of her own happiness. She can’t relinquish control and she wants to argue about everything. Every time she spoke I just wanted to flip through the pages until she was done. She’s a shrew.

Lenora Bell uses great descriptors and its very easy to sink into the story. Bottom line is I just didn’t like any of her characters enough to really enjoy this one.

This one was a struggle to rate.

Hettie has become a very independent woman, basically running the estates and her beloved vineyards while her dad, the Duke, gets drunk. While she's trying to marry him off so he can produce an heir, she has a scandalous encounter with a mystery man. Then he claims to be the long-lost heir to her father's dukedom. And they're pressed into getting married.

To start out with, this books was pretty frustrating for at least the first half. It felt a lot like a bully romance, which is definitely not how it was pitched, and I just really hated how Ash was mean to Hettie purely because she was born into wealth. Hettie wasn't very nice though either... The problem was that their chemistry felt very written-not-felt through this section. Ash and Hettie both slowly because much more likeable throughout the book, so I did reach a point of enjoying it. Although we needed much more groveling.

If you really enjoy enemies to lovers stories and don't mind a bully romance, I think you would really enjoy this one. The setting was beautiful and we got to experience Hettie's passion for wine. If you don't like enemies to lovers or bully romances, this one might not be for you.

Oh my goodness, this is probably Lenora's best book yet. You're lulled into thinking this is going to be a nice easy, laid back read and then Bam! You don't want to put it down. You read and the chapter end and it's all I need to know what happens next, or I need to know what's going to happen with that information.

The side plots worked well with the major plot of this story.

Ash and Hetty had a spark that got bigger and bigger as the book went on.

Ash is definitely my new favorite hero of hers. He's such a well rounded character with so many different facets.

I will say there was one scene and then one other small part I could have done without. - They are just not my personal cup of tea.

Overall, this Cinderella inspired with a bit of the big bad wolf thrown in, was amazing. Granted one slightly predictable set up, but again this one was a page turner and you just wanted to keep reading and hoping it didn't end.


*Thank you to Avon, HarperCollins and NetGalley for the opportunity to read early.*

This story features bluestocking and wine maker Hetty and an orphan, Ash Ellis, who clawed his way out of the gutter to run a successful gambling hell. Ash has one last "game" to conquer and that is to prove he's the duke's long lost heir. This sets up an interesting plot with Hetty adamantly opposed to accepting Ash as the next duke. Can these two come to a mutual understanding?

I thought the beginning of the story was a bit slow and it took a while to really get into the story. I thought Hetty's father was a joke. I can't imagine a duke being so cavalier about the future of the duchy. He immediately accepts Ash's story, then runs off to the continent to marry his mistress leaving Hetty to deal with the aftermath. There are a number of twists and turns later in the book that kept me turning the pages. I did appreciate that it takes place far from the glittering ballrooms of London and Hetty's dedication to her wine business was intriguing. The final twist wraps up the storyline of who Ash really is and how he fits into Society.