I ADORE the cover first and foremost - but this was very middle of the road. I wanted more relationship building between the main characters.

It was nice to have a continuity over the last couple books. However I didn't like this book. The long repetitive internal monologues became very tedious and boring. The storyline read as uneven. The end and epilogue felt rushed.

The Duke Starts a Scandal was a great addition to this series, although it seemed that instances were rehashed over and over again.

The prologue started out awesome, I was hooked immediately. Then, it immediately got boring. I wanted the same energy that we had started with, but it felt like a totally different book. If it turned around, I don't know, because I DNFed a few chapters in.

This was a rather unexpected and fun outing! Tonally it struck me as quite different from the past books I'd read from Jordan; a chunk of it was pretty angsty, delving into pretty dark themes (see CW's), and the conflict was less between the two MC's, more focused around them overcoming aspects of their pasts to be able to be together. I did find it really interesting & compelling that both MC's had secretive pasts that would "ruin" them in the eyes of their peers; usually it's just the woman MC, but having her LI also struggle with that made for a refreshing twist.

Overall, while I had a fun time, it was not a particularly substantial book. I thought it would have been a fantastic screenplay (coming from me, known hater of movie rom coms!) -- the overarching story was really compelling, and I liked the character dynamics, but the characters felt a little too underdeveloped for my taste. (That's the part I love best in a romance novel! It's all about the characters!!)

That being said -- I still had a wonderful, fun time reading it over the course of two days. Would definitely recommend if you're looking for something fun, just don't go into it with super super high expectations, because you may be disappointed. (Also where is the movie adaptation, I would gobble that up with a spoon lol.)


CW's for sexual harassment, domestic abuse, discussion/depiction of past sex work

I was interested in this book primarily because of the outsized reaction to the cover image--which I did not get. I thought the cover looked like it was designed by AI and represents some of the least artistic impulses from cover trends of the last few years. The Cordelia poster it is based on is so much better, even though people felt misled by that poster.

But maybe the kinship is intentional! Because I think if people feel like Jordan was going to right that wrong, they are going to be disappointed here too.

Nothing is particularly innovative or new about how the Duke of Penning and Susannah's relationship develops and the sex scenes are normal Sophie Jordan fare (even possibly a little *more* tepid). There are elements included that clearly signal Jordan thinks she is progressing (Penning's career prior to becoming a Duke unexpectedly, the lesbian aunts) but most of things that felt new to Jordan for me I have seen done better in other books at this point, namely The Earl I Ruined by Scarlett Peckham.

The hero in this book was previously a sex worker and based on reviews of The Earl I Ruined, I do wonder how people are going to take his attitude compared to Julian in that book's, but I want to make it clear: the thing that makes this book just Okay has nothing to do with the hero being a sex worker and everything to do with the book just being kind of boring.

So many threads of potential conflict felt underdeveloped and under discussed--it is like there is no linkage between who the characters are and what happens to them. This leads to a weirdly paced book that just isn't that interesting and it is also reflected on a smaller scale in the way that dialogue is explicated over and over again. Nothing is left to be intuited or discovered by the reader; we are told what the significance of lines and speeches, which does help, mostly because I quickly lost trust that the dialogue would have any clear logical connection to the characterization that I had gotten up until that point.

I think if you've enjoyed other Sophie Jordan books, you'll probably like this one. But this was my first from this author, and it really did not work for me. I didn't gel with the writing style, which felt very repetitive at the sentence level and often involved a lot of info-dumping about characters' pasts. I didn't really like or feel invested in either of the protagonists by the end of the story, which is a shame. If we'd gotten more information about either of them as characters outside of massive info-dumps every chapter, I think that would have helped a lot; for example, what if Lucian had friends from his past life who loved him and whom he protected and supported with his newfound power and wealth? That's just one possibility that would have made him seem like a good, caring man and not just any random pointless duke, and would have made his past feel rich and immediate.

The Duke Starts a Scandal
by Sophie Jordan
An adventurous historical romance! I always enjoy Sophie Jordan's books.

Lucian, a new duke with a past, and Susanna, his housekeeper, can't stand each other, until they can. I really enjoyed Sophie Jordan's incredibly tight pacing and sharp dialogue. I wished there had been more interaction between them in the first third, but I really enjoyed their scenes together. I also enjoyed the side story with Lucian's sister and the valet.

This was fine but not Jordan's best (by far). I also found it slightly annoying that it didn't follow the standard outline for a romance. There was so much back and forth in the beginning. I got the feeling that this was supposed to be loosely based on Jane Eyre, which is fine except that Jane Eyre isn't really the same thing as an Avon romance, you know?

The characters were well drawn and I felt like the overall plot was good, but the cover and marketing is misleading.

Love Susanna & Lucien's story! Sophie Jordan is a MUST read in romance!

If you love overcoming childhood obstacles, yearning, family meddling (we have some super adorable sisters trying to get these two together!) then this one may be for you!

A duke with a past who cannot keep his eyes or thoughts off his new housekeeper? I'll take two, please. The Duke Starts a Scandal is the last book in the amazing Duke Hunt series by Sophie Jordan, and it knocked them all out of the water for me. Jordan thoughtfully plays with reversing certain gender roles for the era, all while showcasing the escapist steam fest we all read Regency for. The yearning between these two is top shelf, and I was truly impressed by the growth that both Susanna and Lucian went through to reach their HEA. Please give this one a go if you're not quite the Bridgeton type but want to try out a little Regency love.

I don't know how she does it, but Sophie Jordan always sucks me into her books!! I really enjoyed this book. The characters were different than most you see in her romances, and the situation between them was also different than you would expect. I enjoyed this book a lot and I always look forward to what is next from Sophie Jordan!

The Duke Starts a Scandal is the fourth in The Duke Hunt series by Sophie Jordan. We finally get the relationship that was hinted at in previous books, that of the new Duke of Penning and his housekeeper. I enjoyed reading this book and finished it in pretty much one sitting. The relationship and storyline were compelling. I liked that Sophie Jordan continues to venture to new places in romance. This book features a trope flip in that the hero is a former sex worker (not a spoiler, it comes up pretty early on). So much ink has been spilled writing about FMC as sex workers/mistresses in romance, this was refreshing. The dynamic of a Duke falling for his housekeeper is also one I don’t remember reading about previously and Sophie Jordan carries it off well, being sure to acknowledge and resolve the inequality of power in the relationship. My one critique is that the relationship between the two MCs doesn’t see a lot of development on the page. I would have liked more conversations or fights. And some of the events in the relationship are a bit far-fetched (a woman serving as a valet?) But, in the end, both MCs must resolve their past trauma to come together and forge a future together and that’s all I want in a romance with the HEA baked right in. The side characters are quirky, and we have more than one side romance, including a nod to a same-sex couple.

My thanks to NetGalley, Sophie Jordan, and Avon for access to an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked that this was a quick, but deep read. It tackled some serious topics that I think are not explored enough in historical romance. I liked learning about the personal histories of both the Duke and Susanna, and I thought these histories gave them so much in common and so much ground that could (and should) have been explored. I have read other books from Sophie Jordan and found them to be fun, lighthearted, and emotional but I found this title to be lacking. The character development was minimal, beyond the short exploration of the two main character's "checkered" pasts, and that made it hard to believe in or understand the relationship between the Duke and Susanna. The relationship between the two seemed very shallow, considering the ways in which they should be able to connect.

Librarian Review: I would consider recommending this book in reader's advisory if someone wanted a Cinderella style romance.

Reader Review:
3.5 stars.

Confession: I DNF'd the last book in the series. So naturally I was a bit nervous about how I'd enjoy this one. But without question, the finale is the best book in the series!

This book had a few characters and relationships that I don't think I've seen before in the much-beloved but very saturated genre. The Duke of Penning, for example, was a sex worker before unexpectedly inheriting his title (no spoilers--it's revealed pretty early on). And while there have been plenty of governess + single father/guardian, I don't think I've read a book with a housekeeper as the heroine. Definitely a fun twist--though I still don't buy the valet replacement plan.

Overall, the characters were likeable and the story had consistent momentum that the last book, The Scoundrel Falls Hard, lacked.

Pros:
-Consistent momentum of the plot
-Less cookie-cutter characters

Cons:
-Didn't really get much relationship building between the main couple
-The sister's romance with the valet did little for the story and, frankly, could have been left out
-I still don't understand why Billings's fiancee was with him
-Was really hoping we'd get to meet Ruth, Robbie's sister/the girl Susanna was once a companion for
-Would have loved to see more of Ferelith and Agatha