Member Reviews
Any Duke in a Storm by Amalie Howard
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Lisbeth is an international spy undercover as a ship captain and smuggler. Raphael is hired to become Lisbeth’s new sailing master. Raphael has his own agenda and it involves righting a long ago wrong.
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What I liked:
-I loved that Lisbeth was so bold and sassy. She was an excellent ship captain and her crew respected her. I loved that they were like family.
-Raphael’s story was really good. I love a good revenge tale, and his uncle was the worst.
-I loved when Raphael and Lisbeth starting working together. Give me two characters who admire and support each other, yeesssssss.
-The ending was so sweet.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Absolutely love Amalie Howard and her historical romances. This was a super enjoyable pirate romp that delivered on chemistry and steam.
Lady Lisbeth Medford, Countess of Waterstone, is a spy pretending to be a pirate captain in order to get a famed and feared smuggler in the West Indies. Raphael Saint, the Duc de Viel, is a smuggler with a big axe to grind with his uncle, the smuggler Lisbeth is trying to catch. Fate brings them together and sparks fly despite Lisbeth being determined not to let emotions cloud her judgment and affect her mission. Will she be able to complete her mission when emotions get involved and will Saint be able to forgive her when all her secrets come to light?
It's a historical romance with pirates, spies, and members of the ton, it's impossible not to like it. Lisbeth and Raphael are both excellent characters who read as believable people pushed into extraordinary circumstances by their desire to see justice. The sparks fly from the moment they meet and it only gets hotter from there because Howard is an expert at the slow burn that suddenly becomes a massive blaze. But it's not just the sexy times that she's great at writing, you get pulled into the plot and what the characters are striving to achieve. It really feels like you're rooting for everyone to get what they truly deserve.
Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the smashing read!
This book was good, but could've been a little shorter. I felt like there was too much pirate stuff, but also not enough. And although there was a 3rd act breakup, it felt like a good enough conclusion even though the reason was a little bit silly.
I received Netgalley in exchange for honest review. This is book 4 in the Daring Dukes series. I actually really enjoyed this one. It was a pretty good read and fast paced.
A wild ride! Lisbeth and Raphael were such a great pair and their journey of passion and intrigue was rich. I struggled a bit with understanding the conflict of Lisbeths undercover assignment but it made more sense as it plays out in the plot. I loved the look beyond Groverness Square and gaining a more global perspective of what life was like at this time period. This story is diverse and unique for the historical romance genre and I had so much fun reading it! Amalie Howard does such a great job setting up series that takes place beyond the realm of traditional regency romance and I am SO here for it.
Rating 4.25
Any Duke in a Storm was a fun addition to the Daring Dukes series! Loved the high seas adventures, the pirates, the romance.
This was fun; it's been a while since I've read a historical romance that takes place on the high seas! I know there are other books in this series, but this was the first one I've read, and I really liked it. I loved the diversity and the fight the patriarchy vibes. I would definitely pick up more from this author and in this series.
I really enjoyed this one. If you like regency romance fan then this would be a great addition to your collection. Beautifully done!
First, I want to give big thanks to the publisher and author for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.
This wasn’t my first pirate historom, I absolutely love this little subgenre and I have to say “Any Duke in a Store” is easily one of my favorites because instead of having a seemingly helpless… hapless female hero, Lady Lisbeth Medford is actually an international spy on a covert mission posing as a ship’s captain while trying to infiltrate a notorious smuggling ring.
Raphael Saint, Duc de Viel, our male hero is a tall tattooed charming pirate who escapes a trap and lands on Lisbeth’s ship as the new sailing master.
The two are super suspicious of each other throughout most of the book and have many demons plaguing them both but end up falling for each other when the danger gets in the way and they have to work together. Their chemistry in the bedroom and out of it was explosive, and I absolutely loved their banter.
This is the fourth book in Amalie Howard’s Daring Dukes series and If you're looking for a fun flirtatious adventure on the high seas, this book is it, I highly recommend it.
They aren't pirates, they're smugglers. Through out the British West Indies and as far as Paris, goods are collected and smuggled into America to avoid the high tariffs. An agent of the American Treasury, Lisbeth Medford hunts for one smuggler in particular, Charles Dubious, Captain Prince. In her quest as Bonnie Bess, she meets his nephew, Raphael Saint. He wants to destroy Charles Dubious for the death of his father. They hunt together and become lovers, but Lisbeth keeps her secrets.
A very erotic romance of a handsome smuggler who will sacrifice anything for love. Set in the late 1800s after the American Civil War.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley.
DNF. This was a so bad for me. It was a drag. I really tried to get through this one but it took me so long that it has put me off reading for this year. I usually really Amalie Howard so I don't know why but this book really really didn't work at all for me.
Super fun read with saucy characters.
Spicy pirate scenes with bondage and foreplay. A badass heroine that is only not a spy but a pirate and loving person.
Hot competent hero that’s a disgraced Duke through familial betrayal. He hides his emotions thru his rakish ways but a gentleman and clever man.
This was a great read.
This book was nothing like I expected, but in a good way, I was so pleasantly surprised by it. Our cast of characters was so amazing and fun to follow. The plot instantly pulled me in and I enjoyed every moment of my reading!
READ IF YOU LIKE:
• Hidden identities
• Forced Proximity
• Spy/Pirates
• Badass FMC
• Confident MMC
• He falls first
So far, historical romances with a pirate theme have never disappointed me. This one was no exception, full of sparkling banter, strong characters that are afraid of nothing and a good found family vibe, which I adore. Both our characters knew what they wanted in life and had plans, they were the definition of badass characters and it was sure to be a clash when they met. They were so great together and I loved their chemistry and how comprehensive they were about each other's needs. Lisbeth was so guarded and it was amazing to see how Raphael was able to pass her defenses and make her question herself. The whole spying plot made things quite interesting and with Lisbeth having so many identities, it was fascinating to see her navigate all of this and even start to doubt who she truly is. Narina was such a fun addition to it all, impossible not to love that little girl with such a big mouth.
For a historical romance (remember I come from old school HR) the spice was out of this world, I did not expect that haha, piercings and praise kink and I'm not telling you all *wink*. Speaking of older HR, one thing I enjoy with most recent books is that they are starting to showcase more multicultural backgrounds and being more inclusive. This one had it all, I truly enjoyed Raphael's cultural background and the fact that our heroine was demiromantic and pansexual and with a diverse cast of characters it was a pleasure to read it all in that historical set-up.
Anyways, with this one you are sure to be entertained, you get action, escapes, fights, near death experiences, jealousy, so much tension, a bit of fake dating, you just get it all, friends, and it's such a fun ride! I will have to get to the other books in that series because from the glimpse we got of other characters, I just need to know their stories and if all books are as good as this one, I'm definitely in!
Huge thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for my copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
Any Duke in a Storm is going on my list of favorites to recommend to my library patrons. I have been waiting for a good pirate romance for a very long time.
I read the first book in this series and although it had some problems I still mostly liked it . This one just didn’t work well for me though . I was annoyed with some of the characters which in this genre can ruin a book for me
What a fun adventure! This is a perfect book to read when it starts to get warm and the seas beckon. I wish there’d been more about the heroine.
Special thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.
This is such an intriguing book! I loved the sleuthing, hidden identities and unexpected alliances. The heroine is a Countess taking on the undercover identity of dangerous smuggling lady ship's captain to capture the number one most wanted smuggler Charles DuBois, Captain Prince. This story is full of adventure, risks taken and surprising twists and turns. It also has lead characters of many different races that made the story richer because of that. I loved every minute of this book!
Lady Lisbeth Medford is a espionage Agent for the US Treasury. She also is the Countess of Waterstone. She's been undercover as Bonny Bess the female smuggler sea caption that is terrorizing the Caribbean Sea. She's so close to gaining entry to Captain Prince's operation but still unable to make the jump. We catch up with her as she's blowing up two ships in DuBois' network and her quartermaster Estelle has hired a new sailing master, Raphael Saint.
Raphael Saint, Duc de Viel has just escaped from DuBois' prison and jumped on the first ship setting sail, Lisbeth's "Siren". He's trying to meet up with more of his crew after the last crew mutinied and he was drug to prison. He has several ships that are part of DuBois organization and many more of his own not in the smuggling trade. DuBois is his hated uncle, his father's brother who was the agent of his father's disgrace and ultimate death. DuBois was jealous of the title Napoleon granted his father and his being one of the emperor's favorites. He wanted to be his brother's heir, not his nephew Raphael. Raphael is trying to get evidence of DuBois treachery so he can clear his father's name and kill DuBois for his crimes. The chemistry between Raphael and Lisbeth is crackling while each don't know if they can trust the other, not knowing they're working for the same end, ending Charles DuBois.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
As usual, Amalie brings a great romance in The Caribbean!
I really enjoy reading her books because it’s so well researched and different from the norm.
Loved seeing Lisbeth slowly falling for Raphael, and, even though I thought the ending was a bit hushed, I was happy that they got their HEA.
The afterword is one of my favorite things in Howard’s books, when she share all her research with the readers and we get to learn new things that she incorporated in the plot seamlessly.
This might be one of my new favorites from her.
This book was full of twists for me. First, I did not know it was part of the series and I have not read the other ones. It definitely reads as a stand-alone. I’m also not usually a fan of the high seas and pirates, but the cover sucked me in. I do love all things Victorian (which is why the cover spoke to me) and I like how that all came together in the book in terms of being away from England. I thought Lady Lisbeth was totally kick ass. I mean, there are not a lot of stories with the female main character getting into sword fights. Raphael Saint is a great name for a sexy captain. He is also a French Duke. There is some forced proximity going on in this book. The sexual tension is off the charts and Raphael falls first. He has to work on the wooing. Their conversations are funny and witty. Trust becomes a part of the equation (which makes it super swoony). Some of the secondary characters really stand out. One of them being Narina, who is an orphan, growing up around sailors/smugglers. Her vocabulary is laugh-out-loud. It would not be great in real life, but it’s fun in a fiction story. There are elements of biracial characters and a few light sexual kinks brought up in this story. I appreciate that it is not preachy, but nicely woven into the story. I think the author did a lot of research about the setting and how smuggling worked during that time so it gives the reader a more authentic feel for what the Caribbean might have been like during that time period. The end is exciting and twisty. I really liked the book and highly recommend it. Especially if you are looking for a historical romance that is slightly different. This would make for a perfect Spring Break read!