I had received It’s All About The Duke as an ARC to review from St. Martin’s Press prior to its publication in 2018. I did not get the opportunity to read it at that time due to other commitments. Flash forward to 2021 when I’m working on catching up on my Netgalley backlog and I finally read this regency romance by author Amelia Grey.
When I accepted It’s All About The Duke for review, I had thought I had read the other two books in The Rakes Of St. James trilogy but, it turns out I had not. Opps! That being said, it was not difficult to understand the premise of this book, and how the characters from the previous two were connected. I think all of three of them could be read as stand-alones if given the opportunity. Especially if you are familiar with the way Amelia Grey writes as I am from previous reads (Wedding Night With The Duke and The Duke and Miss Christmas).
The basic premise of It’s All About The Duke is the idea that The Duke of Rathburn “Rath” has become the guardian to young orphan Marlena Fast and is determined to be a proper man and find her a husband. He is hopeful that doing this will atone for his previous roguish behaviors; including the time that he and two of his best friends caused scandal to multiple young women during their attempt to find husband. He and his friends received no discipline for their actions; and because of this for the past three years Marlena has secretly been writing a daily scandal sheet about the Rakes of St. James, including Rath.
From the beginning, the two characters are quick to spar words, flirt in close proximity and fight a growing attraction to each other. They had had a previous innocent encounter when she was a mere child but, the woman who he meets as her guardian is no longer such a child; and she is no longer sure what to think of the duke she swore was just a rake. I enjoyed the chemistry between Rath and Marlena throughout It’s All About The Duke but, I did feel like things could get a bit wordy at times. This caused me to want to skim the text more than actually absorb and read it. There was also the under lying secret of Marlena’s other identity which was comical at times how she desperately tried to hide it from him. By the end, everything was wrapped up very nicely, and I found myself enjoying the interactions with the other characters, and the possibility of a future for the Duke and Mrs. Rath.
Rating: 3 Stars
welcome to the zoo! 