I know this is blasphemous, but I am not a Grease fan. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. In the publicity for the book, I saw that it was Inspired By Grease, but, to me, this was more than ‘inspired by’, it was an almost direct retelling except it was set in the 1800s rather than the 1950s. I could all but hear the background music from Grease playing as I read and all it needed was for Dane (Danny) to call Sandrine Sandy. If you loved Grease, then you’ll probably enjoy this book.

Sandrine Oliver was raised in the quiet, nothing-ever-happens, village of Squalton-On-Sea by an over-protective, stifling mother who was afraid of almost everything in life. Sandrine was a dutiful, quiet, and loving daughter who longed to stand on her own and discover life for herself. She chaffed at her mother’s restrictions – and the one time she decided to have at least a tiny bit of rebellion by wading into the sea, a tall, handsome stranger saw her and believed she was drowning. She wasn’t, but he rescued her anyway. Oh! Meeting Danny Smith definitely brought a tad of excitement into her life.

Lord Dane Walker (aka – Danny Smith) loathes himself and leads a hedonistic lifestyle because he doesn’t seem to care much whether he lives or dies. Nobody has ever loved him – certainly not his brother, the Duke of Rydell, who has hated him his entire life. His father hated him as well – he said he was a mistake and should never have been born. Both his brother and his father blamed Dane for his mother’s death in childbirth. Young Dane took their hatred to heart and believed that he was worthless and unlovable. Then, he met a beautiful, sweet, caring, unspoiled young lady drowning in the sea.

I liked Dane and I liked Sandrine and their featured story was a nice romance with blackmailers, assaults, dangerous curricle races, and Pink Ladies (yes that is what they were called). I enjoyed watching Sandrine convince Dane that he was a worthy person and I enjoyed seeing her find her grandmother. However, what I felt was lacking was any depth to the other members of The Thunderbolt Club and The Pink Ladies. I assume some or all of them will be featured in future books, yet I can hardly tell you their names, much less why we might want to read a book featuring them.

Overall, it was an okay read for me. It seems that ‘retelling’ is the current fashion in books – and while it isn’t usually my favorite thing, I can be okay with it if it is ‘loosely’ based on the story. I wanted to learn more about other characters – especially Lady Roslyn and Kenwick. Will we get a story from them or was this it? They were an interesting couple, but – it was just all so abrupt.

While I wouldn’t read it a second time, I would recommend it to my friends who love Grease or love re-tellings. Should you choose to read it, I hope you will love it. For me, I’m looking forward to the next story in the series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book's Advanced Reader Copy (ARC). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I adored Sandrine and Dane's story! It was so much fun watching these two find their way to one another and I loved the Grease inspired theme!

I believe that this is the first book that I've ever read from this author. Her writing flowed smoothly, and the dialogue was often quite humorous. She was able to create a very engaging story with many interesting characters. The only thing that got me were the long overwrought speeches that were made by the characters near the end of the book. Even worse, these complex thoughts were spoken out loud! An inner monologue might have been more appropriate. The worst offender was the heroine, Sandrine. Her words to Dane were beautifully sappy, and they made me tearful. However, at the same time, I knew that no one would ever use such verbose and flowery language in a non-written form.
My nitpicking aside, this story was enjoyable to read. The antics of Dane's friends and the elderly spinsters were amusing. The Pink Ladies concept was silly but tolerable. (I wasn't aware of the "Grease" aspect until I sat down to write this!) The village of Squalton-on-the-Sea sounded like an interesting place. Hopefully it can somehow be featured in future books of the series.
I received a free ARC from NetGalley and this is my honest review.

When I learned that Lenora Bell had written a Grease-inspired HR, I jumped at the chance to read it. It was so much fun reading through all of the hints and Grease-inspired scenes! I even started reading Kenickie instead of Kenwick. However as much as I loved all of the Grease references, the story did start to feel like two separate storylines were happening whenever the blackmailing was brought up. The two plot lines didn't seem to mesh very well, and as a result, the writing came off as disjointed. Nevertheless, this was a fun and cute historical take on the beloved musical, and I am interested to see where Bell will take this series next🖤

Tropes: Grease-inspired, opposites attract, rakehell hero, fish-out-of-water heroine, lessons in seduction, bad boy/good girl, girl gang, band of brothers, found family, slow burn, STEAMY🔥

Sandrine lives with her mother in a small sea-side town where nothing happens. One day, mysterious stranger, Dane, arrives and instantly makes a connection with Sandrine, but he is soon called back to London. When Sandrine too travels to London, She learns that Dane is the newly named Duke of Rydell and he and his friends are well known rakes. With the help of her new friends Sandrine tries to gain Dane’s attention but he is hesitant to return to her as he is being blackmailed.

I am a world class and idiot and didn’t figure out that this was a Grease retelling until i was 98% in. I of course caught the reference in the title and thought the name Sandrine was odd, but yeah, clearly as a young millennial Grease has not made that big of an impact on my life. I will say that once I figured out that this was a Grease retelling, the random wanderings in the middle of the book made a lot more sense. I liked Dane and loved that he was the one who fell first. Sandrine was a lot more of a dynamic character and the most interesting thing about her was her relationship to her mother, but that plotline got sidetracked by the Grease retelling. I love the cover and am interested to see where this series goes given that the epilogue said where all the friends end up.

Thank you to Net Galley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a Grease retelling that never lets you forget it's a Grease retelling. It's got Sandy, and Danny, and the pink ladies, and mean girls, and a carriage race, and a make over, and ALL of it. If you're looking for a historical romance version of Grease, this is the book for you! Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon and netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

An homage to Grease. I know lots of people are saying that but bear with me. I loved the first part of this book, the pseudo-scenes from Grease (well, they are throughout the book) were such fun to relive. Dane (love that name) and Sandrine were great together. He’s an idiot half of the time but he learned. I love mysteries in stories but I was confused in this one. Not confusion because it was a mystery but the whys and whats of how it was resolved. Not really mysterious. Anywho, this was a very fast read and so cute in places. My favorite line was “fleas upon fleas”. I laughed out loud.

I am not sure if Rosyln and Kenwick will get their own story but I hope (please, Lenora) give Warburton his own story.

I love all of Lenora Bell's historical romances and this was no exception. I had a great time reading this one!

DNF @ 33%

I wanted to like this one so bad but the fmc pov just wasn't for me. Like I understand she is supposed to be naive but I felt like it was taken too far at times.

However this book has some amazing Grease references and if you are a fan, you should definitely check this one out. It also has amazing female friendships and I loved the hidden identity trope in the first few chapters!

Pub date: 12/26

This eARC was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Sandrine is raised by her very strict widowed mother in a small country town. When Dane comes across her he is immediately attracted to her. Sandrine goes into London with two chaperones and sees how freeing life can be, especially with Dane around. Dane most find out who is embezzling money from his family as well as neutralize a threat to himself before he can concentrate on Sandrine. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Avon for my honest review.

This book is such a fun and entertaining read!
There are a lot of humorous scenes, and I loved the Grease theme.
The relationship between Sandrine and Dane was interesting, fun and steamy.
I loved the secondary characters and the surprises in the story.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Grease, the historical version is what you find between the pages of Lenora Bell’s latest release “You’re the Duke That I Want”. Sandrine and Dane’s story pretty much follows the movie to a tee. So much so, that it left me feeling that I had already read the book. I generally look forward to unique twists or clever changes in a story re-telling. The storyline basically mimics the movie in a historical setting. While I am a huge fan of Lenora’s writing, this one just didn’t engage me like some of her previous stories. Fans of the movie Grease should enjoy this story. Especially if you’re someone who watches it repeatedly.

I received an E-ARC from #Avonbooks via #NetGalley and this is my voluntarily given honest review.

You’re the Duke That I Want is a fairly good take on Grease and I loved Grease. **SPOILER ALERTS INCLUDED** Although Grease was PG, I definitely do not remember any spanking.

Laughably, Dane and Sandrine meet at the beach as he is trying to save her from drowning, and she is trying to tell him she was just enjoying the water. It seemed as though Sandrine was frequently running away from Dane due to her own confusion and her mother’s dire warnings about men.

This a well-written, enjoyable romance but the sex seemed a bit forced or even contrived. The grandmother thing was truly different and took me by surprise. The eyes set you up for it, but gee, how very different were mother, daughter and granddaughter.
I like the book. It is not Lenora’s best, but neither do you need to avoid it. Read with an open mind, you decide if you like it but at least, give it a chance.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
After being disappointed and epically let down by Lenora Bell’s past two releases, I approached her upcoming next release with trepidation. On the one hand, Grease is one of my problematic faves (although I prefer Grease 2 for the bad bitch Pink Lady and cinnamon roll hero vibes). On the other hand, Lenora Bell’s last “duke” book pissed me off so much, I rage-quit. Fortunately, You’re the Duke That I Want was as charming as anything pitched as being “Grease-inspired” could be. While the little references definitely stretch into anachronistic in places, so this is definitely not going to be one for the so-called “HR purists,” I had a lot of fun with it, picking up the little in-jokes and character parallels.
Sandrine is a sympathetic heroine, and I really enjoyed following her as she came into her own. She’s very sheltered at the beginning, living in an isolated village with her overprotective mother, and is on the cusp of being expected to marry the respective, yet stuffy village vicar. Through going to town and embracing life on the wild side, Sandrine becomes more self-assured, and learns some long-buried family secrets about her mother’s past that color the way she was raised.
Dane is in kind of an interesting situation for an HR hero, as he’s on the cusp of becoming duke, due to his brother’s tragic death in the book, but his sister-in-law’s pregnancy and imminent delivery put into question whether he will become the duke. He’s a bit of a wastrel, and as you’d expect, it’s because of some family dysfunction, but I appreciated that it was a complex brotherly relationship, instead of a toxic parent, especially since Sandrine is already dealing with issues with her mother. And while his brother is proven to be a bit of a negligent, even cruel landlord to his holdings, I appreciate the contrast that Dane seems to care more for them, serving as a point in his favor that he would be a good duke, contrary to popular belief.
The romance itself was pretty solid, and Sandrine and Dane complement each other well, given their personalities and their backgrounds. I was a tad annoyed when the story devolved into the typical conflict for many a historical, when after the hero “ruins” the heroine, she protests that he didn’t propose “properly”/profess his love, and he protests that they have to get married to protect her reputation. It’s been done so many freaking times, including in season two of Bridgerton, it’s gotten old. I did like that it came back around to her original goal of making him grovel for her, after she was humiliated at finding out who he really was upon arriving in town, so at least it worked somewhat better than most usages of this microtrope.
And the supporting characters are all such a riot! I was most drawn to the Rizzo and Kenickie equivalents, Roslyn and Kenwick, and their scandalous fliration-mixed-with-bickering, but the Frenchy-equivalent Francesca was also delightful.
This was such fun, and I’m so excited for what’s next in this series! If you’re interested in lighthearted, fun historical romance, especially if you’re also a Grease fan, I’d recommend checking this one out!

Sandrine Oliver, who's mother. Mrs. Barbara Oliver, wants her to never have fun and marry the vicar Mr. Ernest Pilkington. She lives in the sleepy Squalton-on-Sea, write pamphlets for knowledge and historical value. She never had friends because her mother chased them away. Now she wants adventure, friends, and Squalton Manor for the historical society to bring the town back to life.

Lord Dane Walker , his father, was the Duke of Rydell, brother Roman, inherited the title Dane got the properties in Squalton-on-Sea. Both his brother and father blamed him for his mother's death. Roman would berate him, embarrass him, lie about him, and pull pranks on him. So much so the brothers hated each other. Now with his father dead, his brother has more to be vengeful with. So off he goes to see what his property is and if he can sell it.

A beautiful woman floating on the water, no wait she is drowning. I must save her. But is she really?

Dane wants nothing more than to inspect the property, the town dislikes the "Dasterly Duke of Rydell". " May he rot in hell". Sandrine is the one saving grace in the small town.

Join in as Sandrine tries to convince Dane to gift the manor to her historical society. Dane tries to uncover what Roman is into. The planning and hosting of a Charity Ball, are all the charities real?

Race your curricle, hone your investigation skills, and seduce someone in this revamp of Recency Grease. Can a simple girl get the hot guy? Come join the fun, make new friends, interact with ghosts, and defy the rules placed upon all! I would say more but that would give too much away. I so didn't think grease until the end.

Lord Dane Walker, brother to the current Duke of Rydell, could never had fathomed that a trip to a sleepy sea-side village would change his life forever, but that's exactly what happens when he meets Sandrine Oliver, a sweet and generous young woman who lives under the controlling thumb of her mother. He's smitten with her at once, but her strict upbringing makes her run from him the first time they meet. For Sandrine, when she meets Dane, he gives her a false name and she believes he's an honorable gentleman, only to find out he's an infamous rake from London.

Sandrine wants something from Dane, and that is to restore the historical mansion in her village, but Dane's brother has refused to send any money for the mansion's upkeep. When family tragedy strikes, both Dane and Sandrine's lives are forever changed. Can she ever trust him again after he lied to her about his identity or has Dane lost her good opinion forever?

I enjoyed some parts of this book, but other parts dragged for me. This "Grease" retelling was cute, but I thought the Pink Ladies got rushed at the end. There are a few twists and turns in the story and a mystery to uncover about Dane's brother. Sandrine's character underwent the most change, just like Sandy in "Grease." She went from an innocent to a a seemingly worldly lady with the help of her new friends. Dane and Sandrine had good chemistry although I liked the tension-filled scenes before they got together better. I enjoy Ms. Bell's books. However, this one fell a little flat for me.

Tropes: intentional anachronisms/modern homages. rake/spinster, false identity, MC blackmailed
Steam level: 3 (slightly on the spicy side)
Language: a couple of "f-bombs"

3.75 stars rounded up. I'm a fan of musicals in general, but I'll admit not a huge a Grease fan (sorry to the author and all the other "Greasers" that abound). Still, I admire the chance the author took here, and for the most part enjoyed this Grease homage set in Regency times. She managed to at least give more depth to Sandrine and Dane than Sandy and Danny had in the musical, both MC's having to deal with some dark elements that began within their families years ago. At times the darker aspects of their childhoods, explored thoughtfully in the very good first half of this book, didn't quite gel with the light, bouncy tone that took over the second half, when the author went full "Grease " mode. A couple other caveats: certain passages in the second half were a bit too talky for my taste, slowing down the action, and the ending is pretty abrupt. The blackmail subplot, suspensefully built up at first, loses some steam. And if you're a Rizzo fan (Stockard Channing is the best thing about the movie, IMO) you might feel let down as Rosalyn gets a bit of short shrift here.

The chemistry between the MC's is good, but oddly, I thought it was at its best before they actually did the deed. (Unfortunately this is the third book nearly in a row I've read with the MMC telling the MFC she's a "good girl" during the act, and also a light spanking scene. Just overkill I guess).

On the flipside, the writing style is strong, the humor is effective, and there's a definite sense of heart amongst the characters, and between Sandrine and Dane, that worked better for me here than in the musical.

Overall: this is a fun holiday read with some spice, laughs, and an undercurrent of emotion.

I read an advanced reader copy of this book and this is my voluntary review. Opinions are my own. This book is set to be published December 26.

3/5. Releases 12/26/23.

Vibes: Grease, romcoms, rakes, and good girls.

Heat Level: 2.5/5.

When sheltered Sandrine meets Danny Smith, there’s an immediate connection. But she assumes they’ll never meet again after he’s called away for an emergency–until she goes to London and discovers that Danny is actually Dane, the (potential) future Duke of Rydell and notorious rake. Determined to get back at the now-seemingly-careless Dane, she decides to turn over new leaf and become bolder, brasher, and much harder for him to resist.

This is a very clear Grease retelling, and though I didn’t know that until right before I read it–I love Grease, so I’m good with it. The approach is funny, irreverent, and cute. The heroine is charming, the hero is hot (if not especially original as far as rakes go) and the writing is good. Where the book goes wrong is… well, towards the end, where I kind of feel like Lenora fumbled the ball. Which is disappointing, when you expect the book to be at least a 4-star read (or above) for so much of the story.

Quick Takes:

–When I say this is a Grease retelling… it’s really a Grease retelling. Not just in terms of of the names, or the innocent girl re-meets guy she thought was a sweet boy when he’s actually a bad boy thing. There are Pink Ladies. There’s a curricle called Lightning Streak. “Rydell”. Sandrine describes herself as “hopelessly devoted” to Dane at one point.

Again, I like Grease. This book did the retelling part right–it’s obvious, it’s campy, it’s self-aware. If you’re not familiar with Grease, I think it would still work for you? You might see it as a bit over the top, but it’s still fun. If you hate Grease? This may be inaccessible for you. As a Grease lover, it’s hard for me to tell.

–Sandrine and Dane have a really cute chemistry. It’s frothy, it’s sexy, and I generally loved how boldly she came on to him. He was completely bowled over by this little virgin, and the book milked a lot of humor from their interactions as Sandrine starts asking for what she wants. (And she does just like… ask. Which I also enjoyed. I mean, Sandrine begins the book not knowing what orgasms are, and by the end she’s basically asking him to service her.)

–There’s a whole subplot about general trauma and the way that mothers can hurt their daughters without meaning to. I didn’t expect it, and I would overall say that it’s actually done pretty well. Bell went with a bit of a twist that I found… a little weird in context at first, but overall interesting and solid.

–Okay, so how did this go from a pretty strong read for me for so much of the book, to a disappointment? For one thing, I was really expecting the series setup here to follow the other Pink Ladies (Sandrine’s new girl gangs, based on Grease’s somewhat scandalous Pink Ladies clique) and it was… surprisingly tied up at the end. I was so excited to read about a fully-fledged story about Roslyn (based on the jaded leader Rizzo) and her on again/off again rake hookup, Kenwick (based on T-Birds leader Kenickie, Rizzo’s FWB who’s clearly in love with her). And… it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be happening. Their subplot sounded so interesting, and it gets a really rushed tie-up.

Which confused me, to be honest. Sandy and Danny’s story in Grease is iconic, but very classic good girl/bad boy that was really set apart by campy humor (Sandy telling Danny that she’s not going to be “your… your SIN-WAGON” lives rent-free in my brain) and John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John’s chemistry. The story itself is not that different. So while Sandrine and Dane are so cute, I was really expecting Lenora to go somewhere different by fleshing out her historical Rizzo (who’s aged very interestingly as a character, in my opinion–a bad girl with a secret soft side) and Kenickie. And she… isn’t? I guess? I was bugged.

–The entire ending is super rushed, to be honest. It felt like at the last minute Bell realized there were other Grease markers she wanted to hit, and you went from some fairly high-stakes conflict to a quick semi-grovel and the ONE Grease reference that just… did not work. Lenora Bell is a talented writer; I’ve liked other books from her. There was a line I think she crossed towards the end that basically devalued her writing ability.

–Sandrine put up a fight towards Dane’s desires and goals for them towards the end that felt really tacked on, in both a false conflict way and a “ummmm she’s a feminist I guess?” way.

The Sex:

Solid! I actually really enjoyed the sex scenes in this book, and they were creative and fun and not just based on penetration. There’s a scene where Dane basically teaches Sandrine how to receive cunnilingus (and this is led up to by an adorably inexperienced seduction from her that he naturally is just destroyed by) and at the end he tells her she did well? And at one point she had to pause for a really realistic reason and when she returns she just pops her legs open? It was honestly so cute in a strange way, and I found the book generally super sex positive.

The sex was really one of the best parts of this novel, and I do think that should be commended.

So yeah. I’m a little let down here. I really wanted my Roslyn and Kenwick book, and I just disliked how this was rushed towards the end. If you’re a super (hopelessly) devoted Grease fan, try it. Otherwise, you may be disappointed.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

You’re the Duke That I Want is the first book in The Thunderbolt Club series, a new historical romance series by Lenora Bell. I love Grease and was excited when I saw this one was a historical inspired by that! Sadly, I didn’t love this one as much as I hoped to and it took me quite a while to even finish it.

In this we follow Sandrine and the Duke of Rydell. He inherited the title and Dukedom the year prior after his father passed away. While in a seaside village he spots Sandrine, she’s swimming but he thinks she’s drowning and needs immediate recusing so he jumps in after her. They hit it off, but he ends up telling her his name is “Mr. Smith” and eventually takes off. Later on Sandrine heads off to London to find the new Duke and convince him to help out.

Like I mentioned, I love Grease and have seen it endless times. While I thought this would be the perfect romance for me, I found it all just a little too on-the-nose with the Grease references. It’s not really loosely based on it, it’s just a straight-up Grease retelling but in historical times. So it was all just too familiar for me not to compare them and I guess I wanted to be more surprised by a loosely inspired story instead of knowing things that would come/how characters would be. We have Sandrine (Sandy), the Duke of Rydell, Pink Ladies, a racing curricle named “Lightning Streak”, and other characters you’ll be familiar with if you know Grease.

Thanks so much to the publisher (Avon) for an ARC via NetGalley, all thoughts in this review are my own. You’re the Duke That I Want is out December 26, 2023!

A magical Grease retelling that preserves all of the sweet playfulness of the musical as well as the bad boy redemption character arc of the MMC. This wonderful histrom has very, very insightful background about the harm purity culture can wreak on a woman’s self-esteem.

Read this if you love:
1. He falls first.
2. Girl who doesn’t want to be put in a box.
3. A sweet, fiery opposites attract romance.