Designing His Duchess by Gabrielle Carr

Julianna must marry by the end of the season as her uncle will no longer support her. Colin was the only man Juliana ever loved but he jilted her 4 years ago. As a second son his father threatened to disinherit him if he eloped . He is now the Duke as his father and brother are now dead and he still loves Juliana.

A really lovely second chance romance between Juliana Drake and Colin Duke of Herstshire.

It is well written and enjoyable reading how Colin has to regain favour after treating Juliana so badly in the past .

An easy beautiful book to read on a lazy afternoon.

Miss Juliana Drake has few options left to her. Ultimately, her uncle requires her to marry. The only solution seems to be that she accept Colin, the Duke of Herstshire’s offer to help her in finding a husband. Yet Juliana is uncertain that she can spend any time with Colin, the man who proposed marriage and left her waiting, believing that they would elope.
A sweet novella brings together a couple who were destined to be together but found their families kept them apart. Whilst the novel was well paced, I did wish that this book could have been drawn out more. It would have been wonderful to read about their prior history, before reading of their second chance at love. However, I do look forward to reading more by this author, as her style of writing is easy to read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Juliana needs to marry this season as her uncle will no longer provide for her. Colin has is no longer a second son, but is now the Duke. He is also the only man she’s ever loved. He agrees to help her find a match to make up for abandoning her all those years ago but he still loves her. Can these two find their way back to each other, or will they be blinded by the pains of the past?
This is a light story of unfulfilled love. Both are still in love with each other, but are blinded by their own insecurities and regrets. I found it a quick read with some light humour, plenty of love and a beautiful happy ever after!

This is such a delightfully sweet and charming romance. I was gently swept away in Gabrielle Carr's second chance romance. This is the first novel/novella that I have read by Gabrielle Carr, and I found her writing to be lovely and easily enjoyable. This novella is well paced and swiftly brings the reader into the world and up to speed on the characters. I found this novella to be a wonderfully introduction to Carr's writing style and I am definitely intrigued to discover more by her.

Carr builds this romance between two people in their present day, without spending time on how they first fell in love. Rather the reader must relay on how the characters feel and present themselves toward each other in understanding how they still feel and what broke them up in the first place. I find the over all concept to this series to be wonderfully inclusive and I love that this series and publisher is providing readers with authors of color who write historical romances. Carr's edition to this series is low angst and really about two people coming back together, learning to forgive for childish mistakes, and understanding the importance of moving forward with someone you love and trust to provide you with the life you want. This novella has a light bit of steam that is perfect for the length and the chemistry that the characters building throughout the story.

Definitely check this novella out if you are looking to discover a new author or if you already love this one. This will definitely not be the last novel I read from Gabrielle Carr and I am looking forward to exploring other novels in this series and by this publisher!

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

FINALLY! A book with characters with characters that are realistic, in mind and appearance. 5⭐

This was great! A bite-sized second chance interracial romance with a Black Hard of Hearing heroine and a rakish layabout hero. There were a ton of action and emotions packed into this little novella, and I absolutely recommend it.

I'm excited to keep my eye out for more Regency in Color novellas/anthologies in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Brown Lady Publishing for the ARC.

Facing a choice of either being penniless or getting married, shy painter Juliana Drake applies herself to finding a husband. Colin is the newly minted Duke of Herstshire who is coping with the horrors of his time in the army with excessive drinking. When they meet again four years after Colin broke Juliana’s heart, he offers to give her lessons on how to attract a husband as an apology. But what happens when the only husband Juliana wants is Colin?

I liked this book – it was fast-paced (I would characterize it more as a novella given the length) and the characters were sweet and loveable. I loved Juliana – her desire to be a painter and her willingness to fight for what she wants made her a heroine to root for. Collin was sweet and loveable, and you got a sense of his character development. I wished the grandmother had a larger role – she was great.
One of the things that was a little jarring is that the ending happened really quickly and that there was a huge time leap. After the slower build up, it felt a little rushed. While there was definitely urgency around her getting married, it would have been great to see her interact with the man her uncle would have made her marry. He was merely an off-screen boogeyman and I would have loved to have seen the clash with Colin. I would have also liked to know more about her parents. I think this book could have benefitted a lot from being longer – more chance to get into the characters as sometimes it felt superficial. I wanted more of these interesting characters!!

That being said, I was appreciative of how the book represents mental health, race and disability, three things that are often missing in historical romance. It was a charming read with interesting characters and I’d definitely read another book by Gabrielle Carr!

Thank you NetGalley, Brown Lady Publishing, and the author for the opportunity to review the book. All opinions given freely and are my own.

This was a lovely quick read about an old romance between a former 2nd son turned duke, and an orphaned miss, and how their love for each other never died, despite mistakes, miscommunication and hurt feelings, and how they deal with this. I really enjoyed this story, and the brief nature of it made it perfect for reading on the commute (only just over 1hr long). I would recommend this and the rest in the series

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy for review; this is my freely given opinion.

This was a very short (less than 100 pages) story of Miss Juliana Drake and Colin Latham. She is out in society to look for a husband or risk being married to a man of her Uncle's choosing. But she is a woman of colour (it sounds like) and has a (non visible) disability. He is a second son, not expected to inherit the title, but because of the passing of his father and older brother, has become the newest Duke of Herstshire. He seems to have trouble fitting into his new role and world, having some past regrets, and having a history as a soldier in the Napoleonic wars, and is acting out by being a drunken rake. One of his regrets is Juliana, as they were childhood loves, and he betrayed her trust.

This actually was a lovely story of second chances at love, with the added twist of the heroine being a woman of colour, and having a disability. I quite loved the premise of it. There were some editing issues where I think the wrong word may have been used (or otherwise the intended word was used - but was probably not an appropriate word?), and some minor spelling issues, but nothing that detracts from the story.

The biggest issue I had was that it was less than 100 pages long - the last few pages that edges it into the 100+ pages were actually the preview of another book. Therefore, what I read just skimmed the surface on what could be a wonderful story, with much more character development on two interesting characters and their history. What is Juliana's background and her parent's history - interacial relationships seemed quite rare then, and I would have loved to have known more about her family history, and it's impact on her relationship with Colin as they grew up. What happened to her parents to cause her to be in the care of her aunt and uncle, who do not seem to value her very much. What is the story of her disability? There is allusions to his PTSD that are just glanced on, and to her artistic bent. This story was quite lovely but too brief and as such was a touch superficial; glancing on so many intriguing bits. So I my appetite was whetted, but I was not given a real meal....

3.25 stars out of 5 - because I was left wanting MORE.