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

This is a debut novel for this author and I enjoyed the first effort. It had an interesting plot line with an intriguing mix of family drama, angst, lust and a dash of mystery. The story was more of a reluctant romance between two people who grew up in the shadow of past family drama and scandal. The family drama was of sufficient impact as to taint the two main characters relationships with their family and each other, and create a great deal of long drawn out resentment and friction.

Catherine Forster is an orphan who is tainted and essentially shunned from Society because of an affair her aunt had with a married Duke, which was discovered, landing both families in scandal. Unfortunately, because of the various actions of her aunt and her father to defend the family honour, the Forster's ended up losing their estate, and their reputations. Her aunt disappeared, and the stress of everything caused her father to fall ill and die, leaving Catherine an orphan, lucky to be taken in by another family and cared for as one of their own. She decides to steal a bit of joy for herself by joining a friend at a house party hiding her identity. She is immediately attracted to a young vicar there and they steal away to the gardens for a passionate tryst. Only to be interrupted when his friends interfere. It was discovered that she is one of the notorious Forsters and the man she is passionately engaged with is no vicar, but the son of the Duke who ruined her aunt, Mary Forster, and her family, On discovery of this, Catherine's reputation is further sullied, when she is abandoned by him after he demands that she be turned out.

John Bremnster, the Marquess of Forster, at that time, was hiding under the guise of a vicar, in the hopes of having a bit of lighthearted carnal fun at his friend's house party, without the added attraction of his title and status. Little did he know that the woman he was engaged with in the garden was of the family that ruined his own, leading to the destruction of his parents marriage, and his own relationship and respect of his father. But despite his abrupt cut of the woman, as the years passed, he could not help but remember her and his strong sensual attraction to her.

Seven years pass by, and Catherine is now a spinster of 28, and in significantly reduced circumstances with her ad hoc family. She was taken in by a neighbouring baron and his wife, and lived a good life, but when he passed away suddenly, they found that their finances were in dire straits, and were forced to lease his estate to help with his debts, and Catherine, his widowed wife, and her young son, are forced to live very poorly, while doing what they can to avoid the duns.

The opportunity for a large amount of funds comes to Catherine, in a very unexpected way one day when John appears at her door. He had recently lost his father and was now the new Duke of Edington. He still carries a lot of anger and resentment for the past behaviours of his father, and if further incensed by what he finds out in his father's will. He is being further manipulated as his father has insisted that John find his former lover, to give her a stipend from the prior Duke. If John doesn't do so by a certain time, the large dowry that would have been bestowed to his sister, Henrietta, would instead go to a hated cousin, which would throw into question why the Duke is treating his daughter so ill, and taint her reputation. John is incensed by this manipulation, but loves his sister and would not want her birth and reputation to be thrown into question. He is determined to find Mary and thinks his best chance of doing so is through her niece, Catherine. When he tracks her down, he offers to pay her to help in, and in light of her present poverty and wanting to help her adopted family, Catherine agrees.

This forces the two people, who despite being enemies because of their conflicting family histories, to be in forced proximity as they work together to find Mary. During that time, they come to learn about each other as individuals and empathize with each other and their shared history, rather than continue to feud as enemies, and they cannot deny the attraction they still have for each other, and as time goes on, this grows into love, despite the barrier of their family scandal. However, as they investigate the past to find Mary, they unearth some unexpected truths about the past relationships, that threaten their future together again.

A good beginning for a debut novel and series. There is a lot of family history drama and angst that the two MCs have to overcome, and as they go on their quest together, they learn things that help shed light on past relationships, and while it may not earn forgiveness, do help to answer some questions about the past for John and Catherine. This is not a lighthearted romance; they are enemies because of the shared family past and scandal, but learn to overcome the burden of the past to become lovers. I felt sorry for them for suffering the sins of their past relations and how negatively it affected both of them.

3.75 stars out of 5

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

4 stars

When the Duke Loved Me is the first book by Lydia Lloyd.

John and Catherine first meet when they are both in disguise at a ball and are instantly attracted to each other. However, they soon find out that the other is related to their rival family, due to a large scandal.

Seven years later, John's father requires John to find Catherine's aunt in his will or else John's sister will not receive a dowry. John doesn't want to fail his sister so he convinces Catherine to hep him even though he doesn't want to speak to her. Neither John nor Catherine has forgotten their one night together.

I found this story to be very engaging and fast-paced. I like many of the side characters and the plot line. Catherine was a very interesting heroine was who fascinated by history and ruins.

My one complaint is that John was so back and forth about his feelings. It seemed like every other page he changed his thoughts about what his intentions were with Catherine.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed this story and am interested to read the next book in the series.

Lydia Lloyd's world building is incredible! This book had the perfect blend of steam and verbal sparring. This is a second chance enemies to lovers historical romance that feels fresh. I am obsessed with Lydia's voice - her characters felt so real and the tropes felt novel despite being some of my favorites.

Y’all. This book was a historical lovers DREAM. It had so many tropes packed into one story which was done in a magical way. Typically, I wouldn’t love a book where the author seemed to be putting every trope they could into their 400-page book. However! Lloyd executed her trope with grace and it didn’t feel too much at any time. I loved every second of this book, even when I felt like the story was dragging, I was still enjoying myself.

The plot of this story is pretty wild, but I loved every second of it. It has a very old-school historical romance vibe to it because of how wild it is and I think that is what drew me to the novel when I first started reading it. One of my favorite things in the novel was John’s sister, Henrietta. I found it refreshing that she was an actual part of the story and not just a side character there for comedic relief.

Overall, I really loved this book and I can’t wait for the rest of the series!

*I was provided an ARC by the publisher via Netgalley*

This book was everything I wanted in a historical romance. I’ve followed this author on social media for quite a while and her her influences shine through! I’m hoping this book turns into a series with the rest of the Rakes. I will be anxiously awaiting!

We really enjoyed this tropetastic debut from Lydia Lloyd. It's clear that she loves historical romance, and if you do, too, you'll recognize a lot of her inspiration. Look, this is an enemies to lovers road trip romance; he's a rake, she's a bluestocking; and the reason they're road tripping? Major inheritance shenanigans. And the back story is a bananas plot worthy of its own romance novel.

We'd have loved just a little more of a previous connection between Catherine and John - they seem to have been gone for each other (but unable to admit it) since their very first meeting years ago. We wish they'd spent more time together and been more invested in the relationship back then to make the drama and angst feel more real in the "present" of the book. That said, we're looking forward to more from Lydia Lloyd!

Full disclosure: we are social media contacts with Lydia on Instagram. We received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher.

What a debut! Dear John, this is my kind of John, not Taylor Swifts Dear John!
I like John, I love John, I adore John!
I needed time to like Catherine, but John, what a guy!
I know some of you said too Instalust! I love their Instalust meetup, so good!
My favourite part of the book is the Pacing, well guys i like books, where author knows I WANT THINGS TO GO NOW!
I been having a historicals slump for a while, but this jolt me up! Thanks Lydia Lloyd!
Just read the book, you won't get anything from me, but trust me this such a good debut!

Can't wait to read about the other boys especially Trem!

Thanks net galley & the author for this ARC. thoughts and opinions are mine

4.25⭐️

Wow…what a debut!! This book was so damn sweet, enjoyable, and the spice was 🥵🥵🥵 This book felt like a warm sensual historical hug that drew me in more and more as the story went on! Catherine and John aren’t meant to be together with their family history but doesn’t that make getting together all the more enticing?? This was pretty low angst in terms of their relationship so we really get to enjoy the development and the push and pull without too much anxiety lol which I appreciate right now 😂 There is an element of insta-lust and extreme horniness for each other but I love that ish 🥵😂

Please go out and get this book if you love - light enemies to lovers, only one bed, road trip, carriage stuff 🥵, and just an enjoyable story ♥️

“Catherine was a historian. She did not believe in leaving the past behind.”

An engaging enemies-to-lovers tale, packed to the brim with historical details and fun tropes!

In Lydia’s author bio, it says, “She enjoys creating love stories between roguish heroes and complex heroines that are driven by authentic conflict.” I have to say, she has succeeded here!
As a couple, Catherine and John sparkle from their first encounter. I love her obsession with history, and I love how it affects him so deeply when she tells him stories. Also when John replied to Ariel’s letter, I knew I was head over heels.
Almost every side character is so compelling that I want them all to get their own books! I especially love Henrietta. Lady Wethersby is hilarious and I kind of hope she also finds true love. Ariel is so much fun. Even Catherine’s old friend, Marisa Plinty, and her little cameo at the end made me happy. Honestly, there were so many good characters that this series could grow into its own universe.
The plot is very strong, and the mystery at the heart of it is compelling. It also speaks to how we often cannot see the details of something that has affected us so much. Toward the end I was getting frustrated with Catherine’s reason for staying away from John, but it didn’t last long and did make a certain kind of sense.
The writing is stellar. A small detail, but something that I enjoyed, is the chapter lengths. They were perfect to devour and keep me reading all night long. Lydia’s knowledge of historical detail and the romance genre really makes the entire book shine.
Overall I highly recommend this! I cannot wait for the next book in the series!

Star Rating: 4.25/5
CW: Sexual assault, death, childbirth, abandonment, grief
Tropes: So many! But a few of the big ones are forced proximity, insta-love, second chance, enemies to lovers, only one bed, roadtrip, governess

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lot of fun. A great debut and I enjoyed the tension very much. The set up was believable, and their interest was both striking and guilt ridden. I would absolutely read more from this author,

I follow this author on IG and she posts really interesting deep dives on historical romance novels and life in Regency England, in general. She clearly has a passion for the era, the genre and is painstaking in her research, which I both appreciate and enjoy. So it truly pains me to say that this book was not very good. At all.

John Breminster is the newly minted Duke of Edington. In his will, John's late father stipulates that if John does not find a woman named Mary Forester and convince her to accept an annuity worth a thousand pounds a year, John's sister’s hefty dowry of sixty thousand pounds will revert to a second cousin that John truly loathes. To ensure his sister’s birthright, this request requires John to contact the only known living relative to Mary, a Catherine Forester, who now lives with extended relatives in reduced circumstances in London.

When John was a pre-teen, Mary and his father were caught having an affair, which caused John’s mother much anguish and caused a huge, publicized scandal. Mary lived with her widowed brother and young niece, Catherine, on the neighboring estate, but after the discovery of the affair, she fled and no one has heard from her since. Catherine’s father then filed a lawsuit against John’s father for breach of promise (or something similar?) that ended up bankrupting the family and simply continuing the salacious gossip. Another complicating factor is that a few years before his father’s death, John and Catherine met at a ball, as adults, although for REASONS, both were using assumed names. They felt an instant attraction to each other and ended up kissing. It was only when they were found by their friends did they realize their connection to each other. John had Catherine thrown out of the party and off of the estate. Since that time, while they never came in contact with each other, each loathed the other.

This overarching conflict offers an excellent premise. Due to their family history, and Society’s pressure of the time, the Reader quickly understands why these two characters have a bumpy road ahead to reach their HEA. But the execution of the conflict and subsequent resolution fell extremely flat to me.

I think my main complaint is that the Author doesn't seem to know her main characters all that well. There is also a lot of back and forth about something and the character resolutely decides one course of action, only to immediately do the exact opposite on the following page. This was a shame not only because it is annoying but because the actual set up of conflict itself is excellent, so there is no need for this nonsense filler.

John is also not very likable. From his initial inner monologue while he pretends to be a “common” man, he came across as pompous, vain and shallow. He also does not grow as a character. There is fodder about his tumultuous relationship with his father, etc., but even when his “shameful secret” is revealed, which really: (1) is easily excused because no one would literally be mad at him about that and (2) feels like it was just thrown in as an after fact to give this dummy some depth. It takes a skilled writer to make a rogue hero worthy of the heroine's affection, and sadly, none of this worked. The only likable characteristics John seems to have are that he is both handsome and a duke, neither of which he can control, so it also makes me think Catherine is also extremely shallow or possibly lacks self-esteem.

Also, there was this instalove situation (which is not my personal favorite and this one was not even handled all that well. I mean, are they attracted to each other?) but then we find out that Catherine and John were neighbors growing up and John had a massive childhood crush on Catherine, but did not recognize her when they met as adults at a ball. What?! I just feel the author wanted to use every regency trope she knew in this one book and everyone just deserves better.

I found this all very frustrating because again, the conflict is GREAT and if the “surprises” had been rolled out better, this could have been, while not a masterful book, at least really good! I am not exactly sure what could be the fix, honestly, but at minimum, these issues could have been solved by stronger, deft editing.

This is obviously being set up as a series and John’s friends did not fare any better. Their characters are broadly drawn with all tell and no show. They also seem pretty terrible, but not in a fun way. In a gross and entitled way.

My sincerest thanks to NetGalley and Tule Publishing for a free digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!
When the Duke Loved Me will be available for purchase on August 28, 2023.

Rating: 🌟🌟/5

"When the Duke Loved Me" is a solid debut with a few shortcomings. I look forward to more Lydia Lloyd books as she becomes more seasoned as a romance writer. In this book, we have main characters who seem to be at complete odds but who are forced by circumstance to work towards a common goal. John and Catherine have incredible chemistry in spite of John being incredibly unlikable for much of the book. He can be cruel and cold to Catherine, and the depth of his cruelty to her is one of the misses for me in this story.

The background to the conflict between John and Mary, as well as to the situation where they have to work together is a bit convoluted especially when the ending twist is fairly obvious early on. However, the book was well-paced and kept the reader (or at least this reader!) interested till the end. I will be on the lookout for the next book in this series and for Lydia Lloyd's future works in general.

3 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

Regency Romance…Enemies-to-lovers Catherine Forster family has been ruined and casted aside by the ton. Her enemy is the Duke of Edington who ruined her family. Longing for just one night to see Roman ruins, she attends a party pretending to be someone else. She meets a gentleman who takes her to the garden ruins. Their attraction is explosive and so the kissing begins until it is interrupted by a friend to explain that she is not the only one pretending. It seems her kissing partner is none other than the newly Duke of Edington, John - son of her enemy. Anger flared and he had her thrown out and walked away. Fast forward, the Duke of Edington needs Catherine help. She agrees to help for a price. The rest of the story and the couple learn more about the scandal they are both products from. This book brings out so many emotions. I did like this story and can be read as a stand alone. I am looking forward to following these books in this series.

**I received this book from NetGalley and publisher for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book has taken my through all depths of emotions from anger, happiness, sadness. The story is one that was so in depth in all layers. Catherine and John have been part of a family feud that have taught them to hate each other for as long as they could remember. I first I did not like John but he did seem to evolve in my eyes. Catherine has able to stand up for herself but at times was too self sacrificing. Overall, I really enjoyed the story.

While they’re both in disguise, Catherine Forster is caught with John Breminster, heir to the man who ruined her family. Her aunt and his father had a scandalous affair. Years later and now the new Duke of Edington, John has a problem that only Catherine can help him solve. Catherine agrees to aid him for a price.

I love the author’s histrom Instagram content and was excited to read her debut. Unfortunately, insta-lust is not my thing. John lusts after Catherine and then shames her for it. I found him impatient and cruel. He runs hot and cold and only likes her because she’s beautiful. And she lets him use her agin and again no matter how many times he walks away from her. By the time we got to the contrived third act breakup, I couldn’t care if they got back together.

If you want enemies to lovers with steam and minimal relationship development, grab this one. I like the writing style and even the plot. I just loathed the hero and the lack of feels. I will try her next book in the hopes that there’s more affection and respect and less lust for her next couple.

I have been so into Lloyd's social media where she does great breakdowns of romance tropes in historical novels, so I had high hopes for a tropey classic historical. Unfortunately, for me, this was less "classically cliché" and more "here are all the tropes, I shall do them all." While the plots hits road trips, and secret engagements, and enemies to lovers, I just didn't feel any chemistry between the characters. It really felt like in the pursuit of hitting all the historical high points, the characters and plot fell a bit by the wayside. The real icing on the cake for me is that 90% of the conflict could have been resolved if even a single person had talked about the events that created the infamous split between the families (this mystery was 100% not a mystery, not even a little bit). Of course I have written zero debut novels, so disregard my opinion as deemed fit, and I would love to see more from Lydia Lloyd since there are a few unpolished gems in here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tule Publishing for providing an eARC of this title for review. All opinions are my own and are honestly given.

After a youthful dalliance at a masquerade went awry, Catherine Forster and John Breminster— whose respective families are on the opposite sides of a centuries-long feud— resolved to avoid each other. This resolve holds out for ten years, when the terms of John’s father’s will bring them back together as Catherine and John team up to find Catherine’s long-lost aunt. As John and Catherine hunt down clues related to her aunt’s disappearance, close quarters bring back to the fore their latent electric chemistry— and emerging deeper feelings.

Having followed Lydia Lloyd’s social media profiles dedicated to a love of all things historical romance, I was so excited to see the publication of her own book. Lloyd obviously writes from a place of deep affection for the genre, with loving homages to some of its most beloved tropes: feuding families, masquerade balls, only one bed at a wayside inn, carriage interludes, precarious inheritances, and more. There were times where I wished for more evidence of the romantic/emotional connection between the two characters as well as their obvious physical connection, but, all in all, I think Lloyd is an exciting new voice in historical romance, and I’m really looking forward to the following books in the series. 4 stars.

Catherine Forster and John Breminster, Duke of Edington first met at a ball 7 years ago and, due to mistaken identity, shared a bit of a romantic moment without realizing that their families are mortal enemies. Now, after years of being unable to stop thinking about each other, John has showed up on Catherine's doorstep begging her to help complete a bewildering task that his father assigned him in his will -- to locate Catherine's aunt Mary. They embark on a roadtrip together to solve the mystery of her aunt's whereabouts.

This book is kind of hard to summarize because there is a loooot of backstory that happened off-page, before the start of the novel. There's a whole situation with his father/her aunt and his sister’s dowry which was incredibly convoluted and over complicated. It was all necessary to the road-trip plot, but we spent the first 20% of the book having this situation explained to us, and it really could have been simplified, or presented in a more compelling way. There's just a ton going on with characters who are not really ever present in the book.

However, once we got on our way (probably around 25%), things really picked up. Catherine and John have really excellent chemistry and I found the relationship development very sweet. I was concerned at first because they got physical quite quickly, and I hate to sacrifice emotional connection and relationship development for the sake of having a bunch of sex scenes, but this really wasn't that. I'd say that this is insta-lust, but they find so much to admire about each other over the course of the novel that their love feels so earned. I also appreciate that they had a shared task to complete, it meant that the plot was always driving forward, and the forced proximity was necessary.

I will also say, this is a debut novel, and I really think the fairly slow start can probably be attributed to that. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of this series and more of Lydia Lloyd's writing in general.

**eARC provided by Netgalley

When two lovers are instantly attracted but past family circumstances make it forbidden for them to be together *swoon*. What a delightful book. Loved the story, the heat, and the characters. Definitely would recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I strongly dislike historic romance novels where everything evolves around the sexual attraction and they are basically based on the sex scenes with very little development of the characters but instead throwing various events in the mix (such as a kidnapping, etc.)

This was not that kind of book to me. It had a sexual intercounter from the beginning but nothing is rushed and we do get to know the characters, and the story developed realistically without losing my attention. It did continue describing the sexual attraction between the two and also further intimate scenes but it also provided a solid storyline and that was satisfying for me.

The only thing that seemed highly unbelievable is having a noble woman staying in the mansion with the owner alone without any chaperone and their running to each other bedrooms throughout the book. There is no way that the servants would not have talked about it and the rumours of who she is and what she is up to reached the ton. It is hard to believe that no one would not have recognized her when her childhood home was just next door.

It is still a great book. Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange of the honest review.