Duke, Actually was an absolutely adorable holiday funtime read. Though it was technically a companion/sequel, it can definitely be read as a stand-alone considering it took me till I was like 30 to 40% through the book to put the pieces together that this was not a stand-alone and in fact a sequel. It wasn't until I found out more details about the romance of Dani's best friend and the princess and I was thinking “oh this is really cute it almost seems like it should be its own book” that I stopped and looked it up and realized oh it was, in fact, it was it’s own book first and this is in fact the follow-up/sequel. Whoops. A keen observer, I am not. Enjoyer of holiday/Royal rom-com books, however, I most thoroughly am. And Duke, Actually had all that I needed to have a royally good time and then some. I’m actually not super familiar with Love, Actually either so I feel like there were probably a few references made throughout that flew over my head but I definitely grasped the broad strokes of them.
I think one of the things I enjoyed most about Duke Actually is that it took the things I liked most about Royal Romances: the accents, manners, balls, estates, and such; and then added it together with what so many Royal and Hallmarky stories are missing: diversity in race and LGBTQIA+, real in-depth emotional stories, steamy scenes, and dealing with actual problems both emotionally and with monarchy systems in general. I’m sure that the first book was lovely but I’m so charmed by Dani and Max that I don’t know if I could be content with a book with them as minor characters now, I love them so much. From their friendship to their Dirty Dancing lifts, and dog-sharing, it was just so much fun and though the whole story was not around Christmas, it was the perfect swoony holiday read and a breeze to get through. If you’re looking for a royal good time this holiday season, look no further! Thank you so much to Avon for granting me access to this book on NetGalley. I had such a good time with it!

4/5 stars

One thing I want to make sure is very clear is that this book is a companion to Princess for Christmas and while you dont have to read that one before this one I still highly recommend it. I think of the two I actually slightly preferred this one. There was just something about our main characters interactions and banter that just made me giddy. And that whole ballet/snow angel scene is just going to live in my head rent free. The steamy scenes were steamy but they didnt take over the story so if you are someone like me who doesnt mind some steamy scenes but doesnt want that to be the entire story than i recommend these ones for you.

On the other hand while we had some really cute moments this book also has some rather dark moments and touches on some heavy topics such as alcholism and abuse. And some of the characters are flawed outside of those topics as well.

I do hope we will continue to get more companion novels as i will definately read them.

this book was so so adorable & perfect for this time of year!! plus, I’m team love actually iykyk :’)

dani’s best friend leo is marrying a princess, yes an actual princess. since dani’s the best woman, she has to deal the man of honor, max, who just happens to be a baron, son of a duke. this would all be a wonderful distraction from the fact that she’s in the middle of a messy divorce and hates her boss EXCEPT for the fact that max is the most insufferable person who refuses to take his duties seriously and believe in love. should dani really be judging a book by its cover, though? or is the world right about the big bad baron?

I absolutely adored the vibes of this whole story!! I felt like I was reading a hallmark movie without all of the cheese crammed in there. it was perfectly written!

the characters were all so unique but relatable at the same time that I found myself reading about the same problems I have along with a soon to be duchess lol. it was heartwarming and perfect for the season!!

thank you to netgalley and avon harper voyager for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

rating: 4.5 stars
wine pairing: alsace geurztraimer

A Princess For Christmas was one of my best surprises last year, and this sequel was just as enjoyable for settling in for a longer holiday read. I loved the way it was stretched out from one holiday season to the next, giving their friendship a strong basis and so that we could go along with them on that journey. There were a few fun situations that could have been even more yummy if we’d spent just a little more time in them rather than flipping to the next scene, but overall I really liked this slower friends-to-lovers romance. Next year’s is already on my list.

I’m just not a fan of over the top cussing and shock for shock sake. I’m happy it wasn’t Incredibly raunchy but I admit I didn’t make It all
The way through the book.

While I didn't love this one as much as A Princess for Christmas it was still a very fun book! The enjoyed the friends to lovers trope and there were several laugh out loud moments.

I would have liked a little more time to wrap up everything that happened in the end as it felt a little rushed but over all a fun holiday read!

The romance of friendship.
•
This is how you do a friends to lovers romance. I was really nervous to pick up Duke, Actually by Jenny Holiday since A Princess for Christmas as not for me, but after the first chapter, I KNEW this was going to be a much better fit. This story is such a wonderful slow burn, full of late night phone calls, ongoing texting conversations, chaste sleepovers, and friend dates. We all know how it’s going to end, but the journey there is the fun part, and Holiday creates a very relatable relationship between this unlikely duo who turn out to be perfect for each other.
•
Was I silently screaming at this pair to kiss halfway through the book? Yes! Am I so glad they didn’t and became true best friends before getting physical at all? Yes again! I’m not usually a fan of friends to lovers because there isn’t enough banter and tension, but these two changed my mind (at least for this book) as we see their friendship grow from snarky acquaintances to supportive best friends.
•
This was the ultimate feel good holiday romance with some steam at the end, which makes 2 holiday romances I have enjoyed this year! I’m shocked as well.
•

I didn’t realize this was a sequel and I do wish I’d read the first book first if for no other reason than I really want to read it now but there are spoilers. However, I still super loved Duke, Actually! Honestly, my favorite thing about this book is how ridiculously precious Max is. Why do we not all just tell each other with complete sincerity all the time how much we like each other? I’m going to do this with my loved ones more often and be more like Max. My favorite thing in romantic comedies is when you can just feel the love between the characters, and I felt it between Max and Dani from the very beginning. This was a perfect holiday romance.

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

*I received this book in exchange of an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley!

Maximillian von Hansburg, Baron of Laudon is under an immense amount of pressure from his father to marry now that his ex-fiance's wedding is approaching. After meeting Dani, friend of his ex-fiance's new fiance, he appears on her doorstep during the holiday season in New York. Dani is finished with love. A professor who is finding herself alone after her marriage ends, she has a list of things she will no longer do for a man. She proclaims that she is done with love before meeting Max. The two find themselves becoming fast friends before romance becomes something that they feel between themselves.

This book is a lovely tale for winter holiday lovers. While it is part of a series, you can read one without the other. The love story between Dani and Max is well built and doesn't feel rushed. It's great to see a friends to lovers story when it comes to romance novels. The one thing that I will say is that the book feels slow in the way of time jumps with few things happening between. The bulk of the book is this way with the push toward the end segueing into the royal wedding and the honeymoon. The one issue with the book that kept me from thoroughly enjoying it was the "disagreement" between the two towards the end. It felt forced and out of character for Dani.

All in all, a sweet holiday romance that really shows that you can find love after being "done" and that friends to lovers can take an entire book.

A Baron, a Professor, their best friends’ wedding and an unlikely friendship that turns to love. ⁣
⁣
This is a follow-up to 𝐀 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 and I loved getting glimpses of the main characters from that book and seeing where they ended up. 𝐃𝐮𝐤𝐞, 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 is definitely best when read after having read the first book. ⁣
⁣
𝐃𝐮𝐤𝐞, 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 is festive, fun and an overall super cute, read. This is a slow-burn and I am here to tell you that it works so well with Dani and Max’s friends-to-lovers relationship. Great banter (I loved their texts and phone conversations), swoon worthy moments and who doesn’t love a former rakish Duke/Baron that wants to the Patrick Swayze lift from 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨? Yup, Max stole my heart - consider me smitten! Plus, there is pay-off for waiting for the steam and it felt perfect to me, after following their long distance friendship evolve into more. ⁣
⁣
This one is less holiday and more romance but it was so good! Highly recommend and the audio was a great listen.

This was a really enjoyable friends to lovers book. I was a little confused at first since I didn't read the first book before this. I would recommend reading these in order to avoid that confusion.

This book is perfect for this time of year! A prince looking for love. A professor who wants nothing to do with love. Of course that is the perfect setup for falling head of heels in this lovely holiday rom com.

For some reason, I didn't anticipate liking this book. I'm not much of a holiday reader, and this seemed fairly holiday-y. But it surprised me, initially. The holidays are backgrounded, and they spend the better part of a year talking on the phone and through text, with occasional meetups. It's a very slow-burn friends-to-lovers scenario. I was enjoying this much more than I thought I would, and it was well on its way to a five-star read for me.

Two things combined in its downfall for me, one much more ridiculous than the other. The ridiculous thing: at one point Max pulls out a sheaf of antique papers for Dani to look through, and a pair of white cotton gloves. You do not wear gloves to review papers, particularly ones of that age. If you cover your fingertips, you can't feel when you're about to rip the pages! Clean hands suffice. Any librarian who's ever been in the same building as an archives class could tell you that.

The more serious thing: Max's brother Sebastian is gay. He reveals this to Max, who then basically promptly tells Dani. We do not out people. Max is very cool with his brother being gay, Dani is very cool with it and tells Max she'll keep it to herself, and Max is like "oh neat thank you, yeah, I was trying to protect his confidence." Uh, maybe... don't tell her, then? Later, Sebastian reveals his sexuality to their awful, horrific, abusive alcoholic father as he tries to disown Max as a sort of "gotcha, no heirs from me., buddy!" moment, and the father promptly passes away. If it had just been Max outing his brother to Dani, a person he trusts and a person he processes complex emotions with it, I might have let it slide with a strong side eye and four stars. But the one-two punch of outing and heart attack was a lot to me, and I'm surprised Avon let it slide.

Overall, I liked this book a lot, and I wish I could have rated it higher. Now please, give me Sebastian and Torkel's story, which will ideally wrap up the WWII sub-plot that I was surprisingly invested in?

This was super cute, though warning, if you HAVEN'T seen the movie Love, Actually, you won't get some of the references in this book. I think this book would be a nice paring with said movie. It's not a must to know the movie, but I think it would enhance the enjoyment of the book.

I LOVED the characters, they felt three dimensional and REAL, even though he was a Baron of a country only real in this book-verse, that doesn't alter the fact that all of the characters felt like you could meet them in real life.

I really, REALLY love how they started off as friends, just friends, and that they didn't do anything until after her divorce was final. It bothered me that he DID have one more fling after they started to become closer, but he was acting as he usually did, it was at the very beginning of their friendship and neither of them realized it was going to become more. He also didn't do it again and once he realized she was the one, that was it.

SLIGHT SPOILERS FOLLOW

The only thing keeping this book from being five stars is the "big bad" and how they conveniently popped off, as well as how grown adults all seemed to be scared of their parents. It was nice that they finally confronted them, but it was almost too convenient that they did that and the shock of it took out the "big bad" then and there. I get that this is a romance, which means it's a fantasy, but considering how mostly grounded in the modern world this book is, that was a tad of a stretch for me.

So, while it doesn't get the full compliment of stars, it is still highly recommended, especially if you really like the movie Love, Actually and the "slightly dislike each other to friends to lovers" tropes. Oh, and adorable little dogs with a really adorable nickname. Too cute!

4, I am really glad that I read this for my Christmas season, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

I loved Princess for Christmas last year so I was thrilled to get a copy of the sequel, Duke, Actually. This installment is about Max and Dani, friend/ex-fiancé and cousin, respectively, of the couple in the first book. Max is royalty (possible future Duke!), visiting NYC and keeps coming to the rescue of a newly single, Dani. Insert a million romcom tropes here, all of them fun and frothy. This is a perfect Hallmark movie with a little spice. It has texts with witty banter, fake relationships, a royal wedding and some sweet, warm fuzzy moments. A perfect holiday romcom.

3.5/5 stars

I am not a holiday romance kind of gal. But, I think I kinda you know this book...

What do you when the ridiculously handsome young baron that you've become friends with finally asks you out because his father is pressuring him to marry someone and you are the only woman he's remotely interested in? You fall in love of course...

Dani is this woman who's just now finally getting over her divorce. The last thing she needs is a messy romance to get in her way. In walks Maximilian, the Baron of Laudon who's had his eye on Dani ever since he met her through his best friend. This book is a slow, slow, SLOW burn. But trust me, it's worth it.

It was an absolute delight to read. Very lighthearted, something to read when you want an extra heaping dose of Christmas spirit. Well written, cute, and just enough spice to make you blush like you've been outside in the cold too long.




Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

It's ok. I enjoyed some parts of this book and others not so much. It's about a woman that is waiting for her divorce papers and then she becomes friend with Max, a Baron (soon to be Duke) of a small country, and while he's helping her find someone for her to have s3x with they realize that they like to talk to each other and then she goes to his country to attend a wedding, his brother comes out and his father dies of a heart attack with the news and then Max becomes the Duke and then they decide to be together. I expected more romance and I didn't like the woman's character. I love Duke/Princess stories but this one wasn't for me. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

|| 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖

Duke, Actually
Jenny Holiday
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

|| 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒:
Dani is the Best Woman for her friend Leo’s wedding. Oh and he’s marrying a princess. The Man of Honor is Maximillian von Habsburg the baron (not duke) has taken it upon himself to get to know Dani before the royal nuptials. They couldn’t be more different. Dani is studious, working to get tenure as an English professor, and has to rent out her apartment occasionally so she can afford it. Max is a baron, and he has a reputation with parties and with women. Can these two get along to support their best friends?

|| 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄:
•Hallmark Christmas movies
•Holiday romances with some steam
•Enemies to friends to lovers
•Laugh out loud texts

|| 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒:
It’s December 11th and if you read this book you’ll know why I had to post this today 😉 This book is a follow up to A Princess for Christmas which follows Marie and Leo, with appearances by Max and Dani! Dani is a strong and smart woman and I loved her character. Max is one of those secret cinnamon rolls which I love. There were a few communication issues which annoy me, I think those are harder in multiple POV romances since you are inside both heads and just want them to speak up 😂 We also get some good holiday steamy moments and not at 95% through the book, so I always love that! I didn’t read book one so I actually found Marie and Leo annoying 😂 but I love Dani and Max and the relationship they grow in this book! I love when characters don’t jump to “lovers” and become friends first! It’s a great holiday read!

Thank you to Avon books for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

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

I struggled with this some, especially in the first half. I didn't really connect with our characters and the slow burn felt too slow sometimes. I'm all for that long and angsty romance but this one was just... beleaguering. I had a hard time with Dani in particular, and she's the type that I don't know that I would be friends with in real life. I don't really have a lot of patience for women that immature love decisions.

The end was pretty abrupt, especially after such a long lead up and some of the happenings there at the finish were.... unnecessary.

All in all, this was a fun and easy friends to lovers romance.

Duke, Actually is a cute holiday romance. Jenny Holiday's writing is so easy to read and heartwarming. You definitely have to read during the holiday season.

Dani is a smart and sassy woman who is done with love. She is going through a divorce and has done away with falling in love again because of her cheating ex. So, that means she only has time for two things; working as a professor and snuggling with her dog Max. But her plans take a turn when Maximillian von Hansburg, Baron of Laudon, knocks on her door.

Max is a playboy. He is charming, witty, and almost a duke. He is the heir to Duke of Aquilla so is facing pressure to get married and start a family of his own. He doesn't want that at least not with someone he doesn't love. So, when he is in New York to meet a wife prospect, he decides to bail and go see Dani.

Dani and Max have such a love-hate relationship. I think that is mostly because Dani is attracted to him and knows that their chemistry could lead to something more which means the potential to get her heart broken again. I really enjoyed their banter and hilarious text messages. They do have some fantastic chemistry and readers will pick up on it pretty quickly.

I give Duke, Actually 4 stars. It is a wonderful holiday read filled with romance and humor. There are so many great moments in the book that left a smile on my face. Dani, Max, and Max the dog will steal your heart.