Amalie Howard books are a must read for me and Vesper and Aspens story was delicious. Their banter and bickering was so well-written you could feel the sexual tension between them. They are probably two of the most likeable characters I’ve read in a long time. You have to love them and their romance. As hard as Vesper fights him, it’s for the very best reason or is it just an excuse? Aspen will figure it out for her and it doesn’t take much convincing. Guaranteed fun read and you won’t want to put it down.

Never Met a Duke Like You was a cute regency romance that definitely had the Clueless meets Bridgerton vibe. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I adjusted to the writing style I flew through this book!

I love a good enemies to lovers, and Vesper and Aspen with the witty banter and snarky comments really nailed it for me. The build up of angst is just enough to keep you frustrated while rooting for them to get it together already. I also love that he didn't try to change her, and instead enjoyed riling her up to bring out her fiery nature that he remembered and loved.

4/5 stars and thank you to NetGalley and Forever Pub for the digital copy for my honest review.

Lady Vesper has no desire to marry, but she is a skilled matchmaker. When she isn’t setting up her perfect matches she attends parties, enjoys time with her friends, and devotes herself to a few secret projects. When her childhood friend turned enemy, the Duke of Greydon is forced to return home and leave his archeology passions in America, the two instantly butt heads whenever they cross paths. Though they despise each other and are skilled at trading cutting insults, there is a fiery attraction heating up between them!

Usually retellings feature a modern take on a classic tale, but here we have a regency setting of the 90s movie “Clueless”, and it totally hit the mark! The banter was immaculate, the spice was incredibly rewarding, and the nicknames (Viper and Lord Ass) were funny and fitting! I love a historical romcom, and Amalie Howard will always deliver!

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This book is everything I wanted it to be and more! I had recently read a very similar book, but contrary to that one, this one delivered on easiness to read, character depth descriptiveness, and plot.
To start off, I recently learned I have aphantasia (I don't see pictures in my head when imagining things) so now my reviews include that little perspective as well. This one gets a 5/5 for aphantasia friendliness: it describes everything, I always knew who was speaking in the dialogues, what people were doing in the scenes, and even though there were a lot of different characters and moving pieces, I never felt lost while reading it and always followed along.
The other thing I really liked about this book was that it's a mix between Clueless & Bridgerton, it was spicy but proper, it was sweet, it was funny, it gnawed at my heartstrings, and even though it was an era piece, I could relate to a lot of things that were mentioned/said in the book.
Overall, I really enjoyed the plot, the characters were endearing, it was the perfect length, and I actually want to go back and read book no 1, and hoping there'll be book no 3 in the series too.

Note: received a free ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Never Met a Duke Like You is a spicy romance about a matchmaker and her childhood crush reuniting after several years apart. There are several conflicts in this book, including a conniving mother, reluctant attraction, and the conventions of the time. I gave this one three stars because I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't read it again or recommend it to a friend. If you're looking for a breezy romance, this might be right for you.

oooh boy, I need MORE. I had read the beast of Beswick and enjoyed it pretty well, solid historical romance. Then I saw this one on netgalley and knew the first in this series was a little pretty woman-esque, so I requested. Then I went on a little beach trip with my girlfriends, read the first one and absolutely fell over with how much I loved it, and immediately started this one, and loved it just as much, if not more – months before it was supposed to publish lol. August me was VERY happy with this choice, but November me currently does not remember enough to leave a detailed review, oops. But, I loved it.

Historical romances is not a genre that I read everyday, but while reading this book, it reminded me why I like this genre so much. I love feeling transported back in time when Dukes and Duchesses were around and it’s a wonderful break from our everyday reality 🤭 One thing I really loved about this book was that it’s inspired by the movie ‘Clueless’, so I was able to follow the story based on a movie that I love!

This was a really easy read and I really enjoyed it! I love how it was childhood friends to enemies to lovers, and I loved the dynamics between Lady Vesper and Aspen. I loved how they challenged one another and how they loved each other. I loved how everyone could see that they were meant for one another while they were unaware of it for a very long time. I loved their chemistry and the spice in this book!

Another thing I really liked about this book was that it adresses a lot of important issues, such as mental health and being your authentic self. I loved the author’s note at the beginning explaining her characters and how Vesper has ADHD; I loved the ADHD representation, especially in this book as Vesper is presented as someone who acts perfectly in public but withholds her urges and her true self, which I really related to, especially before knowing I had ADHD. I had a “mask” on so I would be considered “normal” and I loved seeing that part of ADHD in the book as I found it believable and relatable. I loved seeing Vesper learn to embrase what made her different as well as her sexuality, and not needing to fit in exactly like the ton needs her to be.

Some of the bickering between Vesper and Aspen was a bit too repetitive at times, and there were times where I was not the biggest fan of Aspen, but overall, I loved the story and the characters, and I can’t wait to read more books by this author!

4⭐

I am officially convinced Amalie Howard is incapable of writing a bad historical romance. She has a way of writing characters that instantly gets you invested in their lives and their happiness. Add in the fact that this story is about childhood friends who became enemies and end up as lovers who verbally spar/flirt like it's an Olympic sport and Howard would have had to work to intentionally make it bad.
Lady Vesper Lyndhurst and the Duke of Greydon were childhood friends who had a fight due to a misunderstanding and then spent years apart thinking the worst of the other. Until fate and the Duke's conniving mother force them to spend time together once again and they realize that things might not be as they imagined.
There are a lot of moments when I wanted to bash their heads together and force them to talk things out, but their keeping things to themselves and being martyrs is so fitting for how their characters are that you can understand why they do the things they do. It's infuriating in the best possible way.
Overall, it's a great enemies-to-lovers story that has some dark undertones without getting dragged down. It touches on some tough topics and some very good ones about women's rights without ever feeling like that's the point of the story, the romance is always front and center.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Forever for the wonderful read!

A great enemies to lovers story.

But were they truly enemies? Antagonist, yes, but not really enemies. They never undermined or hurt each other...the nose was more of an accident and provoked. ::wink wink:: Lady Vesper Lyndhurst and Aspen Drake , the Duke of Greydon, are brilliant together. They have spirited, feisty conversations and while on the surface it is hard to see, they respect each other.

Ms. Howard wrote Lady Vesper beautifully. She approached her unknown affliction, ADHD, so well and relatably. I loved that Vesper's family and friends accepted her for the wonderful person she was and helped her during times of overload. Thank you Ms. Howard for your grace.

This was a fast paced story with colorful secondary characters. Vesper's brother, the Earl of Lushing is WONDERFUL! He is fun, irreverent and very observant when it involves others. For himself, not so much, he isn't seeing what is roght under his nose. Vesper's friends are a joy. They are supportive, protectibve and a great tribe for each other.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this story and all opinios are my own.

Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard is a fabulous historical rom-com inspired by the iconic 90s movie, Clueless. (Also therefore Austen’s Emma?!) The movie Clueless is a core memory from my adolescence, (how does Paul Rudd look exactly the same?!), so when I received an ARC of Never Met a Duke Like You? I screamed.

I AM A COMPLETE SUCKER FOR NICKNAMES. Lady Vesper (aka Lady Viper) and the Duke of Greydon (aka Lord Ass) were childhood best friends, but after he publicly snubbed her at her debut, they haven't been on speaking terms. Now, Vesper finds delight in playing matchmaker for her friends and acquaintances, with varying degrees of success.

After getting trapped in an attic with the duke and sharing an almost kiss, she agrees to help his mother's ward, Judith, during her first London season. But things get complicated when she realizes that her childhood infatuation with the duke has only grown with time, and he realizes that he's been gone for her for years. Whoops. Add in an evil, manipulative dowager duchess, a furry white feline, and a gaggle of female friends who always have each other's back, and you have the basic idea of Never Met a Duke Like You.

It was so much fun, start to finish. Never Met a Duke Like You has earned a spot on my "keepers" shelf, just like the first book, Always Be My Duchess (which was inspired by Pretty Woman). The 90's were the golden age of rom-coms, and these books give me all the same feelings.

Never Met a Duke Like You was a historical romance meets Clueless. With a little bit of enemies to lovers mixed with friends to lovers, this book was an easy read. My absolute favorite thing were the ties to the movie Clueless, and looking for those moments here and there within the pages.

As childhood friends and neighbors, Aspen had ruined Vesper's idea of them being together at her coming out. He had been her first love and best friend. So when he scorned her, Vesper never forgave him. Getting to see pieces of their past throughout the story, I saw that Vesper missed her friend. As he grew up, and since he was two years older than her, he became cold. And their friendship stopped. Yet after not seeing one another for seven years, they found themselves stuck in the attic together. Alone.

Getting to hear both of their thoughts, I was shocked listening to Aspen. He thought Vesper was cold and vain, like his mother. Yet he had no problems toying with her, and he could be absolutely hilarious. So their banter and jabs were so much fun and impossible not to smile when they were going back and forth. And his history is definitely one that will pull on hearts. There was a reason he had walls, and they were so hard to break down. Yet he could also be mean to Vesper at times, like belittling her for being so prim and proper. Plus he assumed wrong time and again when it came to Vesper. Just like Aspen, Vesper felt so alone. Even though she had a wonderful group of friends. But I loved how prim and proper Vesper was. And with her having a heart of gold, it led this story in a heartwarming way.

The connections to Clueless?! They were what pulled me along and left me hunting for little moments here and there! Now I need to preface that with this book doesn't give the same types of vibes that Clueless does. There is a darker element to this story, and the friendships didn't vibe the same. Yet I loved that we got some scenes that were similar to the movie. And when characters in this book acted similar to the characters in the movie too. Here are some I caught.....
*Aspen could be so serious like Josh!
*Vesper was obsessed with match making like Cher. One of the stories reminded me of her trying to have her two teachers fall in love.
*Vesper was wrong about a lot of things, just like Cher.
*When Aspen accuses Vesper of just being concerned about being pretty and going to parties, it reminded me of more moments like when Josh accused Cher with just being concerned about directions to the mall.
*It felt like Judith was most definitely Tai.
*I struggled figuring out Deonne though, maybe it was Effie or her brother? Idk.
*There was something similar to when Cher was highlighting for her dad.
*Vesper's dad gave me vibes of Cher's dad.

The ending gave us a wonderful happily ever after, and things were set in motion for future books with side characters. There was definitely steam within the pages, but some things like tickling weren't for me. And an outcome with a character, oh how I wanted there to be harsher consequences. But that's just me and my difficult heart haha. Yet Vesper and Aspen were given fabulous ending that will warm your hearts!

POV: Dual
Spice: 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️

This book had me at a) Amalie Howard and b)a historical Clueless retelling (or if you want to get technical, also an Emma retelling) and it kept me hooked until the end!

I loved that like the first book in the series, a main focus in this book is mental health, with both Aspen and Vesper having to deal with different issues in this regard. These two are childhood friends to enemies and the banter and chemistry between them is perfect. It is very slow burn, so it’s a while before we get to the “lovers” part of the trope. Although at times I wanted to shake both of them, I still found them to be fun and lovable characters.

Vesper has a great girl gang to support her and I can’t wait to see what kind of romcom movie retelling the author comes up with next for this series!

Lady Vesper Lyndhurst loves love for others and views herself as a premier matchmaker, but doesn’t want love for herself. She was in love with her neighbor and best friend, Aspen, now Duke of Greydon, but when he returned home from his first year at Eton, he was cruel, treating her like a child and she’s not spoken since.

Aspen is a paleontologist in America when he learned his mother was going to declare him dead and place his cousin as ducal heir. Realizing it was time to come home to deal with his ducal obligations, including finding a match for his foster sister, Judith. He also wants to find out the truth of his father’s internment in an asylum and proof his mother was behind it all.

Never Met a Duke Like You is Howard’s second historical romance that gets inspiration from a 1990s movie, with Clueless (aka Emma) providing the foundation this time around. While the story is familiar, the characters are unique and engaging. I got caught up in Vesper’s passions and frustrations. I love that she speaks her mind and that she has friends and family that love and support her just how she is. Her family is amazing, and I adore that she was able to grow up without constraint. Watching Aspen realize who the true Vesper is and how he loves her is a joy. I also like that he has his own passions and how the pair complements one another. Their banter is fun, although it cuts deep sometimes. But when it does, they recognize it and make amends, eventually. There are years of hurt that require reconciliation, and truths that need to come out.

I love how the author creates camaraderie between the couple and their circle of friends, yet each character has their own personality and opinions. They disagree, but are loving. I enjoy the nuances of the banter between Aspen and Vesper - some is playful and fun, some is hurtful, hurled when the other is hurt and angry. The characters are likable because they are written with hearts of gold. On the other hand, the dowager duchess is a wonderful villain because she is so cold and vial. She’s the kind of antagonist one loves to hate.

In the end, I completely enjoyed Never Met a Duke Like You and its references to both the movie Clueless and its inspiration, Emma.

My Rating: A-

Lady Vesper Lyndhurst is beautiful, influential, privileged and quite wealthy. She is the daughter of a Duke and it allows her to spend her days as she wishes, and she has a knack for matchmaking. She is not interested in love for herself but enjoys herself finding and arranging it for everyone around her.

Then we have the Duke of Greydon who left to pursue his interest in paleontology and has returned to his estate struggling with insolvency. He comes home to solve the problems his mother has made, and comes to realize the culture he ran from has not change in the slightest.

They both accidentally get themselves locked in an attic, where they antagonize each other exactly the way they did as kids. Even after they get rescued they continue their banter, and as the season continues the attraction between them becomes something they can no longer ignore.

This second installment in this series does not disappoint. Every element that i loved from the first one is present in this. The characters, the banter, the spice, the chemistry, all of it was so well done and balanced. I will honest to god read everything this author puts out happily.

I have tried to read other historical romances, and haven't liked them, but Amalie Howard has me hooked. I loved the first book in the taming dukes series, and i loved this one too. Vesper and Aspen were two fierce and comical characters. They both had their quirks and it led to a very inspiring and funny romance. This is definitely a childhood friends to enemies to lovers book. These two grew up together, got into a fight, became estranged, and then find themselves in eachother's lives again when Aspen come back to pursue his duties as a Duke.

They very much challenge and test each other throughout the book. "Viper" and "Lord Ass" are their nicknames for each other!! Hahaha!!! Both Vesper and Aspen like seeing the other one get worked up, so it is really funny how they both know how to perfectly poke eachother's buttons. I think that their romance story is sweet and they come together very naturally as a couple.

I think my favorite parts about the books in this series though are definitely the Hellfire Kitties, and just the group of friends they have! It brings so much more to the storyline alongside the romance and main plot. It also always has me excited for the future books.

Lady Vesper Lyndhurst, 23, has earned the nickname Cupidella for playing matchmaker with her friends. When she was younger, she had a crush on her neighbor, Aspen Drake. But an argument resulted in their friendship ending which broke her heart. Today, she is the daughter of an earl and is quite popular with her friends. However, she is not interested in getting married.

Today, she learns that her neighbor, Aspen Drake, the Duke of Greyson, has returned to his home. For years, he has worked on archeological digs and conservation efforts in America. But his mother’s ward, Judith, needs to have her come-out and hopefully find and marry a good man. He realizes that he needs Vesper’s help with this. Although they clash and spar a lot, there is still some attraction between them,

Aspen hates his mother because she had his father committed to an insane asylum where he died. He doesn’t believe the man was insane.

As Aspen and Vesper meet up again, there always seems to be sparks flying. They can’t seem to decide whether the hate or love one another. The thing that I didn’t like is the overabundance of snarky repartee between the two characters that became very tedious. My favorite character is Cat and the poor thing is owned by Vesper. Sad.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

*i received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

DNF @53%

I REALLY tried to finish this book, but unfortunately it didn’t grab me from the get-go. I think the main issue I had was that I didn’t really like Vesper as a character. This is fully a “me problem”, and I do think other readers will enjoy this book.

Never Met a Duke Like You, the second book in the taming of the Duke series by Amalie Howard was promoted as a mash up between Bridgerton and the classic 90s movie Clueless- and I can safely say that that hits the nail on the hammer! Full of fun, antics and sassy banter, along with all the glittering historical romance, this book is an absolute delight!

A self proclaimed, matchmaker extraordinaire, Lady Vesper is surprised to find her former childhood crush/Neighbour/estranged enemy, the Duke of Greyson finally back in residence … and even more surprised to find that he needs a favour! His mothers ward is set to hit the social season and he needs Vesper to use her skills and make her a match!

Past feelings and perceptions on both vesper and grade inside. Keep these two at odds as they try to work towards a common goal. This pairing is like oil and vinegar, but if they get too close, they are traction shakes them up and they blend together most deliciously! I couldn’t get enough of there, sassy, back-and-forth dialogue, and the sparks of attraction just pouring off of these two!

I absolutely loved this rendition and found that Vesper made delightful Emma -esque matchmaker, doing her best to create love, matches the benefit, not only the participants, but herself as well! She has a heart of gold, and it was a delight, seeing Greydon realize that she still is the same spunky kid he grew up next to!

Though, being the second in the series, this one definitely can on its own be read as a standalone.

Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard released earlier this week and definitely needs to be on all my historical romance buddies TBR’s!!!

Thanks to you forever romance for my advance reading copy. Opinions are my own.

Never Met a Duke Like You

“We’re all misfits in our own ways. What matters is whether we find a way to accept who we are, flaws and all.”

Ohhhh my heart, I loved this one! Just swooning over the feisty Lady Vesper and the dashing Duke, Aspen. Their banter and chemistry is off the charts. I love their story, and their meddlesome friends and family. Well, except the Duke’s mother, she’s definitely the worst.

Things to love:
🩷 Childhood friends to enemies to lovers
🩷 Supportive and meddling friends
🩷 Match making meddling
🩷 A cat named cat
🩷 No bed 😏

Never Met a Duke Like you is the second in the Taming of the Dukes series. It can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading Always Be My Duchess first to enjoy Stone and Nevé’s story!

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for my ARC. My opinions are my own. Never Met a Duke Like You is on shelves now!

This is the second book in the Taming of the Dukes series, which introduces Lady Vesper Lyndhurst, a duke's daughter and self-proclaimed matchmaker. When her childhood friend-turned-enemy, Aspen Drake, the Duke of Greydon, unexpectedly returns to England to salvage his family's estate, their lives collide in an attic. The undeniable attraction between them unfolds in this engaging historical romance. While not eclipsing the charm of the first book, the narrative expertly explores their journey from friendship to enmity to love. Howard skillfully portrays the characters' internal struggles, offering a quick, enjoyable read filled with witty banter and a compelling storyline.