After her abusive husband’s death, Valeria, Duchess of Gooding, is trying to keep things from the past a secret. That means trying to avoid Callum Osgood, Duke of Blackvale, her late husband's best friend. But while Callum has always felt (and denied) an attraction to the duchess, the tension and steam seems to keep rising between them.

This is the first book in the Kent's Row Duchesses series. Kent’s Row is a neighborhood where widows are "put out to pasture" but a trio of young widows strike up a friendship. There is a clear set up for the two upcoming heroines.

I really like Jess Michaels' writing but the secret keeping in this particular plot was frustrating for me. While I suspected the eventual secret, the reveal took much too long to come out, which cast a cloud over the characters' chemistry. It was an easy read but won't be a lasting favorite like some of her other books. The set up for the next book sounds promising though!

Tropes: Widow, Hero Falls First, Late Husband's Best Friend, Second Chance, Compromised

Steam: 4

* I received an ARC and this is my honest review.

a great start to a new series. i loved this couple and i can't wait to see what happens with the others duchesses.

This book was beautifully written and the words flowed well on the page, but I can't say that it enthralled me. I liked it, but I didn't fall in love with the characters.

The synopsis sums it up well: Valaria is a widow; her late husband was abusive. Callum was her husband's BFF. Valaria and her maid, Fanny, share secrets related to Valaria's husband's death—secrets they keep from everyone, including the reader. The secrecy isn't necessary because it's pretty obvious what happened. Valaria has moved to a row of dowager duchesses (who knew there were so many dukes in England), where she plans to stay in morose shadows. Two other friendly young dowagers befriend her, however, and Callum (another duke) can't seem to stay away.

When Valaria isn't being gloomy, she's busy engaging in sexy times with Callum. At least two of those times are during intimate gatherings of friends, which seems both unlikely and stupid. And when a little suspense is introduced towards the end, the truth is obvious, in spite of a red herring thrown casually in to the mix.

I'd rather have had Valaria confide much earlier in Callum and her friends and then have the book spend more time showing us how well-suited Valaria and Callum are (instead of just telling us so). In the end, I found myself skipping the sexy times just to finish.

I suspect many readers will like this book.
Valaria and Callum are both very kind, as are their friends. However, although the story is well told, I won't likely pick up the future books in this series (books that are teased throughout this novel and its epilogue).

I received an ARC of this book for free from the publisher and Netgalley. I'm writing this review voluntarily, and it reflects my honest opinion. Thanks!

Couldn’t Stop Reading!
Now this is the kind of story I love! It is told with so much heart and passion and it had me in its grips from beginning to end!
The characters are something special too with Valeria trying to keep her secret and Callum realising that he has been in love with her for ages.
The supporting cast of widows were wonderful and turned out to be true friends.
So good to have another beautiful and well told story from Jess Michaels and I am looking forward to the next in this new and exciting series
I read an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) supplied by Netgalley and my voluntary review is recorded above.

3.5 stars rounded up. This could have been a 3 star read for me, but I really enjoyed the emotional (as well as the physical) relationship between Callum and Valaria. Callum was the sort of cinnamon roll hero I was in the mood for, and this quick, escapist HR just clicked with me. The storyline focuses on Valaria's psychological recovery from trauma, and in the later chapters there was a heartfelt quality to the author's writing that I didn't sense from some of her previous books.

As for secondary characters, the Duchess of Amberleigh is a scene stealer who I expect will pop up in upcoming entries in this series. Valaria's friends Flora and Bernandette, as well as Callum's friend Theo, were a decent supporting cast (and will feature in future entries).

The weaknesses of this book? Mainly the plot, which is predictable, and the slow pacing in the opening chapters. We know that the MC's are going to get together, so I felt that there really needed to be another element other than sexual tension and steam keeping the storyline afloat. I also didn't buy that Callum was best friends with Valaria's awful husband. It would have worked better if he had drifted apart from Silas over the years, but then Silas had tried to befriend him for his money and status. Valaria had mentioned that Silas kept talking to her about Callum's prowess, which I thought could have worked into some interesting plotpoints early on (was Silas bent on hurting Callum's reputation if he didn't go along with some unsavory plans he and his gross cronies had in store? Or maybe Silas was sexually obsessed with him?).

On the topic of steam, that elevated this book just enough. Jess Michaels knows how to write a spicy scene, and there's something really hot about a sweet guy who simply loves bringing a woman pleasure.

The emotion works, even if the plot sags at times.

I read an advanced reader copy of this book and this is my voluntary review. Opinions are my own.

Review posted on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5622345863

This is the first book in a new series, The Kent's Row Duchesses. The books will center around 3 young widow dowager duchesses. They have been retired to Kent Row so that the new Dukes may take over their position.
Valeria, Flora and Bernadette didn't really know each other before, but have now become fast friends. They are there to support each other and help each other out.
Valeria is the most recent widow. She came from a very bad marriage to Silas the Duke of Goiding. But no one really knows how bad it was. Not even her husband's best friend, Callum, the Duke of Blackvale. After the death of his friend, Callum starts hearing stories of how bad and cruel Silas was. So he decides to check on his widow to find out she has been moved to Kent Row. As he shows his concern and offers his support, he realizes how much he's always cared for Valeria.
Valeria wants nothing to do with Callum. She doesn't want anything in her past coming up to bring attention to her. There's too much people don't know and can't know. But as Callum visits and their attraction grows it gets harder to resist each other.
Of course everything explodes and comes to a head all at once
Will Valeria be able to put her past behind her? Will Callum stand by her?
I enjoyed this story and looked forward to the next. It is going to be a good series. The book set up the main characters for the next.
I loved the relationship between the women and the friendship between the men.
5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I want to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

This is the start of a new series by Jess Michaels, and it’s a promising one! Loved the friendships between the main and side characters, it’s going to be fun to see things play out over the course of the series. Can’t wait to read more from this author

No Dukes Allowed appears to be a first in a new series from Jess Michaels.

This installment is the story between recently widowed Valaria, the Duchess of Gooding and Callum, the Duke of Blackvale. Callum has always had an attraction for Valaria finds himself concerned with her fate after the fate of her husband and decides to go check up on her.

While I enjoyed this story, I found it quite predictable, even down to the secret Valaria was keeping. I liked Callum, but wasn't so keen on Valaria.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC, opinions are my own.

TW: Contains discussions of prior abuse

Summary:

After her husband's death, Valaria, Duchess of Osgood, is sent to live on Kent's Row, a street where aristocratic widows are put to pasture. Her late husband's best friend Callum starts to check on her, at first out of a desire to help. Soon, Valaria and Callum begin an affair, even as Valaria starts to grow concerned about her feelings for Callum, and her deepest secret possibly being unearthed as a result...

My review:

A lot of this plot is centered around the long-term effects of verbal and physical abuse, even when the abuser is gone. Valaria's husband may be dead, but Valaria is still closed off and wants to assert her independence after not having any for so long, though she doesn't quite know how to go about it (her fellow widowed friends help a lot though). It's also the reason there's a lot of wishy-washiness when it comes to her feelings for Callum.

Much of Callum's character development hinges on him not knowing his best friend, Valaria's late husband Silas, was abusive towards her which... I don't know how much I buy. Even if he didn't display outright abusive behavior towards Valaria publicly, Silas was never particularly kind to her in public either, openly took mistresses, and wasn't very nice to other people (and was also an alcoholic?). Anyway, even if Callum didn't know specifically about the abuse, the fact that he didn't know his best friend was not a good person seems unrealistic. Regardless, he's contrite that he never did more, and he is a source of support for Valaria.

The sex:

Jess Michaels writes a solid historical romance sex scene. The ones in this book were mostly tender and affirming, I imagine especially because of Valaria's experiences prior to being with Callum. I'd say the standout moment was when Callum tells her he's been dreaming of eating her out, and Valaria like "...you did this to me yesterday" and he's all "SO??" And I find a hero that devoted to oral (to the point where he says he wants it "dripping down his chin") very hot.

Overall:

While I liked Valaria and Callum's romance, overall, this book wasn't for me mostly because of the plot trajectory and the somewhat hasty conclusion. That being said, if you like historical romances with older, more jaded heroines (which is definitely a growing pattern in HR), then I'd recommend this for you.

Thank you to The Passionate Pen and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.