The heroine is struggling to live in an environment that is not beneficial to her and her sister to live independently when she received a proposition by the hero. The hero hires the heroine to be his partner in a fake relationship for the sole purpose of deceiving a landowner that his single days are over. Yet one night of deception is not enough and the two continues their charade, never realizing that this fake relationship may become reality if they opened their hearts to each other.

This is my first Amalie Howard book and also the first book in the Taming of the Dukes series. I enjoyed the premise of the story and the author's writing style. I found the couple entertaining together and as individuals. There were some memorable passages and a few mediocre scenes. Assisting the main couple were some crucial secondary characters that gave the story that depth that makes a book a good one. Overall, an enjoyable book and I look forward to more of this series.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own.**

thank you to netgalley + the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

"Always Be My Duchess" by Amalie Howard follows Lord Lysander Blackstone, the Duke of Montcroix, and Miss Geneviève Valery and their fake engagement scheme.

The Duke only wants to increase his fortune, and Nève could certainly use the money... When she accidentally saves his life, the Duke offers her a answer to all her problems: pose as his fake fiancée. What could go wrong?

Fans of the Bridgerton series will love this regency romance.

This was an entertaining, well-written historical romance. It was fun and steamy. It held my interest and I wanted to find out what would happen. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

Fake dating in England? sign me up!⁠
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There's always angst in these period stories and it makes me frustrated at the lack of communication and this story just hyped it up with the pre-arranged relationship! ⁠
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One of my favorite things about ABMD is Stone's neurodivergence and how it has presented itself throughout his childhood and adult life. Howard also did a great job of notifying the reader of triggers in the beginning (kudos to her!).⁠
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I also loved Genevive's passion for dance, her family, and respect for herself--she's such a badass and i kept saying "yess girl!" throughout the book 😂⁠
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Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review and the opportunity to read this work of art.⁠⁠
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~OUT JULY 12! ~⁠
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁠
🌈🌈⁠
🌶🌶

A grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, slow-burn romance that was obviously inspired by Pretty Woman, you say? Sign me the f*** up now!

So, we have Richard Gere, I mean Lysander Blackstone, the grumpy Duke of Montcroix, who is a workaholic with a heart many believe is literally made of stone. And then we have not-Julia-Roberts, Nève Valery, a down-on-her-luck former ballerina. Nève saves Lysander’s salty ass one night and he becomes instantly besotted with her green eyes—which will be described 8 bajillion times.

To help him secure a business deal, Lysander needs to convince people that he’s actually a marshmallow at heart and makes Nève an offer she cannot refuse when he asks her to fake date/become fake engaged to him. In return, he’ll pay Nève a small fortune, which she can use to help her sister and start a new life.

Oh, and there will be absolutely no sexy time…at first.

As you can probably guess, things become a tad complicated when the feelings they’re forced to fake in public become real.

My Thoughts

This is a tale of two books. I say that because I was a tad bored the first 60% of the book and then began to start enjoying the last 40%. The story, I felt, dragged in places during the first half, and I rolled my eyes whenever I read about Nève’s eyes on practically every other page. Maybe I just expected more than I should have from a Pretty Woman retelling.

Don’t get me wrong, it had its sweet parts, and when we actually got to the spice, it was, well, spicy. The side characters were well-developed and had their funny moments. My problem, I think, was that I didn’t really connect with the MC or the LI. Still, I feel it’s worth the read and recommend it to lovers of the above-described tropes and historical romance.

Thank you to @readforeverpub for my paperback copy of Always Be My Duchess and @netgalley for my e-book copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This fun, spicy, period rom-com dubbed as Pretty Woman meets Bridgerton was so enjoyable. I loved the clever, strong FMC and neurodiverse MMC (read the author’s letter at the end for more on her influences). Loved how France, ballet and music were woven into this story. I’m looking forward to this being a series as I’d love to see more of the hilarious side characters. If you enjoy the fake dating trope, be sure to check this one out!

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited for this to be my first read by this author. I tried, I did, but DNF at 50%. (65% if you count skimming) I have too many books to read to not be invested enough to stick it out and see if this eventually delivers its promises. I’ve seen many romance readers love it, so I’m just saying it did not work for me, and, if you’re going in seeking out elements of the Pretty Woman dynamic or a neurodivergent hero, you might be underwhelmed. My thoughts from what I did read:
The duke in distress meet-cute is always fun, but exposition set-up was lacking and jumbled, so their forced proximity/insta-lust I was not feeling, and his fake dating proposal came out of nowhere (plus left me confused as to how one night of her paid company would solve his problem). We needed at least another run-in after the meet cute to better establish his characterization/motivation and understand how/why his out-of-character impulsive, random solution to his predicament could come about convincingly.
The fun concept of her being a ballerina that fake dates on a duke’s arm methinks was a missed opportunity. I won’t pretend that, if I even have watched Pretty Woman, my memory of it has not been deleted to make room for storage, but isn’t that reference/Pygmallion storyline that was touted supposed to have a fish-out-of-water element? All she needed was a dress change, no diverting transformation montage *boo*. We needed an extremely silly, crude lower class dancer that twirls into his life instead of it being insisted on that she had all intellect, wit and social grace and fit right in among the ton *yawn*. We didn’t get our Eliza Doolittle transformation, so I want to call false advertising. Speaking of touting, I was promised neurodivergent, emotionless hero and what I read was mildly starchy, mostly bland (when he wasn’t lusting) and money-driven, blonde gargoyle. When they keep wondering what it is about the other that draws them so, and I’m asking the same question, that’s not a good sign.
Add to that that I sadly struggled with the writing, finding wording and dialogue often distracting. And, nobody cares but, personal pet peeve: dialogue with very randomly interjected words in another language just to remind you the character is bilingual.

And for me to be tempted to not to stick it out until some actual steam? You know things weren’t clicking. I did skim to get to a steamy “cello” playing scene I’d heard about, which was nice, but back to some cringey steamy time dialogue (it is joked a mallet might be required to fit his size), and I was out.

I did enjoy the group of spunky friends side characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Always Be My Duchess was a five star read. I mean a Pretty Woman inspired Historical romance...who knew we needed one?

I absolutely loved the feisty ballerina paired with a grumpy Neurodiverse Duke. Plus the commentary on the way women deserve more agency and should always have the right to choose made me swoon.

The banter between our characters paired with their chemistry was an absolute delight to read. I loved every interaction between them as they each learned more about themselves and helped better each other. Not to mention the way they both found a way to love their passions (ballet and music) through their time together.

I am so excited for the next installment in this series, because I already have a favorite pairing that I need a book for. That being said there is something I’d like to note about the neurodiverse representation and the ending.

After talking to other neurodiverse readers who also received an ARC I will say that the ending caused a bit of disappointment for some. I personally saw many possible reasons for why it went the way it did, but also understand where others were coming from. I feel like the part that caused these feelings were due to a rushed ending which lead to things not feeling right. That paired with the way in which the Duke was raised by his father heavily influenced the way this part was handled. I will say personally I think I know the general direction the author was taking with this choice and it didn’t deter my love for the book as a whole. But that doesn’t discredit the way it made other neurodiverse individuals feel, because the third act break up shouldn’t just be his fault due to the way his brain works.

If you’re looking for a grumpy/sunshine romance inspired by Pretty Woman but with Bridgerton vibes? This is it!

This book hooked me in pretty quick, with Nève saving Lysander from some thieves in Covent Garden. The attraction is instant and he does the first thing that he thinks of to keep her around, proposes that she is his date to a ball. And of course, she will be compensated for her time.

As you can expect they start to slowly fall for each other. Even though Lysander is sometimes cold and shuts down quickly, Nève is able to call him out and tries to get him to communicate better.

I really enjoyed the story, and watching Lysander develop into a better man because he cared so deeply about Nève was very cute. He wanted to do everything he could so she would give him a second chance after he messed up.

And the spicy scene in the dance/music studio? 🥵🌶

I also liked that it wasn’t an instant forgiveness. She left like she said she would, and they spent time apart before he finally acted on his feelings to go and get her.

Definitely recommend this one as a nice summer read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the advanced reader’s copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The ballerina and the gargoyle...

Set in Victorian London, Lysander "Stone" tries to rescue Genevieve "Neve" from crying, she ends up rescuing him.
He proposes a deal with her to further his business deal and to solve her money problems (as in she can't get work as a proper ballerina).
Lysander, a duke, is on the spectrum, loves numbers and can't fathom women. I like his stuffiness to Neve's more impetuous nature. Neve is a ballerina, street smart and tough and lives by her emotions.

Great chemistry, witty banter and makes this a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Recommend.

This book was so good. All the grumpy/sunshine vibes! And the banter was 💯.

These two have amazing chemistry. It leaps of the page.

Neve was such a badass character. I loved her and I absolutely LOVE the Hellfire Kitties (best name ever, I need it on a shirt plz) and the friendships that Neve forms with Laila, Vesper, Effie and Briar. They are all such strong female characters and I’m so excited for their books. I’ve already paired at least 2 of the other couples up in my head.

⚠️SPOILERS AHEAD⚠️

My only issue with this book was that there was clearly a part of the ending that occurred off page. Because after Neve leaves Vesper’s party, the story jumps ahead two months and then Lysander comes to Paris to get Neve back. But, the way he talks makes it seem like their friends talked some sense into him about why Aldenborough was so important to her, so that made things a bit confusing and I would have liked to see that occur on page.

Other than that tiny thing at the end this was a fantastic book!

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this ARC.

This book doesn’t skip a beat! You’re tossed right into the story with ease. It’s funny and full of the classic tropes like fake dating and grumpy/sunshine (but make her fiercely independent). This is an adorable, sweet and romantic read!

4/5⭐️

A nod to Pretty Woman in a historical romance? YES PLEASE. This was so much fun! I thought it was witty, sex positive (and pretty spicy but with Amalie Howard did I expect any less? no). Neve was a fantastic MC, she was really a badass tbh. I liked the supporting characters in this story and the meddling family. I did think that the "forbidden" part of the romance would be a bigger part of this, I never could really understand why they just couldn't be together so that part wasn't AS believable to me.

I listened to this on audio and Mary Jane Wells did an AMAZING job. She should narrate all historical romcoms, her humor never misses.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for this free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is out today, 7/12!

A historical romance that's been called "Pretty Woman meetings the Bridgertons"? A cold duke and a fiery ballerina? Fake dating? Sign me up!

I definitely picked up on the Pretty Woman vibes while reading and I thought this story was so cute. I started this one towards the beginning of my vacation last month and ended up staying up wayyyy too late because I wanted to know what happened with Lysander and Genevieve! One of my favorite aspects of many of the historical romances I have read so far is a strong cast of supporting characters, and Always Be My Duchess continued with that tradition! I am looking forward to seeing some of these other characters getting their own books. :)

This might be weird, but one of the only things I disliked about this book was the leading man being named "Lysander." I just couldn't get into it.

"The Duke of Montcroix was a complex puzzle box."

I just love this line! It makes it seem like there are different keys or levels to be able to find the true person.

A chance encounter between an impoverished French noblewoman who is making ends meet as a ballerina and a very stern Duke who's a bit in his cups. He decides to make an offer for her to stay with him and be his fake fiancee.

One of the quoted reviews likened this book to Pretty Woman meets Bridgerton. I can see that as the Duke is just trying to amass wealth to outdue his horrid father's estate. Ahole took the only woman he had tried to marry as his own wife. Now he buries himself in work.

Neve's parents died and left her and her sister with nothing. Luckily they had their talent for dancing, unluckily men are pigs.

I like that Lysander isn't conventionally handsome but she thinks he's a hottie. Everyone else thinks he's made of stone, which happens to be his nickname cause his last name is Blackstone.

I have enjoyed all the books I've read of Amalie's excited for this new series of books!

Thank you readforeverpub and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Always be my duchess by: Amalie Howard
5/5⭐️

Historical fiction, spicy,

Néve is a ballerina in need of work. When she meets Lynsander, a duke. The two strike a deal for Néve and Lysander to be fake engaged.

I absolutely loved this. If you’re a fan of bridgerton you’ll love this.

Thank you to the author and publisher for this arc!

3/5🌶 there are two and a half spicy scenes. They’re pretty good.

Always be my duchess releases July 12th. Preorder your copy now!

✨ can I say that my type is grumpy, strait-laced men who fall hopelessly head over heels for a headstrong heroine?✨

Don’t let me talk about this book for too long because I we will be sitting here for hours if you let me keep going on about this book 😂

Amalie Howard’s grip on my heart is only strengthened by this book. Howard has this way of weaving a complex story full of amazing romance, sizzling chemistry, witty humor, sexy steam, and engaging plot in a perfect, readable binding 😍 My love for her books will go on and on.

This book unlocked many realizations in me. I realized male friend groups who instantly adopt one of their friend’s significant other and treat her like a sister is really hot. I realized scenes where the heroine is a badass and the hero watches in supportive awe of her is definitely a new kink. . . now I just need a name for it 😏😏

Always Be a Duchess was so jam packed with tropes and scenes I love, I felt like I was going to burst!

Tropes:
💃🏽 Pretty Woman retelling
😫 emotionally damaged, grump hero
🧠 neurodivergent hero
🩰 badass, ballerina heroine
🔫 dramatic meet cute
☀️ grump/sunshine
💍 fake engagement
🌸 hero loves heroine’s smell
❤️‍🔥 PINING
🙌🏽 hilarious friends and family meddling
🥺 found family
🎻 hero plays an instrument
🥵 hero’s in supportive awe of heroine

I don’t think I can sing enough praises for this book without getting word jumbley and repetitive out of pure giddiness 🥰 So I am not going to take too much of your time.

Sometimes when I see “perfect for Bridgerton fans” in a description, I get very apprehensive. Just because it is a historical romance doesn’t mean it’s like Bridgerton. But LET ME TELL YOU 🙌🏽🙌🏽 You know that scene in Bridgerton (both in the books and the show) when Kate passes Anthony and he stands there, completely overwhelmed by her presence and his love for her that all he can do is take in her scent and find comfort in her? This book and this hero RADIATES that energy 😩 There is even a scene similar to that in this 😍

One thing that I will note is that, though the couple has sizzling chemistry and engaging romance in the beginning of the book, I found both the plot and the chemistry between the couple drag a little in the middle.

I, personally, don't really like random inclusion of other languages in books. So Nève's continuous use of French came across a little pretentious/overdone to me.

Though this is marketed as a Pretty Woman retelling, as many other reviewers are noting, I would say this book is more Pretty Woman adjacent rather than a retelling of the classic movie. Do not be discouraged though! I loved whatever little glimpses and inspiration from the movie.

Before I go on to plead you to read this book, know that there is a spicy scene where he bends her over a desk and makes her see ✨stars✨. . . need I say more 🥴😏

I am always on the hunt for a book that is a perfect fusion of a 90s romcom and romance book. This easily nestled into that list.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars | 🌶🌶🌶/5 stars

Thank you to ReadForever, NetGalley, and Amalie Howard for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion ❤️

I am a huge fan of historical romance, and this one did not disappoint. I absolutely adored this book, & it made me want to rewatch “Pretty Woman” & the Bridgerton TV series! This was a swoony, steamy, and entertaining read that’s perfect for summer. Not only did it make me blush, but it made me laugh over and over again. I love it when the characters are very well developed, and there is build up between the romance and the spice. The characters were very much relatable, especially because each of them had their own journeys involving personal growth. You have a neurodivergent hero who is buries his emotions and is known as being heartless. That is until he meets the strong willed ballerina that pulled out a gun on him, & it was love (or lust) at firstat fist sight.

Geneviève is a modern woman in the 1860’s who is not afraid to speak her mind, is a ray of sunshine, stands up for herself, and can care less about what society thinks of her. Lord Lysander is a grumpy duke that needs a fiancée to fulfill a business deal. He gives her an offer she can’t refuse, a fortune to restart her life, since she is currently out of work & needs the money. Their engagement was supposed to be fake, they weren’t supposed to feel anything for the other. But the chemistry, physical attraction, forced proximity, and sexual tension between them is too strong to ignore. Will they be able to fulfill their part of the deal and save their save hearts at the same time?

You can expect:

* Fake Dating
* Based in London, England
* Opposites Attract
* Victorian Era Setting (1865)
* Class Difference
* Ballerina Heroine + Duke Hero
* Open Door Romance
* Hilarious Banter
* Pretty Woman Meets Bridgerton
* Sunshine x Grump

Rating 4.5/5

If you love Bridgerton, chances are you’ll love this novel! I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would since it’s a little outside my normal reads. However, the chemistry between the two main characters was phenomenal. The story was fun and witty, definitely a page-turner! This is the first book in the Taming of the Duke series, and I look forward to the next one!

A charming tale that will delight the romance in all of us and bring a smile as the author weaves her spell into a journey well worth taking!!

She is an out of work ballet dancer, needing to support her and her sister. An unexpected encounter with a duke, seems to change her luck!

He needs her to act as his fiance' so that he can make his deal. But it seems she may be more than he bargained for!!

So much fun with humor, villains, wonderful characters and an attraction that will not be denied!!