Today is a good day, and that’s because I get to talk about a delightful book I just read. I’m quite the connoisseur of historical romances so this one was right up my alley. While not familiar to me before, Michelle McLean has now made it to my list of go-to historical romance authors with her newest release, Four Weddings and a Duke. I will say, I’m not a fan of historical American western romances, but I’ve enjoyed her two regency era novels, so I’m willing to take a chance. Also, I picked up a few of her steamy contemporary rom coms that she pens under the name Kira Archer. Dang girl, you get it - quite the oeuvre!

A Little Bit of Plot
Being the middle daughter of 3 sisters, Lavinia Reddington is facing another season hiding behind potted plants while secretly devouring romance novels while spinsterhood looms. Not as extroverted as her sisters, she would rather spend a night with a good book or paintbrush rather than a ton outing.
Alexander Beaubrooke is the overly studious botanist who would rather toil in soil than step foot in a ballroom. While on the verge of a momentous scientific discovery, he needs a wife. One that detests society and it’s frivolities as much as he does - enter Lavinia.
Within days of meeting, the two are engaged to be married, it’s what comes after that will put their relationship on the line. What happens when suddenly Livvy enjoys taking part in parties and balls and Alex becomes increasingly involved with his work? One place they can’t deny their attraction is the bedroom; but will it be enough to save this relationship before it starts?

The Compliment Sandwich

The Top Bun (The Pro)
The Sensuality of a Pair of Glasses

Livvy has terrible eyesight, and because of this, needs spectacles or at least quizzing glasses to see. Because the ton in regency England was the worst, she is shamed from wearing the one thing that allows her to see - awesome. Alex, however, gets extremely frustrated when he witnesses her struggling without them. Each time he insists that she use them despite going against society’s opinions.

Before they headed to the table, Alex caught her arm and slipped her spectacles into her hand.
She glanced up at him shocked.
“Wear them,” he said.
“But…” Her eyes darted around the room, though without her spectacles or quizzing glass, the features of the guests were hazy.
He took them back from her and unfolded the thin wire arms so he could slip them onto her nose. He took care to make sure the loops fit comfortably behind her ears and let his thumbs trail across her cheeks in quick caress.
“It will be difficult to play cards if you are holding a quizzing glass with one hand. This is your home. You deserve to be able to comfortably see while you are in it… You are the Duchess of Beaubrooke now,” he said quietly. “You needn’t care what any of these people think.”

The sensuality of his caress to her face in public is something that would have been deemed inappropriate at the time. Many times throughout the book does this couple buck society's norms in relation to what some would deem 'appropriate'.

We find that as soon as they announce their engagement, Alex and Lavinia physically gravitate close to one another each time they’re in the same room together. The pull toward one another is magnetic.

She took a deep breath and slowly blew it out, moving ever so slightly closer to the duke, as if he’d shield her from whatever might come her way. A movement everyone seemed to have missed… except Harriet. Her eyes had focused on the excited flush in Lavinia’s cheeks and the pleased look in the duke’s eyes the moment they’d cleared the threshold.

So while tiny touches and the need to be in one another's orbit might not be sensual today, I think McLean describes how touch is taken for granted and how sensory deprived most were in this time period.

It was a very strange thing to be told one’s whole life that to even touch a man was so forbidden, it could ruin one’s entire life. And then, one day, after a few words from a clergyman, she could stand in this room with this man and do whatever she wanted with him. To him. It was a bit hard to reconcile, and she was sure at least some of the anxiety fluttering in her chest was latent guilt for engaging in activities she’d always been taught were sinful. That was now, somehow, the actions of a good and dutiful wife.

We should be thankful for the ability to touch one another at will at present and experience that connection with humanity. There is something sexy though to finally experience skin to skin contact after having been forbidden for so long.

The Meat (The Con)
While I absolutely love the GG in this, I wish we’d had more build up to Alex’s big revelation.

The Bottom Bun (The Pro)
The Relationship Between Harriet and Liv

Harriet, being the elder sister, and at one point, the one on the cusp of marriage, does not take the news of Lavinia’s wedding well. While at the time, as the reader, you’re like “listen chick, just be happy for your sister, and get that stick out ya’ rear”, you learn the reason for her upset and forgive her her haughtiness.

Lavinia has exceptional emotional intelligence, however, and while Harriet's iciness upsets her, she only hopes that she will find her own happiness and eventually they can make peace with one another. This peace comes more quickly than we anticipate, and because of spoilers, I’m just going to include this very lovely exchange when the two come to an understanding:
Harriet froze for a second, staring at her, and then shook her head. “This is part of being the Duchess of Beaubrooke. You anted to be the duchess, didn’t you?”
Lavinina shook her head. “No. I just wanted the duke.”
Harriet nodded slowly. “And that is why he married you. And why he made the right choice,” she said with a long sigh.
Lavinia blinked at her in surprise. Kitty did the same.
“Are you admitting that you were…wrong?” Kitty asked.
Harriet scoffed. “Don’t be absurd. I still would have made an excellent duchess.” She leaned forward and squeezed Lavinia’s had. “But I would have made him a terrible wife”.
Harriet plays a large part in the book past this point, and she turns out to be Livvy’s largest proponent. I ended up loving this character and their relationship.

Lastly, I am writing this as a plea to McLean to write both Kitty and Nigel's stories…if they’re the same one, I’m okay with that too (if you know what I mean).

Honestly, though, McLean does a wonderful job with these characters that at times frustrated me and at others swooning from their actions. I’m working through her Sweet Love Book series currently and it’s also another recommend for me!

I really enjoyed this book. It is a great historical romance. Lavinia is a wallflower middle daughter not looking to be the center of attention. She just wants to sit in a corner and read a book during any social situation, preferably wearing her glasses (which her mother doesn't think she should do out in public). Alexander is a Duke that is to marry one of the sisters of Lavinia's family. He just wants to spend time researching and doesn't want to be social, although as a Duke it is expected of him. He meets Lavinia & thinks they are kindred spirits in this regard. Once they get married, things get interesting. Highly recommend reading this one.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for free copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

This was an exciting read by one of my favorite authors. Ms McLean writes a totally enthralling story of a couple who seem to be right for each other. The new Duke of Beaubrook never thought to be the heir and was content with his botanical studies which he's very knowledgeable. He's found the perfect woman who's hiding behind a potted plant and is reading a book. Lavinia is not really into society and all the trappings that go with it. She's an awkward wallflower who's content to do her own thing. When Alex proposes, she accepts. The mean girls are now eating their words and snide remarks about Lavinia when they hear the news!
This was a funny and endearing read which held my interest from start to finish. I like how Alex stood up for Lavinia and made her the shinning star that she deserves. They finally came to love each other and got a happy ever after!
I appreciate Net Galley for this ARC title in which I gave an honest review.

I found Four Weddings and a Duke to be a fun romp, with likable main characters and a whole lot of miscommunications and expectations that got in the way of a happy ever after for Alexander and Lavinia until almost the end of their story. Their relationship may have started off as a marriage of convenience, but it certainly changed into something far different from what either had expected of their union.

Alexander never expected to become Duke, but circumstances often change, and now he’s the man who must find a wife and produce an heir to keep the Dukedom in the family, so to speak. Perhaps it helped that his father’s friend and neighbor already knew of the possible marriage between one of his daughters and Alexander’s brother. Now that task fell to Alexander who would much rather spend his time doing research on plants and discovering new and better medicinal purposes for them. Of the sisters, only one stood out who might do well as his companion for a lifetime. Lavinia is a shy young woman more content with sitting on the sidelines reading than being in the middle of the ballroom. Or so he thought. Alexander’s life is about to get disrupted in far more ways than he ever expected.

It turned out that Lavinia isn’t exactly shy, as she proves, once the wedding has taken place, that she’s just as happy as any other lady of society in answering every invitation that appears on the doorstep of her new home. Lavinia has dealt with the perception of not being seen for her worth by members of her family, which lead her to stick to the background and avoid being the center of attention. She left that up to her sister who loved having the spotlight centered on her at all times. Now that she is maintaining her own household, Lavinia can do all the things she longed to for so many years… and that includes parties and trying to convince her husband that attending a ball isn’t the worst thing to happen to him. Unfortunately, Alexander isn’t amused; in fact, he’s getting grumpier by the day, and his imagination is running away with him as far as Lavinia and her male best friend’s relationship goes.

While I enjoyed this story, there were also parts of it that, well, annoyed me. Mainly the constant bickering and fighting between Lavinia and Alexander. Each said some extremely mean and unkind things to the other… some to the point where I would have walked away to live in the country before residing with a boorish husband like Alexander was proving to be. There are misunderstandings galore in Four Weddings and a Duke, and they quickly became the norm not the exception for this couple. Although to be fair, the ending of their romance had Alexander doing some groveling (needed to be more) and some very touching moments as they finally got their act together as a couple in love. In all, I had fun, was entertained, and that’s the whole point.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley, and I sincerely thank the author or publishing house for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

After having watched Bridgerton, I was ready to immerse myself in more period romances with total Bridgerton vibes. Four Weddings and a Duke by Michelle McLean was exactly what I need in a fun Regency romance. I loved the main characters of Alex and Lavinia. A match made in heaven if you ask me. Please don’t miss this one and add it to your TBR today.

'Four weddings and a Duke' was so so good! It really had everything I love, plenty of great romance, witty dialogue, misunderstandings and a happy ending! Lavinia and Alexander are great characters separately and together, I really enjoyed getting to know them as they fell in love. I've read a few of Michelle McLean's books so far and she is quickly becoming an auto-read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an easy, quick read for me. It was very gentle and sweet – there is definitely conflict and drama but it felt very low-stakes for me. When it got angstier I enjoyed it a lot more. The chemistry between Alex and Lavinia started out well and their love scenes were well-written, but I struggled to warm to Alex’s character. I found him very frustrating and selfish, and I didn’t personally feel like he’d made up for it enough by the end.

Lavinia however I quite liked, although a lot of that was feeling sorry for her more than anything else. The romance had a lot of things to like about it – it was nice that they spent a lot of time together, for example, and they had some really sweet scenes. I would recommend it if you’re looking for a historical romance that’s light and easy to read. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book.

Content Notes: Death of a parent (in past), death of a sibling (in past), on-page sex.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Four Weddings and a Duke by Michelle McLean is a fun Regency Romance with a moderate steam level.

Lady Lavinia Wynnburn is a middle child and has always felt overlooked. For this reason, she is uncomfortable in social situations and would rather be tucked away in the corner, reading a book.

Alexander Reddington, Duke of Beaubrooke, has a reputation for being a recluse, due to his obsessive interest in botany and the development of new varieties of plants. Currently, he is competing against his old childhood friend and rival, Nigel, for a large grant from the Royal Academy to develop a particular new medicinal plant. The fact that he is now the duke and must marry is a distracting nuisance. At least he doesn’t have to spend a lot of time looking. His father made arrangements long ago with Lord Wynnburn. The heir to the duchy would wed one of the Wynnburn daughters. It is expected that he will choose the imperious eldest, Harriet, or the vivacious youngest, Kitty. But after catching Lavinia reading a novel at a wedding and hiding behind a plant at a ball, he knows that she is the woman for him.

The two are well-suited. (Even if Lavinia’s closest friend is Alex’s nemesis, Nigel.) Unfortunately, they misunderstand their expectations of one another. Lavinia believes Alex needs someone to serve as a social secretary. Dukes, after all, have obligations to society. And now that she is a duchess, and people are taking notice of her, she finds she doesn’t mind society as much as she thought. Alex thought that Lavinia truly did prefer spending time alone, quietly, and would be no bother as he struggled with his experiments. Despite a strong physical attraction, they have trouble connecting.

Things come to a head when Alex fails to attend his own birthday party, leaving Lavinia, once again, looking pitiful in the eyes of the ton. It takes some meddling on Nigel’s part and on that of Lavinia’s sisters to force them to talk things out and find common ground.

Although I was not particularly caught up in any chemistry between them, this is a quick read and a sweet addition to the Regency Romance genre.

REVIEW
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼
It has been a while since I read Historical Romance, I'm happy that I broke my 'fast' with this amazing book. This book has everything I love in a Historical Romance. One of my favorite Historical Romance trope is Marriage of Convenience and this book had it, in fact, I requested for this book because of that.
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I loved the characters, Lavinia and Adam. I loved that Adam was a Man of Science, he worked(researched) and he was not arrogant. In most Historical Romances, the MMCs is always arrogant, I hate this the most, and it's the reason I stopped reading HR for a while. Lavinia is also wonderful, although I wished she was closer with her family, especially her sisters.
👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼
I loved the storyline, their relationship was amazing and I felt the chemistry. I loved the spice, it was not too much and it was natural.
👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼
This book was amazing, and if you're a fan of Historical Romance, this is for you.

How to court your wife after you're married

Alex chooses Lavinia because he thinks they have a lot in common, and while they certainly do share an intense attraction, there's a lot more to Lavinia than just the compliant wife Alex had expected.

I really appreciated how realistic this story felt; both characters behaved immaturely at some point and they clearly didn't have a deep understanding of each other until after months of living together. I loved the way they the author showed the vulnerabilities of both characters. My heart nearly broke when Lavinia withdrew into herself after hearing the rumors about her marriage and I loved how that was the impetus for Alex to realize what changes he needed to make to his priorities. And that he sought out Nigel for assistance was brilliant! This was a side relationship that I expected to take a completely different turn, but I was beyond happy to be proved wrong.

The "grand gesture" was wonderful, their HEA was lovely, and I adored the way everything was resolved at the end. This is a terrific story for anyone who loves historical romance. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

This was a wonderful story, but I expect nothing but a great story from Michelle McLean. She's an automatic read for me. It started with an adorable meet cute. I loved the uniqueness of the story. The characters were well written and came alive throughout this story. The spice was perfect! It got a little long through the middle, but overall I really enjoyed this one. This story was cute and lighthearted. It was a great Sunday read. Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

This was my first novel by this author, and it was a sweet story. Alexander (Alex) and Lavinia (Livvy) are two socially awkward people, siblings to popular, socially adept brother / sisters, respectively. Although brought up in the same way, both Livvy and Alex find it difficult to socialise and take more of an interest in botany for Alex and novels for Livvy. They chance upon each other at yet another social event where Livvy is reading her novel with the aid of her much-needed spectacles and Alex slides into the seat next to her and they strike up a conversation. Since she is as socially awkward as he is, Alex is instantly drawn to her. Alex has no choice but to offer his hand in marriage to one of the sisters and as Livvy seems to be more like him, he automatically offers for her.

After the wedding, many problems develop, which is I feel a realistic depiction of marriage at the time, as they do not spend much time together to get to know each other and communication of feelings is non-existent. Alex carries on as usual, holed up with this research and plants and Livvy, under the guidance of her more socially adept siblings, decides to undertake a more socially prominent role to help her husband in his role as Duke. They finally come into their own and grow to love and honour each other towards the end of the book.

Some scenes didn't make much sense; like her older sister getting upset when the duke chooses Livvy instead of her but she on her part is in love with a no-title painter. Why was she upset in the first place was never explained.

I received an advance readers copy from NetGalley and this is my honest review.

Alex as the second son never expected to become the Duke and have to manage the responsibilities to being a Duke. He was quite content with working on his research on plant grafts. But life had different plans and now that he has become the Duke, the first thing he is expected to do is get married.
Lavinia Wynnburn is the middle daughter, and quite content being overlooked, the odd duck out. But a chance encounter with The Duke, Alex, has him asking for her hand in marriage. Now she must become the Duchess, her husband would be proud of.
Four weddings and a Duke is a very cute and sweet love story. Alex and Lavinia are both introverts and I enjoyed watching them tripping and falling, trying to navigate their marital lives. I think they are perfect for each other.

As the middle and least marriageable sister, Lavinia Wynnburn is quite content being the odd duck out. This way, she’s free to commit social faux pas without anyone much noticing. Until the Duke of Beaubrooke turns up the morning after a ball, asking for her hand in marriage. Alexander Reddington doesn’t particularly care for social niceties, nor is he particularly good at them. But now that the spare has become the heir, he must marry and soon. When he stumbles into the same corner as a socially awkward wallflower, he knows he’s found the perfect wife: one who won’t bother him to attend every simpering event of the season. Only, Alexander’s shy and pretty new wife is finding her new position surprisingly exciting and keeps accepting every invitation that flutters past their door.
A well written delightful romance. I really liked both Alex & Lavinia & loved the chemistry between them but sometimes they were verbally cruel to each other which I didn't like at all. Then as their feelings grew their verbal bantering became a delight. There were misunderstandings, lack of communication but everything came right in the end
My review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

This is not my usual genre, but I do enjoy books by Michelle McLean. Her FMC's are usually surprising for the time period, but Lavinia was a little different. She really starts out as a wallflower--sitting in the corner reading a book during balls, etc. Alexander actually likes that about her and chooses her over her two outgoing sisters, much to the surprise of everyone else.

The relationship of Alexander and Lavinia is an interesting one. I think you could say that both are somewhat socially awkward. Alexander prefers his plants over everyone else. Lavinia often listens to the wrong people in hopes of fitting in. Their striving to make the marriage work wasn't always successful and they hurt each other a lot. The best part of the book was Lavinia learning to stand up for herself.

The book was interesting and kept me reading, but not a favorite.

Thanks to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

While Alex and Lavinia seem like the perfect match, not everything goes smoothly once they are married. In addition to getting to know each other, Alex is under tremendous pressure with his work, and Lavinia has to learn to navigate being a Duchess. Theirs is a sweet if not smooth romance and help comes from an unexpected source for Alex when the marriage almost derails. There are lots of interesting characters and some surprises along the way.

Two wallflowers and a convenient wedding...

Alex is a new duke, who must wed, immediately. He's obsessed with plants and his botanical work, mainly grafting. He chooses Lavinia (shocker) to marry, as she is the middle sister that best suits his need to avoid society and leave him to his work.

Lavinia, in dire need of glasses and books, is a matching wallflower to Alex. Her best friend is Nigel, Alex's relative and bain of his exisitence. She didn't know exactly why Alex choose her but they do have way more in common that her two sisters.

I liked Lavinia and Alex together. They are charming, fun with a bit of heat and they truly are compatible.
Recomm,end.

Well the book does involve a duke and 4 weddings are accounted for in the pages of it, but still it seems a misnomer since the pivotal events occur at and after a birthday party and a ball. The first and third weddings were not essential to the story. Indeed, reading under a palm at the wedding of a prince seems impossibly unlikely so the meet-cute was more of a puzzle than cute. Indeed, it seemed socially inappropriate and disrespectful. The hero was anything but heroic or respectful — self-absorbed, unempathic to a fault, selfish, childish, and paranoid. The heroine was better drawn, but the relationship between the two faltered because of the book’s main premise. This is a couple who could not relate to one another because they did not know how to communicate and failed repeatedly to do so. Even with others. When the heroine overhears some harsh words spoken about her at her own event, she does and says nothing when she should have been instantly ushering the speakers to the door. When the couple feel attacked, they choose one of two ways to resolve their differences, they either have instant sex or go to their corners and pout. Because this is a book about the costs of not communicating in a relationship, the book may be powerful for those who lack insight into their own inability to communicate. For that reason, I still see value in this work. Personally, because I seek out books where communication drives relationships rather than barriers to them, and where sex is a happy bonus for a couple who communicate well rather than a substitute for communication, I found this book to be a frustrating read.

I really enjoyed this story. Lavinia has always stayed in the background and her sisters have always stood out. She would sit in a corner behind a plant or sneak away somewhere to read until her family is ready to leave. That's how she meets Alex. He knew immediately that they were kindred spirits. When they marry, Alex thinks that he will be able to sit quietly and work on the things that interest him and Lavinia will sit quietly reading and they won't have to do all the social things that others do. Lavinia thinks that she has to attend all the social events as befitting their stations and sometimes she actually enjoys it. Her family pretty much ignored her but now people seem to see her. Things aren't always what they seem, and Alex isn't always good at talking about his feelings. Lavinia has been ignored her whole life and she won't be ignored by her husband. Can Alex find a balance between his work, duties and his wife? Will she realize that he doesn't really want to be social?

Alex just wants to play with his plants but being the heir he has certain duties he must perform.
Lavinia, the overlooked daughter, brought a book ti a wedding. I liked her immediately. So did Alex.
They marry and are seemingly compatible, but things begin to go wrong, Lavinia hears things and feels neglected and Alex, being obsessive about his research, accuses her unjustly.
It’s a good read. I liked the tussling between Nigel and Alex and when Alex realized what a true gem he had.
Read it and find out why there are four weddings, which by the way, I’d being a book.