I was really enjoying this historical romance and thought the premise had a lot of potential, until the drama just got silly and I could barely finish the second half. Aspen and Vesper were childhood friends until Aspen spurned Vesper at her coming out, and it became a big gossipy thing. I liked that part. But then there’s an extraordinarily evil mother, an insane asylum, frustrating miscommunication and fervent matchmaking. First half gets 4 stars, second half 2 stars.

I was excited to read this book because a. Amalie Howard is always a wonderful writer and b. I really liked the first book in the Taming of the Dukes series. Howard delivers on swoony emotions, sexy steamy scenes and plenty of carefully researched historical detail. There is a subplot that I felt was over the top and the way that the main characters interacted with the people involved felt odd to me, which took me out of the story a little. And the use of contemporary language and attitudes was occasionally jarring in the midst of such a historically nuanced book. That said, I read it in one sitting, staying up way past my bedtime because I couldn't put it down! Vesper was a complex FMC that I wanted to be happy, and Aspen's character arc felt real and moving. Recommend for fans of Howard (and that should be everyone!).

This was a cute book, a historical version of Clueless. In this story the Hellfire Kitties are reunited for Vesper’s story. Vesper is a high society princess who has worked hard to hide her true nature to act like the proper lady everyone expects her to be. Except when she is around her childhood best friend, turned crush, turned enemy Aspen. Aspen is a Duke who has been away for years exploring the world in search of dinosaur bones, anything to keep him away from his bad memories of home. When Aspen comes home to help his mother’s ward Juliet try to find a husband, he goes to Vesper for help. Sparks fly whenever these two are around each other. This was a cute book, with a lot of spice. Do read the trigger warning/disclaimer at the beginning of the story to make sure the book is not going to trigger you, some very dark topics are included in this cute story. Another great book from Amalie Howard. I received an ARC, and this is my honest review.

Can we start with how cute the cover is? The cat on the stairs tied into this book so perfectly, the small details truly do make the impact.

Never Met A Duke Like You had big shoes to fill, being the second in the series and boy did they fill them. Lady Vespar is such an independent, strong woman and was perfect as the heroine. She gave as good as she got to Aspen, which made their antics toward each other definitely seem fair.

I'm personally not a huge fan of second chance romance and this book definitely gave the vibe, but it wasn't quite which I appreciated. I loved the frenemies to lovers vibe, the wicked mother and the feline companion who sure knew how to make an entrance.

Truly the book to beat this year so far.

I loved this book. A historical version of Clueless (so Emma) with a wicked mother and a charitable FMC.

Aspen and Vesper were friends, until they weren’t. Now they love to vex each other. They do not love one another. She is to help him find his ward a husband and she’s help him work with her dad on a new bill for parliament. Between heated exchanges and looks feelings thaw and they realize what was in front of them all along.

I throughly liked this book. It was fun. It was sexy. Just enough bickering so it wasn’t annoying. The chemistry was good and the story was just enough that you were yelling at them to get it together but it a good way.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Described as Clueless meets Bridgerton, Never Met a Duke Like You is the second book in Amalie Howard’s Taming of the Dukes historical romance series. It follows Vesper, a neurodivergent matchmaker, and Aspen, a paleontologist forced to return to England and take his rightful place as Duke. Friends when they were children, they are now estranged until a mishap forces the pair together.

There’s a lot to love in this new addition to the series. The writing style and pacing are great, and the characters are layered and interesting. Vesper is such a fabulous protagonist, and Aspen is the grump to her sunshine. I also liked many of the secondary characters, especially Vesper’s brother and father and some of Vesper’s friends. And I can’t forget Cat, the lovable feline who wins everyone’s heart by the end of the book. So cute!

I was a little disappointed about a couple of things. First, the antagonist’s punishment felt anti-climactic. I was definitely hoping for more repercussions than what the person received. Second, her friends didn’t seem as supportive of Vesper as she’s been for them, though it was understandable under the circumstances.

Vesper and Aspen are the kind of couple that is totally in love, and everyone but them knows it. That aspect of the love story is comical. I also generally enjoyed their banter. They have so much chemistry, and their teasing and antagonizing, which is filled with sexual innuendos, is great. However, I didn’t like how Vesper and Aspen spoke to each other at times. They seemed to enjoy riling each other up, which was great, but I felt they sometimes took it to the extreme and became personally insulting. They have strong enemies-to-lovers vibes, but there were instances when both went too far in their hurtful barbs. Childhood friends turned enemies, the reasons for their estrangement hurt both of them, and pride and fear of rejection definitely get in the way, but I like how they slowly find their way back to each other.

At times, Aspen frustrated me when he unfairly judged Vesper, especially knowing how much his rejection years ago scarred her. However, I think his past, most especially the vile actions of his mother, skewed his feelings toward love, vulnerability, and influential women. This made some of his hurtful comments and actions more forgivable, as did his more tender and loving moments. This is not a closed-door romance, and all of that back and forth leads to some emotionally charged and spicy scenes!

There are also some strong messages about neurodiversity, the awful treatment of institutionalized people, and the ease with which one could institutionalize another during this time. Be sure to check out the author’s note to learn more about the research that went into writing about these topics.

Overall, this was a decent read, though I have to admit, I preferred the first book in the series. That being said, I will continue the series, as I’m eager to see which characters will find romance next. Special thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

It has been a while since I’ve read a historical romance, but when I saw this was a Clueless-inspired regency romance: I knew I had to read Never Met a Duke Like You! Lady Vesper has sworn off love for herself but has dedicated herself to giving back and matchmaking—until her childhood best friend and current nemesis Aspen, the Duke of Greyson, comes back and shatters her perfect facade. This enemies to lovers is engaging, but is more loosely Clueless than I hoped for. Even so, there was good steam and witty banter and I loved the development of these two finding each other again. I feel like the subplot of what Aspen’s father went though could have used a little more fleshing out and maybe that’s because it felt like there were a lot to subplots going on throughout. I did love Vesper and her spitfire/bold energy and it was a delight watching Aspen fall for the real version of her, who I also just wanted to get to know more. There is so much love and friendship in this book and it’s just a very heartwarming read overall filled with pet antics, mystery, and laughs

This was fun! We follow Vesper and Aspen who were friends as children, estranged as teenagers, and now make their way back into each other's lives. Despite the 1860s (I think) setting, this didn't feel historical to me--there were inconsistencies with language and how formal/casual it was, which threw me off a bit. There were some historical tidbits here and there, which I enjoyed seeing. There were also some loose ends about Vesper's matchmaking with her friends, some of which could be pursued in future books, but one in particular reached a conflict and was never mentioned again; this hobby in general was here-and-then-gone rather than being consistent throughout the book. The romance was fine, but nothing about it really stood out to me. All in all, this book was fairly entertaining, but there wasn't much to set it apart from any other of its kind.

I enjoyed Amalie Howard’s new book, Never Met a Duke Like you, and I can’t wait to read more of this author!

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. I was excited for this title but did not finish based on content and language. Love a good friends to lovers story but this one wasn't for me.

Never Met a Duke Like You was cute and definitely gave Clueless vibes. I enjoyed the back and forth between Vesper and Aspen, although eventually it felt a little never-ending. Also, the plot point with Aspen’s mother felt like an afterthought most of the time. But overall this was an easy historical romcom read.

“𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.”
𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬” 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲. 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝. 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.
“𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝?” 𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐠𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.
𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐩. “𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.”
“𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐰?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝.
“𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐨. 𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡.”
𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝. “𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.”

_____________________

Vesper Lyndhurst is what she allows everyone to perceive her as—a matchmaker amongst friends, a proper lady with poise and decorum to the ton, and a menace to her childhood best friend turned enemy Aspen, the new Duke of Greydon. But when her matchmaking prowess draws the eye of Aspen’s mother, she is soon drawn into far more than she bargained for…and far closer to Aspen than she would have liked.

Aspen, newly returned to London, is an archeologist who begrudgingly accepts his place as the new Duke upon learning his mother planned to steal the title out from under him in his absence. With a focus and a passion for correcting the wrongs that marred his childhood—that he still carries the scars for as an adult—he sets out to set the record straight. The only complication is the man to help him also happens to be the father of the woman he spurned during her first season. The same woman he still has feelings for.

These two were a fantastic blend of childhood friends to crushes to enemies to rivals to lovers and I was here for it every step of the way!! Vesper was a strong female lead, but also kind and passionate about far more than herself. I did love, though, how she took her own wants and her own future by the horns and
despite what was “right” made her own choices for herself. It was bold and it was stunning to watch.

I did not expect Aspen’s story to be so heart-wrenching but my goodness it was!! Learning about his past, his parent’s relationship, and ultimately all of the things that forced him to remain detached made his true nature shine and I loved seeing how both he and Vesper set aside their “ideal”
roles as adults and embraced the wild freedom they were denied in their younger years.

The spice was not to be denied, the banter was TOP tier, and I loved getting to see more of the characters we came to know and love in Always Be My Duchess. And the real star of the show Cat!!! Seriously, this book was so fun, heartbreaking, heartwarming, a hair suspenseful, and a heaping amount of entertainment and I could not put it down. 10/10 recommend for anyone who loves Bridgerton, Jane Austen’s Emma, and of course for all of us STEM nerds out there!!

Aspen and Vesper had been glued together in their childhood. They had strong feelings they hid from each other. Reunited as adults those old feelings are even stronger. The banter between them doesn’t hide it. Soon they figure each other out and love wins out! Cute and entertaining story.

This book was a real delight. If you like historical romances, and old friends to lovers/enemies to lovers, you'll enjoy this one. The best thing about it was the banter between Aspen and Vesper. They clearly understand how to get under each other's skin, and that's what makes it so fun. Vesper is also a complicated and clever heroine. No damsel in distress there. Though she put son a facade of society girl, there is a lot more to her below the surface, and it takes Aspen a little bit to figure that out. The two of them are always there for each other, though, and I love the way Aspen becomes close to Vesper's father. The book also has a very interesting discussion of the terrible practices against people with mental health issues. Overall, this was an engaging read and a great example of its genre.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

eARC provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

"I see you, Viper," he said softly, "The real you underneath all those rules and regulations."
Her breath snagged. "What do you see, Lord Ass?"
"A firebrand hiding behind layers of expensive silk. A woman who lives on the surface because she's afraid of what's deeper .. She shouldn't have to apologize at all for who she is."

Wooh the Hellfire Kitties are back in this swoony and hilarious new edition to Amalie Howard's Taming of the Dukes series. I truly loved Always Be My Duchess, but I was particularly excited for Vespa's story because she was always so put together and wonderful in the first book, I was so curious to peer inside her life. Add to that the childhood friends to enemies to lovers trope and I was sold.

Vespa has sworn off love for herself, but has solidified her self-proclaimed match-maker title after success with Nève and the Duke of Moncroix. But when her childhood friend-turned-enemy returns to town after many years, she faces distraction at every turn. A twist of fate sees her locked in an attic for an evening with that man, the Duke of Greydon, The glances are long and heated, the banter is witty and cutting, and both are flustered and trying to convince themselves that they hate the other (cue audience laughter).

To add to the fun friendships, hilarious schemes, and beautiful love written in this story is the way that it addressed mental health in a time when it was not much talked about at all. In an author's note at the beginning of the book, Howard clearly states that Vesper has ADHD, though it had not name or diagnosis at the time, and her condition would have led to habits and tendencies that polite society frowns upon. In response, we see Vesper throughout the book holding herself on a tight leash, being sure to remain proper for society when expected and not truly speak her mind.

"She wasn't wed because she couldn't bear the thought of anyone knowing her secret -- that the Vesper beneath all the practices poise was, in fact, a woman who struggled to keep her thoughts corralled and refrain from speaking out of turn"

As a woman with ADHD, it was not only lovely to see this representation, but also have it be treated so well and with such care in an era where Vesper could have easily been torn apart because of it. The second element of mental health was in the storyline of the Duke of Greydon's father, who had been committed to an asylum when Aspen was a boy, where he died. We get to see Aspen working not only to right the injustice of his father's wrongful commitment, but also to reform asylum care and mental health care for the whole country. Truly, it made my heart so happy <3

All in all, such a beautiful and fun story that I loved from beginning to end. The other storylines for future books have been appropriately teased and the groundwork has been laid, so I will be anxiously awaiting book #3 and praying to the ARC + Publishing gods that I get blessed with another ARC so I don't have to wait so long.

Would recommend for fans of:
Taking Down the Duke series by Evie Dunmore
Bridgerton
any period drama honestly!

Loved reading the engaging and engrossing romance story. When Aspen, a duke, gets stuck in an attic with Lady Vesper, both keep it a secret and Vesper helps Aspen with Judith's coming out. Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, and a must read riveting love story!

Compared to the historical romance I read right before this one just wasn't quite up to it's standard. We follow Vesper who is very popular and gives off an Emma vibe (which is my least favorite Austen heroine). And then of course we get her grumpy neighbor who is back to fix his family fortunes. The two were one childhood friends but had a falling out and now as adults they still are not very friendly with one another. Of course this is a romance so the two are thrown together and things change. I will say that this one deals with some heavier topics including how people who may have had some mental conditions were treated during this time. Thank you Forever for my gifted copy! This one is out November 14th.

Lady Vesper has a knack for matchmaking but the last thing she’s looking for is a match of her own. When her neighbor and childhood friend, the Duke of Greydon, returns to England, she can’t help but remember how he slighted her back during her coming out. When she reluctantly agrees to help him find a match for his family friend, they find out they just might be the perfect match for each other.

This is like a cross between Clueless and Emma with the spice of Bridgerton. I really enjoyed this friends to enemies to lovers romance. Thank you Netgalley and Forever for the egalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a delightful friends to enemies to lovers book! I loved Aspen and Vesper's banter. They really challenged each other to be better. They had a beautiful connection and a lot of passion. Vesper's connection to her father and brother were super cute and the addition of Cat was amazing. As always the female friendships were great!

I felt that Judith and Aspen's mother were kind of forgotten throughout the middle of the book until they were used for the final conflict. Also, some of the words used to describe male genitalia was very unfortunate and took me out of some scenes. At one point the main character is describing it then stops and almost laughs at loud at her own ridiculous description.

Overall, a very fun and passionate read!

This is not a bad book, but it is nothing special. Vesper and Aspen grew up together, and Aspen was Vespers first crush. The book earnestly delivers a story of a neurodivergent heroine, who has worked hard to smother her otherness and fit in with the conventional society mores, while Aspen's father was institutionalized as insane by his villain of a mother., who also threatens him with the same fate. And yet Aspen recalls Vesper as her true self as she was as a child, and pokes at her in the present to bring out that buried self. It doesn't hurt that the two of them have a raging chemistry between them, which both of them spend most of the book denying, but of course love wins in the end. The main issues I had with the story were the one-dimensional portrayal of his evil mother (not even a step-mother), the banter between Vesper and Aspen that veers uncomfortably close to meanness, and, with the exception of work that Aspen and Vesper's father do in the House of Lords to create better legislation concerning treatment of the insane, the standard nod to social reform during the Victorian era. This book may be of some interest to other readers of Victorian romances and the author's style, but it really did not work well for me. I give it 3.5 stars.