"Hugh Grant was right. Love always mattered, even if it hurt. And it did hurt."

Dani & Max. We know them from A Princess For Christmas. Dani is post-love. Max is a freaking Disney prince. He is a literal aristocrat and she's having trouble making rent. Will they find their HEA like Marie and Leo? Dani and Max's banter had me smiling like a Cheshire cat. Stupid grinning. All the cute moments!

and

The epilogue is perfection! Romance readers need this Hallmark but make it spicy book. I loved it! And now I really want a sausage McMuffin. Must read!

READ IF YOU LIKE:
-Dirty Dancing & Love Actually
-wild, dramatic declarations of love
-grumpy heroine & sunshine hero
-friends to lovers
-SLOOOW burn
-snow angels
-McDonald’s drive-through
-#IsThisAKissingBook: "Finally, finally, after all these hours, after all these months, they kissed each other." …. "She was going to die here, kissing Max, and die happily."

Thank you Avon books for an advanced copy! Duke, Actually is released on October, 26th 2021.

Song: Good King Wenceslas by Bing Crosby

I had not read the previous book in the series, but it wasn't a prerequisite to reading this sequel. I enjoyed the first quarter of the book. The banter between the male and female protagonist was fun and you felt like the romance was real and well-earned. However, the book dragged a lot through the middle. Library patrons will like this read, but I felt that a tighter plot would have helped a lot.

Duke, Actually is a follow up to A Princess for Christmas focusing this time on the best friends, Dani and Max. They strike up a friendship and decide to have fun together while keeping feelings out of it, which almost never works.

This novel is a slow burn. I definitely started off liking both characters but Dani’s list of rules and stubbornness started to turn into a bit of immaturity in my opinion. However, the author does bring things around at the end in a more satisfying way. Max stays a lovely, charismatic character and I enjoyed his interactions with Sebastian, his brother, as well. There were some things conveniently tied up in a way I wish had been different. I can’t say much without risking spoilers so I can just say I would have liked to see more of the outcome of the end of novel announcements had the major event not happened. Potentially, those declarations could have came sooner in the novel with more time to explore them. Overall, it’s a good sequel but absolutely can be a stand alone book as the main focus stays on Dani and Max and any background is explained well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

I really loved this read! I absolutely loved both Dani and Max separately and together and reading how they found their way was very enjoyable. I actually hadn't read the original story "A Princess for Christmas" and didn't feel as though I was missing pieces of that story in order to fully grasp this one. I particularly like how Holiday had me rooting for Max and Dani from the very first page. Would recommend it to YA readers looking for a fun romance!

We first met Max and Dani in Jenny Holiday's "A Princess for Christmas" as the lovable best friends to Marie and Leo. Max is a baron, dreading his inheritance of a dukedom and pegged by the media as a playboy. Dani is post-men and post-love after a failed marriage to a manipulative and all-around horrible man who left her determined to never give up who she is for another man.
While I often found myself infuriated by the miscommunication and stubborness between Max and Dani, their friendship and budding feelings made "Duke, Actually" a very enjoyable read. There is also the sweet relationship the blossoms with Max and Dani's dog (also named Max, but not a namesake). Those little scenes with the Maxes left me with a silly little smile all on their own.

If you like friends to lovers, with a touch of aristocracy/reformed rake, you are likely to enjoy "Duke, Actually." And, of course, we get a HEA, which is an absolute necessity for any good romance if you ask me.

Duke, Actually

What a delightful romance! I went into this request having never read Jenny Holiday before, and not realizing this was the second book set in the same world. I realized quickly there was some backstory from a previous book, but I was quickly able to catch up and ultimately didn’t miss anything at all. This story had me smiling from ear to ear almost immediately.

If you’re like me and you’re going into this blind, prepare to expect:
*Friends to Lovers
*Slow Burn
*Royal/Normal trope
*Your cheeks hurting from smiling

Now I’m going to have to get my hands on the first book just so I can have more Eldovia romance!

Duke, Actually is the sequel to A Princess for Christmas, and if you read that book, you met Max and Dani. Although their best friends are getting married in royal Eldovian wedding, (they are serving as Man of Honor and Best Woman), serious professor Dani really isn’t interested in giving playboy Baron Max the time of day. When Max is in New York (to meet a potential future bride), Dani invites him to her work party where her ex-husband is going to be. Dani slowly warms up to Max, and their friendship turns into more.

In my opinion, this wasn’t a super Christmas-y book, but I did enjoy the Hallmark movie vibe of it. It’s a quick read! Jenny Holiday is quickly turning into a must-read author for me. Also, Dani’s dog is named Max too, and I found that really amusing.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for my ARC! This comes out on October 26, so grab it then.

Whew, was this book a doozy! It's fairly a slow burn and I love the friendship that the character's develop together. Max is the PERFECT leading man and Dani is the fiercest badass there ever was. Such a heartwarming and hilarious book.

This book had so many things that made it almost perfect for me. For one, I love Christmas. And New York. So the fact that it was both Christmas and set in New York did it for me. Then came the duke (of baron, whatever).

Duke, Actually follows Dani, our soon-to-be divorced from her cheating husband as she tries to navigate life after the fact. Max, our playboy duke (baron), is happy to live the single life, meeting other girls of the same… caliber as himself whenever his parents tell him to. He and Dani had previously met as their mutual friends are soon to be married and they’re the best woman and man of honor. It’s a holiday themed romantic comedy that starts off as almost fake dating and transitions into the romance that we all know and love. I would say it definitely had the makings of a cheesy Hallmark movie, but with a little more grace and a lot more spice. I loved the whole will-they-won’t-they of the story, all the family drama when they finally admitted that they will, and especially enjoyed the dual POV. There’s just something about knowing what the hero is thinking that makes a book just tick.

All in all, this has definitely slated itself as one of my favourite reads of the year and I can’t wait to see what Jenny Holiday has in store for us next.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review!

Full disclosure, I don't like Christmas and Christmas romances. Duke, Actually took me by surprise because while it was a Christmas romance it was also so much more. It was so refreshing to see Max and Dani's friendship grow and become more and more important. To see each one of them be exactly who the other needs, they listen to each other, show up for each other, and push each other to grow. Neither one swoops in to solve the other's problems, but is there to support the other through it. It's a delightful, heartwarming novel and so much more than a holiday romance.

A very cute, if a bit cliche, romance that is buoyed by really good character writing and sprinkled with adorable pop culture references!

This novel is the sequel to Holliday's A Princess for Christmas which came out last year. I never actually read A Princess for Christmas so I don't think it's necessary to have read it to enjoy this book. The story follows Dr. Dani Martinez who is in the middle of a divorce from her cheating husband. She has sworn off men especially men like Max von Hansburg an almost Duke who doesn't want to settle down. Max comes to her rescue during a faculty Christmas party and they quickly become friends. Now Dani must decide if she's really sworn off men forever and Max must decide if he's actually willing to settle down.

I really loved the way Holliday wrote the characters! They seemed like 3-dimensional people with motivations and they both existed outside of the romance. One of the highlights of the book for me was Max's developing relationship with his brother. I also absolutely adored the pop culture references to Love Actually, which is a romantic tragedy and not a romantic comedy!, and Dirty Dancing.

Overall I totally recommend this book and I'm super grateful to the publisher and Netgalley because I probably wouldn't have picked this book up otherwise and that would be a shame!

Duke Actually by Jenny Holiday
Rating: 4/5

Summary: Danielle Martinez is on her way to getting a divorce. She has to face her soon to be ex husband and his new girlfriend at a party. When she gets a text from Baron Max, an idea pops into her head. What starts as a simple plus one to a party leads to a great friendship. Dani never anticipated it leading to something else.

Review: This is a nice sweet romance story. It's a cute Christmas read that had me enjoying everything. I read through it quickly, never becoming bored. It reminds me of one of those romance movies everyone watches during Christmas as a guilty pleasure.

The plot advanced along nicely, it was mainly character driven. Which in a romance based novel is always good. I never found myself bored which is unusual for me as contemporary romance books aren't normally my thing. However this book definitely trapped me in it pages and i remained a willing prisoner. I've never read anything by Jenny Holiday, i wasn't even aware that this book was essentially a spin off to one of her previous novels. But i never would've guessed it because this book i lost nothing reading this book first.

The characters in this book were simply wonderful. Aside from Max's parents that is. My favorite character would have to be Max, he was amazing. I really fell for him and will now have to go about my life being sad that there isn't a Max in it. Dani was also amazing, i loved her. I could really get attached to her.

Overall this was a nice quick read. One that i will definitely be coming back to during Christmas time.

TWs: alcoholic father, mentions of pst abuse, abusive father, emotional abuse, death of parent

This was an extremely cute story between to unlikely friends who become each other best friends!

Dani is a 32 almost divorcée and will come to face her ex husband and his new younger girlfriend at her Christmas work party. When she gets a text from Barron Max von Hansburg 28 also known as the depraved duke and an idea pops up. Max is happy to go with Dani and finds her intriguing and someone who doesn't care about his status. After Christmas Dani and Max form a texting friendship and make a pact on New Year to accomplish their goals, get a job and finalize divorce. This was a slow burn, Max and Dani slowly build on there friendship that when they feel in love it was natural. Dani is looking for friends with benefits in the online dating world and looks to Max for help. Max is supposed to be looking for a wife to appease his parents but finds himself overprotective and giving Dani her space and offers her advice.

While Dani may have been older she and Max connected on personal level where they understood each other and never judge what they saw for each other. Max was sweet and swoon worthy in taking all of Dani feelings into consideration after what she went through with her ex. He went a little crazy to prove himself which made him likable.

This was my first Jenny Holiday, but it will not be my last. The entire story was delightful. Both Max and Dani are fully formed adults who need to reconcile what they want from life, a partner, and themselves, and this book does a great job taking you on that journey with them. It begins with a holiday rom-com premise: each of their best friends are marrying each other and they are in the same city at Christmas but quickly becomes the best kind of friends to lovers romance. For anyone who has read the earlier book in the series, there are lots of cameos from those characters, but if you’re new to it (like me) you lose nothing from coming in fresh and now have the first book to enjoy!

I love a good fiction royal romance story and when I read the synopsis to this book, I knew I had to request it!
This is my first time reading from this author so I really didn't know what to expect. Here are my thoughts:

In Duke, Actually, the premise already sounded cute and a typical rom-com that makes you feel good at the end of reading it. The beginning was a bit slow for me. There were a bunch of names thrown in right away and it made me feel like I should have known about these characters prior...? There were bits here and there in the beginning which lagged and I did skim through a few pages. However, things got more interesting towards the 1/3 part of the book as the side characters started to have more meaning for me. As I said, in the very beginning several character names were thrown in as if I was supposed to have read about them somewhere before. That was an odd feeling for me, unless there was a prequel of some sort (which I did not check to confirm).

As the story unfolds and the dealings with the female MC, Dani Martinez starts to get interesting, I did feel a connection to her and her male MC, the Baron of Laudon, Max von Hansburg from the fictional country (I think it's a country unless it's a principality?) Eldovia. This story is set in the present, but Eldovia, like so many other fictional royal romance novels somehow depicts European nobility as antiquated or outdated. While it's sort of romantic in a way, it does make me weary of why modern European nobility are typically viewed that way?
Anyhow, it was still delightful to read about the very "antiquated" traditions of Eldovia. Even Max the Baron noted how things in his country must moved towards the future and in order to grow as a nation, they must change and make advancements.

Duke, Actually has its funny moments but never too funny or sad enough that you feel really bad for any of the characters - major or minor. This book is just a make-you-feel good type of book where there are no true villains and no true obstacles to overcome. No spoilers here, but the few small obstacles that Dani and Max each face aren't really dire and I wish the author HAD made their situations more severe. But, this is supposed to be a rom-com, so no biggie there.

I have to say that my most favorite character in this book was Max's brother, Seb. The author didn't delve too much into him, but when he did appear in the story, he really shined. All of the side characters had a bit of history to them and like I said, no one was truly the real villain.

If you're looking for a lighthearted romance involving royalty and nobility, then you might enjoy Duke, Actually. Light, witty, and clever characters in the story makes everything easier to handle as you read through the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

Dani, the professor, is almost fresh out a bad marriage and finds herself against getting seriously involved with anyone. Max the Baron (in line to be Duke) is a major playboy. Dani and Max form a close friendship that takes them through a year of getting to know themselves better. Keeping each other accountable, Max becomes Dani's number one confidant and vice versa. I actually REALLY enjoyed reading about Dani's professorship because it's my dream job. It was such a relatable theme to me.
This is such a great book to read before the holidays or over the holidays. I could literally feel the warmth of family or the holiday themes. It actually made me really excited over the upcoming holidays. I really loved this book. I loved the theme of friends to lovers. It sort of reminded me of Princess Diaries but in the opposite direction. I can't wait for others to read it because I'm sure they will feel similarly!

I wouldn’t fully put this in the holiday book category. It can easily be read whenever if your looking for an amazing romcom! You get two main characters with incredible chemistry. Dani is fresh from divorce and Max is a serial dater/playboy who has no intentions of settling down.
Their friendship is perfection and when it turns into more it’s amazing. You won’t want to put this book down.

Dani is a tenure track professor who is fresh from a breakup with her husband who has been cheating on her with 20 year old co-ed. Max, the future Duke of Aquilla, is the best friend of the fiancée of Dani’s best friend. He has a reputation as a playboy. He texts Dani out of the blue when he is in New York and they strike up an unlikely friendship.

Dani finds that Max is not what the tabloids make him out to be. He is charming, thoughtful, and really listens to her. They make a New Year’s pact that Max will find a job and Dani will finalize her divorce.

Max and Dani’s friendship grows as the support each other toward their goals. Dani is able to see underneath Max’s shallow exterior and see his hidden depths. I really love a hero who opens up only for the heroine. I love how Max and Dani’s relationship grows overtime.

I received an ARC for my honest review.

Well this was cute! Nothing too deep or profound, but a nice read that turned out to be pretty romantic.

One character actually says that he felt his situation was like a Hallmark movie with royalty from a made-up European country which is meta because that is exactly what this book is. A Hallmark movie with a lot of spice.

It was cheesy and fluffy, which I'll give a pass to because it is a Christmas book, and Christmas books can have much higher cheese factors and still be effective.

I will say that the transition from friends to lovers was a bit abrupt. Also, the pop culture references didn't really land for me. (Although they might be great for others!)

It's hard to pick just one favorite thing about this book because there are so many. If I was forced to then I would have to say it's the Dirty Dancing jump that Max and Dani perfected.
Duke, Actually, is hilarious. I laughed so many times I started crying.