Thanks, Hachette Audio, for ALC!⁣ Thanks, Forever, for the arc!
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I love Emily Sullivan's books. I love them even more as audiobooks because they come alive so well in audio form. DUCHESS MATERIAL does just that with its narration by Zara Hampton-Brown. I was giggling and kicking my feet with glee while swooning as the story progressed. I’m not always a fan of the miscommunication trope, but when it is done well, and the adults are talking and apologizing - that trope is way more swoony than I ever expected!⁣
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I like that this took place in 1890s England, a different part of the ton, for a historical romance. It was refreshing, as were the characters, childhood friends to lovers, Phoebe Atkinson and William Margave, the Duke of Ellis, and her sister’s friend. I loved the dynamic of the Duke knowing Phoebe and her family his entire life. It made the banter fun because it wasn’t just banter between the FMC and MMC; we also had it between the sisters and then the MMC and his bestie. Lots of fantastic banter all around!⁣
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Quick thoughts on things I loved:⁣
•Phoebe is a character you will love if you are a reader, and if you love Eloise, you will love Phoebe.⁣
•The disguise. I won’t say anything more, but these scenes were exquisite, and I’m laughing and swooning as I type this.⁣
•The mystery. They are never what I expect in historical romances, and this one falls into that category, but I enjoyed Phoebe and the Duke trying to solve it.⁣
•The set up of the following books: I can’t wait for the sister’s stories, as I enjoyed them so much in this book!⁣
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Finally, the question that should seal the deal for many of you is: Do you love PRIDE AND PREJUDICE? If you do, you’ll love this. And even if P&P isn’t your thing, I still think any historical romance fan can enjoy DUCHESS MATERIAL.⁣ Reading or listening, you are in for a fantastic time!

I had a great time reading this, it was a perfect mix of mystery solving + angsty sort of second chance romance. Both MCs had intriguing and realistic character developments, and I absolutely loved the family/friend dynamics on both their sides.

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

I love a romance that is also a caper / mystery and DUCHESS MATERIAL by Emily Sullivan did not disappoint. Phoebe is a schoolteacher who begrudgingly accepts help from a duke to find her missing student. Obviously they’re going to solve the mystery and fall in love!!! I ate it up. Would recommend! It’s funny and fiery

Will became a Duke without knowing that was really in the cards for him and it took his life from one where he and Phoebe might have been able to be something to one where he's courting Lady something or other because her dad is his mentor and she would make a good duchess. Meanwhile, Phoebe is trying to find her missing student and teaching at a school in the seedier part of town and constantly in conflict with her dad and older sister. The two of them wind up reconnecting when Phoebe asks Will for help locating said missing student and suddenly Will's life gets complicated all over again.

I think if you have more tolerance for Benedict's book from Bridgerton, this book is going to work better for you than it did for me. What I mean by that is, when you cut your teeth on Tessa Dare's Any Duchess Will Do, it makes it real hard to buy into the conflict of needing to have the "right" wife to become a duchess. Like, you're a Duke. Live your life. Nobody can say anything. But also, there's something about the way that Benedict's attitude towards Sophie and insisting she should just be happy to be his mistress that made me feel like Will and how he was treating Phoebe. That said, I also loved the overall plot in this one and I'm upset because as far as I can tell, we're not getting Phoebe's siblings books and I want them?? So, conflicted feelings all in all, but I had mostly a really fun time with this one.

Phoebe Atkinson is making her own way in the world. She may not fit into society's standards, but she is happy teaching at a school for impoverished girls. William was friends with Phoebe and her sisters when they were younger, but that all changed now that he is a Duke. When Phoebe starts investigating a missing student and finds herself getting into trouble more frequently than she'd like, it's William she calls for help. With William's offered assistance, Phoebe has more freedom to safely figure out what is afoot.

I had so much fun reading this book. I loved the romance between William and Phoebe and how sweet they were together. William has spent much of his time since inheriting the Dukedom looking for the perfect wife and trying to be the perfect noble, but he drops everything as soon as Phoebe needs him. This book had plenty of funny moments throughout - Phoebe raiding the costumes truck for one of their stakeouts was hilarious.

I'd love to read more from this author in the future. Thank you to Forever for an eARC.

Thank you Forever and Netgalley for my gifted copy for review. This was a fun historical romance centered around Phoebe who while of society decides to live away from her family as well as hold a job as a teacher. After a student goes missing Phoebe must ask help from an old friend who is now a powerful Duke. The two get up to some great fun while trying to find Phoebe's missing student and I thoroughly enjoyed their shenanigans. Can't wait to read what Emily puts out next.

I really like the way their relationship was developed, especially since they knew each other before and there were already some feelings between them. I also feel like the author did a good job balancing the little bit of mystery that we get and it didn't feel like a separate entity from the plot. I really liked Phoebe as a main character. She was so smart and independent and I love that she stood up for what she believed in. You can also definitely see the chemistry between her and Will and the author did their slow burn SO well.

EXCUSE ME. THIS BOOK THOUGH.
The way that I devoured this is unreal!!
The childhood friends to not to more?! The mystery, the contrast between our two main characters, the romance: UGH
I'm obsessed and I need to read more by Emily Sullivan ASAP.

Thank you so much for my ARC, I truly appreciate it!

4/5

3.5 stars. Super cute romance with a decent amount of spice. I love how strong the MFC is. There Were some loose ends that were not tied up at the end of the book with the sisters. Could lead to additional books in the series but that is not clear at this time.

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the DRC of Duchess Material! All opinions in this review are my own.

While I am a newer Emily Sullivan, Duchess Material once again proves why I fell in love with her books in the first place! I love the romance between Phoebe and William, especially since they have a history prior to the book starting. I hope this becomes a series because there are a few side characters that deserve their own romances as well!

I finally found a modern regency romance that gave me the feels of Jane Austen. I loved the banter between Phoebe and William. William reminded me a bit of Mr. Darcy and Phoebe had Elizabeth's spunk. I can't wait to read more by this author.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a very fun book!

Spicy! This book was surprising to me, as I did not know anything about it this author, but I have to say it was funny, fast paced, and kept my attention. It Is story of when you don't go looking for love, but it finds you, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. This story was fun adventure, I loved it so much I am looking forward to what is next for this author.

Phoebe is happy with her life as a schoolteacher, she doesn't need husband and is proud of her independence. This until one of her best pupils go missing and she has no choice but turn to childhood friend for help. Forget the fact that he is handsome but also duke, but she removes old feelings to find her student. William Margrave never wanted to become a duke but here he is and now he must find the perfect duchess. So when Phoebe comes to him for help, he puts his duchess search on hold to help her. But the more time they spend together, things start to heat up and maybe he can't ignore that childhood crush after all.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Paperback for copy of this book for my honest review.

Emily Sullivan is one of my absolute favorite historical romance authors. Duchess Material is a delightfully swoony romance with just a dash of mystery, set in the late 1890s and featuring a spunky school teacher and her childhood friend turned duke. I’m a sucker for a good friends-to-lovers trope, and the relationship between Phoebe and Will had me giggling and kicking my feet. I love that Phoebe was so passionate about carving out a spot for herself in a society that would rather have kept her boxed in. I love that she cared so much for her students. I love that Will was both her savior and her enabler in her capers. I just loved Duchess Material, period.

Definitely recommend picking up Duchess Material as well as her entire League of Scoundrels series!

This one was lackluster for me. The premise sounded promising enough — an unconventional woman, childhood friends separated by an unexpected peerage sounded interesting, second chance, etc. However, these elements and the overall execution never really came together and bordered on boring at times. The story also felt very modern, yanking me out of the narrative a few times to regain my bearings.

Phoebe seemed to martyr herself and quickly became one of the least interesting characters. The Duke came off as flat and a milksop who hesitated to assert his own opinions or thoughts. Instead, it seems like Phoebe will ultimately be responsible for acting as both their spines.
Several plot lines (e.g., the Annie mystery) were resolved unceremoniously in ways that didn't fit the build-up. Others were disappointing, such as Will's repeated insistence that Phoebe isn't fit to be a duchess, just to be resolved by her apology.

Overall, Duchess Material was fine, with a passable happy ending. While I didn't love this one, I would read a follow-up centered on one of Phoebe's sisters.

✨2.5 — rounded to 3 for review purposes

Thanks to the author, NetGalley and Forever, for the advance copy in exchange for my review.

My two favorite genres are mysteries and romance, so I adored that this book mixed a bit of the two! A new to me author, Emily Sullivan's writing kept me wanting to read more. I always appreciate a clever bluestocking protagonist, so this worked fantastically for me.

Spectacular. Give me 14 of them right now.

And I'm not kidding about that either. This book? You cannot convince me that it wasn't written specifically for me. The late Victorian era, a duke and a spitfire independent woman, childhood history—add in the chemistry, banter and romantic tension and I want to eat this book. I inhaled it in almost two sittings because I couldn't put it down. This review is so useless but I don't have any coherent thoughts other than I am obsessed and I cannot wait for the next book from this author because this was perfect.

I'm at the start of a historical romance binge right now, but I think I just want to reread this one six times instead.

Duchess Material is a sharp, witty, and spicy Victorian romp! Overall a fun read.

While I loved the premise of this book, it was just an okay read. I didn't love or hate the characters or plot.

Thank you Netgalley and Applesauce Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. The opinions written are completely honest and my own.

An enjoyable historical romance. I find I usually love or hate the genre and this is a love. The characters are likable, the banter fun and the romance as advertised. Will be looking for more Emily Sullivan titles in the future

Overall I enjoyed this story . The banter was fun , the romance was cute , although I did find Phoebe to be kind of annoying at times in earlier chapters .The last third of the book was quite enjoyable and I look forward to reading more about Phoebes sisters in future stories

My rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫