Marleigh is thought to be dead at the battle of Waterloo, and takes this opportunity to finally live an authentic life as Viola Carroll, even though this means leaving her old life and friend behind. Justin De Vere, Duke of Gracewood is finally home from the war and reconnected with his oldest friends family. Viola is a welcome addition to their household, and it feels as though he has known her forever. Struggling with guilt, grief, and the aftermath of being away at war, he finds himself able to open up to Viola in a way he never has with anyone before. As Viola watches Gracewood struggle, she does everything she can to bring her old friend back to life, and soon their connection progresses into something they never expected.

⚜️M/F Relationship (Trans Heroine)
⚜️Slow Burn, Historical Romance, Friends to Lovers
⚜️Steamy, Angsty, Heartfelt, Banter
⚜️Dual POV that bounces back and forth in chapters
⚜️MMC SIMPS for the FMC

This was my third historical romance, and 2/3 have been by Alexis Hall. After I enjoyed Something Fabulous so much I was excited to see what Hall would do with this next historical. In true Alexis Hall fashion there was banter, steam and a wide cast of crazy, lovable side characters.

I listened to the audiobook, and liked the narrator that was chosen. The use of different voices and clear narration with a slight accent brought the story to life. My brain always has a hard time staying focused on some of the dialogue used in historicals, so it took me a minute to get fully invested but once I was I loved watching Gracewood and Viola’s friendship turn into so much more.

Viola and Gracewood have issues to work through separately and together before they get their happy ending. The historical era, societal and class differences are all in play while they figure out how to maneuver their new normal and futures going forward as friends and potential lovers.

This book is a bit longer, so it slowed down at times, but really gave the characters room to build relationships and work through conflicts while still bringing some sweet moments and a bit of angst to the table.
There is some spice, only 1-2 scenes, but it was not overly in depth or too explicit.

⭐️4/5 🌶1.75/5
CW⚠️: PTSD, Substance Abuse Struggles, Some Language and Violence




The Netgalley app for audiobooks seem to leave a warble in the recording and sounds very tinny/echos sped up or slowed down and I don't know if that's an app specific issue? Audibles sample did not have that problem.

Amazon is holding their reviews for the time being to purchases only. Once that lifts, this will be posted there.

Thank you to @readforever @grancentralpub for the ARC and @hachetteaudio for the ALC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
Somewhat unpopular opinion. This was a friends-to-lovers-queer-trans-heroine historical romance. Overall, the story was interesting, where sensitive issues were handled well. I wished I liked it more. It was long, repetitive and it really slowed down towards the middle. I tried listening to the audiobook, but the narrator didn’t work for me. It felt overly dramatized and over the top. And it was 15 1/2 hours long! The main characters were good, though I did liked the secondary characters more. The ending was quite good. I’d recommend to read the physical book. And don’t take my word, read the other great reviews.

The swooniest book, with action and a lot of emotions. I loved them so much. I loved how they are the best and worst of themselves with each other. The way they express their emotions and how they face everything as it comes, it's just real. The pining it's just so angsty. It's just amazing. Fabulous read.

The narrator made it so much fun and immersive. I loved the audiobook experience so much.

I don't typically enjoy much historical romance, but after seeing so many rave reviews for A Lady and a Duke (and my general love for Alexis Hall books), I decided to listen to the audiobook. Thank you Hachette Audio for my listening copy.

Overall I really enjoyed the story. We get a friends-to-lovers queer romance as our trans heroine reconnects with her best friend Gracewood after being presumed dead in war. We see both of our lead characters struggling as Viola tries to live her authentic life, and Gracewood navigates PTSD and substance abuse following the war. They have great banter and dialogue, but are also so tender with one another as they handle grief and intimacy in their newfound relationship.

The book is a bit long (15.5 hours on audio 😅) and I think the pace slowed a little in the middle, but the characters and their story (and that ending!) make up for it. Highly recommend giving it a try even if you don't typically pick up historical romance as its a great story of love, friendship, and recognizing your self worth.

This story is incredibly timely, with the mash up of the regency fervor stoked by Bridgerton and the inclusion of a trans love interest.

Viola is now living the life she’d only hoped for but at the cost of nearly everything, including her dearest friend.

When word reaches her sister in law, who she is employed by as a lady’s companion, that Gracewood is not faring well they set out to set him to rights and help his sister Miranda experience society.

Viola tries to keep her secret but the connection with Gracewood is still there and she cannot bear to lie to him.

Will they get their happy ending?

This should be a hugely engaging book but it was incredibly boring. I’m not sure what fell flat. I’ve loved Hall’s other books so I’m sad I didn’t love this one.

The narrator also overpronounced the T’s when voicing a lady in an incredibly annoying way.

I really wanted to like this book a lot more, because the representation is wonderful and in my cis-opinion, I feel as though Viola’s backstory was handled very well so as to not deadname or focus on her previous life.

However, the narrator for this book made it impossible to fully enjoy listening to this story. I just wish he had done a little better. Also, there were a lot of parts to the story that felt hokey and unnecessary to the main plot I wanted to focus on, which was Viola and how she came into her own. So much of the story felt super repetitive and it just got a bit annoying.

Overall, I really liked this story and want there to be more in this genre/sub-category. But I want them to be a little more well-written overall.

This book was so good I already can't shut up about it. I have already recommended this book to all of my friends cause I just want everyone to enjoy this book.
If you like Bridgerton but want something a but more diverse this is the book for you. This book has all of the best bits of Victorian England with the added bonus having kick ase queer romances.
The main romance is definitely a slow burn but it is so worth it! I loved these characters and I was rooting for them the whole time. At some points I wanted to shake them and just tell them to get it together already but it was so great. I honestly just loved every second of this book.

This book has an incredible premise, moving and memorable characters, and many quotable lines both moving and witty but the pacing is not for me and it made the book seem so very long.

While I loved being with Viola and Gracewood and loved the care Alexis Hall used in crafting these characters, by the end I was sort of bored especially as a lot of the angst between Viola and Gracewood seemed to rehash the same insecurities. While I was thrilled with their ability to communicate with each other and liked the discussions about transness and agency/hierarchy and disability in the era, I think if this book had been 100 pages shorter it would have been an all time favorite book rather than just an enjoyable read.

As for the narration, while usually I prefer to read romance books with my eyes I really enjoyed Kay Eluvian's take on Viola and Gracewood. I liked that she voiced gasps and chuckles rather than just saying it happened. I will say though that her take on some of the side characters did start to feel samey so there were some points where I struggled to tell the difference between Lady Marleigh and Mira for example. That being said, I loved that they had a trans voice actor narrate this book and will be looking out for her future work!

Love, love, love! Alexis Hall does it again!

Hall's ability to time travel into a period and write such a classic romance novel while still updating it for the modern era with LGBTQ+ themes. I have been a fan of Hall for years but this book is such a surprising slam dunk.

I look forward to reading more from Hall very soon.

I’ve made no secret of the fact I’m a massive fan of Alexis Hall. I’ve read a few of his books in the past and will be reading so many more. I’m not a massive historical romance fan usually, so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about that one, but since this had a trans protagonist and was by an author I love, I wanted to give it a go. And I adored it.

A Lady For A Duke follows Viola Carroll, a woman who was finally able to live as her true self after everyone thought she died at Waterloo. Now she’s back home, and her sister-in-law convinces her to visit her former best friend, the Duke of Gracewood. He’s a mess dealing with the grief, and Viola wants to bring him back to himself. It’s difficult though, and both Viola and Gracewood will learn to love themselves again as they fall for each other.

One of the big reasons I’m not a big fan of historical romance is that I’m super picky about the historical aspects. Things have to be right or I’ll get annoyed. But though this book was definitely historical, and there were certain specifics mentioned, like Waterloo and the Prince Regent. But there was nothing specific enough for me to be picky about. I was able to just lose myself in a story for once, even with the understanding of the world the way it was.

Probably my favourite aspect of this book was how it dealt with serious issues. We have a trans woman back during a time when she wouldn’t have been able to transition physically or chemically. All she could do is use clothing and makeup and change her name. Many people still saw her as a woman, and it was wonderful to see. But she’s still terrified of being discovered, as back then, it wouldn’t have gone well if she’d been caught. She’d have been shamed for sure, possibly murdered. It’s hard to say for certain. Either way, it was nice to see an example of a trans character in something like regency England living a happy life and being able to have a family, despite all the challenges she would have faced.

On the other side, we’re also seeing examples of PTSD from an earlier war. It was sad because we see Gracewood suffer, but we know that his mental illness won’t even get a name during his lifetime. We don’t acknowledge PTSD until World War 1, but it was very much present before then. It hurt seeing Gracewood suffer, but it also felt realistic. Again, this is something that we don’t talk about in history in this period, and I love that we actually get to see it and see someone starting to live with it and again be happy.

This book was intensely emotional. Funny in places, sure, and definitely sweet in others. But overall, it focused on a lot of serious points. The romance was always there, brimming in the background. And there is some smut, though it’s not too detailed, but my main takeaway was how this book made me feel. It made me want to cry and hug the characters. I want them to know they’re normal and that if they were in the now, they’d have so much more help. But they aren’t. I’m so happy that they got their happy ending. The epilogue was perfect and everything I needed for them.

I liked both Viola and Gracewood as characters. I also enjoyed the side characters quite a lot, even if some of their storylines were a little predictable. That’s something you expect with this genre though. Viola’s nephew was definitely one of my favourites. He was such a weird kid, but also so sweet and accepting in his own way. I wish we could have seen more of him and the other kids from later on. So precious.

Since I listened to the audiobook of this, I also want to say a little bit about that. We had a trans woman narrating the book, which was ideal, and Kay Eluvian did a great job. I loved the voices she did for some of the older women, they were pretty amusing but felt right, and she had a good balance with all the characters’ voices. It didn’t feel like voices were being repeated, and I liked listening to her.

Though this wasn’t my favourite Alexis Hall book, I still enjoyed it a lot. It’s actually made me want to give more historical romance a chance.

I did not expect to love this so much because historical fiction romance just doesn’t call to me like the other genres in romance.

Do you ever have a book that just melts your heart or gives you butterflies when the love interest does something particularly cute?! That was this book for me. I absolutely ADORED this book.

- Friends to Lovers (but more of Friends to Strangers to Lovers)
- MF Dual POV
- LGBTQIA+ & Disability Representation
- Spice 🌶 🌶 🌶🥵

The narrator did an amazing job with this audiobook. I loved that there was acting involved like laughing or sighing during certain parts of the book. It just added to the experience.

So the book does cover some heavy topics in the book such as the FMC being a trans woman, disability, and mental health (PTSD). They are difficult topics but so important to have that representation in books, especially a romance book.

Overall, I really enjoyed the books. I loved listening to Viola and Gracewood’s relationship unfold and it warmed my heart that Gracewood realized he was probably in love with his best friend for quite some time. They are just perfect for each other!

The steamy scene in the book was 🔥 🔥 🔥. I really appreciated that there was open communication and that Gracewood really helped to create a safe place for Viola to ask questions and explore her own desires (as that was something she didn’t have the privilege of doing). They both contributed into creating a safe space for each other.

There is so much I could probably say about this book. I will definitely be ordering a book to keep on my shelf so I can read it again in the future.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall
Historical queer romance.
Viola is assumed dead at Waterloo and takes the opportunity to reinvent and restart her life the way she wants to live. When she encounters the Duke of Gracewood years later she’d shocked at his depression and overall hiding from life.
Voila helps Gracewood heal.

Emotional and heavy with powerful society hazards and facing is down.
Viola is so confident in her lifestyle, and even when she’s not, she has the full support and backing of family. Her transition and life is simply accepted. It’s wonderful.
A detailed epilogue adds depth and hope for the future.
Overall great if longer than an average historical romance which was my main complaint. There were at least a couple of threads that seemed to go off on a tangent before circling back.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook which was Narrated by Kay Eluvian. What a wonderful performance. From depression to joy and every emotion in-between, plus young children to adults, the vocalizing is clear, gripping and engulfing. I did speed this up to 1.5 for conversational comfort.
4.5
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and Hachette Audio.

An incredibly tender, thoughtful romance with so much heart and depth of character. The romance was a well of longing and emotion, truly giving so much weight to these characters and their relationship. The historical context was so detailed and thorough, unlike any other historical romance I have read in its detail. I also so appreciated the trigger warnings at the start of this book.

The narrator did a fantastic job voicing these characters, giving audio life to this story.

After going missing in action, Viola Caroll decides to start living as her authentic self. When she hears of her dearest friend, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood, suffering after returning from war, she pays him a visit and the two develop a re-relationship, stronger than ever.

Author Alexis hall brings some beautiful character writing to this novel. I particularly enjoyed the way that they handled Gracewood's grief and PTSD, demonstrated Viola and Gracewood's long-standing and deep friendship, and portrayed Viola's burgeoning self-confidence. The dual POV structure highlights the complex emotions that the main characters are having about themselves and each other.

Some of the plotting didn't quite come together for me. I liked that we got to spend some time knowing Gracewood's younger sister and charge Miranda, but some of her subplot distracted me from the core of the story, especially in the third act. I found the pacing to be a little uneven, although similar to many other romances--our protagonists do realize their love for each other early on in the book, but they do wait a long time to act on it and once they do, they're nearly inseparable. It's a slow burn but manages to avoid the third act breakup trope entirely, a huge plus for me!

I'm not typically a reader of historical romance, but I found this novel to be quite accessible. It brought lots of period appropriate elements in while not requiring contemporary readers to have a lot of knowledge about the setting. Anyone looking for a joyful queer romance that can also handle some tough subjects with delicacy will enjoy this story. I've already seen lots of buzz about this novel on BookTok and it deserves its popularity in a growing cohort of recent queer romances.

Readers should know that there's some misgendering (mostly by referencing Viola's previous surname and title) and a portrayal of PTSD including mentions of suicide and addiction. The audiobook I reviewed included a preface by the narrator with this content warning as well.

Thanks to Hachette Audio, Forever, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook to review.

This epic queer historical romance blew me away. From lost friends reuniting, the finding of soulmates to the breaking free of personal and societal chains, this story had it all.

Viola Carroll has never felt like herself. She has put forth a facade of the happy-go-lucky aristocrat, but that person was not her. When a battle at Waterloo leaves her on the brink of death and she is rehabilitated by locals, she takes this opportunity as her chrysalis moment to emerge as Viola Carroll, her true self.

Now a new person she has given up her title to her brother and everything else from her former life, even her best friend, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood. But unrest in the ducal household requires Viola’s sister-in-law Lady Marleigh, whom she is now companion to in her new life, to travel to the Gracewood seat. Viola must accompany her and face her past and the friend she left behind.

Gracewood lost the best part of himself when his best fried perished at Waterloo. Now he hides from the world in a haze of laudanum and alcohol… That is until Lady Marleigh barges into his home with her intriguing companion who seems to be his missing half!

This take on a friends to lovers story featuring a trans woman heroine was beautifully done. The angst experienced by Viola and her refusal to live for others and her acceptance of the consequences of her choices was detailed in a way that you as thew reader went through her struggles and successes in tandem. Also on the other side the dual narration provided insight into Gracewood train of thought and process of coming to terms with his wants and needs and the reality of Viola as a partner. I think the friends to lovers trope consists of a side finally seeing the other person as their tru self and that was a perfect fit for Viola and Gracewood story.

These two were the best of friends and the chemistry between them sparked off the page. I loved how Alexis Hall has set up these characters background actions/ history and their situation to provide the perfect set-up where Gracewood and Viola can come together and experience their love for each other as they see fit.

🎧I was fortunate to get to listen to the audiobook for this book. I started listening when I was already halfway through the book, with can be problematic if the narrator doesn’t fit the vibe of the book. This was not the case with Kay Eluvian’s narration. She delivered voice work that exactly fit what this book already sounded like in my head. You could hear in her work that she was connected to the characters and story and truly brought them to life. Her addition of extra sounds that normally are just spoken of, like the sigh or a cough made this reading come to life. I could not have been happier with Kay Eluvian’s work on this audio and the way it enhanced an already superb story.

As a fan of historical Romance and a reader of Alexis Hall’s contemporary work, I could not be happier about this book. This is a must read for fans of HR. This is new standard for the genre.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall is scheduled to release May 24th, 2022.


#ALadyforaDuke #AlexisHall #KayEluvian #Audiobook #NetGalley #pinkcowlandreads

What an absolute gift Alexis Hall is.

I loved Boyfriend Material, so I’m not surprised I loved this book just as much. The romance had amazing chemistry (I’m such a sucker for friends to lovers), I loved the supporting characters and the ferocity with which they loved their friends and family, and the plot was amazing.

I love historical romance, and this is a phenomenal addition. I would recommend it to any fan.

Viola Carroll has done much to live publicly as the woman she was born to be--including faking her death at the Battle of Waterloo, giving up her title as a viscount, and leaving behind her best friend, Justin, the Duke of Gracewood. For years now, Viola has been living as the lady's companion to her sister-in-law, assuming that she will live the rest of her life as a quiet spinster. Though she has no hopes for marriage or children, she has made herself content just to be her true self.

Until, that is, word comes that Gracewood was not only permanently injured by the war, now requiring a cane--he's also been hideously depressed and has become addicted to laudanum. Not only is this hurting him; it's ruining his sister's societal prospects as well. With much coaxing from her sister-in-law, Viola reluctantly visits her old friend in an attempt to raise his spirits. To him, she's a stranger--nothing more than a pretty, quiet young woman. To her, he's the man who once knew her better than anyone else, and to see him in this state is devastating.

As Gracewood and Viola become closer, the weight of their history bears down on her--as well as the limited prospects of any potential future they could have together. She cannot be his duchess, and cannot give him an heir. Yet Gracewood wants her, and only her. How can she ever tell him the truth?

I've been so excited for this book ever since I heard of its existence. I'm not normally an audiobook person, so the fact that I went for this immediately in audio form is a testament to how much I wanted it (and how much I need to give audiobooks a chance--Kay Eluvian did a great job with this one). The entire concept was really, really cool to me. The idea of a trans woman using the Battle of Waterloo to fake her death and transition the way she needed to? Her hero being her old friend who has been torturing himself with grief ever since her supposed death? (And no, Gracewood does not immediately recognize Viola, which I've seen some take issue with. In my opinion, it's pretty conceivable that with years past, Viola being declared dead, and Viola being a woman not even being vaguely on Gracewood's mind, with her change in dress, hair, and the use of cosmetics being taken into consideration... I think it makes sense, and I think historical romance has handwaved FAAAAAAR wilder shit than that.). Inject it in my veins.

But, and I say this as a cis woman, there's a level of trepidation that I think is normal to feel when you pick up books, especially romance novels, especially historical romance novels about trans characters. You want the difficulties Viola faces as a trans heroine to be acknowledged, sure. However, as someone who reads books about trans and NB characters with growing readers I personally know in mind, I can't help but feel a level of... worry. Romance is meant to be a fantasy for readers, a place where you can read a story feeling safe and knowing that there is a happily ever after in the end. It's not for me to say what queer authors should do with queer stories, nor do I want to dictate what trans readers should seek from trans romance; however, you would like to hope that a historical romance with a trans heroine can be more than tragedy and angst with a dollop of a happy ending at the last minute.

I'm so happy to say that A Lady for A Duke is pretty much everything I was hoping it would be on that front. Obviously, I'm not an expert--and please feel free to disagree with me if you read the book as a trans person and feel dissatisfied. That's super valid, no matter what your reasoning is. But generally speaking, I found this to be a super touching, thoughtful, and yes, hot romance that nevertheless lived with Viola and her identity. She's not unrealistically secure at all times, a caricature of a confident woman. One example I'd give is that she doesn't necessarily want Gracewood to see her without makeup early in their relationship, and as such she slips away before he can. She's not constantly miserable, but she has insecurities. She's also just... happy to be who she is. To be a woman, to wear dresses, to revel in her femininity while at the same time retaining many of the skills she learned growing up (fencing! She can fence and it makes A LOT OF SENSE). She's aware that she's pretty, even if she doesn't always feel like the prettiest girl in the room (who does). She's flirtatious, if not totally confident in it due to her inexperience. She's such a great heroine, and I loved her completely.

I think it's important to note that the big climax and major issue of this book at the end has nothing to do with Viola being outed. There is no outing here. The only person who "realizes" Viola's identity without Viola choosing to let them know is Gracewood, and I wouldn't call that an outing. It's him recognizing her. He is shocked, and there is a brief bout of deadnaming and misgendering as a result, but he is not angry because Viola transitioned. Nor does he really have a hard time with Viola transitioning. He has a hard time with the fact that he thought his best friend was dead for years, and it turns out she isn't, and he would've liked to know, thanks! Which... I get that. I also get why Viola didn't tell him. It's one of those delicious conflicts where both people have valid reasons for doing what they did. Until Gracewood realizes who she is, Viola's biggest angst is truly not to do with her gender, but with her guilt over letting Gracewood think she was dead and his despair and subsequent decline. For me at least, this was waaaay more compelling conflict than the "Viola constantly gets deadnamed" conflict I was worried would occur.

I also loved Gracewood. He's suitably tortured, both on a "hero is hot because tortured" level and a "this is a very good exploration of PTSD, depression, and addiction" level. Gracewood has plenty of reasons to be fucked up. He lost his best friend. He saw plenty of men die. He was grievously injured and as such has limited mobility now, in a society that doesn't accommodate or understand such issues. He also super wants to kiss the pretty lady with familiar freckles, though!

I enjoyed that Gracewood and Viola's relationship has a level of ambiguity to it and Hall just kind of let it sit there. Their friendship prior to Viola embracing her true identity is marked as something different from their romantic relationship that starts after she and Gracewood "re-meet". However, once Gracewood does figure it all out, it's kind of up to interpretation--did Viola have feelings for Gracewood all along? Did Gracewood have feelings for Viola all along? Gracewood is very definitively stated to be a straight man. He's not attracted to men at all. Yet Viola has never been a man, whether Gracewood (or she) realized it at the time or not. I kind of appreciated the way that Hall left this a bit up to interpretation--I could see an argument for Viola and Gracewood having been in love all along, and I can see an argument for their romantic love only really starting up once Viola was in a mental place where she could accept love as her authentic self.

It's also just a very fucking romantic book. It has some lines. My dude Gracewood can knock a lady out with the line deliveries. Viola was never a super sexual or romantic person prior to her "rebirth", and as such she's a bit new to everything. Gracewood is not and that dynamic was pretty charming. I've never been a big one for friends to lovers, but this particular version of "actually, I totally misread our dynamic for a long time, we are in fact super attracted to each other" really worked for me.

I've always thought that Alexis Hall was a talented writer, but some of his contemporary books have been a bit on the closed door side for me? Which is fine, a romance novel doesn't have to have sex, and certainly I can understand the delicacies of writing queer sex in a romance novel that is not only going to be read by queer people. There's a lot of space for fetishization and exploitation of queer sexuality in romance, and furthermore there's been a lot of debate about straight women writers kind of dominating the m/m romance space. (I will also note: Alexis Hall uses he/him pronouns and identifies as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. Beyond that, I don't know anything about his sexuality or his gender identity, and I'm not going to make assumptions. Just wanted to put that out there as a kind of disclaimer; I don't want to lead people to think that this is a book about trans woman, written by a trans woman, when I can't verify the author's identity beyond what I've seen him disclose.). However, I have obviously made it pretty clear that I love to read romance novels with sex. It's my preference. I will almost never choose a romance novel without sex knowingly unless there is a hook that makes me want to read it anyway.

This book. Does have sex. And it is hot. I know that for some people the sex scene could potentially be triggering for some dealing with dysphoria (and the book could be in general, so please read with caution), so I do want to give a heads up that this is a fully descriptive, pretty explicit sex scene. I loved it. I thought it was very romantic and didn't take the chastely sweet~ route I thought it would. It's about the connection between Viola and Gracewood and how physically into each other they are ALONGSIDE their deep emotional bond, and I fucking loved it.

On that level, I also want to say that it was pretty refreshing to read a book in which there was none of the "Wow Gracewood, what a hero, you want to be with the woman you're in love with" bullshit we often see in pop culture. He doesn't get a pat on the back for wanting to be with Viola. To be honest? Once he's got his emotional shit together, Gracewood is really gung-ho on the whole thing. He's all about making Viola his and having a life with her. It's Viola who has hesitations, for many reasons. There is really no hesitation on his part on the subject of loving her, besides his initial shock over the recognition.

Aside from the love story, which was great, you have a fun cast of supporting characters. Viola has a loving, supportive family--Lady Marleigh is particularly meddling in a very "romcom heroine's best friend" kind of way, which I enjoyed immensely. Gracewood has an offbeat little sister who's constantly getting into trouble, but she's a teenager who's trying to figure her own shit out and maybe falling in love with women who are too old for her, so we forgive her. There are a couple of villains, and they are a bit standard issue, but to be totally honest, the emotional conflict is where this book truly lies.

I can see there being some room to critique in terms of the last minute big conflict and the subsequent scrambling. I did not personally mind it, as it felt very old school historical romance. It was kind of great to see this story, which is pretty progressive for the subgenre, being injected with some OH MY! A VILE ROGUE HAS ARRIVED! type drama. The book is pretty long as it is, and at times the pacing felt a tad bit slow, which is why I'm not giving it a full five stars. But please don't take that as any reason to not pick the book up. It's more of a heads up.

Overall, I would highly recommend A Lady for A Duke if you're in the mood to get a bit emotional. It's not a weeper. It's very fun. There's just a lot happening here, and it feels true, and I enjoyed basically every minute of it.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this queer historical romance because it was so unique and unlike anything I've read before. It wasn’t love at first sight, however. It took me about 35% of the book to really get into the characters and the plot. By the end of the book, I was swept up in the romance of Viola and Justin.

I do think that the book is a little on the longish side. I think it took too long to get to the first big conflict/confrontation in the plot. Other than that, an excellent and unique historical romance.

Story Rating 4.5/5

Narrator: The narrator had a style of narration that I do not enjoy – a single narrator giving different ‘voices’ to the characters. Because of this, some of the voiced characters seemed more like a caricature or cartoonish. Also, the narrator acted out elements in the text, like laughter and sighing, throughout the book. Possibly future books would benefit from more than one narrator to pull off some of these amazing characters.

Narration Rating: 3.5/5

A Lady for a Duke is a beautiful tale of the relationship between Viola Carroll, a trans woman, and the Duke of Gracewood. Right off the bat, I loved the representation of the characters AND the audiobook narrator and hope it's a sign that more of these stories are to come.

The book begins with Viola being presumed dead at the battle of Waterloo, and she uses that as an opportunity to live as her true, authentic self at last. Her title and all the glory that comes with it are gone, as is her friendship with her greatest friend, Justin de Vere, aka the Duke of Gracewood. Years later, the two families reconnect, and it's at that point that Viola learns what her loss has done to Gracewood. Over time, the pair fall into a similar friendship but both quickly begin exploring new feelings that neither can deny.

I really enjoyed that both characters were portrayed with tenderness and vulnerability, and it kept me rooting for the couple despite them having to live against the customs of the regency era. I wish more of the book focused on these challenges because they felt buried under the side stories. The book seemed a touch long, but what I'll remember most about A Lady for a Duke is the sweet, hopeful romance between Viola and Gracewood.

This book was a whirlwind. I was in rapture from the very first page.

Do you ever read the first chapter of a book and just… know? Know in the deepest part of you that you will never be the same. Know that those words are going to be an intrinsic part of you from that moment on. Know, with certainty that only comes around a few times in one’s lifetime, that you have found a piece of your soul that exists outside of your body.

But not to be dramatic or anything.

A vividly Queer historical romance, “A Lady for a Duke” brings a trans heroine with a clear voice, a hero with a disability, and diverse secondary characters.

Writing this was h a r d. It was a messy process of wavering back and forth, saying too much and too little, not having the right words and being unable to utilize the ones I do have in a way that does this book justice.

You may have noticed I haven’t actually managed to say much about the actual book. Or anything really.

“A Lady for a Duke” is a story of longing, friendship and humanity. Longing for the life you want but can’t have, for someone who is close enough to touch and yet far out of your reach, for someone you’ve lost. It’s a tale of a friendship experienced in two very different ways, but made no less true or special in those differences. The humanity of grief, desire, and mistakes we can’t help but make over and over again.

And the romance, dear god. I haven’t read prose this beautiful in a long time. The sweeping tenderness and vulnerability, the raw want in these pages begs to be tabbed, and highlighted, and annotated – quoted, studied and dissected.

While Viola and Gracewood are extremely compelling voices, and unmistakably the stars of this story, I found so much joy in the secondary characters. Little Bartholomew, Lady Marleigh (I want to be her when I grow up), Badger, Miranda and Lady Lillimere are the reason this story shines in such a well-rounded manner.

‘’A Lady For a Duke” will be out tomorrow, May 24th. Do yourself a favor and grab a copy ASAP.