Last Duke Standing is an entertaining read perfect for a bit of escapism on a cold, dreary weekend. The story has a certain charm about it, and I really liked how Justine and William play off each other as their feelings slowly grow. This is a slow burn romance, which isn't unusual for the setting. The middle could have done with a little better pacing, but that's really the only drawback I found in the book. The characters are engaging, the couple is adorable and well suited once they figure out what they've found in each other, and I found myself smiling several times as I fell into the story. This is the first in Julia London's A Royal Match series, and I'll be interested to see what's next.

This was a sweet slow historical fiction romance. The characters were relatable and the plot was something new to me as this time it include a Princess who is mostly misunderstood and she's send to Queen Victoria to learn Royalty life and then put under the watchful eye of William as she is now needing a good eligibility husband. But the more these two spend time together, the more feeling start to grow.

Another hit from Julia London. Last Duke Standing was an enjoyable read with hunour, heart, and just enough heat to keep things interesting. I enjoyed the tender doubtful moments of vulnerability alongside the characterization of a capablee, strong female leader.

Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria is sent to England to learn the ropes of royalty, and to find a proper husband before her father dies and she becomes queen. It is not easy to find someone to fit that bill. The Weslorian prime minister is tasked to ensure the princess is matched with a man of quality, as well as someone who agrees with his views. He requests that William, Lord Douglas, the heir to the Duke of Hamilton seat in Scotland, acts as her escort. He has some scandal in his background, so it not husband material. Meanwhile, Justine's mother has hired a matchmaker to find Justine a husband. William seems to know everyone as well as all their secrets and scandals and while protecting Justine from these unsuitable men, he finds himself falling in love with her.

This was a well-written, fun Victorian romance. I really enjoyed the interactions between Justine and William. She tried so hard to be the haughty Crown Princess and give William a hard time, but it just didn't work. He is a bit arrogant and was not going to take anything from her, in fact, he gave as good as she did. As they became friends, I loved their witty banter and humorous conversation. I wasn't impressed with her sister, who was spoiled and impulsive, but Justine was able to keep her in check. The secondary characters including the possible matches and Lila, the matchmaker were also interesting. I loved watching Justine and William fall for each other, as well as how they fought against it. Some of her engagements were hilarious and entertaining. The scandal in William's past plays a role in the story and I enjoyed seeing that situation play out. Last Duke Standing is filled with humor, witty banter, sweet love scenes, great characters, both main and secondary, scandals, some heartache, and a truly heartwarming ending. A fun romance that will have me looking for the next book in "A Royal Match" series.

Justine will soon be Queen of her small country due to her father's illness. She is sent to London for some tutoring by the Queen, and hopefully find a husband. Justine struggles with certain duties that are required of her, but is determined to learn. William Douglas pays a debt and arrives to be her escort as well as report what is happening. A matchmaker arrives and promptly sets up meetings for Justine. William quickly becomes a respite from these suitors and their friendship grows. Little do they know the matchmaker sees their chemistry and begins to introduce her to duds. A great start to a new series with interesting secondary characters.

Their last meeting ended in mutual exasperation and annoyance.

Justine is the heir to the throne. She’s taken all her father’s advice to heart. She can orchestrate everything from a political coup to a battle siege to an export contract. But her calm and her competency haven’t convinced her parents that she will be ready to assume her role when the time comes.

William is the linchpin keeping his family from the brink of financial disaster. All of society is certain he is nothing more than an irresponsible rake and spendthrift. He’s not irresponsible – he’s anything but irresponsible. However, keeping his father’s extravagance in check this time will require a feat of extraordinary skill.

Enter the matchmaker. The matchmaker who has already determined that they are the perfect couple. She just needs to force them to realize it.

I loved watching Justine and William fight their own inevitability.

I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of the title in exchange for an honest review,

I did like the character of William Douglas, Marquess of Hamilton. He did have a reputation even though he had changed his ways. William had his hands full trying to contain his family’s excesses. Princess Justine had a restricted life and high standards were expected of her. She was in England to find a suitor. William has been coerced into helping her find someone suitable. I loved the mayhem that was Beck’s family. There is also the question of a scandal hanging over William and will Justine eventually finds someone to suit. This was an enjoyable read, although I did find the pace a little slow at times. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Shelby – ☆☆☆☆☆
Due to her father’s illness, Princess Justine is soon to be crowned Queen of Wesloria. [I must say, I appreciate that she is able to become a ruling queen – not just a woman in need of a man to be king, not that she is just a commodity to tie a man to the ruling of this nation.] Of course, she is saddened by the expected passing of her father, but she's also nervous about filling his shoes. She's not good with public speaking, and truly dislikes being the center of attention. Justine has been embroiled in a bit of a scandal, and in an attempt to quash these rumors and to gain favor with her subjects, it has been decided by her mother (the Queen) and her advisor, that Justine needs to find a husband.

To prepare Justine to take the throne, it's been agreed that an apprenticeship with Queen Victoria in London would be advantageous. This will also give Lila Aleksander, aka the matchmaker to the stars (royalty), time to work!

This story was cute and sweet. It was light-hearted, yet meaningful. I really liked Justine and her quirkiness, I found myself sympathizing with her often. How does a person live their life constantly in the spotlight? How can she trust anybody when she's just a means to an end?

William Douglas was refreshing, carefree, and likeable. He is "normal" and down to earth and lacking the airs so many people put on. I liked him immediately!

I enjoyed this story; it was the perfect mix of serious and humorous. The slow burn was believable and fitting. I truly enjoyed this and I'm not a traditional historical romance reader, but it didn't feel stuffy or pretentious and I found myself falling into it quickly.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first in a new series, finding it entertaining and funny, as well as sweet. The characters were pretty personable, especially the two main characters, Justine and Douglas.

This was a lighthearted historical romance about a princess sent to England to find herself a husband prior to becoming queen. Both main characters have something to overcome, but do so with humor. Can’t wait to see what the next installment brings.

As her father is ailing, Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria will soon be queen. She is in training with Queen Victoria. One thing on her agenda is that she must find a husband, one who will be Crown Prince. However, at the age of five and twenty, she has had no real prospects. Her future husband is sure to be hand-picked, so her prime minister comes up with a plan.

There are two plans in play actually. For starters, William, Lord Douglas, has been assigned as her escort, and hopefully will be a guide as to her choice for a husband. Also, she now has a matchmaker, a woman who has proven quite skilled at bringing the right couples together.

Sophie was a true delight in this lovely story. Also, her sister Amelia was quite a joy. Since Sophie and William knew one another previously, this is sort of a hate-to-love story. What made things fun for this couple is that their likelihood of getting together seemed impossible, but the journey was quite enjoyable.

There is something super special about Justine that comes up later in the story, and I applaud Julia London for giving Justine this extra "thing" as she struggled to settle into her upcoming role as Queen, all while striving to find the right man to marry.

With relatable characters, a lovely story with a slow burn romance and a happy ending, Last Duke Standing was a fabulous first book in the Royal Match series. The second book in the series, The Duke Not Taken, is set for releasse in September. Perhaps Amelia will get her happy ending.

Many thanks to HQN Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria is sent to England to learn the ropes of royalty under the tutelage Queen Victoria. She also needs husband, a man of quality for the future queen of Wesloria.
William, Lord Douglas is her escort in these endeavors. He has been recruited to keep an eye on her for the Weslorian prime minister to ensure the princess is matched with a man of quality and one sympathetic to the prime minister’s views.
William and Justine are forced to review an endless parade of England’s best bachelors. The crowd of potential grooms is dwindling and not one has been found suitable. What’s a future queen to do?

Well written with likeable characters. It keeps you intrigued until the end.

The book was slow going at first, but that is to be expected when a new series is being introduced. Once all of the players are in place the fun begins. Crown Princess Julia of Wesloria is expected to take over ruling her country after her father’s expected passing so her parents decide to have her learn the ways of the royal from none other than Queen Victoria. They also decide to enlist a matchmaker in order to have her matched with a man of distinction before she inherits the throne. The prime minister of Wesloria has installed a spy, William, Lord Douglas who Julia has a past with, albeit not a happy past. The matchmaker sees subtle sparks between William and Julia so she continues to match Julia with unsuitable men. Over time William and Julia become friends while Julia runs through the marriage market and subsequently dismisses all of the potential suitors until only one man is left standing…William. Their journey was very enjoyable to read and it was refreshing to follow their relationship from untrusting nemeses to a match fit to rule Wesloria.

I'm not sure Julia London has ever written a book that failed to hold my interest as I watched two characters fall in love. This book is no exception to that rule. It's the first in a new series - A Royal Match. An idea that I just love because what could go wrong with a bit of matchmaking right? This series shares secondary characters and takes place a bit after her Royal Wedding Series.

In this book we have Justine, the Crown Princess of Westloria, though young, she's poised to take over the enormous duty of leading her country as her father's health declines. But due to the males filling the royal cabinet, they feel she needs a consort to manage the affairs of state. This leads her to London for tutelage under none other than Queen Victoria - such an interesting addition! She learns to be Queen as well as searching for someone capable of being her Royal Consort. Someone capable but fully understanding that they are not the leader of the people. A hard task for anyone.

Thankfully Lord William Douglas, Marquess, Heir to a Dukedom, is here to help.... Reluctantly. While he's pleasantly surprised to find that the Crown Princess has become a grown and beautiful woman, he still was forced into the role of advisor and watch dog by the slimy Prime Minister of Westloria. The man's interests lie in finding a biddable man willing to lend a sympathetic ear to him over the Princess.

Over the course of the book, we watch as William and Justine discover each other and where their morals lie. They are both entertaining characters who join in some very witty banter and show off their competitive side. I really enjoyed these two and the backdrop. This is one I can see reading a few times a year, it was excellent as Julia London's books are!

My opinion is my own and freely given.

This story starts off slow but then gains momentum and has a fantastic, humorous and drama filled ending. I didn’t have an instant connection with either our hero or heroine but as their characters started to mature and their tentative friendship developed into more I started to like them more and more. I think the premise was a good one and mostly worked but I didn’t like the distraction of giving side characters perspectives when it wasn’t necessary. For me the book would have been a lot stronger if we had just focused on Justine and William and not random interjections from other people. I did enjoy Lila, the matchmaker, but I also didn’t find her perspective to bring anything to the story other than to reinforce what we could already see about William and Justine falling for each other. However, Justine and William’s romance is what this book is about and it is a sweet one. I love the banter between them and how they learned to trust each other with past hurts and eventually with their hearts. There were a couple of threads of where this story could go in the future and I’m looking forward to the next book where we get Justine’s free spirited sisters’ romance.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Last Duke Standing is the first book in a new series, A Royal Match by Julia London. It is related to her previous series, The Royal Wedding, as it is set in the same world and shares secondary characters with the first series but takes place later in time. Crown Princess Justine of Westloria has been sent to London to find a match, her father is dying, and the men in her government are not open to her ruling as queen without a suitable consort. Therein lies the conundrum. She needs a partner who is confident enough in himself to understand that she is the queen, and he the consort but still strong enough to support her without trying to rule himself. Lord William Douglas, Marquess of Hamilton and Clydesdale, heir to the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, has spent the last few years trying to repair the damage to his family's fortunes caused by his father, so he is understandably annoyed when he's coerced into reporting back to the prime minister of Westloria the progress of Justine's matchmaking adventures. He soon discovers that the obnoxious teen princess has grown into a woman who may just steal his heart.
Delightful banter, strong supporting characters, and a couple whose HEA will have you cheering are the hallmarks of a Julia London novel, and this story is no exception. I enjoyed reading it very much and do recommend it highly. Steam Level: light side of medium. Publishing Date: February 2, 2022. #LastDukeStanding #JuliaLondon #HQN #HarlequinRomance #HistoricalRomance #RoyalRomance #HistoricalRomanceReader #bookstagram #bookstagrammer

Fun start to a new series. What girl doesn’t dream about being a Princess and future Queen. Justine knows, because she lives it. Now she is being tasked to become more of a lady and find a husband. Who better to help with this than Queen Victoria herself? Can you imagine being tutored by Queen Victoria on how to be a lady? If only the pages could tell us what really happened. London did well with pairing up Justine with William the rake. I was looking forward to what fun and struggles these two would have matching her with her future husband. Very enjoyable!

Deliciously sweet royal romance

Justine is the heir to her father's throne, and it looks like his ailing health is going to require her to step up sooner than she'd expected. Still reeling from trusting the wrong man and igniting a minor scandal, she is advised to tread very carefully in selecting her future husband - a selection she needs to make before she ascends to the throne. Set in Queen Victoria's time, she heads to London to see if a suitable husband can be found among the British nobility.

William is just enough of a rake to be considered entirely unsuitable for the Weslorian princess, but he's a true gentleman nonetheless and I adored his innate sense of honor. He's asked by the Weslorian prime minister to help Justine find a husband that will work as a conduit so the prime minister can expand his control and influence once the princess becomes the queen. Because this is a royal romance, naturally William and Justine start to get very close despite the inappropriateness of any future romance for them.

Just when you think things are going to work out after all, another scandal rears its tawdry head and William and Justine, along with a few of their trusted friends, hatch a plan to bring the truth to light, thus killing the scandal in its tracks. I loved this particular part of the storyline, as it gives us a double dose of romanticism with a separate but equally swoon-worthy HEA.

This is my first book by this author, and I was delightfully impressed with the writing style and the vivid characterizations. The story hit all the right notes and kept me captivated from start to finish. Justine and William's HEA was everything a royal fan could hope for. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Welcome back to the royals of Westloria. This book sort of piggybacks on the previous Royal Wedding series. This time it's Princess Justina's turn to find a spouse to be her consort, as her father is dying and she will be Queen very soon, and it's believed she cannot be a strong leader without a man by her side. So she's sent to London to find the right person -- one who is willing to do what the Prime Minister wants. Meanwhile, William, Lord Douglas, future Duke of Hamilton, is forced into being her unwilling keeper while she's in London, due to a debt owed by his father to the nasty Westlorian Prime Minister. William has better things to do with his time beside babysitting who he believes is a spoiled brat, but as they spend more time together they discover they have more in common than previously thought, and Justine is not a spoiled brat; her sister takes that spot! There's also a matchmaker, Lady Aleksander, and a lady-in-waiting who is charged with reporting back to the Prime Minister and Justine's mother. Justine learns to rely on William's honesty about the men that the matchmaker provides, and also figures out that William is exactly who she wants.

The story started out a bit slow and wordy, but watching these two work together was fun. I'm looking forward too the next book in the series.

First off, I really enjoyed reading this latest book by one of my favorite authors. Ms London has a flair in writing such a fantastic book. The funny and witty dialog between the main characters had me at first page. The characters were fully developed with thoughts and feelings of their own.
You meet one hot dude who doesn't want to be in charge of one Princess with a chip on her shoulder. William, Lord Douglas who is heir to the Duke of Hamilton in Scotland. He doesn't want to chaperone one handful of a Princess, but Queen Victoria requests his service (order).
Princess Justine of Wesloria is in London to learn the ropes per se about being a Queen. Although her Mother has a spy to make sure that Justine acts a lady and doesn't get into trouble.
The royal matchmaker is in charge in getting the Princess married to the right man, but William isn't impressed with choices.
But one thing happens to two people who start as friends and their relationship changes to love.
As the fates allow, William and Justine find out that their love is the grand passion is one of a kind.
I can't help but root for them to have a happy ever after.
I appreciate Net Galley for this ARC title in which I gave an honest review.

This is the first in a new series that piggy back's off the 'A Royal Wedding' series. In this first book, we are introduced to Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria. Due to her father's illness, she will inherit sooner than anyone expected, so to give her some 'polish' she is sent to England to learn how to rule from Queen Victoria. An additional reason for her to be in England is to find her a husband since the Weslorian leaders think she will not be taken seriously without a man standing beside her...... And in one person's mind, the perfect consort is one who will be biddable, and steer Princess Justine in the direction they want - a plot line that doesn't really come to anything, but is there nonetheless.

William, Lord Douglas, is cajoled into being Justine's keeper due to his father being in debt to the Weslorian Prime Minister. William has other issues weighing on his mind, and doesn't have the time to deal with a spoiled Royal, but as they start spending more time together it's clear they're becoming friends. And naturally, that leads to thoughts of romance between them.

The book is fun, with witty banter, and interesting side characters. There's not a lot of angst, and the heat is relatively mild, but the story is good and moves along well. I enjoyed it very much, and look forward to the next in the series.