Thank you to Forever for the eARC via NetGalley, unfortunately this book was not for me and I won't be finishing it. Phoebe has just gotten released from jail by hailing the now-Duke that she knew in childhood?! What should be a very engaging start is bogged down by unbroken full pages of info dump on what felt like a dozen side characters, between lines of MC dialogue, and I struggled to stay invested. This was my first by Emily Sullivan.

That cover tho, gorgeous!

5 🌟's

my back-to-back 5 star reads have been giving me LIFE. i went into this not having crazy expectations and the way i absolutely LOVED this? from the first chapter where the MMC has to bail the FMC from prison was just chef's kiss lol - childhood friends to lovers has never been tHIS good omg the PINING and the love and memories they both had but also the new ones they made here was just so beautiful.

the 3rd act getting back together scene healed smth in me LOL - the way these two communicated and apologized and just let it go.. it was everything to read

and ngl, the plot was GIVING. i was never bored and actually was so invested in the mystery aspect of it - it was the perfect balance to the romance and i was here for it.

honestly, such a wonderful book and i hope that it's a series?!! alex is a bad bitch and i wud LOVE to see her romance and ofc freddie's too!!!!

So swoony and perfect for any lover of a true period piece! The characters were well drawn, and I loved the twist on the romance genre with the mystery angle of Phoebe's missing student. My favorite romances are ones where not only do the couples learn about themselves as a couple, but discover their own inner strength & superpowers through their pursuit of the central romantic relationship. I'll be keeping an eye out for Ms. Sullivan's next venture!

Romance, family drama, friendship, and deep social issues are the main themes of Duchess Material. Fyi, this reader has no doubt that the FMC is a perfect duchess material. The MMC is just stupid.

This was an interesting plot, albeit a bit predictable. Phoebe was a contradiction. She viewed herself as “a boring little spinster” even though that was not the case given her visit to a den, breaking into a building, climbing through a window etc. Nevertheless, I liked her. The sisters were formidable, and I’m eager to see what mischief they get into next. There were some misunderstandings and miscommunication between the MCs that did annoy me a bit. Furthermore, there was some unpleasantness with that odious earl, which I didn’t care for. I was, however, invested in the mystery behind the student’s disappearance.

I think I would have enjoyed the romance more if Will wasn’t such a condescending, insensitive dummy. He was defending the earl’s daughter and her suitability as his duchess even at 75% of the book? Despite the Pride and Prejudice moments (botched proposal, wet shirt, most ardently) sprinkled throughout the book, Will failed to measure up to Mr. Darcy.
“Well, you seem awfully unconcerned for a girl on the verge of public ruination.” Really, buddy?

3.5 rounded up to 4.

~ ARC Review ~

*Duchess Material* by Emily Sullivan

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Release Date: November 19, 2024

Publisher: Forever | Grand Central Publishing

Genre: Adult Historical Romance

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5

When one of Phoebe Atkinson's students goes missing, she's determined to discover where she is and who's connected- but when she ends up in a tough situation as a result of her investigating, her get-out-of-trouble card is none other than Will Ellington- a lifelong friend of hers who became estranged when he inherited a dukedom. Readers follow the two through a winding mystery to uncover Phoebe's student's whereabouts, witnessing them encounter some side challenges along the way. Particularly: a pesky, growing romance.

This was my first ever arc on Netgalley, and I really enjoyed it! It's a quick and enjoyable read: the romance is sweet, the humor had me laughing out loud, and I loved the plot. Phoebe as a character is awesome- her feisty attitude and determination made her intriguing to read, and Will's inner monologue was hilarious. Their character growth was natural and believable, and the way they tumbled back into each other's lives, despite the incredulity of the situation, felt natural. I also enjoyed the family dynamics- they bring in some discussion of other important topics of the time period.

Fans of books with banter, historical settings, complex (but sometimes funny) dynamics between characters, and just a * hint *of danger, this one's for you!

Read if you like:

~  romantic tension & banter

~  an against-the-odds romance

~  a mystery plot with just as much presence as the romance

~ the friends-to-lovers trope

If you loved Pride and Prejudice, you'll probably love this too! I know I'll be keeping an eye out for Emily Sullivan's other books 🤭 

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing a review copy of this book through Netgalley!

In Emily Sullivan’s forthcoming Duchess Material we have Phoebe Atkinson and Will Margrave, childhood friends on the verge of confessing their mutual feelings as teenagers when Will inherits a dukedom out of the blue and has to leave Phoebe (to her bitter regret) and life as he knows it behind. Eight years later they barely see each other despite Will’s close friendship with her older sister, and are on two widely different paths. Will has become a bit of a stuffed shirt as he tries to prove to the ton that he is worthy of the title he was never meant to have, while Phoebe has taken up work educating girls from poor (or no) families, to her wealthy businessman father’s dismay. When she encounters trouble investigating the disappearance of one of her students, she calls on Will in a fit of desperation. Suddenly they are back in each other’s orbit and realizing that there was more to the childhood crushes than they dared to believe.

What a terrific book and what I assume/hope is the start of a series focusing on Atkinson sisters! I am a sucker for a childhood friends to strangers to lovers romance and this was an extremely satisfying version of the trope. I liked the somewhat unconventional set up here—two people from successful families largely outside the aristocracy until Will is forced to join its ranks. It creates artificial class differences between the two main characters, both of whom are still extraordinarily privileged, and juxtaposes that against the challenges facing the poor and true working class. I really liked that even Phoebe who has, in some ways, walked away from her wealthy family to work as a school teacher is reminded of her privilege and how much she has to learn about what is truly beneficial to her students and their families. It was interesting, too, to see that even in Phoebe’s unconventional family where both she and her older sister are able to work, there are limits to what is viewed as acceptable; her father dismisses Phoebe’s work as a teacher (though he would have supported her working for the family business) and questions whether her sister, as an unmarried woman, can be taken seriously as the eventual head of the company even when it is clear how much she contributes to its success (one has to believe this latter point will be a critical part of Alex’s story which I am very excited to read—Freddie’s too!). I will admit that I was not sure of Will as a character at first—he really drank the ducal kool aid and I was as frustrated as Phoebe in how he’d seemingly forgotten his roots; but it was easier to empathize as the plot progressed. Still, I wish that they had talked things out just a bit more on page.

Finally I have to applaud the various allusions to Pride and Prejudice (both the book and the 1990s mini series featuring Colin Firth) throughout the book—most specifically with Will’s terrible proposal and the pond swim that resulted in Phoebe stumbling upon Will in a damp shirt scene. A+, no notes.

This amazing book is out November 19th; thanks to Netgalley and Forever publishing for the e-ARC, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

A breath of fresh air!

This book is set in 1890s England. What a nice change to see a historical fiction book set in the Victorian era! It's a sign of the times that the main character, Phoebe, and her sister, Alex, are both working. Their jobs create a little conflict with their upper class family, but they are still accepted members of society.

Phoebe is in love with Will, who grew up on a neighboring property. Phoebe and her siblings played with Will and his brother and Phoebe started pining for Will in her teens. They lost touch when Will became the heir to a Duke and he left to live with that man. They are reunited when Phoebe gets in some trouble while her father and sister are in New York and she drops his new name in attempts to be let go.

The reunion doesn't go well, as they've both changed a lot since their teen years, but they are attracted to each other and we get to see a beautiful and funny friends-to-lovers story unfold.

The secondary characters, especially the siblings, are wonderful additions to this story and they had me hoping that this is the start of a series. I would love to see these characters again! There's a mystery subplot that deals with working class women and organized crime the could be further explored!

The pace is fast and there are some delightful references to Pride and Prejudice!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

This was a load of fun in a historical romance - and honestly, more of a classic regency romance than I would've expected from the cover. Phoebe is the middle sister, broken free from the confines of her upper society birth by becoming a teacher to girls who cannot afford it. Her family runs a successful business, and she has the classic spirit of the do-gooder judging her family's capitalistic tendencies. Our MMC was once of the same upper echelon class, but somehow ended up inheriting a title and is continually trying to do right by his title and his place in the House of Lords. This has an element of second-chance romance and the=one-that-got-away, with an underlying element of mystery as Phoebe is searching for one of her students. I would say the mystery aspect wasn't necessarily driving the plot; what was really standout at the center of this whole novel was the relationship between the sisters; I found myself intrigued to learn more about each other disparate personalities and am excited to read their individual books as well.

This is the first historical romance book I have ever read and I absolutely loved it! Emily Sullivan is a new must read author for me.

Phoebe is a school teacher who is living below her means to be independent from her family. William is Phoebe’s sister Alex's best friend who became a Duke at the age of 19 when he didn’t even know that was a possibility for him and had to leave his old life, and his chance at a life with Phoebe, behind. Now years have passed and he is looking for a respectable woman to be his duchess. William gets a call to pick Phoebe up from the police station after she got caught lurking around the apartment building where her missing student lives. When Phoebe makes it clear that she is going to be continuing her search for her student, William decides to join her so she doesn’t get herself into too much trouble and he ends up uncovering a scheme that will turn his life upside down. Throughout the search Phoebe and William rekindle what they had started before he left to learn how to be a Duke and try to figure out if their differing lifestyles, the expectations that everyone has for them, and their futures will work if they get together.

The way she wrote this book immediately sucked me into the world and had me reading during every free second that I had. Phoebe and William are a perfect match for each other and had me desperately begging them to figure their sh*t out so they could just be happy together! The mystery of where Phoebe's missing student went made me want to finish the book quickly and was a great plot device to make Phoebe and William get together even when they were not inclined to do so themselves because of their mutual stubbornness. Getting to know both of their families and all of the baggage that comes with them really fleshed the characters out and helped me understand more about who they are. I also really enjoyed that they had their own quests happening outside the main plot so they could grow both individually and together. I appreciated that every character is different and dimensional. They are all individuals who have their own ambitions, feelings, lifestyles, and mannerisms. They are all going through their own things in their lives that are not tied to the main characters or the main plot. It makes me really excited to read the next books so that I can see these characters grow and interact with each other more. I really enjoy the way the author highlighted the many issues women had to deal with in the Victorian era and how she championed women forging their own paths, while also not looking down upon women who did what was expected of them or doing what they needed to do to survive. So many books would have had the main characters act like they are better than the women marrying for financial security or entertaining men for money, but the author made sure to emphasize that everyone deserves respect, which should be an uncontroversial sentiment.

I absolutely loved everything about this book! It showed me what I was missing by not reading historical romance and I am excited to read more asap. I cannot wait to see which sister gets their book next! Thank you to Forever Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with this advanced reader copy. This review reflects my personal thoughts and feelings of this story.

DNF @ 30%

There is nothing wrong with this book, but I am not interested in the romance which at this point hasn't even begun to develop. While I do enjoy a slow burn, I need to care about the characters and I do not care for William as a hero. Phoebe is vastly more interesting. I also can see how the mystery of Phoebe's missing student will take over the story, and I would prefer the romance to be the focus.

I'm sure others will enjoy this book, but it sadly wasn't for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the RC!

4⭐️
"Will frowned as her eyes twinkled with devious delight entirely at his expense. And to his utter horror, he liked it. Quite a lot."

This was so much fun! I've enjoyed all of the Emily Sullivan books I've read, but I think this one really takes the cake. A fun romp through 1896 London!

Our main characters Will and Phoebe are childhood friends- they grew up on neighbouring land, and Will was and is still good friends with Phoebe's older sister, Alex. Phoebe was always the younger sister begging to tag along, until that last summer when her and Will started to grow closer. But then he unexpectedly became heir to a title, and left to learn everything he could about the dukedom. Cut to eight years later, and the two haven't spoken since. Will is still friends with Alex, but him and Phoebe don't move in the same circles.

The two unexpectedly cross paths, and Will begins to help Phoebe with finding one of her missing students. The two of them can't help but be drawn to each other- the chemistry and pull between them was so good! They just felt so comfortable with each other but on another level both so nervous to voice how they're really feeling. They know they can't be together- Will needs a wife who is 'duchess material', and Phoebe thinks marrying means giving up her career and newfound freedom.

I enjoyed that they had such a mature relationship. Both of them made mistakes, but were fully able to own up to them and apologize. They were both willing to talk things about and compromise in order to be together.

The ending felt like a setup for a followup book in this series, so I'm really hoping we get to see Alex and Freddie get their moments as well!

Thank you to Netgalley and publishing team for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I loved it!! This is a first time author for me, and Emily Sullivan didn't disappoint!!

I loved the progressive setting of this book- our fearless FMC, Phoebe as well as how dedicated she was to her teaching profession and to her students! I also loved the thorough character sketches of Will as well as Phoebe! The chemistry between them was off the charts! The mystery element in this book was sophisticated and sufficiently intriguing. Throughout the story, the author explores several social justice themes of that particular era. These themes are well researched and beautifully presented.

At the risk of giving away too much, my only issue with the story (and maybe I'm in the minority with this:))- I wasn't sure whether the intimacy shared by the characters jived with the times in which the book is set in...Somehow, it didn't flow logically. Added to this, the cavalier attitude of the FMC regarding her own reputation (when there's was potential risk to it, as presented in the book) was somewhat jarring. This could have been just bravado to save face (in the presence of the MMC). The book gives some such indication, yet this internal conflict is not quite explored fully, since too many things happen, IMO, in the last 20-30% of the story. This to me particularly stood out, and didn't gel with the FMC's character as portrayed in the story..

Overall, I thought this book was a perfect blend of mystery and romance! Can't wait to read more by the author! Highly recommend!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#DuchessMaterial #NetGalley

Emily Sullivan never misses, and with this book she's made me discover my new favorite thing in romances: heartfelt adult apologies. My new kink, if you will. When in Duchess Material Phoebe and Will sometimes said legitimate but mean things to each other (like "you're not using the power of the dukedom to champion radical political causes!") and then they both went away and thought about WHAT the other person said as well as HOW they said it and then saw each other again and apologized for the right things? I absolutely swooned.

So yeah, I loved this book. I also loved a ton of other little things about it besides the apologies, like how Phoebe is Will's best friend's sister, but Alex, said BFF, is a woman (I think this is my first "big sister's best friend" romance). Or how Sullivan sets up a big misunderstanding/miscommunication conflict but makes it both realistic and sidesteps a lot of issues I have with this type of conflict. Or how freaking sexy this book is!

If you like historical romance, you really need to read this book.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

This was a light and fun read wher Bridgerton met Pride and Prejudice. I loved seeing the adventures and growing relationship of childhood friends Will and Phoebe.

I am a big fan of historical fiction romance, and this book checks all the boxes. We have an energetic main character Phoebe, and the old childhood friend turned Duke, The way the work together and bond makes for an enjoyable journey while they are on a mission to discover what has happened to a student.
Thank you netgalley for Duchess Material by Emily Sullivan

What a delightful historical romance! I loved Phoebe's character and her motivation to find her own way. She leans on her friend, the Duke, to help her in a new intriguing mystery. The heartfelt relationship between these two just rounded out the story so well.

This was a great historical romance. The main characters were wonderfully written and their banter was hilarious.

Emily Sullivan writes extremely smart, sexy, and profoundly feminist romances- this is no exception. This is a romance between two adults stumbling to make sense of their place in the world, and with each other. They make mistakes but communicate and apologize through them. They both have personal growth, in addition to falling in love. They also have really good sex. Just an absolute treat to read, I adored it start to finish and can’t wait for the next stories of Phoebe’s two sisters!

I absolutely adored Duchess Material! Phoebe and Will had great chemistry and the tension throughout the story just made it all that much better. Phoebe is just the kind of heroine that it's easy to root for: independent and outspoken, but thoroughly loo likeable. I love Sullivan's writing style and will definitely be reading more from her.

I love a character who thinks he fully supports women and that "good enough" means problem solved because it opens him up to the hard-hitting woman he's inevitably pissed off. It's very satisfying to see a character realize that he's been asking the wrong questions, from the wrong perspective, and to track his halfway mind turning fully into renewed conviction.

Which is all just to say that I loved Phoebe and Will's slowburn chemistry.

This is not a mystery. It's not even what I'd call a mystery romance alá a Veronica Speedwell novel, which is completely fine. I just wanted to forewarn in case you were thinking that the missing person case is an actual mystery when it primarily serves as a backdrop.

I'm hoping this is going to be a series because Freddie is a dear and Alex is a badass, and I can't decide which Atkinson sister I want to read about next!