The Duke Trap by Bianca Blythe is an entertaining romance that was a pleasure to read! The pacing of the story kept me glued to the pages and the witty dialogue had me chuckling into the night!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this charming book!

Cute and entertaining, but with a very conventional plot and two characters who didn’t particularly appealed to me. I found both too stubborn and foolish, almost childish in their behavior. Also Leonora’s siblings were not very supportive of her and they wanted her to marry without love even if they all married for love. The real great character is the mother, whom I really loved for her unconventional ways and wise advice.

This was the best book of the series but it is far from being good. I don't know why the author made Sebastian such an unlikable character. By the end of the book I just could not like him. Lenora seems dumb to the ways of the ton and plans a ridiculous scheme to trap Sebastian.

Although a little difficult to get into at first, I did enjoy this friends to enemies to lovers romance. Leonora is entertaining with her numerous plots and plans against her one time friend. Sebastian, while sometimes wistfully reminiscing about his childhood friend, continues to malign Leonora for a believed slight against his family.
Thank you Bianca Blythe, Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

This was ok. Nothing great to stand above the rest but a decent read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There were elements of this novel that I enjoyed, but ultimately it wasn’t distinctive enough to stand out for me. I liked that Sebastian and Lenora were both musicians and had a past as childhood friends; I love that trope! I also found Lenora’s desire to “ruin” Sebastian through various schemes amusing and a charming feint for her own attraction to him.

However, the characters, the writing, and the setting just didn’t have that unique pop that leads me to really love a historical. It might have helped if I had read the earlier books in the series, but, still, this one didn’t quite grab me the way I would have liked.

Overall, I’d recommend this read to those who have a particular penchant for stories that mix the childhood friends to lovers and the enemies to lovers tropes. That is a particular medley and stood out to me the most here.

He's a dick at times and she has an unrealistic idea of who her father actually was. The third act conflict was BEYOND ridiculous. Do not recommend.

This second book in the Determined Debutantes series was better than the first. Lenora and Sebastian were childhood friends, best friends, until her father tricked Sebastian’s father in a card game. Ever since then, the two families have been feuding. In the first book, Sebastian is responsible for bringing the nude paintings of Lenora’s mother to light, damaging their reputations, so Lenora decides she will ruin him as well. She tries to have an actress trick him into a compromising position, but it’s very anticlimactic when they met at a ball and Sebastian recognizes the actress. I was hoping for more drama surrounding the incident, but she just left.

Then, what felt random, Sebastian decides to invite Lenora’s family to a house party! And, at the house party, a gentleman proposes to Lenora after a day of knowing her and, when she turns him down, he leaves humiliated. I know this was a short book, but I felt like there was a lot of stuff crammed into a short amount of time, feeling rushed and not believable.


Tropes
Historical Romance, Regency Era, House Party, Alpha Hero, Musician Hero, Titled Hero, Virgin Heroine, Childhood Crush, Enemies to Lovers, Revenge Trope

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc for my honest review.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Miss Leonora Holt has seen her sisters find love and happiness, but she can't see that in her future. Her brother, though, is acting like it's more than time that she should be married, but with Sebastian, Duke of Dartmouth, not letting anyone forget about her mother's scandalous nude portraits, there's not many men willing to marry her. Sebastian has a vendetta against the Holt family. Their estate neighbours his own, and he's always believed that their father was the cause of his own father's death, so he will do whatever it takes to ruin the Holt's. And Leonora angers him the most, though that could have more to do with his feelings for her - after all, it's hard to be attracted to your nemesis. When they plan to stop the other in their tracks, they're inevitably thrown together, and soon they learn the the line between love and hate is closer than they think.

I've been waiting for this book for so long. Whenever these two were together in the previous books, it was clear their attraction was off the charts, and their story was going to be great. I felt like the enemies to lovers trope was executed perfectly in The Duke Trap, and I really enjoyed the fact that they used to be friends when they were young, and reconnecting was good for them. Maybe this was a little too full of angst, but it was definitely enjoyable, and lived up to all expectations. My favourite in the series!

The Duke She Despised

She has the perfect plan for revenge, but how many times have perfect plans gone awry? Leonora and Sebastian were friends once, but the adults in their lives destroyed a wonderful friendship, and they are still paying the price. Sebastian, with his childish and embarrassing pranks is pushing Leonora to seek revenge. Is it possible to salvage what they once had? It might take a miracle. They both cause hurt to one another, and there must be forgiveness on both sides. Can the two enemies become friends once again? It might take a miracle. It might take losing their hearts for healing to happen. I enjoyed this delightful story and would recommend it to those who like enemies to lovers, historical romance with determined debutantes and stubborn dukes in need of redemption.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this ebook; this is my freely given opinion.

This is the third book in the Determined Debutantes series by Bianca Blythe; about Lenora and the nemesis of the Holt family, the Duke of Dartmouth, Sebastian. In the previous books, Sebastian has demonstrated quite the level of vicious disdain towards the Holts and has enacted several attempts to socially embarrass if not outright ruin them socially. It was not truly clearly defined why he had such a hate-on for the family, but it would seem that it is something that went back many years. His family estate bordered on the Holt property and he and Lenora actually grew up and were very close friends, up until the time his father was apparently cheated out of property by her father, which lead to his breaking off their friendship and his feud with the Holts.

So this ends up being a friends-to-enemies-lovers romance. Sebastian can't let go of his feud, and even though his friends are marrying the other Holt sisters, he continues to try to embarrass them.
But he does realize that if he values their friendships, he has to bury the axe, somewhat. Despite what he sees as the Holts betrayal of him and his family, Sebastian is still quite attracted to the grown up Lenora and she likewise feels the same. But she is determined to show the world just what a terrible person Sebastian is, because despite all his attempts to bring the Holts down, his reputation in Society is pure and unblemished.

This was a decent read, though the conflicts between Sebastian and Lenora seem a bit muddled and unconvincing to me. However, I did appreciate a bit more of the backstory about his determination to ruin the Holts. Again, that became a bit muddled through the story, considering he appears to like their mother, and she demonstrates more caring and warmth her for her family, whereas before she seemed much more the selfish narcissist. Also, why is Sebastian so determined to ruin the lives of young innocent young women - the Holt sisters, rather than more aiming at the brother and heir - as he inherited his father's properties? Also, I never liked Timothy's behaviour/treatment of the sisters either. We do learn more about Sebastian though, that is likeable, rather than as the villain who is trying to ruin a family/daughters for a past ill - again the focus of that doesn't sit right with me, especially as he is punishing a group of people not directly involved in the perceived wrong, who were unlikely to have any direct involvement considering their youth (and gender) and probably no knowledge of it. Irrational.

3 stars out of 5.

This is the third book of the Determined Debutantes series and what a delightful addition! Leonora and Sebastian had once been very good friends. But that all changed after the downfall of Sebastian's father, which he believes the Leonora's family to be the cause of. Leonora did not know what happened, only that her once best friend soon became her enemy. Despite the betrayal he feels, these two frenemies cannot deny the passion they feel for each other and soon their animosity turns to passion. The revenge that Sebastion once so badly wanted begins to be replaced by love as he and Leonora spend more time together. They had such sizzling chemistry and all that witty banter between them was so much fun to read and kept me smiling and laughing throughout. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship develop and and turn from hatred and revenge to love. A thoroughly enchanting story that I am glad to have had the opportunity to read. Looking forward to the next one!
I received a complimentary copy from Dragonblade Publishing via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

The Duke Trap by Bianca Blythe is a Regency romance that we've seem from a mile away. Three young women, who are wards of their brother. Their father is dead and their mother is not in a position to care for them. Only embarrass them. By posing nude for her gentleman friend, who then is more than willing to distribute the paintings. Leonora Holt is one of these young ladies and is determined that the man who has seen fit to be certain all of the ton has seen these paintings will pay. Sebastian, the Duke of Dartmouth, is making the family pay for perceived misdeeds by their father by making sure the family is ruined by these paintings. A huge lack of communication on the part of many. Of course, it all leads to grief.

This is essentially a good trope, but I feel like the writing is choppy and jumps from action to action with little or no finesse. There were some really good things happening in the story, but they got lost. I think it could have done with another edit.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The Duke Trap by Dragonblade, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #dragonblade #biancablythe #theduketrap

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Leonora wants to show the world who Sebastian is after her gifts and inappropriate painting of her mother to her sister during the sister's wedding.
Sebastian wants revenge on the Holts for what their father did to his father.
The only thing that made me finish was how short this book was.
I didn't really care about either main character and all of the supporting characters really sucked.
The happily ever after was the only satisfying part.
I am done with this author for good.

I enjoyed the book, but I wish it had been just a little longer so the author could delve further into Leonora and Sebastian going from enemies to lovers. Maybe a little more with them getting beyond their physical attraction and more into actually getting back their former friendship. It was obvious from the moment Leonora's plan was explained that you knew it was never going to work. I kind of wish she had created a better plan or just called him out for his behavior toward his sister on her wedding day. I did really like when Percival confronted him and told him he knew what he had done. I really wish there had been a moment where Leonora called Sebastian out about the painting he had given to her sister to point out why she may have wanted to get back at him. I'm not sure why he thought that Leonora would have known about what her father had done - this wasn't exactly a time when fathers talked business with their young daughters. Having Leonora's sister walk in on Leonora and Sebastian seemed like an odd choice and didn't work for me as a way to create extra drama between them.

Book 3 in the Determined Debutantes Series is about the oldest Holt daughter, Lenora. Lenora and Sebastian, the Duke of Dartmouth grew up playing together until they were about 10 when Lenora's father tricked Sebastian's father out of some prime farmland. The stress of losing the farmland contributed to the death of Sebastian's father. Sebastian holds Lenora's family responsible and seeks revenge.
Can childhood friends that became enemies become lovers?
I have read the first two books in the series as well, and can highly recommend them. Each book can be read independently, but the characters do overlap. I will admit that I am finding Lenora's mother a very interesting character, and I would love to read her story.
I received an advance copy through Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

This is a fun, entertaining read! Leonora and Sebastian (great names!) are neighbors and former childhood friends. Leonora's father tricked Sebastian's out of some profitable land, and that was the end of that friendship. Since then, they've disliked each other. Sebastian's friend marries Leonora's sister, and he gives a gift that he thinks is a prank in the lens of his friend's view, but Leonora's sisters take it as a huge offense. Leonora wants revenge, and hijinks ensue.
There is not a ton of time spent on Sebastian and Leonora's enmity, but maybe it was because I was into the story and reading fast. I liked the dialogue (albeit not fully Regency-true), and I really liked Sebastian's tender, sensitive soul. I loved how they both loved music! I also really enjoyed Leonora's easy-breezy mother.
This book has some of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers; childhood friends find love; house parties (although I wish it was at someone else's house); and an inn stay. This is a charming book, and I enjoyed it quite a bit!
I have not read the first two books in the series, and I don't think it is totally necessary to but I probably would have understood a couple of things that the characters talk about better. Not reading the other book in the series is not a hamper to the story!
I received The Duke Trap as an ARC and this review is my own opinion.

Sometimes the best laid plans backfire and in this somewhat enemies to lovers, there is no telling what will happen!

Lenora and Sebastian had been best friends as children. But all that changed when Sebastian thought the Holt family made his father's life terrible until his death. He wants revenge and tries to malign their family.

Lenora is determined to stop him and in any way she can. Possibly trap him into marriage or at least make him stop his diatribe?

A fun story that finds the two maybe more attracted than they think!

The characters were super annoying and there was no relationship development. It was entertaining though.

Leonora Holt and Sebastian, the Duke of Dartmouth, grew up together and were close friends, until something happened between their fathers. Lenora did not know what happened, only Sebastien became her enemy. Embarrassing each other became their game, but when Sebastian invites her family to a house party, the impulse of kissing each other becomes an addiction. Suddenly they cannot keep their hands off each other. Lenora still thinks of revenge, until Sebastian's confession and her mother's wise words change her mind. A novella with a lot of heat!
Heat level 4. 🔥🔥🔥🔥