*No Ordinary Duchess* by Elizabeth Hoyt is an intriguing historical romance that brings together themes of passion, class, and unexpected love. While the story's premise is captivating, with a headstrong heroine and a brooding duke, the plot can feel uneven at times. There are moments of compelling drama and heartfelt emotion, but these are occasionally interrupted by slower sections that detract from the overall flow.

That said, the character development shines. Hoyt excels at building complex relationships, and the chemistry between the leads is palpable. The historical setting is well-researched, adding a rich backdrop to the romance. Though the pacing fluctuates, the story’s emotional depth and Hoyt's signature writing style make it a worthwhile read for fans of the genre.

Overall, despite some bumps in the plot, *No Ordinary Duchess* is an engaging romance with enough charm and intensity to keep you invested until the end.

I’m a big Elizabeth Hoyt fan, and her Maiden Lane books are some of my favorite historical romances of all time. I’ve had more trouble getting into her Greycourt books and I haven’t gotten around to reading the first two books in the series but I think I’ll now go back and read them. Honestly, there are very few excellent historical romance writers who are actively publishing new work and an Elizabeth Hoyt book that takes some time to get into is still better than almost any other historical romance on the market.

As for this book, I liked it but didn’t love it. I thought Elspeth was mostly likable and Julian was suitably broody but honestly, I just didn’t jive with their relationship and it almost felt like Elspeth was Julian’s Manic Pixie Dream Girl, which is one of my least favorite tropes. I personally would have preferred it if Elspeth had more moral ambiguity and if she was more flawed basically, because I honestly can’t think of any flaws she has that will remain with the reader.

Despite the ~scandal~ of Julian’s secret predilections, I thought this book was honestly tamer in terms of sex scenes than some of the Maiden Lane books and ironically, I think that some of those male characters are much more scandalous than Julian is despite not being portrayed as such. Like, off the top of my head, Maximus from “Duke of Midnight” (my favorite Maiden Lane book) is absolutely bonkers compared to Julian and yet he’s never described or considered any sort of degenerate like it just feels somewhat inconsistent based on Hoyt’s previous work. Then again, it’s probably yet a sign that mainstream publishing has gotten a lot more prudish since 2013 when Duke of Midnight was published, and can’t handle a truly unhinged hero without doing a lot of pearl clutching lol.

Anyways, like I said, a mediocre Elizabeth Hoyt book is still better than a good book from most other authors so all in all, 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

After reading No Ordinary Duchess and the rest of the series, I have to say it was not one of my favorites by Elizabeth Hoyt. Even though the read was charming at times the subject or plot did not hold my interest. On to the next.... Free ARC from NetGaley for honest opinion.

No Ordinary Duchess by Elizabeth Hoyt is a masterclass in emotional depth and complexity. The raw emotions of the characters leap off the page, drawing you into their intense world of love, hate, and resilience. Each chapter peels back another layer, revealing the strength and vulnerability that make the story so compelling. It’s filled with tension and powerful moments, making it one of the best books I have ever read. Hoyt brilliantly crafts a narrative that keeps you fully immersed from start to finish.

This series is so good! This one brings us back to the original plot thread, and I have THEORIES about where Hoyt will take us next, and I absolutely can’t wait. (Give me the Ran book, and give it to me now.)

Julian and Elspeth were an odd coupling from what we’ve seen in the previous stories, but they work better than I expected. The age gap isn’t my favorite, but I think it was needed for Elspeth to have missed the family drama and almost entirely grown up in Scotland with the Wise Women, the feminist secret society that was introduced in the first book. Together they are the grumpiest/sunshiniest of grumpy/sunshines and I was here for all of it. The BDSM subplot was a nice addition too, even if malesub isn’t my usual jam. Julian’s backstory and guilt was handled well that it contributed to him as a character, but wasn’t why he was in to that lifestyle, so I really appreciated that also.

These covers still, though. These are more gothic romances than they would lead you to believe. Plus the title for this one is completely off-base, or kind of a spoiler for the end? This one also suffered from having a totally wrong summary on Goodreads, so I actually spent most of the book thinking it was spoilers, but it was just wrong. 🤣 It did suit the title better though, so that didn’t help the confusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC of this book to review!

The characters sounded amazing and I was really excited to read about a starchy buttoned up hero. But they didn’t have chemistry together and I had to really power through to finish.
The writing is great, as Hoyt is a talented writer but this fell flat for me

I have been looking forward to this book for four years which is how long it's been since her last one came out. I was not disappointed! This is the third in the Greycourt series and I enjoyed being back in Hoyt’s world! I will say that, when I began reading, I had to work to keep track of all the characters and their families, but once I got everyone straight, I was caught up in the story and didn’t want to put the book down.

Elspeth first meets Julian when he finds her in his uncle’s library. His uncle is the Duke of Windemere and she is at the Duke's home for a tea with his duchess. She has snuck into the library in search of a special book she believes his family has (but she doesn’t tell Julian this). Julian takes her aback. He's gorgeous, with black hair tied in a long braid and a pearl earring dangles from his ear that matched his grey eyes. She is immediately attracted to him. For his part, he thinks she's curvy and very pretty but far too innocent for him. Plus, she's in danger--Julian's uncle is a dangerous man. Julian tries to warn her away from his evil uncle’s home but she doesn't take his warnings seriously. They part, still thinking about each other.

Julian has his hands full. Their uncle, as head of the family, is planning to marry his sister, Lucretia, to a despicable, cruel man. Julian and his brother, Quintus, are trying to find a way to expose their uncle's sins without destroying their sisters. Meanwhile, Elspeth is sneaking around London trying to find a special book/diary. When she was six, her parents died and she and one of her sisters were sent to live with an aunt who lived with a group of women who called themselves the Wise Women. Even though Elspeth’s father was a duke, her upbringing with her aunt was unconventional and as a result she is more self-sufficient than the average English miss (which Julian appreciates). After some of the Wise Women’s elders passed away, there was a division in their group and Elspeth believed if she could bring them the diary, originally written by their founders, (and thought to be in one of the Windemere’s libraries) it would heal their rift and bring them peace. They were so extreme they even sent an assassin after Elspeth and I didn’t enjoy the whole Wise Women plot.

Julian and Elspeth’s families have a tragic past connection. Fifteen years earlier, it is believed that Elspeth’s brother, Ranulf, murdered Julian’s sister, Aurelia, who were teens in love. Julian’s father had just died and his mother died soon after Aurelia, leaving his nasty uncle in control. Julian believes that his uncle was involved in Aurelia's death. There is a mystery about what really happened and while we find out more in this story, there is also a hint that there will be more to come in a future book.

As Julian and Elspeth each continue on their pursuits around London, they run into each other and begin to learn some of each other’s secrets. They begin to work together which leads to some very spicy times.

The first of these happens when Julian goes back to Adders Hall, a hunting lodge his mother left him, looking for evidence to help him and runs into Elspeth there, who is still looking for the diary. The weather turns bad and they end up alone. He thinks she is ‘the sun in the sky, shining more brightly than anything else on earth’. They find warmth and comfort together. One of the unusual things in their spicy scenes is that he needs Elspeth to command him and take control, something she is very eager to do.

The story started out as a B grade for me when I was trying to keep track of all of the characters and get through the part about the Wise Women, but as it went on, both the mystery and romance took off and raised the grade to a B+. I could see how Julian, who came off cold as ice, was starved for love and Elspeth (along with her dog, Plum) had plenty of love for him. They were a perfect fit for each other.

I think Hoyt fans will be thrilled to see she has a new book out and will scoop this up. I enjoyed the twists to the mysteries and the steamy romance and look forward to the next book in the series.

I have been looking forward to this book for four years, since her last one came out. This is Book 3 of The Greycourt series and I enjoyed being back in Hoyt’s world! Elspeth first meets Julian when he finds her in his uncle’s library. His uncle is the Duke of Windemere and she is at his home for a tea with his duchess. She snuck into the library in search of a special book she believes his family has. Julian is busy working with his brother, Quintus, to find a way to protect their sister, Lucretia, from being married off by their mad uncle to a despicable man. As Elspeth and Julian continue on their pursuits around London, they run into each other and begin to learn some of each other’s secrets.

Julian and Elspeth’s families have a past connection that is sad. Fifteen years earlier, it is believed that Elspeth’s brother, Ranulf, murdered Julian’s sister, Aurelia, who were teens in love. Julian’s father had just died and his mother died soon after Aurelia, leaving his nasty uncle in control. Julian believes that his uncle was involved in Aurelia's death. There is a mystery about what really happened and while we find out more in this story, there is also a hint that there will be more to come in a future book.

Another mystery is why Elspeth is looking for a particular book/diary. When she was six, her parents died and she was sent to live with an aunt who lived with a group called the Wise Women. Elspeth believes if she could bring them the diary, (thought to be in one of the Windemere’s libraries) it would heal a rift in their group. The Wise Women plot was a bit of a struggle for me.

Julian is trying to find a way to bring down his evil uncle, so that he can’t hurt his family anymore. He goes back to a hunting lodge his mother left him, looking for evidence to help him and he runs into Elspeth there, looking for the diary. The weather turns bad and they end up alone. He thinks she is ‘the sun in the sky, shining more brightly than anything else on earth’. One of the unusual things in their spicy scenes is that he asks Elspeth to command him and take control

The story started out as a 4 star grade for me but as it went on, both the mystery and romance took off and raised the grade to 4 and a half stars. I could see how Julian, who came off cold as ice, was starved for love and Elspeth (along with her dog, Plum) had plenty of love for him. They were a perfect fit for each other. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Julian and Elspeth both have a goal to find a diary. They meet up by accident and start helping each other find their certain book. When they start learning so much about each other the love grows between them. Great story about murder, secrets and love.

NO ORDINARY DUCHESS is the latest book in the Greycourt series by Elizabeth Hoyt. As always, this author gives the reader quite the spicy historical read. Julian Greycourt sent to live with his uncle, who he's the heir, with his brother Quinn and mother, while his sisters were sent to a different uncle. Lady Elspeth, with her two other sisters, gets sent to live with an aunt, who then dies and they get taken in by the Wise Women. If you read the first two books, you'll remember some of the story around the Wise Women, a group whispered to be witches but really just a commune of women living on their own terms. At this point, there is a sort of civil war going on between the Wise Women and Elspeth is determined to find a diary, rumored to be hidden in a Greycourt library, of one of the first Wise Women to help her advocate for them to get back to their original intent. Julian has forever been looking for ways to put a stop to having to bend to his uncle's evil machinations and finally gets word that his mother wrote her own diary hidden in the margins of a book and what she wrote will destroy his uncle. The two join forces to find the diary, and have quite the sexy time together along the way.

SPORTOCHICK’S MUSINGS: This book was my favorite of the series with both friction and heat throughout the book.

Julian Greycourt, the heir to the Windemere dukedom, has a horrible memory of his oldest sister’s death and a secret that destroyed every family involved. That night he lost everything that mattered to him. He is the only one who knows the most truth about the event and even that is suspect.

Lady Elspeth de Moray’s family was shattered that night as well and they were never the same. Shipped off to her aunt with her two older sisters changed her life and introduced her a different type of life that she is trying to save in this book.

Both characters have been in the other two books to this series and honestly, I didn’t anticipate them as a possible couple. In this book the friction between these two is very real and as the secrets begin to unfold about Julian, I am forced to change my opinion of him with great compassion.

Elspeth’s mission forces her to agree to work with Julian to find something hidden in his house or books so he can finally put the death into the past and confront his cruel uncle the current Duke. This is her chance to find what she also needs to complete her mission but what she finds is so much more than she would ever imagine.

I thought the author handled this enemy to friends with finesse. This book was my favorite of the series with both friction and heat throughout the book. All the twists and turns and truths and untruths are uncovered in a heart-stopping way leaving the reader very satisfied at the end.

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Summary:
I’m torn between giving No Ordinary Duchess 2.5 or 3 stars. On one hand, Elizabeth Hoyt’s writing is growing on me—she really knows how to write characters and their relationships, and the premise of this series is intriguing. The family drama and the murder mystery are both incredibly well-done, but there’s one major element that’s completely ruining the experience for me: the Wise Women thing. What the hell is that? It feels like it’s trying to be Harry Potter or ACOTAR, but in this historical romance setting, it just doesn’t work. Every time it’s brought up, it pulls me right out of the story. It’s completely unnecessary, and honestly, this entire series would be so much better without it.

Characters:
Julian Greycourt: I liked Julian overall, but he definitely loses some points for his confession toward the end. Elspeth may have found it forgivable, but I’m having a harder time getting over it. That said, I appreciated his character and found his quirks—especially the sexual one—interesting and unique. His chemistry with Elspeth was great, and their time together at Adders was one of the highlights of the book.
Elspeth: Elspeth was solid for the most part, but if I’m being honest, she may have been a little too much at times. I don’t usually find myself saying this about an FMC, but she had some moments where her intensity was a bit over the top for me. That said, I did enjoy her chemistry with Julian, and their relationship had some genuinely sweet moments.

Writing Style:
Elizabeth Hoyt’s writing is one of the reasons I’m sticking with this series. She knows how to craft engaging characters and compelling romances, and she has a real knack for romantic mysteries. But the Wise Women plotline? It’s written so poorly, and it’s completely unnecessary. The series would be so much better if she had left it out. It keeps pulling me out of the story and ruins the overall vibe.

Romantic Elements:
Despite my issues with the plotline, I’m still enjoying the romance in this series, and this book is no exception. Julian and Elspeth had great chemistry, and their relationship felt believable. I loved Julian’s unique quirks, and their time at Adders together really stood out. The romance is well-written, and it’s what’s keeping me invested in the series despite the other issues.

Overall Thoughts:
No Ordinary Duchess has a lot of potential, and there are definitely things I liked about it. The characters are engaging, and the romance is well-done. But the Wise Women plotline is dragging this whole series down for me. It’s trying to be something it’s not, and it’s completely unnecessary. The family drama and the murder mystery would’ve been enough without this fantasy-like element. Despite that, I am still enjoying the series and looking forward to the next book—especially because I’m not usually a mystery person, but Hoyt is handling it really well. The romance is keeping me hooked, and I’m excited to see where it goes from here.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5 stars) or ★★★☆☆ (3/5 stars)
Full review on GoodReads as well

Elizabeth Hoyt does it again! This series has been so interesting with two overarching storylines, one about an ancient secret society called The Wise Women and the other about a mysterious death that affected two families. We finally see both stories come to a conclusion, of sorts, though the secret society continues and could be part of future books.

This installment of the series deals with the oldest of the Greycourt family, Julian, and the sister of the de Moray family, Elspeth, who grew up on the Wise Women's compound. Elspeth is sheltered and learning the rules of London society as she searches for a diary that will provide a much-needed reboot for the Wise Women. Meanwhile, Julian is trying to protect his youngest sister, Lucretia, from his sinister uncle's arranged marriage and perhaps ruin the uncle to keep his family safe from his machinations.

While a good amount of the book takes place in London, a significant portion has Julian and Elspeth at a Greycourt family estate in the country, where they both search the library there for information that will help their causes. Along the way, they fall for each other, as we'd expect them to, and Elspeth helps Julian with some of his childhood trauma. A dog that attaches itself to Elspeth provides some comic relief, but this book is a little dark and the stakes are high.

It was great to see the family mystery conclude, as it's been three books of wondering just what happened on the night these families don't discuss mush. Still, there are siblings that should get their stories and I hope we get to see more books in this series!

I loved the story and I felt it was slow moving at first till you meet the characters and elspeth together with Julian. I found his deepest secret that he didn’t want anyone knowing and her finding out about it so funny that she was okay with it and he was so embarassed.

Hoyt likes to write all her novels with super spicy scenes and a lot of sex involved. It was HOT!! 🥵 I loved the sex scenes in her writing and this story. I felt the ending was too quick and a little confusing. Overall I loved the spicyness of this book kept my interest.

3.75 rounded up. Elizabeth Hoyt writes romances with one of the strongest voices in the genre- her books are always spicy, surprising, and strong- there were many things I liked about this one. I loved the strength through sunshine kindness and practicality of the heroine Elspeth. I liked that it addressed sexual shame in relation to Julian, the hero. I didn’t like that it felt rushed at the end- there was an odd pacing throughout the book where at times the characters seemed stuck in circular repetitive thought patterns, and were at odds with each other without honest communication until very late in the book. It was then wrapped up in a rapid fire series of escalating events, and several plot threads felt confusingly rushed - this feels very Hoyt! But I’ve seen her do this in other books more successfully (Thief of Shadows, Dearest Rogue)- where the main couple have a more solid emotional (plus physical) connection to carry them to the end of the narrative. Still a wonderful love story, I just wanted a bit more!

I was really looking forward to this book but, uhhh the description isn't accurate at all???? There is no proposal of a truce, no marriage, squat. Like, they meet while she is doing shenanigans and just get to know each other. I felt like I read a different book than the synopsis says you will get. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it's nothing like I was expecting to read because it's completely different from the description. Very weird. I will recommend reading it, but expect no secret marriages here.

(Edited to add literally a minute later) So turns out the Goodreads description is completely wrong. I hadn't seen the updated one that's on retailer sites. That description is a MUCH better fit for the book. So while I personally had some disappointment (like, I still wanna read that version of the book) I think fans of Elizabeth Hoyt will enjoy. Though I will add, the book has a weird heat level. There's some 'peculiar preferences' of the hero and that's explored in the bedroom, but very limited in the actual sexual content. Especially after her previous series, I was expecting some more heat.

Julian is a tortured soul under the oppression of his uncle, the Duke. He is trying to protect his sisters from his uncles wickedness. Elspeth grew up with the Wise Women in Scotland. She had an unconventional education. She is self assured and able to take care of herself. She is in the search for an ancient diary which has been suggested to be in the Windermere library. She and Julian discover their interest in eachother, and thus the story begins.

*grumpy vs sunshine
*she’s his former best friend’s younger sister (with serious backstory)
*alpha sub

After being offered an early copy of No Ordinary Duchess I was unaware that it was the third title of an established series. I only realized this after reading a few chapters and then checking goodreads.

But since I wasn’t having difficulty keeping up with the story, I wanted to see if I enjoyed this enough to grab the first two titles - I did (and this was my first time reading the author)

There are soooo many books with submissive women (and I’ve never read one I enjoyed) - this isn’t one of those books. We’re instead offered MMC Julian Greycourt, heir to the Windermere dukedom, alpha sub.

This was super fun and I adored the story so much, I borrowed the first two titles of the Greycourt series from the library as well as The Raven Prince and am looking forward to reading them, plus more of Ms Hoyt’s work!

I also really loved the fairy tale excerpts at the beginning of each chapter.



Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the DRC

Julian Greycourt knows that his uncle was responsible for his mother's death. But he has his own secret... Lady Elspeth must locate an ancient family text in Julian's library. ..

A very sensual book. Love Julian and Lady Elspeth. Lots of chemistry between them. The first two books were terrific and this is no exception. I love the twists as well. An exceptional book!

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

I read an arc. It might change. It was free as is the nature of arcs. It did not affect how I view this book.

I love Elizabeth Hoyt, and I was worried that she had stopped writing. She hasn't, obviously. I'm pretty chuffed about that.

So the book: interesting characters with understandable and understood complexities that Hoyt handles deftly and beautifully. This book was, perhaps, a little rushed at bits largely due to the fact that in an Elizabeth Hoyt book, there are no small characters....and there are so many characters that had to be accounted for on a little bit of an extra level--perhaps with an eye to how long it's been since the second book in the trilogy was released.

So why five stars anyway? Because none of the detractions are unusual and I regularly see them in recent books--a rush to wrap or the book gracefully getting to a point before lifting its skirts and hitting a flat out run. With that in mind, it highlights just how much Hoyt's prose and sense of words make such a drastic difference in experience.

With each bit, I was mildly annoyed but couldn't wait to read what happened next. I read this book almost straight through after getting the arc. The previous book I was reading took days and is, technically, a DNF because I couldn't wait to finish that book before starting this one.