I typically love Joanna Shupe's books, but I struggled a bit with this one. The beginning is quite memorable—and very sensual!—but the conflict dragged and overall it seemed as if this book would have benefitted from being shorter.

That said, it's hard for Joanna Shupe to write a bad book, so I still found The Duke Gets Even enjoyable and swoony!

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for an early review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I do love these Gilded age novels! They are unique and fun, break into some interesting US history like women’s rights, birth control use, poverty, and even immigration. This is the fifth book I have read by the author and really have come to enjoy her style of writing.

Andrew is desperate to marry an American heiress to save his family estates back in England. For a year he tries and fails, only to come face to face with Nellie, the one woman he should not pursue because of her independence and ambition. Nellie is a scandal of her time by selling birth control to lower class women which breaks the laws at the time. She lives a very no strings attached lifestyle and yet, Andrew suddenly has her rethinking her goals for the future.

Now they need to face reality: how to deal with the chemistry and attraction as they are definitely meant to not be together…. Or maybe they are… I loved these two together and enjoyed so much about this one!

As a disclaimer I read this while I had the flu and am writing this while I still am in a weakened state.

Right off the bat let's take a moment to acknowledge that all four books in this series follow a house party that takes up most of book one and all the other books feature this house party to varying degrees. Have I read book one? No. Should I have? Probably, but at this point I know what happens and with the mixed reviews, I'll probably pass! I'll live in my state of slight confusion.

Anyways. I loved this book. No notes. The fact that I was able to read this like two days after I had a terrible fever is a testament to how fun this book is. I loved the Duke of Lockwood (poor dude has been rejected two and a half times) and Nellie was just a delight. The scene they meet was iconic and I loved it.

I'm a sucker for a historical where what the two characters want is at odd with each other. The Duke needs a rich wife and Nellie is rich, but she doesn't want to get married. Aside from that this book does not have much of a plot, but I didn't mind because it was a fun time and that is what I wanted.

The only think I wish had been a bit more on page throughout was Nellie's activism because it popped up towards the end and impacted the last third of the novel, but I think, should've been on page more for that to make sense. Do I think that Shupe maybe increased this part now that Roe is overturned? It's possible! I loved seeing Nellie advocate for women (it's very cis) and help them take control of their decision to have children. I just think it would've worked a bit better just being on page more.

This is the 4th book in the series and I have read all of the prior books. You don’t have to read the previous books, but it would be helpful to the overall story. Nellie and the Duke finally get their story and it’s a good one. The things I liked about this book:
1Nellie’s fight for availability of contraception for women (amazing how things don’t really change.)
2 The passion between these 2, especially the Duke, didn’t see that one coming but loved it!
3 Nellie’s Irish family.
The only negative was things were a little slow at first.

5 stars.

Very good story line and excellent entry in the series the author has given us. It started to feel a little repetitive that she was SO against marriage. The character threatened to be reduced to that one dimension. However, the interactions between the main characters were fantastic.

Joanna Shupe never disappoints. I’ve been waiting for this book for what feels like years and it was angsty and steamy and perfect.

This book was so satisfying in all ways. Joanna Shupe knows her steam and this book didn't disappoint.

She took two one-dimensional supporting characters from previous installments of this series and gave them rich and relatable backstories. I loved the Duke's growth from this stodgy jilted fortune seeker to this lovable, flawed, lonely match for Eleanor, who is also sort of flawed and lonely in her own way. I also loved how instead of trying to change her, he embraced her but also expected her to meet him where he was at. Neither character went into the relationship without compromise which made the story feel real.

I am going to be so sad if this is the end but it was a great series. Love the guilded age and I literally live across the street from one of the biggest guilded age's mansions on the Hudson so I really feel like that age is tangible for me.

I have really enjoyed this series, but this one for me was just meh due to the sizzle and spice (of which there is a lot) but no sense of an emotional connection. This novel left me wanting more from it as a whole.

For someone who shone brightly in the other books, this book showcased a Nellie who was dimmed, her boldness tamped down, and even her cause seemed added in solely to showcase her “unsuitability” for marrying a duke. None of the struggles here felt real, since Lockwood was damn quick to release from his (previously) adamant mindset that he marry a young heiress above reproach. His reasons and the after-effects weren’t mentioned, which I found odd for this being brought up on at least three occasions in the beginning of the story.

I enjoyed it, but not enough.


* Personal grievance - given the distinct mentions of Jennie Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt, I was annoyed at the name dropping of Prince Albert in the epilogue, 1897 - Prince Albert Victor died in 1892. And the Prince Albert who was referred to as Bertie, who would become George VI, was in his second year of life in 1897.

I have been looking forward to Nellie’s story since book one and you just knew it was going to involve the Duke of Lockwood and I have to say the Ms Shupe did not disappoint. Nellie’s story is more emotional then the other books and this may lead to people feeling like it lacked plot. But I felt that these 2 characters have had such a build up in the previous 3 books that I was really looking for just explosive attraction and emotion from them and that’s what you get. I’m glad Shupe didn’t turn Nellie’s less then stellar reputation into a misunderstanding. I’m glad she is the rebellious, sexually open person that is promised in all the other books. But we get to see the softer side of her, the fragile side, the side that a man willing to see her as she is and love her for it would be the compliment to her life. Andrew, the Duke of Lockwood becomes that and for once it’s the heroine in the story who is resisting the possible changes that marriage would bring to her life. Andrew is a revelation, strong but not arrogant, dominating but not tyrannical and man, the love scenes between these two are pure 🔥🔥🔥.
The scene where he’s swimming are reason enough to read this book!
I also love that Ms. Shupe worked into the story Nellie’s involvement with women’s reproductive knowledge (not much) and rights(horrendous) in late 19th century and how in many ways it mimics what is happening currently in the USA (and parts of the world). Ms Shupe’s Acknowledgments at the end of her books are always a must read for me for the historical reference she has pulled from. I’m glad to say that for me, this book was a very satisfying conclusion to a great series. A series that I look forward to listening to the audio as a re-read at some point.
I was kindly given an ARC of this book by NetGalley for my unbiased opinion

Oh you will not be disappointed with this book. Nellie and Lockwood’s story is SO HOT and yet still very sweet. He is precious. He’s sweet, loving, strong and secretly dominant (🔥). Nellie is the kind of woman we all want to be. She is confident, kind, the best friend and confidant to each member of their girl gang. Pre-order this now so you get the best gift to yourself on January 24th ❤️❤️

I have been waiting for this book for what seems like ages but was probably only a few months 😂!
There’s been three books worth of tension between Nellie and The duke, three books of seeing this kind, handsome man get turned over for the heroes of the other stories and now it’s finally his turn for his HEA.
Nellie is not typically my favorite type of heroine. She’s very very much ahead of her time to the point she’s almost unbelievable modern. But she is a good person and Joanna Shupe is always able to create really well-rounded characters. Even if Nellie isn’t my favorite of the heroines in this series, she’s still someone who’s motivations I understand even if I don’t agree with them.
However Andrew/Lockwood, is the real star of this book; something that is usually not the case in historical romances. But to me, it’s his story, because we’ve been waiting for so long to see it. Andrew is a wonderful hero, he might be one of my all time favorites. He’s kind, sweet, passionate, and just tortured enough but not so much to let it turn him into someone who’s jaded or cynical. He falls head over heels for Nellie right away, and is decisive about knowing he wants to pursue her. He’s always honest with her, he always treats her well and stands up for her when people in society disparage her. He’s PERFECT.
This is a 5 star book for me because of Andrew alone, and for finally having the pay off fans of this series have been waiting for. But some of the conflict in regards to Nellie got a little repetitive. She has the SAME conversation with every single supporting character in the book. Where they tell her to give Andrew a chance and she says no. Rinse and repeat (I’m not exaggerating) six different times. I wish Nellie had been more decisive or that she had at least only had the conversation once or twice instead of many, many times.

2.5 rounded up. There’s disappointment, and then there’s ARC-I-was-jumping-for-joy-to-receive disappointment.

This will be mainly be one of those “Let me tell you how this could’ve worked for me” reviews.

After all the anticipation for the Duke of Lockwood’s fourth time’s the charm, I'll tell you everything with the following: this would’ve made a great novella. If this was to be the premise, just limit the series to the original three college chums and keep wild child Nellie and starchy Lockwood’s HEA a shorter class difference/opposites attract cherry-on-top short read. Because, though it did have it’s nice steamy moments, this turned dragging and the conflict repetitive (by 50% I couldn’t believe we had half way to go of the same), and by the third act, the wheels came off. Even the come-to-Jesus realization conversations dragged on. I'm all for terms being layed out in a resolution, but even in the epilogue, they’re still bargaining, their bond as tenuous and lusty superficial as it ever was. Might as well be a better return on investment novella, if that’s the pay-off.

But let’s mention what I did enjoy and then come back to my rant complaining:

Having read and loved the two previous books I was already sympathetic of the always-friendzoned-never-a-groom thrice rejected impoverished duke-needs-an-heiress, and I did enjoy Lockwood here. The duty-bound impoverished aristocrat who is forbearing and frustrated with his hardships and obligations, but never woe-is-me. I love a polished starchy one with a rough side that only she brings out to play. The commanding duke tone show up in the bedroom and it was, um, yep, very gratifying.

The push and pull of their lusty interactions fueling the animosity and the resented longing brought on some good dry wit banter and jealous impulses. Loved seeing her Hell’s Kitchen Irish family and the duke holding his own amongst the ruffians.

Their anonymous scandalous meetcute was memorable. I appreciated water as a recurring setting and symbol of being stripped bare of artifice/convention/duty/reputation (ok, stripped bare literally too, good fun).

But then, Nellie, Eleanor Lucinda, Miss Young. Ugh, it could’ve seen so great. Her purported scandalous antics are in the past, which makes sense for her to be more ready to “settle down”, but it would’ve been more effectual to see her at her most improper and sordid shocking starchy duke à la Then Came You’s Lily Lawson. It just was a bummer to see Nellie subdued and a bit of a house plant recluse (nothing wrong with that, just less diverting in this context). Also some of her motivations didn’t make sense: Why did she ruin her reputation so nobody would want to marry her if her indulgent rich dad would never make her do anything she didn’t want to do? She could flaunt convention all she wanted without turning herself into a pariah. Decades-old fear and grief made her be so stubborn about denying herself happiness?
Didn’t hold up.

What also didn’t hold up on its own is the high stakes class difference. Again, all in for lust-addled decisions, but by halfway he gets distracted from his bride hunt prerogative, plus her flimsy resistance reasoning, it’s bye-bye tension. And, besides some vulnerable moments and “Only you see the real me”, also bye-bye believable emotional depth connection.

Nellie’s cause, though worthy and interesting to see, felt tacked on, E.G. she never shares her passion for it with the duke (giving her no competence throughout). Hence, the role it played in the third act was the nail on the coffin for my hopes of the drama setting up to a satisfying resolution.

Which brings me back to how some characterization/motivation tweaking for our girl, an arc for the hero that didn’t add up to resigning himself to failure, and a shorter format that didn’t have to beat you over the head with class difference conflict, and this could’ve been a highly effective steamy tale of opposites attract with a champion for women’s reproductive rights and a dirty talking swoony duke.

Read The Brides Goes Rogue if you haven’t.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Eleanor and Lockwood meet by chance and sparks fly. Unfortunately Lockwood is going to wed Nellie's best friend. They try and stay away from each other but it seems like fate has something else in mind. This book started of fast paced and continued the same throughout. Great read!

Light, witty and at times emotional. It’s the journey to that ending that makes this an enjoyable book. Overall, I enjoyed this story and, it was a good read.Love it

This book does not disappoint. It’s a perfect conclusion to this series and I really enjoyed Nellie and Lockwood. I also enjoyed the focus on reproductive rights, which feels very timely.

The Duke Gets Even, by Joanna Shupe. Wait until you get ahold of this delectable book. Ladies, Joanna did not disappoint you with Nellie and Andrew oh so scandalous, steamy, and with a hint of erotic love story. For me, this book was on fire, the romance oozed with an over abundance of juicy love scenes and I was not upset at all. At each flip of the page, internally I was chanting, “more, more.
Give me more Joanna. Not only did I got more, but I got the kitchen sink, and then some. This book reminded me of how much I love historical romance and I appreciate the talent from the writers who create them. I could tell… and I don’t know if you will be able to tell after you read the book yourself, but I could tell that the writer really took the time to write this book. One of the many things that convinced me is the from the research by the writer.
The issues on woman’s choices or decisions about their body back then, the information was executed very well in the storyline. I found the information was thorough and eye opening. The stories narrative, plot and dialogue was clear and precise. I understood what the writer wanted to convey to the readers. The description of the details from the characters feelings to the color of their eyes and what they were wearing, transported my my imagination into the story.
I absolutely enjoyed my time reading this love story. It was refreshing and beautifully written. I simply have to tell you about our sexy couple, Andrew and Nellie. First of all, I love LOVE Nellie! She is the fire cracker to Andrews wick.
With her fiery red hair, and her Irish background, she stormed the streets of America and didn’t care what anyone said about her. She’s her own woman and she makes her own rules. Andrew is a Duke who really knows how to melt a woman with the flick of his tongue and his fingers. This man brought a thrilling tingle to my imagination. Ladies you heard me.
Andrew is nothing but an animal in bed and Nellie was all game for it. Their bed sport was so hot it covered 3-4 pages. It’s as though I was gifted with a rare peak inside a historical romance book that was borderline erotic. I was saying yes, and giving air high fives to no one in particularly, considering it was only me and my dog in my room. Ladies, Andrew treasured Nellies body in so many ways that in the real world, you know Nellie wouldn’t be able to walk right the next day.
Thank you to the writer for her talented writing, not just in the love scenes, but the intimacies parts, as well as comforting talks, and sometimes heartache moments. While reading these scenes you can almost feel the character raw emotions. Myself, personally the book reads like a movie, a movie that I didn’t want to end, because I liked the characters so much. I simply didn’t want the story to end. I think you will find Andrew and Nellie’s love story exciting and entertaining. The book is easy to read and a good page turner. I recommend this book with two snaps and a, “ now get over there, pull up your dress and bend over”. Until next time my fellow readers… read on!

Not sure how to rate this book just yet because my first gut check is telling me two star. But is that right? Is that fair? I’m gonna have to take some time to decide if that’s really what I should give it.

This book is basically all steam and not a lot of substance. Which, for me, isn’t great. There is some vulnerable moments and getting to know each other but right off the bat it’s instalust and pining that’s based on sexual chemistry and that’s just…not it for me. And because I wasn’t into the romance part of it, I really didn’t care for any of the rest of the stuff going on either.

Enjoyment wise, it’s probably two star.

I was not so patiently waiting for Nellie's book! She was such an interesting and independent character in previous books and her own book didn't disappoint. The Duke Gets Even is the fourth book in the Fifth Avenue Rebels series. Nellie meets her Duke, Andrew, by accident during a midnight ocean swim. This will kick off a love/hate relationship months in the making. Nellie never wants to marry and give up her independence. Andrew must marry an heiress to bolster his family's coffers. Andrew falls fast and has to persuade Nellie to move past an affair and into something more permanent...marriage.

I absolutely adore it when the hero refuses to call the heroine by her nickname. Andrew decides from the beginning that Nellie doesn't suit her and calls her Eleanor. I never knew how much I needed all the spicy swimming scenes. I'll never look at an indoor swimming pool the same. One annoying plotline, was when Nellie pushes her way into a domestic violence situation and ultimately makes things worse. Her intentions were well meaning but her privilege caused her to jump into the situation without thinking.

It was great to catch up with the other heroine's from previous books. Nellie needs her friend group to let her guard down and show the reader a different side of her. I NEED Joanna Shupe to make a book featuring Nellie's cousin, Finn, and the rest of the Hell's Kitchen gang. The discussion of contraceptives and women's rights is timely and shows it's been an ongoing struggle for women to have control over our bodies.

Thank you to NetGalley, Joanna Shupe, and Avon Harper Voyager for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.
#netgalley #thedukegetseven #joannashupe #avonharpervoyager

For fans of Regency romance with passion and heat. I grew up reading Julie Garfield and Catherine Coulter and of course moved on to Julie Quinn etc. This brings me back to curling up at 11pm with a flashlight unable to put the book down to sleep and not wanting my mom to know I was still awake reading.
Absolutely loved the book! The characters (NELLIE!!!) I adored, and the dialogue made the book unputdownable Can't wait to pass it into hands of my Bridgerton loving crew!

Lockwood had not even a little bit of a chance at winning his bride in the first book of this series. Maddie was never going to be his. But like many I have been anxiously awaiting his Happily Ever After. In the other books of this series we have seen little glimpses of Nellie and Lockwood. Now it's their turn to finally be happy. Joanna Shupe does not let us down. Their story is every bit as good as I hoped it would be - They both want each so badly but can't seem to figure out how perfect they would be for each other. Will the figure out a path to a happily every after??

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC copy to review.