This book is such a fun adventure. The banter is great, excellent chemistry between MMC and FMC. Fun historical romance with a sprinkle of angst.

Historical/regency romances are pretty hit or miss for me, but I absolutely adored Ne'er Duke Well! It was fun, had me giggling, and I really loved Selina's character and her dynamic with Peter.

4/5
Like a mixture of Emma and any Bridgerton novel. Entertaining FMC who just wants to help anyone she meets.

4.25 stars!

Ne'er Duke Well is my new fav historical romance. I say that as I have only read 4 others but whatever! It had refreshing writing that left me giggling and smiling at my Kindle. I really enjoyed Selina's character and found it lovely that she didn't have to act like her friends in other to be considered 'strong' and I loved her side storyline although it did kinda help drag out the story a bit too much. Anyways, the most delicious part of this book was... PETER! Omg he was just the most perfect book boyfriend that I was left a giggling mess every time he teased Selina. I didn't really love how much backstory we had to learn in this book especially since it felt like the author expected us to know the story already. Like the story felt like it was already going on before the book started, to put it simply, it felt like a second book in a interconnected historical romance series.

Overall, such a good experience and had emotional depth that is sometimes lacking in most romances nowadays, even though I did skip the spicy scenes sometimes since it felt like too much at times but still was very decent! Felt like reading a contemporary romance with the historical time setting. ALSO, the cover is just so DIVINE and LOVELY.

Cute and amazing love story with decent plot<3

A regency romance with a few twists. A duke raised in Louisiana comes back to London to fight for guardianship of his siblings. Enter Selina, who is determined to help him win his legal case while hiding a big secret of her own and trying not to fall in love with him. I wish there were more scenes with the young kids and maybe a few less pages with the sex scenes. I also felt the ending was slightly rushed but overall it’s a fun read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

"You bring the morning with you. You're the light, sweetheart. When you walk into a room, I can't see the shadows."

Peter is the newly appointed Duke of Stanhope with a hilariously unrespectable reputation. He doesn't mind the reputation (he certainly doesn't regret his outburst regarding abolition), except that it's getting in the way of his attempt to gain custody of his young half siblings.
Selina, a duchess who is always caring about others more than herself, has made it her mission to help Peter's reputation by finding him a respectable wife. The problem is, their chemistry is starting to get in the way of her matchmaking. But as a lady who secretly runs a (for women only) catalog of salacious books, she is not the scandal free wife he needs.

This book completely charmed me! From the laugh out loud scenarios at social events to the loving and supportive family dynamics, the sweetest littles (I want to gobble up chaotic lil Lucinda), and a little bit of feminism... it was an all around good time. It was funny and spicy but also pulled at my heartstrings.

I see the makings of a series and I cannot wait to see who else's stories we're going to get!

THINGS TO LOVE:
+ regency era
+ matchmaking
+ an irreverent duke
+ a rebellious duchess
+ shenanigans of the ton
+ secret libraries
+ marriage of convenience
+ family cheerleaders
+ a sword wielding little lady
+ the best banter

If you like Evie Dunmore, you're going to LOVE this one!

I loved Ne'er Duke Well. It's funny and sweet and everything I'm looking for in a historical romance.

Peter Kent has just become the Duke of Stanhope. He wants to get custody of his much younger half-brother and sister, and as a half-American duke who doesn't fit into Regency society, he needs help to revamp his image. He turns to Lady Selina Ravenscroft, duke's daughter and society maven for help. Selina decides that getting Peter married is the answer to his problems. Of course, nothing goes as planned.

Peter is a great guy who just wants to do right by his newfound siblings. Selina is awesome. Society knows her as a charming daughter of a duke, but unknown to everyone, she's actually running a library that provides women with forbidden and scandalous books so she can educate women about sex. It's a noble endeavor but one that would cause a terrible scandal if it became known publicly.

I really loved this book. It's hilarious and also tender, and the two main characters are great. I was rooting for them from the first chapter, and watching them figure their lives out in the book was really entertaining.

This book also has some really interesting secondary characters, and I hope to get their stories in future books.

I highly recommend this one!

The Neer Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti was a refreshing read to start off the spring for me! Selina is brilliant and fierce, the Duke of Stanhope is a big softy. I enjoyed their banter and would have loved to read more scenes with his sister Lu, maybe later on we’ll get her story. I think where the story fell a bit short was the selina’s dilemma over her book store I understand that it would of been a huge scandal but it just seems like she would of been able to figure out on her own how to avoid the issue of it being traced back - she says in the book she knows they will find out.

I was not expecting the plot twist of who was spreading the rumour of the Venus Catalogue. I have read all of Vasti’s previous books in Halifax novellas and I am excited for the world to read her debut Novel.

I will read anything Alexandra Vasti writes! I liked the book a bit less than her novellas but it was still a very solid read.

I love the yearning between the characters. The male and female leads were kind people trying their best which was a delight to read! It was easy to like them. I find that her characters sometimes read like progressive women from 2024 but it doesn’t put me off from her books - I just have to be in the mood for it!

This was a rare historical romance where the needed-but-dreaded third-act plot something made sense and didn't make me sort of hate everyone involved. I kept thinking "these people deserve their happy ending" and I'm relieved that in 2024, we might be getting characters that work together when the heat turns up. This was spicy and sweet, but didn't rip me open (and tbh, a few months after reading it, I have only a vague memory of the plot). Nice vibes, would re-read, not sure this is going on my all-time best list.

As someone who works in the youth department of the library, I do not usually read books written for adults or romance. But I was drawn to this one by the title and cover, and it did not disappoint! Such a fun read!

Peter Kent, the new Duke of Stanhope, is in real a jam. Not only does he have the nerve to be an American from Louisiana, he’s an abolitionist who acknowledges his half-siblings to boot. He would love nothing more than to gain custody of his younger brother and sister, but he of course has a few ideological disagreements (and one really big cognac debacle) with the only Tory standing in his way.

Lady Selina Ravenscroft is by all appearances, a proper ton miss. But nobody knows she is a feminist operating a scandalous underground lending library that helps women further their erotic educations. She doesn’t want a husband out of obligation, she frankly doesn’t need one, and she’s definitely not still regularly thinking about the man who landed her in a puddle of mud years ago.

Peter has seen Selina work her magic firsthand, and believes she is the right person to help with his problem. Selina’s solution? Find him the perfect, respectable ton darling to wed in an effort to tidy up his reputation about town so he can persuade the courts to grant him guardianship. Anything…for the children.

When I was able to scoop up an advanced copy of Ne’er Duke Well on NetGalley in exchange for my review, the noise I emitted sent not one, but both of my cats flying off of my lap and into a closet. Do you remember that Geico commercial with the wee piglet holding pinwheels whilst sticking its head out of the car window? Something like that. So one could say this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024. And also that I have zero chill ever.

It’s another Alexandra Vasti grand slam, y’all. Like…what is sexier than two progressive regency era people who mutually respect each other? Basically nothing if you were waiting for an answer. The sparks were sparking, and Peter and Selina are just everything. Peter’s siblings were absolutely delightful, and so were the additional supporting characters. I literally cannot wait for the rest of this series. And as a lady in the legal community, I live for a little courtroom drama in my reading material.

I could wax poetic about Alexandra Vasti’s writing and world-building for days because she has easily become one of my favorite authors. I know have yelled at y’all before to get in on the ground level…so if you haven’t yet, we are officially in a fight, and the only way you can make it up to me is by pre-ordering this book. And like…nobody’s even paying me to be mad at you. I’m mad for free, and I think that’s even worse, so you should probably make sure you read this one. Or at the very least could you pick up the Halifax Hellions for the sake of world peace?

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this eARC via NetGalley! All opinions are my own (who else is this weird?).

4.5/5
Ne’er Duke Well is a whip-smart Regency romance centered around the essential quest toward agency for women, and the families we work to secure. Alexandra Vasti brings together an inventive take on historical romance tropes as a kind-hearted matchmaking debutant turned rebel librarian is at odds with the very man she is trying to marry off. Protagonists Selina and Peter have unquestionable chemistry and a hilarious repartee that will make this an entertaining romp for any romance lover out there. The conflicts introduced over the course of the novel feel essential as these two build the life they want together. This book can be boiled down to two kind-hearted people who just want to be in love. That’s it. Ne'er Duke Well is all around a fabulous debut. I want more from this author and her characters and I certainly won't be satisfied with just one book. Vasti is a scintillating new voice in romance and I’m on board for whatever course she's charting next.

I hadn't had the pleasure of picking up anything by Alexandra Vasti prior to this book, but I will absolutely continue reading her work. Selina and Peter are an incredible pair (once Selina gets out of her own way) and they are a force to be recokened with in the ton for sure. Real family, found family, and women standing up for themselves abound in this novel. I adored every character and cannot wait to see what adventures arise in the future.




**SPOILER: I was so nervous that Selina would enact her plan without telling Peter, causing the 3rd act breakup, but he basically said "don't be silly" and they fixed it together. No breakup.

Fans of Historical Romance will be thrilled to read the new novel by Alexandra Vasti and welcome her to their bookshelves!

The new Duke of Stanhope, Peter Kent, enlists the help of Lady Selina Ravenscroft to find himself a wife who will add respectability to his reputation in his quest to become guardian of his two half siblings. Selina gets a bit more than she dared to imagine and Peter is happy to oblige!

The cast of characters is fun, quirky and a little daring for their time. This Regency romance is delightful to read and has a bit of spice for added enjoyment.

Thoroughly enjoyable and leaves you eagerly looking forward to Vasti’s next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book! As a book nerd, and a Bridgerton lover, it was right up my alley. An enjoyable vacation read!

This was a solid okay. The character development seems to happen off the page, with lots of telling instead of showing. The main characters already know each other, already have feelings for each other, and are already involved in each other lives. The book is very plot forward instead of character forward and that’s not my favorite thing. I want character growth and relationship development, but these characters were already the best version of themselves from the start of the book….they just had to work together to fix plot and I got bored. The steamy scenes were well done. And the historical aspects were well researched. The writing is great too, with a good pace to the book, I just wanted more romance and character growth and tension between the two MCs, instead it was a lot of scheming and kids.

I loved this book!! This was my first book by this author and it won’t be my last. The chemistry between Peter and Selina was noticeable from the very first conversation and they were a wonderful pairing. Also, Selina’s super secret sex library (say that 3 times fast) was a fantastic story line. I could not have asked for two better characters to form a pair. Peter being willing to do everything he can to get custody of his younger siblings was so sweet and I really loved that part of the storyline and I like that it never felt like it was overtaking the romance. Will definitely recommend.

This book is feminist smut about feminists writing smut, and I loved it.

"But then again, this was exactly what she wanted Belvoir’s to be: an attainable resource for women who would not otherwise have access to knowledge that could change their lives for the better."

Peter Kent, a Louisiana abolitionist that can’t help but create scandals everywhere he goes, inherits the Dukedom of Stanhope and discovers two precocious half-siblings. Determined to become their legal guardian, Peter turns to society’s most meddlesome debutante who has a dangerous secret — Selina Ravenscroft curates and distributes a circulating erotic library exclusively for the women of the ton, marked by iconic green cloth bound covers. Arranging the perfect match may be just what Peter needs to convince the chancellor he deserves custody, but Peter’s impulsivity and Selina’s illicit secret just may put everything they’ve built in jeopardy.

"I know this isn’t funny. But only you would turn up your nose at embroidery and resolve to overturn society in its stead."

I definitely thought this book was going to be 80% arranging a match, and while that was important to the plot, it was much more about childhood relationships, grappling for control in a society actively working against you, and the beauty of loving someone wholeheartedly for who they are. There were passages that legitimately gave me chills, which has not happened to me in years.

Despite how emotionally grounded this story was, there was no shortage of spice. Honestly, more than I was expecting! There were a few passages where I thought, okay let’s get back to the plot, but the author usually brought it back around through character development, and the spice didn’t make the book drag on at all. Every plot point and character arc took its time to play out, so the spicy interludes were tons of fun.

My only gripe is that there is one loose end that I was sure we would get resolution on, and didn’t really come full circle — but I’m suspecting that if the story is the hit it deserves to be, we may get a sequel or spin-off exploring that character.

If you are 1) a lover of historical romance heavy on the history AND the spice 2) a meddlesome auntie in training with a solution to every problem or 3) a lover of complex sibling relationships, then Ne’er Duke Well will knock your stockings off.

For all the Bridgerton lovers! The messy, drama and love will bring them here. This book was a wonderful read that swept me up in it from the first chapter. Loved seeing the characters fall for each other and all the banter that went along with it.