“Eliza and the Duke” is a perfect sequel in Harper St. George’s The Doves of New York series. This time, Eliza steps into the spotlight, taking readers on an exhilarating journey through London’s nightlife. Her growing attraction to Simon Cavell only fuels her desire for independence, adding depth and tension to her story.

Highly recommended for romance fans, especially those eager to see more of the Dove family. I know I cannot wait to read what comes next for the Dove family!

This was a light, but ultimately slightly underwhelming, romance novel. The characters had less depth to them than other St. George stories, however I will continue to follow this author.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, I indulged in reading the forthcoming novel by one of my favorite authors, Harper St. George. Following last year’s The Stranger I Wed, this June the Doves of New York series continues with the youngest Dove sister in Eliza and the Duke. Contrary to the title, the “duke” here is actually Simon, a bare-knuckles fighter who’s been trying to fight his way out of poverty. Eliza is an heiress… but only if she marries a man her calculating father approves of. An aristocrat, in other words. Someone so far removed from who Simon is.

Up until now, my favorite Harper St. George book has been The Devil and the Heiress, but Eliza and the Duke is giving it a run for its money! I absolutely fell in love with Eliza and Simon and was rooting for them despite the odds. I enjoyed getting to know Whitechapel and the more working class side of Victorian-era London. So many historical romances are about (literal) dukes and earls, and I loved that this one highlights characters without titles or money.

Eliza and the Duke is among Harper St. George’s best books and one romance readers are sure to adore. With a forbidden allure, danger, and a tender but steamy love story at its core, this is a beautiful and memorable romance. Like Simon himself, I’m betting on this book being a winner.

I can’t wait for Eliza and the Duke to come out! My full review will be published on June 24th, when the book will be available for all to read. Please check back for my post then!

(Also, Berkley, please please please let us have Jenny's HEA! I *love* the setup here for what she and another certain character end up doing and I need to read their story! Historical romance is alive and well and deserves to continue being published.)

Eliza and Simon's story is one for readers who love a couple that chooses to be vulnerable with each other, where the stakes are relatively low but the romance is high.

Eliza Dove, the second illegitimate daughter of a wealthy American businessman, is already engaged to be married when she meets Simon, a working man from Whitechapel whose face she describes as more interesting than handsome. He's just left a bare knuckle prize fight and he's is terrible shape, but their chemistry is apparent from their first meeting. She helps bandage him up, and she can't stop thinking about him and how he made her feel. While Simon doesn't entirely remember her, he remembers feeling as though he had been visited by an angel during his recovery. When they run into each other again, it takes him a while to decider why she seems so familiar. Once he realizes who she is, the story accelerates quickly.

I love Eliza as a character because she is brave, impulsive, and utterly unserious about society's rules. She knows what is expected of her, but she's not going to let that stand in the way of getting what she wants, and it doesn't take her long to decide that she wants Simon.

Their romance unfolds sweetly (and with plenty of spice!) and thoufh they face challenges and a few dangers along the way, their HEA feels inevitable and the story itself has a cozy vibe that I needed.

Definitely recommend if you love historical romances between characters that fall on the edge or just outside of the traditional regency society group.

This was cute! I think I enjoyed the first half with the build up more and once the sex was introduced it lost me a bit. I feel like I wanted a deeper emotional connection and slower build. I did love them together! I really enjoyed both characters.

I will say their "first time" together just felt a bit unbelievable and anticlimactic. I just didn't like where they "did it." It didn't feel very romantic. I think after that I started to fade off a bit. The end drama just felt a bit rushed. But I still enjoyed this and the characters were super sweet. You couldn't help but root for them.

Unlikely heiress Eliza Dove was expected to make a polite marriage of convenience...until she met a mysterious stranger known as "The Duke." Simon Cavell, Whitechapel’s prize boxer, is one fight away from freedom. He cannot allow some miss to spill his secrets; so in return for her silence, Simon will give Eliza the night of adventure she craves.

This is the second book in the Doves of New York series, featuring Eliza and her sisters who are seeking marriages in London. The illegitimate sisters can claim a large inheritance if their marriages are approved by their father.

Eliza knew a love match wasn't in her future, but meeting Simon and finding out new information about her fiancé turned all her plans upside down. While she might be an heiress now, she finds a lot in common with Simon, who was left in an orphanage as a child and rose up to be a club manager. Simon is desperate to pay off a debt and rescue his niece, but his growing attraction to Eliza complicates the situation. I liked the connection between the lead characters and thought the pacing worked better than the first book. While the ending felt a bit easy, I am super excited about the set-up for sister Jenny's story. I also enjoyed the author's historical notes at the end.

Tropes: Class Difference-ish, Protector, Forced Proximity

Steam: 2 (two full scenes and one short interrupted scene)

* I received an ARC and this is my honest review

Eliza and the Duke was a great addition to this series. Harper St George is great with storytelling that makes one want to keep turning the page. Free ARC from NewGalley for hones review.

The American Eliza has been sent, with her sisters, to England. All must marry a lord or none will inherit their father’s wealth. One night she sneaks into a gaming club and meets Simon, a manager of the club, a boxer and NOT a lord. She persuades him to give her an adventure for the evening but she, and he, can’t stop there. We are to see her as an adventuress.

Although it is a familiar trope I still had difficulty getting into Eliza’s character and motivations. I simply felt she was spoilt or foolhardy, not adventurous with a few other characteristics thrown in. She wanted to go to university, but that did not seem much supported by the rest of the storyline. She fell in love with Simon but I didn’t feel/read the attraction. And she was willing to give up a quarter of a million dollars to be with him. I didn’t really see what attracted her to him.

And what did Simon see in Eliza? That she smelled nice and was a lady. But she put him and his niece at risk throughout. She pushed herself on him. And then, suddenly, he was half in agony, half in hope for her love.

It was not a satisfying book for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Enjoyed the personality and adventurous nature of Eliza, the FMC. Both characters were amusing, and I enjoyed the sense of humor the MCs shared. I enjoyed continuing through the Gilded Age World that St. George has created and ties to the other book in this series and the Gilded Age Heiresses. While I enjoyed the first book in this series a bit more, it does help set up book three which I'm looking forward to.

Harper St. George’s sexiest book yet.

Eliza knew she wanted a wild adventure before marrying someone she didn’t love. She ends up falling in love with the man that she coerced to give her that adventure.

I liked this more than the first Doves of NY book although I can’t explain why – maybe the dynamic of the characters or all the juggling Simon had to do between the different worlds in which he lived. Also I liked his devotion to his niece and her caregiver.

I am really looking forward to the next book because I have always enjoyed the combative energy between Lord David and youngest Dove sister Jenny. Late in this book it seems they have made “a deal with the devil” with each other. This should make for a very interesting relationship.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

Class and wealth are generally central themes of this series, as well as in the previous Gilded Age Heiresses series. With Simon being part of security at a gentleman's club, as well as a prizefighter, that theme is given even greater attention here. The subplot with Brody... I didn't really enjoy. I didn't remember him from the last book and he's even less memorable here as a kind of bogeyman antagonist. Also, since Simon is connected in his own right to four of the five prior male leads (who all have titles and/or wealth, social and/or political power), the stakes just aren't there to make Brody ever feel like a real threat.

Eliza and Simon are sweet together. It's nice to see Eliza being unafraid to speak up or take the lead in their relationship. The emotional depth and chemistry is fairly mild between them, and I can't say they stand out much, other than to note there is no third act blow-up. Just a pair of nice kids, really.

But it's all Jenny and David for me; they have overshadowed this series from book one, day one. When they met, everything else stopped. I don't know why Berkley dropped the Doves of New York and I also don't get why this was the second book, when Jenny and David are out here scorching up a surprise POV chapter with her aloof pining and his open yearning. This has all just felt like one long-ass set up for their story; hopefully, it's still on its way to us. 🤞

Eliza and the Duke is a perfectly fine read. A little predictable, but what are you gonna do. Will be reading the third installment too when that comes out.

Another delightful palette cleanser from Harper St George. As soon as her books come out, I’m downloading them immediately and they’re read within a day. This one follows the middle American Dove sister Eliza - who is betrothed to a future viscount who she doesn’t love - and finds herself suddenly intrigued and smitten with Simon Cavell, the prize fighting manager of the Montague Club. Dark alleys, dangerous gangsters and stolen moments lead her down a path filled with more heat and passion than she could have ever imagined

This was my first book by the author and I enjoyed this read. We have the fmc who is an American heiress who has to marry a lord and someone in her status. One night she meets this duke who even beneath her class takes her on a journey and adventure in the Gilded Age. I liked that the duke was a boxer who came from a lower class and I appreciated how he had to get into the upper-class world and what that looked for for him. I also really liked the fmc and how she approached the adventures with this curious and sometimes naive fmc lol. There were some steamy scenes and some parts moved slowly but overall it was a good historical romance. Thanks to Berkley for this arc.

well, at least there isn't a bodice ripper cover.

✰ 3.5 stars, I felt like the romance was rushed and therefore borderline insta love. I find this author can be a bit hit or miss. you can certainly tell which of her books she puts her heart and soul into and which she does not.

thank you to Berkley Publishing Group for the free arc in exchange for an honest review

platform: netgalley ebook arc

A tragic second book slump from Harper St. George.

(Read the first one first, please. It's better)

Eliza, an American, has been in an arranged betrothal but is looking for adventure before she gets married (her fiance sucks btw). Simon is being pulled back into a life of crime on the streets of London but is trying to maintain his new life as Montague Club's manager. They meet by chance and build a relationship even though their lives are too different and their partnership is MAXIMUM scandal oooooo

Eliza and Simon both had so much potential as characters because we've gotten to know their personalities from previous books. However, It was as if Harper's heart just wasn't in this one. It felt like this book was written because we couldn't just NOT give Eliza a book. Proof: this book was 70 pages shorter than the first book in the series (I smell a rush job).

Both characters were likeable: thoughtful, fun, mature. But they also just didn't do much, it felt like. They were not drivers of this story--this story was HAPPENING to them.

It had me frothing at the mouth for Jenny's story instead of being excited to read Eliza's. David and Jenny's BANTER dear god.

So many pages of this book were wasted describing boxing matches in immense detail and for what?? To make us skip pages obviously. Their one night of adventure out on the town was very cute and fun to read. I wish there was more of that. Also I have an inkling that the name "Brody" (villain) was mentioned more times than any other name in this whole book.

Idk man...this was her worst I've read so far.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkely for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Eliza spends a lot of her time deciding between the good angel and the bad angel that sit on her shoulders. So far, the good angel has won out a lot. But when Eliza comes across a handsome wounded man in the back area of the club, the bad angel gets a leg up.

I liked how this book gave us a different prospective of the club and London. It isn't always sunshine and roses when you're living at the bottom of the food chain as it were.

Eliza is pretty thoughtful about her choices. She isn't too impulsive which was a nice change from the FMCs that make choices impulsively.

I did expect the climax to be a little more drawn out, given the nature of our villain. So I was a little disappointed there. But I did like how things worked out at the end.

And I'm super excited for Jenny's book (however it gets published).

'Fate had brought him to her. It wasn't trying to rein her in, nor did it want to clip her wings'.

'Eliza and the Duke'? More like 'The Brawler and The Dove'! Filled with longing stares, a late night rendezvous, a carriage scene that will make you blush. Harper St. George's 'The Doves of New York' series continues to soar and this one is a delectable tension filled buffet. Everything that I loved about the first instalment continues. But the character work in this book is strong because we get to spend a lot of time with Simon and Eliza.

I absolutely loved book one and read 'Eliza and the Duke' with the same fervour. In this book we follow Eliza and Simon that have inexplicable chemistry but come from different social classes. What I really appreciated in this novel, was the deeper focus on economic disparities and classism that restricts Simon's ability to rescue his niece Daisy and escape financial servitude to a local crime boss.

I will also add, Mr. Hathaway remains a slimy lizard with beastly tendencies that are unrepentant. It's a credit to St. George's writing that whenever he appears on the page I instantly detest the man. This was such a pleasurable read and the set up for book three? SO DAMN GOOD. Jenny and Lord David's book has me on pins and needles. I know it's going to be luscious, grand, and splendid. The moment and reveals in this book?! The YEARNING! I just can't wait.

One of my first Berkley digital arcs was the first book in this series 'The Stranger I Wed' and to be given the opportunity to continue this reading journey of Harper's characters and world is so remarkable. Thank you so much Berkley Romance and Berkley Publishing Group for the digital arc!

So good! I love this author and I love this series! This book is the middle sisters book, Eliza who falls for a prizefighter. It also sets up Jenny’s book next. Such a great read!

My rating is 4.5 stars and I'm rounding up to 5 stars because Harper St. George is an immediate buy/read author for me because she writes terribly romantic books chock full of historical details and builds her worlds with care and attention that immerses the reader in the setting. I think if you've read her previous series "The Gilded Age Heiresses" or the first book of this current series "The Stranger I Wed", you will understand what I mean. Also, this cover is bonkers gorgeous!

Eliza and Simon have a very swoon-worthy, steamy romance with plenty of longing and tension building up to a satisfying conclusion. I enjoyed the presence of Jenny in this story (and am super looking forward to her story!). I appreciated the change of pace from the high-society world of the previous books to the rougher Whitechapel area. The choices and considerations Eliza and Simon have to make on their road to happily ever after feel more high-stakes than in other historical romance books I have read.

In the beginning, Eliza annoyed me because she came off as very juvenile (I know her character is supposed to be only 19 years old!). It was frustrating that she knew she was acting in a way that could potentially hurt her family but decided to be selfish anyway. Also, this book includes a lot of characters from the previous book in this series and the related series "The Gilded Age Heiresses." The timelines also overlap considerably. At times it felt a little overstuffed. I think it is beneficial to have read the other books that came before to have the best understanding of the timeline and all the characters, but this could be read as a standalone.