The Duke’s Desire (12 Dukes of Christmas #8) was a great read by Erica Ridley. Meg Church adores her life in the Village of Yuletide and the freedom of being a spinster. She has also harbored a secret crush on Lucien le Duc since the moment she first saw him. Ever since Lucien had to flee France during the revolution, he only wants to recover his lost land and fortune. I enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to read more by the author.

Erica Ridley does it again. I really enjoy the worlds she brings in the regency era.

The audiobook had fantastic narration.

This was so charming! Very unique premise, and Erica’s characters are always fun. My one qualm is that I didn’t care for the narrator’s voice for Lucien—the French accent felt over exaggerated, and wasn’t deep enough.

In this novella, Meg is a spinster who lives in a Yuletide village. She has a crush on Lucien the handsome, but grumpy village blacksmith, who is an exiled French aristocrat planning to return home to reclaim his lost property and status. The story is told through Meg and Lucien’s alternating point of views so the readers quickly gain insight into the characters' thoughts and feelings and we learn that one reason for Lucien’s grumpiness is his difficulty with English. Meg offers to give him English lessons and they resolve their misunderstandings and fall in love.

I was initially put off by Meg’s forwardness, as she was shameless pursuing what she wanted in the bedroom. Even though Meg doesn’t think she will ever marry, it didn’t seem realistic for a historical era novel. However, I liked her character more as it evolved throughout the story and showed her good heartedness, self-confidence, and wit.

Rosie Akerman, the narrator, did a fine job of bringing the story and characters to life. I loved the characters’ accents!

I received this audiobook as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Duke’s Desire is a historical holiday romance that centers around spinster Meg, and a hot Frenchman named Lucien le Duc.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-grumpy x sunshine
-all the banter
-themes of found family
-an entertaining novella

I listened to the audiobook format, and loved the narration, performed by Rosie Akerman, that really brought the characters to life.

*many thanks to Spotify Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review.

This is the follow-up to The Duke's Embrace. It was enjoyable and included some of the same characters that were previously in The Duke's Embrace.

If you like an eye roll spicy style then this is for you. It was a little too eye roll for me, just too cheesy but a cute story if you can get past that.

I requested this book a while ago as a newcomer to NetGalley, and recently listened to it as an audiobook. The narrator did a lovely job of bringing the story and the characters to life. I love Ms. Ridley's books and even though I have not read all of the previous books in this series, I was excited to dive into this one. Coming into the series midway, I had no trouble at all following the storyline. Lucien and Meg have to overcome the prejudice between them and learn to compromise and how they go about doing it is what makes this book so fun and entertaining. Ms Ridley does an amazing job of bringing wit, humor, and romance all together to create a great story.
I can’t wait to go back and read the other books in this series!
I received this book as an ARC and am leaving a voluntary review. Thank you NetGalley and Ms Ridley for the opportunity!

I loved this audiobook. It was very entertaining and I liked the narrative of it. I would love to read more books by this author.

Thank you Erica Ridley and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My not so secret guilty pleasure is a historical romance romp. This is an adorable Christmas romance read. Meg is a heroine that defies all the tropes for this genre, going after the man she wants with dirty words and thoughts lol. i love Lucien as a brooding hero that turns into putty for this strong woman.

If you love a book with historical elements, tempting FMC, and whirlwind romance story, this will be right up your alley. and a great little story to devour in a day/ on sitting coming in at 200 pages.

As a newcomer to this series, I found the entire story engaging, and I particularly enjoyed listening to it. Rosie Akerman's narration truly brought the characters to life, and her performance added an extra layer of enjoyment to the overall experience.

One aspect that stood out to me was the humanity of the characters. The conflicts felt real and resonated perfectly with the times, making the story relatable and authentic. I was genuinely intrigued, finding it difficult to put the book down until the love story reached its satisfying and happy ending.

"Duke's Desire" serves as an excellent palate cleanser between more profound stories, and I believe it's a perfect recommendation for those looking for an entertaining and fulfilling read.

<i> The Duke's Desire </i> was a cute quick read! It was a novella, so I knew it was going to be a fast moving story, but I wanted more!

I loved the storyline of Meg's family, and Lucien's family and their time in France. I've read so many regency romances that have side characters that are french nobles fleeing the revolution, or revolutionary sympathizers, but this was the first time where the french characters have taken center stage. And now I really want more of that POV.

Meg was funny and lovable, Lucien warmed up nicely. I really enjoyed it!

*Thank you to Spotify Media, NetGalley, and Erica Ridley for the audiobook. I am always glad to leave my honest opinion!*

I haven’t read the entire 12 Dukes series, but will be going back now that they’re all coming out on audio! I’ve now listened to 7&8, which are about the Le Duc brothers.

I liked the story of Meg, a spinster living with her cousin but needing to find a new place to move, as her room was going to become a nursery - and Lucian, the oldest brother of a family displaced from France after the revolution, having lost their parents and living with an uncle in England, but now they’re having everything restored and he’s ready to return to his roots.

The pair finally admit their feelings just in time for everything to change, while she is giving him English lessons to fit into the town (also in time to leave).

I very much enjoyed these quick listens, but they’re not quite as fantastic as her Wild Wynchesters series… still Erica Ridley’s great storytelling, but they don’t have the intrigue, excitement and shenanigans of that series, and they’re novella length so it is all over so quickly. Still worth listening, though! Especially worth grabbing now that they’re newly released in audio!! Narrated by Rosie Akerman, new-to-me voice which I liked.

I received an advance listen copy from NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks, and this is my honest feedback.

Meg loves her life in a Yuletide village. She nurtures a secret crush on Lucien, the exiled French aristocrat doggedly pursuing the claim to his lost lands and status. Though determined to remain unmoved by Meg’s irresistible kisses, he may find one passionate night impossible to deny.

Meg is such a fun character—grounded and self-confident. Lucien is devoted to his goal, but as success draws closer, he begins to wonder what he might be giving up. His struggle is real, intensifying the passion and emotion between him and Meg. I enjoyed the audiobook narration.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you Spotify Audiobooks and NetGallery for the copy of the audiobook.

Background: Book 8 of 12 Dukes of Christmas. I didn’t read the first 7, but after reading this one, im definitely planning to read them!

This book: A historical romance with a grumpy vs sunshine novel. The main character is Meg, who is fun full of innuendos, and jokes. This is a quick listen!

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 Stars

Thank you Netgalley and Spotify Audiobooks for this ALC!

- I was a little concerned by how overly campy this seemed at the beginning, but I'm so glad I stuck through it! The FMC is very forward in a way that doesn't feel realistic for a historical, but please let it slide.
- There is nothing better than when one MC tutors the other MC in a new language, and Erica Ridley took advantage of that so well!!
- The conflict was a little all over the place, but I thought the way it interacted with the MCs motivations was really well done!
- The dual POV was great for this one, and the misunderstandings were less frustrating because of the language barrier.
- The audio was great for this one, because you really got to immerse yourself in the accents!

A fun holiday romance novella! This entire series is pretty entertaining. In The Duke's Desire we have Meg- a spinster who shamelessly goes after what she wants in the bedroom, but doesn't think she will ever be the one someone wants to marry. And Lucien le Duc, the hot Frenchman that everyone thinks is surly, but actually he's just embarrassed because he doesn't speak English very well. So he doesn't speak much at all. Meg offers to give him English lessons and along the way they fall in love. It's a quick novella but charming and their banter is pretty entertaining. The audiobook is pretty good. I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Because this was my second dive into the universe of the Dukes of Christmas, there were definitely some things that were more enjoyable this time around, even if some of my thoughts about the preceding book stay true for this iteration, I think it works as a fun and fairly quick historical romance with some actual historical plot woven into it. It’s still slightly confusing that the chapters switch between having both characters narrate them without the narrator of the audiobook doing any real changing of her voice, but since I was more used to it this time around it honestly worked out. Basically, if you’re looking for a short romance with a solid audiobook (perhaps while you play 2048 at 4AM on an international flight?), then this is one to check out!

As mentioned in my previous review of #7, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the instalove aspects of the relationship, although I do actually think that our two main characters got to develop more both as characters and together before it was fully romantic which I greatly appreciated. The book is fast-paced so the building of tension is less so but still Ridley manages to add some.

I also honestly enjoyed the dichotomy between Meg’s parents and Lucien’s parents, and ultimately how various miscommunication within the relationship is fairly easily sorted. Now I’ll just have to judge how accurate I think the narrator’s French accent as Lucien is.

📖The Duke’s Desired📖
Book 8 in the 12 Dukes of Christmas series.
If you enjoy:
✨Historical Romance
✨Broody French MMC
✨Absolutely Scandalous Spinster FMC Who Loves Her Wicked Books (whom I adore)
✨Banter🤌🏻
✨Found Family
✨🌶️
✨Hilarious
✨Fast/Engaging Listen
✨Amazing Narration From Rosie Akerman
Then you’ll love The Duke’s Desire!

⭐️Disclaimer: I received this book as an arc. All opinions are my own. Thank You NetGalley & Erica Ridley for a chance to read this book.⭐️

Meg is very funny and lovable, Lucian a quiet Frenchman who easily blushes from Meg’s outrageous comments. Lucian wants to go back home and find a French wife without knowing Meg was also French and spoke fluent French. A cute short read I loved it.