A royal romance that is no Cinderella story

Finely drawn characters, a bit of snarky conversation and a delightful matchmaker are the key ingredients for success Julia London’s new title, LAST DUKE STANDING.

Crown Princess Justine has always known she must be queen of Wesloria one day. She has been groomed for the role, but some of the duties literally make her sick. She is sent to England to learn from Queen Victoria — and to find a husband.

The typical machinations of court are included, which means that William, Lord Douglas, will be her escort. The two met years ago when Justine was a teen and a bit of a brat. These two pick up where they left off with animosity run amok.

London does a beautiful job showing us where Justine is nervous about her role and how her response to that brings out the snark. Williams has his own secret shames that affect his life, too.

When our delightful matchmaker arrives — hired by Justine’s mother — our plot takes off and it’s a rousing ride to the final HEA for our couple.

LAST DUKE STANDING is Book 1 of London’s new A Royal Match series. This new series takes place in the same universe as her earlier A Royal Wedding series, but those books are not necessary to enjoy this book.

In Julia London’s THE LAST DUKE STANDING Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria travels to England to learn how to be royal from Queen Victoria herself. Justine is also looking for a husband. In this she is aided by William, Lord Douglas, the Duke of Hamilton. He knows everyone and can steer Justine through the treacherous waters of the ton.
At first the two butt heads, but after several suitors fail to meet Justine’s standards, she rethinks Lord Douglas as a possible husband. The odds are against them. He is a peer but not a royal. And will he make for a good royal husband? Justine and Westloria must decide.
This is not one of Julia London's best. If you are a diehard fan, you'll probably enjoy the book.

This is the first in a new series (A Royal Match). It takes place in the same world as the Royal Wedding series.

I am hoping, given the title of the series, that the matchmaker, Lila, will be in each of the books. She was a delight and I am looking forward to seeing more of her. Justine is Her Royal Highness, the Crown Princess of Wesloria destined to be Queen. Her father is ill and its imperative that she find a husband. She is sent to London with her younger sister, Princess Amelia, some chaperones, and the matchmaker. Lord William Douglas is coerced into spending time with Justine as a favor to his father. While he is unenthused, he is committed to carry out his agreement.

Neither Justine nor William expect the connection and sparks to fly between them. This was a wonderful slow burn enemies to lovers romance with lots of banter and unspoken connection. I enjoyed the budding romance, the matchmaker, and all the characters. I'm looking forward to seeing who will be matched next.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Justine and William's story. The bantering between these two had me laughing out loud! I just loved these two together!!

This book was silly and sweet., I enjoyed every minute of it, and I think it is a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

That was an excellent story with crazy quirky characters. Throw in some fun banter, bits of funny confusion, a touch of angst and you have the kind of romance that makes you cheering for William and Justine the whole way. I loved having characters introduced in previous books. It really connected the story and added full body to the story. William and Justine's enemy to lovers dynamic was a non-stop laugh and a very sweet romance. Truly great story. I look forward to more from this series.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a wonderful story. This was a great book from start to finish. Princess Justine and William’s story was wonderful. I loved the matchmaker and the previous characters within the series who added a certain amount of levity to the storyline. This was a fantastic book!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Julia London is back with an irresistible historical romance that is sparkling, scintillating and scandalous: Last Duke Standing.

Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria has been sent to England to learn all there is to know about being royal from Queen Victoria herself. However, Justine has other things on her mind while in England – mainly matrimony! Determined to find a suitable husband, only the best will do for the Crown Princess of Westloria. Justine must find a bridegroom who is noble, earnest and honorable – and William, Lord Douglas, possesses none of the qualities she is looking for!

William is as far removed from suitable husband material as it is possible to get. A man who knows absolutely everybody, William has been asked by the Weslorian prime minister to act as an escort to Justine and to ensure that she marries a man who is worthy of being by the Crown Princess’ side as her husband. William is not going to let just anybody turn Justine’s head – which is just as well as the more time he spends in her company, the more he finds himself attracted to her.

A match between the two of them is out of the question, but as the two of them begin narrowing down the list of potential grooms, will William be the last bachelor standing? Will Justine end up having to choose familial duty over her heart’s desire? Or will the Crown Princess live happily ever after with her Prince Charming?

Julia London is at her dazzling best with Last Duke Standing. Immensely funny, highly engaging and wonderfully romantic, Last Duke Standing is a delightful tale sprinkled with royal intrigue, rib-tickling humor, illicit desire and forbidden passion, I couldn’t stop myself from devouring in one sitting.

Justine and William are absolutely terrific. Their banter sizzles and sparkles, their courtship is engaging and heart-warming and their love affair will melt every single reader’s heart.

Witty, warm-hearted and a joy from beginning to end, Julia London knocks it out of the park with her fabulous new historical romance, Last Duke Standing.

Last Duke Standing is Julia London’s new series starter for her Royal Matchmaker series. 

This was a fun read and the series has so much potential! All the excitement of matchmaking for difficult matches and the drama of royal intrigue!! 

MatchmakerLady Aleksander fairy godmother personality, comedy and sneaky methods were a great catalyst for for romance and I can’t wait to see what she gets up to with future clients!

As for the match in this book we have the future Queen of Wesloria, Justine sent to England to get queenly tutelage from Queen Victoria and find a consort to strengthen her rule… and Lord Douglas planted in her court by the Weslorian Prime Minister to play escort and keep an eye on her!

These two have a history and sparking chemistry! I adored seeing them fall in love by way of friendship!

Last Duke Standing by Julia London was released February 22nd, 2022.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Harlequin Publicity Team through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#LastDukeStanding #JuliaLondon #Netgalley #pinkcowlandreads

What a cute, fun, flirty story. This will be an excellent companion for those who loved Bridgerton. Julia London did a fantastic job with this book.

Last Duke Standing by Julia London is a wonderful start for A Royal Match Series! In this book, we meet Princess Justine of Wesloriaas she is learning her duties for when she is Queen. It is decided by others that she must be wed soon since her father the King is gravely I’ll. She is sent to America to find a suitable match. Lord William, the Marquess, has spent his life trying to save his family fortune and has been forced to spend time with Justine to update Weslorias Prime Minister about Justine’s activities and suitors. They had met previously years ago and taken a dislike to each other.
The writing is so well done in this story as we read of the pressure that Justine is under as a future Queen along with the loneliness she feels in not knowing who she can trust or confide in. William is under pressure too as he deals with his family and a possible scandal . Honestly, this book gave me the feels so much. I truly felt what the main characters were feeling and was brought to tears a few times. The story along with fabulous secondary characters, is not to be missed! Read this book and enjoy all the emotions! Loved it!

Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria is sent to England by her parents to find a husband. Her father is ill, and Justine must prepare to take the throne at any time. When she arrives, she meets William, Lord Douglas the heir to the Duke of Hamilton, who has secretly promised to keep an eye on the Princess for the Weslorian Prime Minister. When William deems himself her escort and advisor on all the eligible bachelors the infamous matchmaker has lined up, things soon start to get out of hand. As Justine and William start to spend more time together and their feelings are headed to becoming more than just friends, what will happen when the clock starts ticking for Justine to choose a husband?
I am such a huge fan of Julia London and I was so excited to see a new series begin with this first book in the A Royal Match collection. I was also delighted to see some familiar characters from A Royal Wedding series make appearances in the novel. I love Julia’s writing style with her gift of writing such cheeky, sassy strong females. The humour with the antics of Justine and William kept me engaged throughout the story. Although I do not normally read historical romance, Ms. London had me surprised, delighted and hooked with her first series, so friends, pick up this novel and be enchanted. I am so grateful to Harlequin Publishing, Julia London and Netgalley for my advanced readers copy which I read and reviewed voluntarily. A five star plus read!

What a delightful read! Princess Justine has been sent to find a mate, she is to be queen after her father's death. Justine is not your ordinary princess, she isn't one to sit and look pretty she wants to be strong like her ancestors, as her passion for fencing shows. William is asked to key an eye on the princess as she chooses from the candidates, but he finds it's not an easy task. with witty banter and challenges the sparks fly between Justine and William as suitors are presented. Quirky characters and fun situations make this a fun read.

LAST DUKE STANDING (A Royal Match Book #1) by Julia London is a charming enemies-to-lovers historical romance story start to a new series. I look forward to historical romances by Julia London for the witty dialogue and endearing characters and this one did not disappoint.

Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria is sent to England with her younger sister to find a suitable husband before her sick father, the king, dies. Justine not only has to put up with a matchmaker, she believes is incompetent, and servants always reporting back to her mother the Queen, but a gentleman from her past she is not happy to see again shows up to be an escort of sorts.

William, Lord Douglas has been recruited to spy on the Crown Princess and her prospects by the Prime Minister of Wesloria to make sure her new Prince Consort will be sympathetic to his views. William met Justine eight years previously, but the Justine he is sent to escort is a woman now and the more he discovers about her, the more intrigued he becomes. As their friendship grows, so do the faults of Justine’s suitors.

When it appears William may be the perfect match and the last bachelor standing, a scandal from his past may ruin any chance for a Happily Ever After match.

This is a fun and entertaining read with delightful banter between William and Justine and an entertaining plot that has a great twist at the end. William is an endearing hero throughout. Justine was a little more difficult to warm up to until you realize how her whole life has been manipulated and one small mistake in judgement as a young girl has led to constant supervision. All the secondary characters were fully fleshed, and I will be looking forward to meeting some in future books in the series.

I enjoyed this historical romance and I will be looking forward to reading more in this new series.

Princess Justine of Wesloria is destined to be Queen. Her mother's constant criticism and the Prime Minister's political machinations have made her life difficult. The King is dying and now it's imperative that she marry. The search begins for the perfect groom. Justine is being sent to England to find her consort. Will she also find her true love? I was drawn to Justine. She's an intriguing character. I hated that she was made to feel lacking. I realized that her royal status didn't allow her the freedom to be herself. I wanted her to realize she is strong. William Douglas of Scotland and Princess Justine had met before. Unfortunately it was a disaster. Now William is tasked with keeping an eye on the Princess. Their first meeting is as adversaries, but I felt their attraction. I loved seeing their relationship change. I was enchanted by their romance. The dialogue sparkled and sizzled. I was pulled into the story and couldn't put this book down. When the matchmaker arrived, I had to laugh. She had her work cut out for her. Justine won't give in easily. I knew the course of true love wouldn't be smooth, but I didn't realize how difficult it would be. I wasn't sure that Justine and Douglas would get their HEA. Julia London has written a wonderful romance. Last Duke Standing has it all. There are interesting characters, sparking dialogue with a touch of humor as well as family drama. Now I want impetuous Amelia to find her perfect mate.
I received a copy of this book which I voluntarily read and reviewed. My comments are my honest opinion.

Princess Justine will one day be queen of Wesloria, and is currently being tutored in queenly decorum by Queen Victoria herself. She's also introduced to Lord Douglas, rake and Duke heir, who knows everyone worth knowing. He's meant to help her find a suitable husband that can get along with the Prime Minister. The two are friends, but is he really inappropriate for her?

If Wesloria sounds familiar, that's because it's the kingdom mentioned in Julia London's other books. The Royal Wedding series focused on Alucia, which was next door to Wesloria, so we do get some mentions of characters from that series. It's not necessary to have read that series, as this one takes place quite some time later, but it was still kind of fun to see the names of those heroines dropped at one point, and to see Beck happily married with four daughters and a fifth child on the way.

With King Maksim dying of consumption in 1844, his oldest daughter Justine is the crown princess. The paternalistic country, for all that they had warrior queens in their past, would still feel comfortable if Justine were married to a strong man to be prince consort beside her, especially since her first love as a teen had deliberately tried to manipulate her. This means she must be married before her father's death, and he's given less than a year to live. Her Prime Minister doesn't trust her to find herself a proper husband of England's elite and enlists help to ensure his own interests are met. Even Queen Victoria is called upon to "teach" Justine how to be a young queen, though she's terribly self-absorbed. I'm not a historian of the period so I don't know if that's accurate, but it's still terribly sad how isolating the tea and meetings leave Justine at the end.

While we start out with something of an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story, the matchmaker Justine's mother enlists for further help puts forth one terrible choice after another once she realizes that Justine and William love each other, though the second prince was perfectly nice and sweet, and would have been a great friend to either of them. Hopefully, he gets his own book someday! Being a Duke means that William is everywhere that Justine needs to be in order to be seen, even if public places inspire terrible anxiety for her. She's also nearsighted, which to some extent worsens her anxiety on several occasions. It's sad how much her appearance and station dictate who she needs to be and who she must spend time with, but at least she and William are able to be friends first and find they're able to suit. It's a kind of ridiculous plan that gets the two of them together when William isn't deemed appropriate due to rumors, but it's a romance novel, and we get our happily ever after for everyone involved.

🎧︎Last Duke Standing by Julia London is the first book in the Royal Match series. It's been a while since I read a historical romance, but I looked forward to immersing myself between the pages of 🎧︎Last Duke Standing.

The king of Wesloria is ailing and not likely to recover. This means that Crown princess Justine Ivanosen will soon become queen. However, her mother, the prime minister, advisers and other ministers believes she is not ready for the throne. To prepare her for the next journey of her life, she was sent to London to train at the feet of Queen Victoria. While there, it was expected she would find a suitable match for a Prince consort.

Because of her age, twenty- five, finding a husband wouldn’t be easy and so the services of Lila Aleksander, renowned match maker was enlisted. The prime minister, unbeknownst to Justine, persuaded the Scottish Duke of Hamilton to have his son and heir Lord William Douglas to serve as her escort around London. While ensuring the matchmaker made the perfect choice. William, however, was not keen on the task as his encounter with Crown princess eight years ago left him with a poor taste.

Favourite Aspects

1. The Narration: Justin Hill narrated, and he did an excellent job. He impressed me with the way he distinctively captured the voices of all the characters, accents and all. He breathed life into the story, which made for a pleasant listen.

2. The witty and snarky banter between the protagonists had me chuckling a few times.

3. The progression of Justine and William's relationship. They barely tolerated each other in the initial stages. However, throughout the progression of the story they became friends. It took them awhile to recognise that their feelings for each other went beyond friendship.

4.Justine may have been the Crown princess Wesloria, but she was down to earth.  She did not have a pretentious bone in her body.  She has the citizens of Wesloria interests at heart, but her fears and insecurities presented a stumbling block to her ascension to the throne. Justine made her share of mistakes along the way, which she readily acknowledged.  She grew throughout the story and by the end she became a force of nature.

5. William was such a delightful character. He may not have been on the list of potential candidates as a match for the princess, but he turned out to be the perfect match. However, an alleged scandal from his past threatened to destroy his honour and integrity along with his quest for happiness. I found his attempts to discourage the matches recommended by the matchmaker entertaining.

6. I love the humour sprinkled throughout the story. The funniest parts for me involved the many suitors of the princess.


Least Favourite Aspects

1. Justine's sister, princess Amelia annoying and immature behaviour grated on my nerves. A spoilt and entitled brat who used every opportunity to show up her sister. It didn't help that their mother kept putting Justine down.

2.  It took me awhile to get into the story and to warm up to the characters. Also, the pacing was fine until midway into the story.


Conclusion

🎧︎Last Duke Standing delivered a slow burn romance with a happily ever after. Perfect for fans of regency romance.

I have heard of Julia London before and have seen her books on bookshelves before but have actually never read one of them. So when a request for a review of her newest book came across my email, I jumped at the chance to read it. I couldn’t wait to read it and was excited to dive in.

This book was so good. I read some nights until I literally smacked myself in the face with my Kindle. I didn’t want it to end. That was my only gripe about the book. My only gripe about the book was that I didn’t get enough of an epilogue. I wanted more. The one month later that was given to me wasn’t nearly enough. I fell in love with these characters, I didn’t want this book to end.

Throughout the book, I really liked how these two main characters developed. They learned new things about themselves that they didn’t realize. Justine realized that she was worth it and was amazing and she also realized what she wanted in a partner. William learned that he wasn’t what everyone thought he was and that he was capable of love. The banter that these two have back and forth is hilarious. I found myself laughing on more than one occasion and I looked forward to seeing what would happen next with them. I did find the sister a bit tedious and her storyline was just added in as filler. However, I see the next book in this series is all about her and I can’t wait to read it and find out more about her. I thought that the whole matchmaking process that Lila did was a bit ridiculous. The men that she paraded past Justine were just annoying. All of that so she could prove that William was the one for her. I can’t wait to read more books by this author and will be keeping an eye out for the next book in the series!

I enjoyed Last Duke Standing quite a bit! Justine, Princess of Wesloria, and William, Lord Douglas, have so much fun banter between them. I loved watching their relationship grow as they recognized their feelings for each other, and how they took action to make it work in the end.

Justine is in need of a husband, quite soon as her father is not doing well, so she is sent off to England to have tutelage under Queen Victoria as well as work with Lila Aleksander, matchmaker extraordinaire. I loved everything about Lila, including her unconventional matchmaking techniques. She really knows her stuff!

There were times where it was a bit slow, but that was mostly in the beginning as you get to know everyone and what's going on. By the second half things really picked up and it was hard to put down.

Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria going to be Queen sooner than she would like because her father is dying. Unfortunately, he’s the only one who believes in her, as her mother and the Prime Minister believe she is incapable of ruling the country successfully. So, they devise a plan that Justine is supposed to fall in line with: go to London with her sister and find a husband who will advise her (and be agreeable to the Prime Minister’s ideas). In order to accomplish this, a Royal Matchmaker is hired to find the perfect match, and the Prime Minister and her mother surround her with those that will report her every move back to them, including the son of a Duke who is an acquaintance of the Prime Minister's.
William has spent a good portion of his adult life bailing his father out of financial scrapes, but babysitting a princess is the last thing he wants to do, especially one that he has not-so-fond memories of. Of course, Justine isn’t thrilled to have him around her, either. Unsurprisingly, an honest friendship sprouts between the two, as William escorts her about town, seeing her for who she is, and understanding her better than anyone. Justine grows trust him, and when the Royal Matchmaker arrives, she has her list, but realizes that Justine may have already found her match.
Julia London’s LAST DUKE STANDING is the first book in her new A ROYAL MATCH series. With fun characters, laugh out loud situations, and a sweet, engaging story, London’s start to the new series left me smiling and wondering who will be the next to be matched.
Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the book. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#LastDukeStanding #ARoyalMatch #JuliaLondon #HQNBooks