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.

Hoyt is famous for her high-stakes drama, broken heroes, & earthy sensuality—and her latest hits all the marks. A sheltered but sensible woman searching for an ancient book to save a secret society of women keeps running into a grumpy duke’s heir in libraries of all places. Turns out he’s also searching for a missing book—one that will prove his evil relative killed his mother. Although he’s dominant during the day, at night he keeps a secret—that he’d rather be dominated… by her.

The girl from the library was a de Moray. The sister of Ranulf de Moray. His enemy.

There was something absolutely comforting to me when I read that first excerpt of fairy tale, a tricorn was settled, and a greatcoat draped a set of wide shoulders. The first half and middle had me imagining a patchwork quilt where the design wasn't quite right. The recapping of the continued storyline of the first two books is done well enough but I still think you might want to brush up on the cold war between the de Moray's and Greycourt's. There is a lot of family member names thrown throughout and it could get confusing if you're not sure who is who. What started everything was Ranulf de Moray was accused of killing Aurelia Greycourt, causing him to be beaten, lose a hand, and now live as a recluse. The stars of this book are Ranulf's sister Lady Elspeth de Moray and Aurelia's brother Julian Greycourt. Elspeth and Julian meet in the Duke of Windemere's library and from there attraction and circumstances have them invading each other's orbit.

His every expression, every little move was studied, picked apart, and held against him until Julian had learned to hold himself still, to express neither joy nor sorrow nor anger. He’d buried all his thoughts and feelings so deeply inside himself that sometimes he thought he’d lost them altogether.

After the drama of Ranulf and Aurelia, the siblings are left with the fallout. Julian ends up being 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. Elspeth, with her two other sisters, get 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. To the library, everyone!

He drew her to her feet with no effort but then pulled her closer so that they were nearly embracing. She could feel his breath on her lips when he spoke. “I hope, for your sake, that I can trust you.”

With Elspeth's background of growing up in a matriarchal commune, she doesn't understand or want to adhere to societal norms, and Julian's cold childhood and being taught to hide his feelings for fear his uncle will go after whatever he loves, you can see the grumpy/sunshine forming. There's also the added “unnatural” desires Julian has, he's a submissive in the bedroom. Fortunately, “I've read about it in a book” Elspeth takes to dominating him like a duck to water and the second half gets to deliver on one of Hoyt's strengths, hot bedroom scenes. There was also the added danger of if there are one or two assassins trying to kill Elspeth or Julian or both.

Dear God, Elspeth de Moray was dangerous, but not for the reasons he’d first assumed.

Now, with all the patches I've laid out, you can see how this would be a complicated quilt design, and the flow kind of took a hit at times. There came a point where there were a lot of familial and Wise Women characters to keep track of, the Wise Women storyline I was finding hard to care about, and the evil uncle stayed a little too much to the background for me to really feel the danger. The romance felt like it got boxed in a bit and came down to Elspeth instantly just knowing how to dominate Julian, which did provide some hot but I wanted more of the emotional outside of the bedroom to feel the love building and growing. But, if you're a library scene person, you'll get plenty of that here.

“I’ve tried resisting you,” he murmured, his voice deep.

The ending gave us a betrayal by Elspeth, which felt a little forced because I think the groundwork was there character wise and how she thought/felt about Julian to trust him more, to deliver the black moment. Things move kind of quickly from there and the wrap-up felt a little everything working out with a bow and then a very last second danger moment (seriously, my Kindle said 93%) that delivered an ending that felt somewhat abrupt in action but character wise, emotionally was alright, plus there was a “one month later” little epilogue to give us more of a solid closure. There are plenty of siblings left for their own story, added clues to further some story plots, and dangling threads with the Wise Women and Aurelia and Ranulf storyline to keep this series going. It's a series you'll have to want to stay on your toes with but Hoyt is usually worth it, in interesting plot (albeit disjointed this time), a setting, Georgian, that doesn't get published as much, and hot chemistry.

I was extremely fortunate to receive an ARC of No Ordinary Duchess via Netgalley. Hard to believe, but this may be the first book I have read by Elizabeth Hoyt, and am now asking myself why I hadn't started reading her stories before now. Though this is part of a series, the author does a commendable job detailing events and people from previous books. The story starts with a sensual twist whrn Lady Elspeth de Moray is searching for a book and is caught by Julian Greycourt while he is hiding from his treacherous uncle, the Duke, and both Elspeth and Julian take cover in a narrow area in the library practically on each other. The two continue to sensually torment each other by being in the same places but not being able to materialize their wants and desires. I enjoyed this story's plot as well as the twists and turns. I can't wait to read more of this author's books.

5 stars for Julian and Elspeth!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love her, Your Honor💕!!!!
I love this author😩!!!!

Elizabeth Hoyt has done it once again. She has blown me away and somehow I am even more in love!

This is Elizabeth Hoyt's first novel in about 4 years. Her last published was When a Rogue Meets His Match (Greycourt #2). I am so ecstatic to see her back and I hope all is well with her and I am thankful to her for publishing Julian and Elspeth's story! I have done every preorder I've seen on amazon in the past 4 years and am happy to see E. Hoyt finally back 🥹.

The story of Julian Greycourt and Lady Elspeth de Moray is one of uniqueness. While No Ordinary Duchess was slightly different from her norm, I believe that it was executed very well and was an enjoyable read.

Lady Elspeth de Moray, the youngest of the de Moray siblings, is cute, curious, sweet and sensual! Elspeth is so adorable and I loved seeing her interact with all the characters! From Freya to Messalina to Lucretia and of course Julian. While seeming innocent, Elspeth is very knowledgeable on what goes on in the bedroom between partners 👀. One thing that makes Lady Elspeth so special is how accepting she is of Julian and how willing she is to make him comfortable. Elspeth also has a love of books and libraries and is very keen on searching the Greycourt libraries for a certain diary!

Julian Greycourt, (unwanted [by his uncle]) heir to the Dukedom of Windemere, is stern, cold and honestly, downright sexy. Julian is on his own search for something. Evidence to put his Uncle Augustus away for good. Julian himself has had many horrible things happen to him. All this poor man wants is to protect his family and his secret! This man is so ashamed of his own sexual desires and screams Alpha Sub. Yes. What I wrote is correct. He is an alpha sub. And I love him so much. Getting to explore Julian and Elspeth's romantic and sexual connection is so enrapturing and explained very well. These two have actual conversations and these conversations help to build their relationship both in and out of the bedroom.

The spice!!!! What would and E. Hoyt book be without the set your e-reader/paperback/hands on fire spice🔥🔥🔥?! And once again, she succeeds in doing this. The intimacies in this book are honestly like no other. This is my first time reading about things like this in a historical setting and I feel like they were executed amazingly. You are literally walked through it with the characters and you feel safe and excited to explore the new unknown. It is so exciting to see Elspeth and Julian come into their roles in their D/s relationship. I was foaming at the mouth with each sentence wanting and needing more and of them. I do wish the intimate scenes had a bit more intimacies if you know what I mean 👀. I personally wanted the FULL thing 😳😉, but that's just me 😂.

Freya was such an overprotective older sister and I loved it! She's such a bad b*tch and I am here for it!!

I reeeaaalllllyyyy loved getting to see Messalina and Gideon!!! They're my favs! However, there was a typo where instead of writing Gideon, the name Gabriel was written 😭. Hopefully that will be fixed in final edits!

The quote I most related to: “Ha! More fool he. Elspeth had grown up with two older sisters who used to hide from her when they tired of her chatting. Not that it had saved them. She’d always found Freya and Caitriona in the end.” Like Elspeth, I have 2 older sisters and they feel the exact same way about me 😂! [Quote subject to change when final copy is published]

We also get to hear of some new characters; other de Moray siblings! An older brother, Lachlan and an older sister, Caitriona!

The mentioning of the names Lachlan and Leander in the book were giving Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver vibes. I mean it's probably just me lol. I can't with myself😂. 

There are so many people I'm curious about!! Lucretia, Quintus (the gracing is so funny!), Ranulf, Caitriona, Lachlan and even Aunt Ann, the former Duchess of Windemere! I really cannot wait to see who she writes about next whether it be Ran or Lucretia! Maybe they'd even be together??!? And what about Aurelia? Is she truly dead? I have so many questions! Ugh and the epilogue! I wanted mooorrreee!!!!

My only issues with this book are that I do wish that some emotions and certain scenes, both innocent and not (😉), were more fleshed out and I wish there was a little more background on the Wise Women. But I suspect that in future novels we will get to see more about this group of women.

Ooh! And I did enjoy the fairy tale of Lady Long-Nose!

There were some minor typos/forgotten words throughout the book, but that's probably because it's an ARC and I hope they will all be fixed by the time of publication 😊. I can't wait to own a paperback copy of No Ordinary Duchess!!!

Thank you to Netgalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing)| Forever and of course Elizabeth Hoyt ❤️ for this ARC of No Ordinary Duchess!

Tropes: grumpy MMC/sunshine MFC; curvy MFC; age gap; forced proximity; Big Secrets
Steam level: 3-4 (there is a Reverse Power Exchange theme)
Part of a series, and works OK as a standalone, but you might be confused by a bit of the backstory if starting with this book, as I did.

3.5 stars rounded up. I've enjoyed Elizabeth Hoyt's books in the past, and was really looking forward to this one. It wasn't quite what I was expecting based on the Goodreads blurb (the Net Galley blurb is accurate) and I think if I had read the previous two books I might have gotten more into the the Wise Women subplot. There is a strong feminist sensibility underlying the proceedings throughout, but I felt that the storyline involving Elspeth and the Wise Women still had a gap or two lingering by the end. However, that might have been due to my starting with this book. I had no trouble following the subplot involving Julian and Elspeth's family.

Elspeth and Julian had intriguing chemistry, with Elspeth at times seeming (almost too) sweet and naive but at others direct and assertive. This was an interesting counterbalance to Julian's icy control. The writing style, as usual for this author, was engaging, and there are psychological undercurrents that lingered with me. The world building was quite good in places but not as strong in others. I don't read a lot of HR's set in the mid-to-late 1700's and I think this was where I was expecting something slightly more unique than what was presented. In particular, one of my pet peeves raised its head: the issue of body image. HR writers keep projecting modern insecurities onto female characters. I'm all for body positivity, but voluptuous figures were prized during the time period when this book was set, and there's just one too many scenes where Elspeth and Julian silently ruminate about how her robust figure isn't in vogue. If HR writers really want to get into insecurities about size, they need to start setting their books more during the World War I through the Flapper era, when the svelte look was in.

Finally, I have to mention that the details of the sexual kink that were the focus of the sex scenes just weren't for me and took me a bit out of the emotional element of the MC's relationship.

Overall: I enjoyed reading this, it was particularly engaging after I was able to get more into the storyline, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting.

Lady Elspeth needs to find an ancient book in one of the libraries of her family’s enemy. She keeps running into the heir, Julian. He is a troubled man, but she is attracted to him anyway. The Georgian era was ripe with intrigues and so is this sensual novel.

Justin is a closed, cold character suffering from his uncle’s horrible treatment to himself and his family. His uncle is a duke whom Justin suspects killed his mother and is a threat to Justine’s younger sister. Elspeth is a Scottish duchess and, as the title of the book suggests, is unusual. She has been brought up by the Wise Women, a group who lives by their own rules (enlighten, educated, helpful to other women…). The pair both seek books which have been lost or hidden and agree to help each other. At about the 60% of the book, I was ready to put it down. Although both characters were given interesting backgrounds, they were boring. Even the sex scenes which included an unusual twist became unemotional and skipable.

I’ve read Elizabeth Hoyt’s books in the past and had enjoyed them. I especially enjoyed the historical period she sets her stories in. In this book, there isn’t much to distinguish the period. I haven’t read the previous books in this series. There’s the standard so-in-love secondary characters but not much else to entice me to read any of the previous books.

Wow. Elizabeth Hoyt hasn't put out a book in a bit, and this one was worth the wait.
Part historical romance, part forced proximity, and a whole lot of erotic romance. NO ORDINARY DUCHESS was a bit of a departure and surprise for me from Hoyt.
The writing, as always, was superb. The villain so hateful. The hero swoony and the heroine a strong, capable female.
The storyline is excellent and I want to thank Netgalley for a sneak peak.
5 stars from me and a whole lotta hot chili peppers for spiciness

I really wanted to like this, because I usually really like Elizabeth Hoyt's books. Some of her Maiden Lane series books are some of my favorite historical romance titles. I haven't been reading much in the historical romance category lately, so maybe I'm just not that into it right now. I just not really like the characters or enjoy the book that much.

Dripping with sexual details this story is a spicy romance reader’s delight. Elspeth is pretty, practical, a wise woman and a book lover. She is willing to risk her life to find a book for the wise women. Julian Greycourt is the tortured hero with unusual bedroom tastes. He is surly at first, but warms up to Elspeth as he seeks his late mother’s diary and proof of his uncle’s villainy. Plenty of steamy romance scenes and a happy ending.

Elizabeth Hoyt is BACK and joy joy joy joy. Has she written better books? Yes. Yes, she has, because she is one of the best romance writers alive. Is the Wise Women/Greycourt series as good as Maiden Lane? No, but the Maiden Lane series is one of the absolute best romance series ever written. I only compare these because it's the same author--otherwise it would be unfair. She is consistently top-tier.

All that said, No Ordinary Duchess is a quick read, with a plot that is not particularly unique or new (shadowy assassins following around a couple who are searching for secret books) and some pretty steamy, transgressive, sex. It's like she's taken erotica sex (femdom, alpha male sub) and blurred it out to be romance novel-level sex. Don't get me wrong--it's explicit. The door is open. She's not pulling punches but it's still pretty damn mainstream. Who but Elizabeth Hoyt is going to pull that off???

Julian and Elspeth are a very grumpy/sunshine duo that are delightful. He's all "It's a SECRET. We shall not speak of these things!" And then she's all, "Okay, but what if we did?" And then he folds and tells her everything. Like. LOVE. I hate a Big Misunderstanding. Although, there's a Little Misunderstanding. Fine. And kind of an overarching Big Misunderstanding. But it works.

Quibbles: the ending is a little rushed and the trademark fairy tale at the beginning of each chapter (a retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac) doesn't seem to have anything to do with the actual story of the book. Apparently, there's a plot summary for NOD out there on the interwebs that isn't this plot? This book got delayed, and is the first book from her in 4 years (she was on a 2x a year schedule, then it was 2 years between the last two. So, maybe a rewrite of the fairy tale chapter prologue got jettisoned. They are, imo, superfluous.

I'm thrilled to have a new Elizabeth Hoyt book. I hope she's back for good. More than that, I hope she's well and happy.

Free ARC generously provided by NetGalley. Opinions my own.

Hoyt is back with a bang! This book delivers a captivating forbidden romance with a tantalising mystery at its heart. Julian and Elspeth’s chemistry crackles with tension and passion, making every encounter magnetic. And, author’s skilful portrayal of their evolving relationship against a backdrop of secrets and danger is spellbinding.

This book was exciting, it was hot, it was fast-paced.

Julian Greycourt needs to bring his uncle down to protect his siblings. He is looking for evidence of his uncles misdeeds. His uncle is determined to kill Julian.

Between all this vicious back and forth, is Elsbeth de Moray, who is librarian to the wise woman. A rather secluded upbringing makes her outspoken and not tied down to ton rules - she's a refreshing heroine. Elsbeth is on a mission to find an ancient book written by the wise woman.

The two characters come together, each with the intent to succeed in their mission. Family history keeps them from trusting each other, but the heart does not follow where the head leads. Growing passion and need catapults them into a relationship of passion and the beginning of love, but Elsbeths betrayal breaks the tenous bonds. The 3rd act breakup and makeup was well done.

I'm looking forward to Rans book.

#netgalley #NoOrdinaryDuchess

Hoyt novel delivers a captivating exploration of forbidden romance and intricate intrigue. Lady Elspeth’s blend of sunny optimism and determined resolve contrasts sharply with Julian’s intensity, adding depth to their evolving relationship. The writing excels in capturing their emotional journey, with each encounter charged with both sensuality and conflict. The romance unfolds against a backdrop of mystery and revenge, making their connection both tantalizing and fraught with tension. This story masterfully balances the heat of forbidden desire with the weight of personal and familial conflict, creating a deeply engaging and emotionally resonant read. I loved it.

Elizabeth Hoyt is back buds, and though this wasn't my favorite of hers, I did enjoy it, and I was glad that she is back to writing. I'm not sure what all delayed this book's release but I hope all is well with her.

This book, the third in the Greycourt series, is focused on Julian Greycourt and Elspeth de Moray. Lots has been set up in this series --there is a family split between them because of the death of Julian's sister and Elspeth's brother being implicated in it years ago, Julian's uncle the duke is an Awful Awful person out to hurt all his family members in the worst way, and there is a secret society of Wise Women that Elspeth grew up in that has become closed off and insular that she is trying to reform. In the midst of all this, Julian and Elspeth come together because he is searching for something to bring his uncle down, and she is hunting for a diary to reform the Wise Women, and their quests coincide.

While the wise woman stuff remains sort of tepid to me (I remember not loving book 1 because it had so much back story and wise woman stuff in it) this book did resolve at least one of these big problems and deliver us the secret behind a second. My predictions moving forward will be 1) the rest of the Greycourt siblings will get books and 2) whoever Quin saw gets a book (whether or not he is right??)

Also --fascinatingly --this book must have been quite different at one point because the Goodreads description is very different from the book we got.

Heat level: 5 (beyond regular EH style scenes the hero believes he is abnormal in the bedroom and so there is a lot of frank talk even beyond the bedroom scenes)

The Vibes: stern hero/perky heroine, femdom with an alpha submissive, caretaking, and soothing long-held wounds

Heat Index: 8/10

The Basics:

Elspeth and Julian come from families with a deep history of betrayal and dislike. He's cold, brooding, and strictly regimented; she's free-spirited, quirky, and... oh yeah, aligned with a centuries-old secret society of Wise Women. Julian is on the hunt that his wicked uncle murdered his mother, which brings him directly into Elspeth's path as she seeks out an ancient text of vital importance. As they continue on their separate missions, they keep running into each other—and sharing secrets... and perhaps discovering that their feelings run far beyond on the forbidden....

The Review:

THE QUEEN HAS RETURNED.

I will read anything Elizabeth Hoyt writes. She's written several all-time favorites of mine (Thief of Shadows, Duke of Midnight, The Raven Prince, Sweetest Scoundrel... to name a few) and her Maiden Lane series is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the greatest things committed to the romance genre. She takes big swings, she writes some of the best sex scenes on the block, and she pays equal attention to the characterization of her tortured heroes and her varied heroines who, frankly, rarely have time for said heroes' collective shit.

I have missed her, and I was honestly getting a little worried that she'd decided to take a step back. But I kept the faith! And it paid off, because this return release is everything I could have asked for. It reminds me of what historical romance can be, how it can stretch, and how it can, at the same time, harken back to the bonkers romps I love most.

There is, by the way, a bonkers overarching plot that honestly isn't as wild as Hoyt can get, but. You know. There's a mystical ancient society of goddess-abiding women and also the whole thing where Elspeth's brother killed Julian's sister (Many Thoughts On This) and the hunt for two separate crucial books... It's still wacky. And it should be!

That being said, this plot falls to the wayside in favor of Julian and Elspeth's relationship and character development. I feel like the first Greycourt book, Not the Duke's Darling, which I actually did like, might not have hit as hard for some readers because the Other Plot kind of overtook the Romance Plot. That is not the case here at all. Elspeth and Julian are so front and center that I feel like the Other Plot is borderline tangential, aside from the battle against the Evil Uncle (who you will have seen in When A Rogue Meets His Match, which I really enjoyed a lot but need to reread). You get a satisfying follow-through on all that, but you're absolutely reading for a truly swoony, hot, FEELINGS-Y romance.

I am a longtime lover of books that are basically "stoic man who's constantly wrapped up in his tragic backstory is flabbergasted by That Broad's Audacity". That... could just be how you sum up this book. At every turn, Julian, who it must be said is stupid hot, tries to stay devoted to his brooding. And at every turn, Elspeth pokes him, blinks, and goes "Why is that?"

When she's not reading Georgian porn. Which she does a lot, for someone who's on the hunt for an ancient, super important book. While also dodging assassination attempts. And that's so valid of her.

Julian just can't deal with Elspeth. She baffles him. He's supposed to hate her! She's the sister of the guy who killed his sister! Mortal enemies and all that! Also, she's seriously getting in the way of his own hunt, what with her constantly getting almost murdered and, you know, That Ass. And she's just so disarming, so honest (... in some ways), so blunt about her interests, her desires, what she believes in and what she doesn't. She immediately begins worming her way into his heart, while also making him Hard As A Rock.

But he can't allow for worming into hearts! Not when he has so many secrets, from Plotty Secrets I can't tell you about, to Sexy Secrets I can tell you about. In many ways, this book is basically a classic melting of the hero book. But instead of Elspeth melting Julian with her good, innocent heart... She's melting him with her dogged inability to be anything other than who she is. And her disinterest in being anything other than who she is, for that matter. Which is such a great contrast to Julian, a man struggling to deny who he is, to be what society wants him to be.

It's Uptight Meets Wild in a lot of ways, but Elspeth's a unique form of a rebellious heroine. She's not super concerned about society, but she's also open about her lack of experience in some ways. She's not mean in any way, shape or form. She doesn't have a chip on her shoulder. She's not really like... fighting society? There's one tirade she has about the hypocrisy of it all, but it's less "Fight the power" than "this is so fucking stupid". Which is a refreshing take on it all. Elspeth doesn't get it because it's all so dumb that like... no one as real as her should be able to get it.

And before anyone goes in on how unrealistic this is, A) it isn't B) this is a romance novel C) it actually makes sense, because Elspeth's backstory literally involves being raised in an anti-society, weird family with their own ingrained beliefs and customs. Literally away from high society.

For all that I think the sex scenes in this book will be a major talking point (more on that later)... dude. This shit is so soft at points. You have multiple scenes where Julian just catches himself wanting to stare at this woman. Even before she understands the extent of his pain, she wants to care for him. This is not an enemies to lovers book, despite the enmity between their families. There's a melancholy to their forbidden, especially on Julian's part. He's baffled by Elspeth, but he doesn't dislike her. He's not even in denial about his feelings for her, after a point. He just truly doesn't think they can be.

On some more technical points—this JUMPS right into the story. They meet on like... the second page. The plot kicks off immediately. I've seen so many slooooow, overlong new releases lately. This is a brisk, story that reads so quickly and isn't in any way overlong. You have an extended chunk that takes place in one setting, and yet... plot happens. Character development happens. Relationship building happens. Julian and Elspeth are together for so much of the pagetime, despite their opposite goals.

None of this should be like... notable. But it is. You feel the expertise in the writing here. She's just one of the best to ever do it, in my opinion.

Also! I respect Elizabeth's process and whatever may affect her writing schedule. But my God, I hope we get more Greycourt books, and I hope we get them fairly soon. I counted at least three possibilities for future love stories. And I have Thoughts.

The Sex:

NOW. On to the elephant in the room. The good elephant. The elephant that is as big as Julian's Appendage.

As I said earlier, Elizabeth Hoyt writes some of the best sex scenes in romance. They're unique, they're earthy, they feel tailored to the character. She uses language that is sometimes anatomical and sometimes campy and sometimes like... feels kinda filthy, even though I've read filthier?

Julian's struggles lie in the fact that, for all that he is cold and domineering and stoic, he's submissive in the bedroom. While Hoyt has definitely dabbled in some light kink in earlier books, I would say that a lot of it tends towards like... The kind of kinkiness you often seem in historicals. Where there are definitely dog whistles, but it may not be intentional (historical romance has long lended itself to an unconscious dip into D/s dynamics, in my opinion) historical romance kink often isn't explictly stated.

Here, it's called out for what it is, the societal judgments about it (some of which remain to this day, mind) are discussed, and Julian has processes. Elspeth is more than down. It's like he's unintentionally found his perfect woman (sexually, at least).

But for all that this is explicitly a femdom romance, I think it skirts around so many stereotypes, and it is not, in my opinion, a BDSM romance. They don't get into anything super OTT or formalized. It's really something Julian just... needs. And it's really not a sadomasochism situation at all. It's truly about this soft domme/sub dynamic. He wants to serve, and he wants to be cared for. His submission and what it gives him is described so beautifully. There's a lot of caretaking in this book.

Which doesn't in any way take away from how hot the book is, mind. There's a really unique de-emphasis on something historicals and honestly romance in general often obsesses over, which was so refreshing. There's a true sensitivity to why Julian is into this, and where it stops for him. I feel like Hoyt was doing a sendup of the tortured alpha here, while also exploring what that can mean in more unique scenarios. It was so good.

And so... sooooo hot. There's a lot of body worship in general and pussy worship specifically. Elspeth is curvy, and has her moments of insecurity, and Julian LOVES her body.

Those of us who missed some fun Hoyt-isms about sex are well-rewarded. "Lazily mouthed her cunny" is like.... everything....................

Basically: I loved this. I am so glad she's back. I hope she's back for good (but no pressure). I want a million more Hoyt books. I will, again, read whatever she writes. When I tell y'all she's showing us how it's done... I mean it.

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

God, Elizabeth Hoyt is such a great writer. Her books are set in the 1700s, but the romance, the characters, the conflicts are all just as gripping as anything set in the 1800s even if they do involve bum rolls and ladies' caps. I have been doling her books out to myself sparingly, because I read faster than she writes and I'm terrified of running out. However, when I got an advance copy of the third Greycourt book, I immediately devoured the first two in preparation, and what a joy to fall back into her work.

Elspeth de Moray is the Bibliothecar, or librarian, of the Wise Women, a matriarchal society (cult?) in the Scottish Highlands. Amidst internal strife (from arguments to murder!), Elspeth is determined to find the founder's diaries to settle the disagreements, but her unorothodox education is at odds with what a proper lady should be. Julian Greycourt, effectively held captive by his evil uncle Augustus, must hold himself to the highest standards of behavior, lest his uh, unexpected bedroom preferences be known. When he finds that there may be a secret hidden in the library that could bring his uncle down, Julian and Elspeth join forces to find their books, but in the process, find something else entirely between them.

This was HOT, and emotional, and a good payoff for the overall arc of the series. I don't know if this is the final book, but I sincerely hope it isn't, because Lucretia and her love of naps and lemon tarts is exactly who I want to see fall in love.

Different. She really is No Ordinary Duchess. It does not show at the first part of the book’. That is where the set up for the two main characters meet and sparks fly. Then together away from London things changed. Really liked the difference Hats off to the author .

Elizabeth Hoyt is BACK, y'all! I've read everything she's written and this felt both familiar (gritty, violent Georgian Era London, powerful men and the independent women who love them) but also like nothing I've ever read from her before. Look, this is the 21-year-old sunshine debutante Dom paired with the 33-year-old grumpy heir presumptive to a dukedom alpha sub I never expected to read, and holy sh*t if I didn't love it.

Lady Elspeth is the sister of Julian's childhood BFF Ran. If you read the first book in the series (Not the Duke's Darling), you know that Ran was accused of killing Julian's sister and beaten almost to death; this kicked off a family feud that's been going on for over a decade when this book opens. Elspeth was raised unconventionally by "Wise Women" in Scotland. Her current quest involves finding a manuscript that she thinks belongs to Julian's family. He's also looking for a different book in his family's libraries. This leads to a lot of close proximity in several libraries and a few close encounters over salacious literature (we ARE reading a Hoyt, if you please!).

There's some plot around assassins sent after both Elspeth and Julian, but the meat (heh) of the book involves the D/s relationship between the two. I was completely convinced by their dynamic. Honestly I never thought I'd write the words "Hoyt alpha sub," or that I would be that into them, but this is where we all live now.

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