Tristan was at the Park because Max wanted a man to warm his bed at night. Nothing more. It hurt like hell, but Tristan could understand why. And he couldn’t blame Max for his reasons. If he had been betrayed as thoroughly as Max had, he certainly would not yet be willing to entrust another with his heart again.

Max Arrington, the Duke of Pelham, is lonely. Living a celibate life after his previous lover tried to blackmail him Max vows to stay away from clandestine relationships and concentrate on running his estate. After months of the celibate life taking its toll on Max a friend suggests he visit a brothel that caters for ‘all’ types of pleasures, which is where Max meets young and beautiful Tristan. Max is immediately besotted with Tristan, and Tristan in turn is enamored of his new generous and benevolent client. But that is all they are client and whore; can Max and Tristan ever be more than that?

I adore Ava March and All in with the Duke is her longest novel to date, coming in at over 80,000 words. I’ve been anticipating this since the beginning of the year and it surpassed all my expectations. Ava writes such delicious characters and her books are always a joy to read. No one mixes regency and bdsm quite like her, but her stories are more than just kink wrapped up prettily in a neat historical package, they have depth and emotion, all served up with lashings of period detail.

Max is jaded and conflicted; he’s also a self-disciplined man, spending most of his time overseeing his estate, he’s almost obsessional about overseeing everything. He wants love and companionship but reluctantly accepts that he can’t have that, not with his position and status, not with a man. I don’t think he really knows what he wants until he meets Tristan, and certainly not until he ends up rescuing Tristan from a violent client, an act which leads him to impetuously offer the man a position in his household, a position which means Tristan will be free to spend every night in Max’s bed. He isn’t thinking long term, he just wants Tristan safe, and with him, he’s not thinking of the long term implications and he’s certainly not thinking with his heart.

Tristan is young, but far from naïve, being quick witted and clever. With a taste for fine clothes and a passing acquaintance with gambling Tristan can be easy taken for a young man of the Ton, this makes it easy for him to slip seamlessly into Max’s life as a young casual acquaintance of society. The offer of employment by Max is not something he ever thought would happen to him, no other man has ever treated him like Max does, and their kinks match, so he grabs it with both hands. The ‘arrangement’ quickly becomes more for both men, but as they say the path to true love is never easy.

I loved how Ava built the relationship between the two men, including the good times as well as the problems and misunderstandings that can beset any new relationship especially one where both parties are wary of revealing too much of themselves, even down to Max not realizing that Tristan might get sore with being taken so much every night. It’s only when the ‘L’ word starts to be mentioned that everything comes tumbling down.

I loved this book; it’s everything I expected from Ava March and so much more, I can’t wait for the next book in the series. Its light BDSM, which is more ‘kinky’ than actual BDSM, but that’s exactly what Ava March excels at. For anyone who loves a good historical romance story you won’t get any better than this.