I got this book as a arc on netgalley. The cover doesn’t update on my kindle because it’s a uncorrected proof but the second image is what they want to use for the book I'm guessing and it’s coming out this October.

This book is basically Bridgeton meets home alone. It was super good. So it follows myrtle who is a middle child of a Scottish family. The family is in a rush to leave the house to go to a London townhouse to spend Christmas with their London family. She meets this guy who’s a rude and grumpy and also a neighbor next door. She hears a rumor that he murdered his entire staff and his wife died of mysterious circumstances. She ends up slowly falling for him and vise versa.

3.5 stars

I really wanted to give this more stars. It was a lovely premise but in some parts it just seemed to be sections of vinaigrettes stitched together, There's the home alone aspect of Myrtle being left behind when her boisterous family up and leave for scotland. The brooding widower duke whose heart is encased in ice and Myrtle is trying to thaw by singing loads of christmas carols, we get half a page of lyrics. Mrytle's relationship with Val's delightful dog Horace. Myrtle doesn't have to do much to stop the fiendish thieves that Val only vaguely believes is trying to steal her Dads treasures. Then it changes to the disparity of the teenager who's lonely and the 30plus widower and her eagerness to get him to kiss her but IMO the authors wanting to provide us with a cleanish Xmas story and not venture down the passion route.

It's worth a read but I can't help but think it could have been a great read with a few tweeks.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’ve always enjoyed the books I’ve read by this author and this one was no different.

A Christmas time historical romance with sunshine/grump, forced proximity, a heroine with a true appreciation for Jane Austen, and a nice nod to Home Alone (yes, that one, the iconic 1990 movie)? Yup, I’m in.

But… okay, listen, I’m the first to admit that a Christmas-time historical romance without at least one really fun sex scene is one I’m less inclined to read (I enjoy some explicit sex in the books I read).

I liked this story, it was entertaining, it was touching, Myrtle and Val were great characters. Horace was a total love, but at the end, I was left wanting just a little more from it.





eARC kindly provided by Montlake and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.

I’m a big fan of this author and find her historical romance often hit the tropes I want but I wasn’t that keen on this one. I found the beginning confusing with all the different names/characters thrown at you and I found Myrtle and her love interest quite boring. I did enjoy the ‘Home Alone’ aspect though and will continue to check out this authors other work

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for an honest review!

The Duke Alone by Christi Caldwell is a delightfully romantic gender-bent take on the holiday classic film, Home Alone. Set in London 1813, our protagonist Myrtle McQuoid knows what it is like to be invisible. Often forgotten or unseen by her family, it hardly comes as a shock to her that the boisterous clan has accidentally left her behind in their London home while they travel to Scotland for the yuletide season. Knowing that it is only a matter of time before her family realizes their mistake and returns for her, Myrtle spends her days trying to stay warm in the drafty house in need of repairs and attempting to befriend the brooding Duke who lives next door.

Duke Valentine Bancroft wants nothing more than to spend the Christmas season alone. After sending most of his servants away for the holiday, Val finds his solitude interrupted by the effervescent young lady next door. Forced to deal with her incessant chatter and positive attitude, the walls Val has erected around his heart start to crack and the two of them find themselves toing the line of propriety while waiting for her family to return.
When sinister characters start skulking around, the boundaries they have made shift and neither Myrtle nor Val will ever be the same.

I found Myrtle to be a delightful young woman who is determined to remain positive, even after being left behind by her family. Not only does she manage to bury her hurt under seasonal cheer, but she also attempts to befriend the lonely man next door. Val is delightfully broody with a Tragic Past™ and unwilling to allow Myrtle into his life. Watching them grow past the fronts they have put up to keep pain and sadness away to truly seeing each other for who they really are invoked such a bubbly feeling in my chest. The worldbuilding was minimal but very sweet. The writing was quick paced and easy to connect with after the first page. Once I was able to get past the five run-on sentences the story was easy and pleasant to sink into. The relationship was sweet and slow building, and the Fade to Black aspect makes this a great novel for those who would prefer little to no spice in their romance novels.

This novel features some of my favorite tropes such as the Grumpy/Sunshine dynamic, idiots in love, and miscommunications abound! I feel like this novel would be great for fans of the Bridgerton series as well as Pride and Prejudice!

Such a good read. A bit mad as Myrtle chatters with no filter her way through the romance, and Horace the dog is an absolute star and a great support. Val is suitably wounded, brooding and taciturn and yet Myrtle, Horace and Lady the stallion all manage to help him thaw out his heart. The romance is pure and I absolutely egged this couple on to get over the misunderstandings and see each other properly.

The Duke Alone by Christi Caldwell is a nice story about love and second chances, family ties and forgiveness.

A silly romance with a fun story line. Home Alone meets regency England and romance. This would have been great but I started to get bored with the reptation of thought and the brooding hero who never speaks.
This is an adult read. No graphic sex scenes but some inuendo and alluding to more. Sex before marriage and some alcohol. A little violence but like Home Alone more silly then violent.

I really enjoyed this it was a super fast read. It definitely reminded me of home alone mixed with bridgerton and pride and prejudice. Loved the ending.

What a wonderful story about being who you are and being seen! Myrtle is from a large family with extended family always around. It is a boisterous and crazy scene. However, Myrtle feels like no one sees her or listens to her. It is Christmas time, and the family is departing for Scotland so that the house can be renovated before The Season begins. Myrtle is to maker her debut. To add to her feeling of isolation, the family leaves without her! The Duke next door is a widower who has retreated from life after the accidental death of his wife. But Myrtle is able to bring him out of his shell.
It is an enjoyable read with quirky characters, a dog, great dialogue, and of course, an HEA!

Perhaps it’s a cute book but it wasn’t my cup of tea. The heroine is so childish mentally and physically that I couldn’t understand a matured man’s attraction to her more than just a younger sister. Their dialogues were too silly for my taste and I kept skipping pages. The sex after a few days of meeting… seemed so wrong especially we were supposed to imagine the girl is a complete innocent, childish and being extremely tiny and in my mind probably physically undeveloped. I didn’t find much natural chemistry between them, it was quite forced.

To be honest I cannot imagine the happy ending for these two. Given her tiny physique and young age she will likely die at childbirth and then the hero is a window again having lost his second “love of life” (to be honest I cannot imagine their love being as deep as with his first wife whom she knew and loved from childhood).

This is Home Alone meets Regency Romance. The first 1/3 of the books is a straight rip of Home Alone. Instead of Kevin we have Myrtle the often neglected middle child. She also happens to be madly in love with Miss Austen’s books, who is a neighbor of her Aunt. I thought that was a cute touch. The author harps a lot in the beginning about the pranks she played as a girl, so I had some high expectations for hi-jinx between her and the burglars… there really wasn’t and it was a sorely missed opportunity!

Now as for the surely Duke… he was a man in mourning who lost the love of his life and Myrtle was the sunshine he needed!! I was into it :). Their banter and chemistry was excellent, but know this is a fade to black kind of book. 1 🌶steam rating, maybe 1.5 🌶

Overall it’s an enjoyable holiday read though, and a bit of fun!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy.

I loved this book. I got an ARC from netgalley and like goddamn I did not expect it to be so good. I've never read a Christy Caldwell book before, but wow! I finished it in one sitting!

After Myrtle's family forgets to bring her to the countryside to celebrate Christmas, she becomes enraptured with the mysterous Duke next door. After Myrtle bothers him enough, the two become friends (and than more).

I have a love-hate relationship with the historical romance genre. To me, the characters all feel the same. They all follow the same archetype and tropes: broody-mysterious-closed-off-unemotional man and lighthearted happy-go-lucky woman. This story was exactly that, but actually exected really well.

It was a slow burn with a slightly underwhelming ending, but I liked the epilogue (although it is more of a last chapter than an epilogue. I don't know why Caldwell chose to name it "Epilogue" instead of "Chapter #").

I felt like I somewhat connected to the characters, but I'm sure they will just meld together in my head with all the other historical romances I've read by next week. This book wasn't revolutionary, but it wasn't supposed to be. The goal of the story was a happy, lighthearted historical romance novel, and Caldwell executed that perfectly. The plot flowed really well with the characters; and most of the chemistry didn't feel forced.

I actually really liked Val. I have been getting kind of sick of the byronic hero trope, but he was much more emotional than they usually are. I think it helped because of the dual POV's.

I have mixed feelings about Myrtle. I think she's borderline manic-pixie-dream-girl. I mean, if this book was entirely from Val's POV she would be the portrait of manic-pixie. I think Val actually describes her as a pixie or something similar to that a few times (don't quote me on that).
It's not that she doesn't have personality, it's just that her personality doesn't seem as deep and well-developed as much as Val's did. Maybe it's because her "my family hates me" tramua feels less substantial than Val's "my wife died in a car crash". I'm not saying that every character has to be completely traumatized to be good. I think Myrtle just needed an extra umph, she was missing something.
She also felt at some points of the story as TOO innocent, and TOO immature. She felt closer to 15 or 16 than 18 (still really young) in parts of the story. The age gap felt really apparent in this story.

Overall, it is one of the better historical romances I have read this year. I was totally in love with the story as it was happening, but once you really think about a story it gets worse because you notice plot holes and flat characters a lot more, you know? I gave it 4.25 stars.

Myrtle feels like a twelve year old, which makes the romance even more disturbing. Everyone in London seems to have vanished for Christmas. And there is really not any historical understanding. I read this book hoping for a light, historical romance, but this book was all over the place for me, a Regency Home Alone inspired romance.

Such a shame. I was really in the mood for a lovely historical romance read. The concept of this sounds so good. A grumpy sunshine regency romance is one of my favourite types of books to read.

Sadly, I could not get into the writing style of this at all. It felt so clumsy and awkward to me. Didn’t seem to flow at all which made it way too distracting to enjoy the story and romance. It may work for others, but, didn’t match up to others of this genre I’ve read unfortunately.

Devoured this Christmas cookie of a book in a day. It was the mashup I never knew I was missing: Bridgerton meets Home Alone.

Myrtle is the middle child of a large Scottish peerage family and seems to fall through the cracks quite often. Her family is in a rush to leave the London townhouse to spend Christmas at their Scottish manor, and in the bustle of loading 12 carriages full of family and servants, Myrtle is left behind. Truly alone for the first time and harbouring fears over robbers and being so forgettable, Myrtle embarks on the craziest week of her life.

Now being the spunky 18 year old she is and provoked by her extreme curiosity and need for companionship she begins to wheedle her way into a friendship with her begrudging and gruff neighbour. Did I mention the neighbour is a total smoke show of a Duke who also happens to loves dogs? But wait, there is more, he is rumoured to have murdered his staff, and his wife died of mysterious circumstances. Do with that information as you will. But is it entirely safe for Myrtle to be with Val?

This was an impulse read but when I saw a Regency era Christmas romance, I thought yep I’m in the mood for some Christmas in July energy.

And let me tell you, Val and Myrtle did not disappoint … well okay the fade to black scene was just plain mean … but otherwise their story was captivating. I loved his grumpy traumatized widower to her sunshine quirky debutant. The tension between the two from brusque indifference to not being able to express their feelings of love was perfection. Okay and the bathing scene was one of my favourites!!

It was the cozy cute Christmas read everyone needs.

As a whole I suppose I didn’t mind most of this book. I love Home Alone, I love Christmas, and I love broken dukes who may or may not be murderers. However, most aspects were lacking depth or the proper scope to get me fully invested.

On the Home Alone front, the book stripped the best part of home alone away: the tactics Kevin used to stop the burglars. The actual burglary aspect was so small and honestly very random. It was only included because of the movie, but it added nothing here. Myrtle totally had the ability to be a badass in the face of home invasion but she never was. Why say she used to pull elaborate pranks if she doesn’t dust off those skills? It was also concluded super quickly.

Another aspect of the movie is Kevin’s relationship with his mother. We got a bit of this in the epilogue, but I think the family could’ve played a bit more of a role at the end. I do think the concept up being left home alone is definitely fun and I enjoyed the aspect as a whole in the book. I loved how Val was the scary neighbor from the movie.

While Myrtle was literally home alone with Val for most of the book, I still wanted more moments of them together. The bathing scene was great, but if the book wasn’t going to give us explicit sex, then we absolutely needed more development between the two. There was a pretty major age gap as she was a FRESH eighteen. At the end, I thought we were finally going to have a grand emotional moment (aka have explicit passionate sex) but it was totally breezed over.

I’ve read the author before and was definitely expecting at least one sex scene. This book had one “scene” that was totally fade to black and very abrupt. The page before I was like “they’re in a bed!!!” I flipped the page in eager anticipation and immediately saw *** indicating a scene jump and I just about lost it.

Some books do enough work to the romance without sex and it’s great and sex is a nice cheeky little bonus or not needed, but this what not a case of that. I don’t like not knowing what words were shared between the two at that moment. It made me feel weird knowing that she was screaming his name because it felt so impersonal and improbable. She was so innocent.

Overall, I did like parts of the book and think the bones are there. However, I think it needed…more. But different more than what’s already there because the book is already pretty lengthy. Not much happened but it was still a fairly enjoyable holiday read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 .5🌶/5

CWs: Carriage accident, death of spouse, death of unborn child

Myrtle, a young woman who feels estranged from her family, is left behind in the city by accident (by her family). And at Christmas time, no less. Naturally, she tries to befriend her grumpy, loner neighbor who, at first, is less than interested. Over time and thanks to Myrtle’s determination, the two become close.

Here’s my favorite out of context quote : “Mrs. Belden is a twat.”

A very enjoyable slowburn with lots of sexual tension (and closed door sex). Grumpy & sunshine. One bed trope. The MMC was sweet and endearing with that incredible dog of his. Horace the dog was the star and I’m in love with him. All in all a fun, cute christmas story with likable characters and lots of references to Jane Austen. It has an HEA. But for those who may not like that, the MMC is a widower. Which caught me by surprise (it really should be included in the blurb) but it didn’t put me off.

I’m observing that people give this book a hard time because the plot is similar to that of Home Alone. Admittedly I never watched that film (I know I’m a monster). But even so, I feel like this could be considered a different take and isn’t that allowed ?

The negative : A bit verbose. The plot takes its time while you continuously hear about how Myrtle is NOT a child. What a way to convince someone of something : repeating it over and over. And don’t get me started on all the ‘she’s not like other girls’ vibes. I guess it’s really easy to go there in historical romance because the rules of polite society were downright brutal back then. Still, I think it’s a crutch.

***
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I thank the author and the publishing team for providing me with this review copy.

Myrtle McQuoid is the eccentric and talkative daughter of the large McQuoid brood. Val Bancroft, the Duke of Aragon, is a reclusive widower who lives in a lonely townhouse next to the McQuoid family. Local gossip states he’s a serial killer, with a penchant for chopping up servant’s bodies. Nosy Myrtle decides to investigate the serial killer claim (as one does) and encounters the surly duke, who is rude to Myrtle and tells her to never talk to him again. Myrtle ignores this demand and manages to weasel her way into the duke’s life after she is mistakenly left behind by her family when they travel to Scotland for Christmas. Myrtle must defend her home against thieves and Val must protect his broken heart against his growing attraction to Myrtle.

The premise of this book sounds AMAZING. Lady is accidentally left alone at Christmas, she lives next to a brooding duke, and they must work together to protect her family home against thieves. It all sounds right up my alley, but boy did this one fall flat. For starters, Myrtle is only 17 and straight out of finishing school when she and the duke share their first kiss. I’m sure this was totally normal in the Regency Era, but it made me feel uncomfortable reading in 2022. Myrtle is also very immature and has no self-preservation instincts. For a “Christmas novel,” this book lacked that special winter sparkle that I expect in holiday romances. And finally, there was an unfortunate fade-to-black sex scene that was so disappointing. It really needed some holiday spice (in more ways than one)!

I'd rate The Duke Alone 3.5 stars out of 5. Set around the lead up to Christmas, there were a lot of feel-good moments between a grumpy Duke and the sunshine-esque female lead. Myrtle (yes, you read that correctly) isn't your typical lady. To stand out in her large family, she'd grown into a boisterous, opinionated individual with a tendency to prattle. Having been sent away for four years to a finishing school for ladies, she returns to her London home ready to celebrate her favourite time of year: Christmas. Unfortunately, she receives a welcome that leaves a lot to be desired and is basically a non-event with most of the family ignoring her. To top it off, they're packing up to leave London the next day as their expensive residence undergoes massive renovations during the off-season. As if that's not bad enough, she wakes up the next day to find that her family have all left without her, leaving her completely (and almost scandalously) alone. Her only company? The ill-tempered, rude, dismissive and cold Duke her house neighbours. Having his own tragedy in his past, Val, our Duke in question, has pushed everyone away, wanting to live a life of solitude and misery. That is, until Myrtle pushes her way in, making him feel a tiny spark of laughter and love after years on his own. There's a bit of danger thrown in for good measure and a trusty dog to warm your heart.

If you're looking for an easy, light read, especially something to get you into the swing of the Christmas season, this will do it. There are only stolen kisses and a fade-to-black scene, so it's not on the steamier side of things if that's what you're chasing, but it was a nice story. The writing is more on the formal, flowery side but I liked that as it matches the regency times the book is set in. I liked both of the main characters. They were both lonely in their own way, finding comfort in one another. The Duke, especially, was a stand out. He was the perfect mix of droll and uptight, making him a perfect regency romance male lead. A quick warning: some readers will probably find Myrtle exasperating rather than endearing. She blabbers non-stop, but to be fair, that's part of her charm. There's also a small trigger warning as the Duke has a deceased wife he was desperately in love with (I like this as it stopped the book from being too cliché). I found there was quite a bit of repetition in the story, from Myrtle being the forgotten, odd-sheep and almost unloved member in her (seemingly horrid) family, her somewhat ordinary appearance (it seemed as if the author was trying to make her quite unattractive at times), to the Duke's sad past, to Myrtle annoying Val and her being annoyed in return.

There's a fair few mentions of Austen throughout this book, so fans of Pride and Prejudice should love this aspect of the book. The cover is gorgeous, as well.