I am really loving Sullivan's voice in historical romance and it just feels like we need way more of it. This one grabbed me from the very beginning and I just could not stop until I was done with it.

A charming start to a new series. Sullivan brings her signature kind heroes and forward-thinking feminist heroines together for a new beginning. The Atkinson sisters sure aren't your average ladies. Alex is a business genius; Phoebe is a schoolteacher and Freddie is a heartbreaker. Sullivan tees up happy endings for each of them in this first book, but the main focus is Phoebe, and her childhood friend turned Duke -Will Margrave.

After one of her female students goes missing, Phoebe gets arrested for trespassing while searching for her and calls the most influential person she knows to bail her out. Will Margrave drops everything the moment the woman he loved ten years ago needs him. Even his search for the "perfect duchess," (aka boring brainless blue blood). Will takes the second chance to spend time with Phoebe and help her investigate but is she.... duchess material?

Phoebe loves everything about Will except the one thing he can't control - his title. This was a fast read I found myself totally absorbed in their journey toward each other. There are a few spicy love scenes. Thank you, Emily! Can't wait for Alex and Freddie's stories!

I thought this book to just be alright. It certainley was a fun way to pass the time, but the overall quality wasn't great. I think overall this book was just forgetable and the chemistry between the two main characters was'nt there.

This book had so many tropes that I would normally fall head over heels for: childhood friends to lovers, second chance, & not to mention the setting being historical England. I mean what more could I ask for?

To start I could maybe ask for a more likable MMC..... I'm sorry okay? I had to say it. I didn't HATE Will but sometimes I wanted to smack him on the head. Just tell the girl you love her okay????? It's three words!!!

I can at least say I did enjoy Phoebe & the background plot of her missing student. Some of the plot points felt rushed while others seemed to drag on for a bit.

Overall this was a fun historical romance while also managing to make you interested in Phoebe's other sisters as well, which Sullivan paved the way in this novel for their future stories.

As soon as I heard about Duchess Material by Emily Sullivan, I was intrigued. A historical romance with a healthy dose of mystery? Love it! And that it takes place in the 1890s is also appealing, partly because I’ve read so few books set in this decade. I loved seeing how different things were, especially for women, even just 15 or 20 years removed from most Victorian-era romances I’ve read.

Phoebe Atkinson has turned away from societal norms to become a schoolteacher for underprivileged girls. When her student Alice goes missing, Phoebe will do everything in her power to find her. This is how she and her childhood friend Will, now the Duke of Ellis, get back into each other’s lives. As he helps Phoebe following the clues to Alice, the two are remembering how well they get along… and exploring romantic feelings they never had a chance to act on before. But they live such different lives, and Phoebe wouldn’t exactly meet the usual expectations of a duchess. Once this mystery is solved, will Phoebe and Will have finally clued into their own possible future?

Tropes & Narrative Devices:
• Second chance romance
• (Former) friends to lovers
• Forced proximity
• Dual third-person POV (Phoebe and Will)

What I Liked:
• Romance by way of mystery. The whole setup for Phoebe and Will to get reunited is in solving the mystery of her missing student, Alice. Phoebe calls for Will from jail, and things quickly spiral into the two teaming up to follow the trail of clues. Investigating where Alice was last seen, meeting up with people she apparently knew, going undercover… Phoebe and Will get a lot of opportunity to work together and get reacquainted.

• The disguise scenes! I don’t want to spoil too much, but the scene where Phoebe dresses like a man in order to accompany Will on a little undercover investigation… hilarious! And then when they go to another place with masks… oh my!

• Politics, class divides, and what opportunities women have. Much of this book is dedicated to these themes. When Will inherited the dukedom, he felt that he had to abandon his more radical views to be like the conservative Duke he was replacing. But as he and Phoebe work on unraveling their mystery and discuss her work as a schoolteacher for working class girls, much of the the discussion specifically goes to how women in poverty get by. Is education a privilege or something that can help them? Is prostitution something that should be punished, or is there a more humane way to help those in such work? What are Phoebe and Will each doing to lift up those who most need it?

• A very Darcy-inspired proposal scene. If you’ve read Pride and Prejudice, Will’s attempt at a proposal will definitely remind you of what went wrong for Mr. Darcy!

• Setup for future books. Both of Phoebe’s sisters seem to have romances of their own coming up. Alex and a fake fiancé? Freddie and a possible love triangle? I can’t wait to read these! Also, the epilogue seems like a slight tie-in to the author’s upcoming book, A Death on Corfu, part of a different (but possibly interconnected?) series.

Final Thoughts
Duchess Material is an engrossing and thoughtful novel full of mystery and romance in equal measure. I loved getting to know these characters and watching them find their way back to each other (and finding Alice, too!). This is the start of a series, and I’m already looking forward to Alex and Freddie’s respective love stories. I’m also excited to read Emily Sullivan’s other upcoming series-starter, A Death on Corfu!

Phoebe has prided herself on not relying on her prominent family and providing for herself as a school teacher. When a student of hers goes missing and the Duke of Ellis unexpectedly comes to her aid, their past resurfaces. William Margrave inherited the Dukedom just as he and Phoebe were starting to fall for each other as teenagers. Since Will went off to school and became encumbered by the dukedom he and Phoebe have not spoken. Phoebe’s letter for help from the Bow Street police station is the last thing Will expects. But after Phoebe explains her concern her missing student Will becomes invested in helping Phoebe find out some answers. Together the two test each other and the aristocracy on the journey to find Phoebe’s young student.

With fierce female not willing to bow to societal expectations and Duke who loves her for, this is an entertaining, humorous and captivating read! One of my favorite reads of 2024!

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. These opinions are my own.

This is a delightful new historical romance from Emily Sullivan. And I have such high hopes for a series that features many of the characters we meet. Phoebe and Will were neighbors as children, and they might have started to have feelings for something more. But then he became the heir to a dukedom. She went entirely the other direction, choosing to leave the ton and become a teacher for working class girls.

Historical romance often speaks to contemporary issues, and that's a huge part of what I love about the genre. It feels so relevant while also being of a different time completely. This book raised powerful questions about social class, women's education, the legal treatment of women, and poverty. It had a clear moral voice throughout.

And that's all on top of the backdrop of a delightful romance and mystery. Phoebe is searching for a student who has gone missing and Will agrees to help. They connect so well in terms of a shared history and chemistry. And yet their current stations seem insurmountable. This book had me on the edge of my seat.

And now I really need Phoebe's older sister Alex to get a book. Some of my favorite quotes that I highlighted were hers.

Phoebe and Will were neighbors and childhood friends on the cusp of something more as they grew up, but then Will unexpectedly inherits a dukedom and their paths completely diverge. And then one day, Phoebe needs Will to help bail her out of jail and they’re thrown together again. She’s out searching for her missing student and he’s a duke with connections, so they team up to solve the mystery. Of course, they end up in more trouble than they bargained for, plus start an affair in the process. The longing and love and yearning is apparent with every interaction, but they’re stifled by their current stations in life. I also enjoyed the direct communication between the two and the set-up for potentially more stories involving Phoebe’s sisters. Loved it.

Phoebe Atkinson is a teacher at a local school that aims to educate young women. She is very passionate about her job and has prioritized her work over getting married and starting a family. When one of Phoebe's students goes missing, she becomes determined to find her. After getting caught trespassing while looking for clues, Phoebe finds herself in jail and at risk of ruining her reputation. She can't think of anyone to come and bail her out other than her former crush and now Duke, William Margrave, who she hasn't spoken to in years. Will comes to her rescue and after finding out the reason for her arrest, offers to help Phoebe. They team up and their investigation takes them all over town, occasionally, to scandalous places. As they get closer to revealing the truth (and to each other), Phoebe can't help but wonder if her returning feelings for Will are reciprocated.

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction romance! I was hooked from the beginning and really admired Phoebe as the main character. She's bold, stands up for herself and others, has a big heart, and sometimes can be a little reckless. I found myself rooting for her throughout the whole book! I love how Phoebe makes Will question everything he has done and known since becoming Duke. Things really heated up between the main characters, making this a pretty spicy read! I think the ending wrapped things up a little too quickly and neatly - especially with how easily Lord Fairbanks went away and all of their problems were resolved. Overall, I gave this book 4 stars! I had never read anything by this author (it was a suggested book by NetGalley), but I am definitely interested in reading some of her other titles now! I recommend this book to fans of Amalie Howard and Evie Dunmore!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Phoebe is a school teacher whose pupil has gone missing. Not sure what to do, she turns to her childhood friend and now duke William for his help. They work together to figure out what happened to her pupil, and as they do they develop feelings along the way.

This was such a fun book to read. I enjoyed Phoebe's feisty attitude and independent nature. Will was a good match to her energy and their banter was great. I will say this book is definitely more of a romance, than a mystery, regardless of synopsis. I think I expected it to be more balanced going in but still enjoyed the story. It seems to be setting up the next book in the series at the very end, which I will most definitely read.

4.5 stars

Phoebe is a teacher at a school for disadvantaged girls and she reluctantly works with the Duke of Ellis to find one of her girls when she goes missing. Will is the boy that she crushed on when they were younger, but he's far above her socially now and therefore out of her league.

It started a bit slow for me, but I adored the Victorian setting - such a refreshing change from all the Regency books out there. I adored the banter between this couple and how they apologised to each other when they were in the wrong, something I often find missing in other books, so it was a complete delight to find it.

Thank you to the author and Forever Publising for this fantastic romance! I will definitely be buying this one for my #ForeverFaves romance shelf.

I have pretty mixed feelings about this book, as I really enjoyed the first half of this book. It was really clear how much Will cared for Phoebe even when Phoebe didn't feel like she deserved that care. However, it just started to get repetitive and dragged on, well after I think the conflict was over. I think the extra time jumps just weren't necessary and made the book feel longer than it actually was. Also, there were a lot of side characters and the writing made it seem like I was supposed to know who these characters were (when I did not), I just felt like they all had so much going on outside of the main plot, but I didn't really care to learn more about them.

Genre: historical romance
London, 1896

Phoebe Atkinson may be the middle daughter of an upper crust family, but they’ve always been in the fringe of good society since her mother (the granddaughter of an earl) married into new money. This gives the Atkinson sisters a little more leeway to forge their own paths in an age where employment for women means a measure of independence. Phoebe teaches at a girls’ school, and when one of her students goes missing and no one else seems to care, Phoebe takes it upon herself to search, landing herself in prison in the process. She calls for the most powerful man she knows, her childhood friend William Margrave, Duke of Ellis. He bails her out, but he makes it clear he wants to help her solve the mystery, bringing them together for the first time in over a decade.

I love the way Emily Sullivan approaches historical romance. Overtones of Pride and Prejudice filter through this lovely story of someone who believes he needs to be starchy and someone who follows her heart. Her writing takes place in the waning years of the Victorian era: a time of collapsing social structures, progress, and a feeling of modernity.

Phoebe comes from landed gentry and has the ability (and privilege) to choose freedoms of her own working for a living instead of marrying. Phoebe’s heart is in nurturing her students and putting them on the path for a better life. Her upbringing and subsequent exit from Society makes her wary of aristocrats and that includes her friend Will. The novel is her journey in reconnecting with her family and learning what she can do with her role in society

Our duke, Will, comes from the upper middle class and wasn't raised as a duke. Throughout the novel, he’s doing his best to fulfill his role in society in the way he’s been groomed to take over the dukedom and his seat in Parliament. We start to see him chafe against his mentor’s politics and the societal pressure to get married, and Phoebe brings out the best in him even when he can’t see past what Society has forced him to become. He’s starchy and stuck in his head, and has a real Mr Darcy moment when confronting his feelings.

Sullivan has a beautiful way of writing and creating characters who make sense on page together, and she’ll never skimp on the heat. I’ve always found her intimate scenes to be smoking hot while still progressing the character development, and let’s just say that there are a few scenes that didn’t let me down.

I hadn't read any of Emily Sullivan's work up until now, but that's quickly going to change.
I adored every bit of Duchess Material. Phoebe is a fantastic main character, doing her best to make an impact on society. I loved watching her and Will go on their adventure to solve a mystery while becoming entangled in something a bit more dangerous. Phoebe is fearless in most ways, while Will is the opposite, and I enjoyed the ways they balanced each other. Their development was beautiful, and left the story feeling very fulfilling by the end. I felt like these two characters had worked to be the person they needed to be.
I'm also a sucker for a book where the authors note discusses the works that helped them for their story. I'm so excited to have gotten to learn more about women in the 1890s through this book.
I can't wait to pick up more of Emily Sullivan's work and am interested to see what's next.

Thank you Forever and Netgalley for the ARC.

Really, really great. I could not stop reading. I was drawn in from the first chapter. I love when the characters have a personal history the side characters are well developed. Emotional, I was tied up with the feelings of these two. The stakes felt very real, and I wondered how they were ever going to work it out. This was my first Emily Sullivan book, and I’m going to find her back catalog now.

Another charming and delightful story from Emily Sullivan. Phoebe is a bluestocking who has decide to forgo the marriage mart in favor of teaching at a school for impoverished girls. Will is her childhood friend who had a Dukedom fall into his lap and has felt uncomfortable in his skin ever since. Together they join forces to search for her missing student and I knew this story was going to be good when within the first chapter Will rescued her from jail. This story has a little bit of mystery and intrigue and a lot of heart and Easter eggs to Pride & Prejudice ("Most ardently!"). This new series has a lot to be excited about and I love the relationship with Phoebe and her sisters Alex & Freddie--I can't wait for their installments!

Many thanks to Forever Grand Central Publishing & Netgalley for the ARC.

Emily Sullivan is quickly becoming one of my go-to authors for fresh, entertaining, hard-to-put-down, Victorian romance. Duchess Material is the newest addition to her list of books that have kept me eagerly reading late into the night, unwilling to stop until the final page is turned with a swoon-worthy HEA secured.

Let me start by saying I adore Phoebe Atkinson. She checks so many of my Victorian heroine boxes: independent, engaged, kind, inquisitive, focused; a social and educational activist determined to provide opportunities for all women and girls, regardless of financial or social standing. I enjoyed her journey, her growth, and the lessons she learned, especially pertaining to her family, society, career, and, of course, her relationship with Will.

Did I mention growth? Boy howdy, does Will ever have one doozy of a growth arc. It's understandable that he feels duty bound to the dukedom he unexpectedly inherited at the age of eighteen. It's been the totality of his life for the past decade and he's determined to do right by it, including choosing a wife who is perfect duchess material. How fun it was to watch his entire plan be knocked sideways by one request for help from his best friend's little sister, the now grown woman who had fascinated him as a teen and, unfortunately for his duchess hunt, still does.

The relationship journey Will and Phoebe embark upon is filled with steam, snappy banter, a bit of a mystery, hijinks in disguise, family dynamics, self discovery, a vibrantly depicted secondary cast of characters, and a hard-earned happy ending. I enjoyed every bit of it.

I have my fingers crossed that Sullivan has more books planned for this family. I'm thoroughly invested in the lives of Phoebe's two sisters, Alex and Freddie, who both deserve books of their own.

4.5 Stars
ARC received from publisher via NetGalley

I haven’t loved a regency era romance book quite this much since reading the Duke and I by Julia Quinn. This book is smart and funny and hot! I love Phoebe- she’s everything I love in a FMC-strong, fierce, not afraid to speak her mind. I wish there wasn’t so much miscommunication but I can at least understand its place in this story!

I love the premise of this book. I am so intrigued by the pursuit of the heroine, and how the relationship between the hero and heroine develops in a way that is both interesting and enthralling at the same time. The plot and characters in a historical romance are often of such comfort to me and this book is a delight from start to finish.

historical romances are usually a hit or miss for me and this was, unfortunately, a miss. I couldn't really connect to the characters.

thank you to net galley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.