Happy Tuesday! I’m excited to share a newly published romance read with you all today: Amalie Howard’s Always Be My Duchess!
Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for this free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is out today, 7/12!
A historical romance that’s been called “Pretty Woman meetings the Bridgertons”? A cold duke and a fiery ballerina? Fake dating? Sign me up!
I definitely picked up on the Pretty Woman vibes while reading–some of them are subtle, so if you haven’t watched the movie as much as I have (read: A LOT), you might not pick up on some of the connections. I thought this story was so cute. I started this one towards the beginning of my vacation last month and ended up staying up wayyyy too late because I wanted to know what happened with Lysander and Genevieve! Their chemistry is *waves fan* on point. When the steamy stuff finally gets going everyone is ready and it’s wonderful.
One of my favorite aspects of many of the historical romances I have read so far is a strong cast of supporting characters, and Always Be My Duchess continued with that tradition! I am looking forward to seeing some of these other characters getting their own books. 🙂 I also really appreciated the author’s note and the beginning, and can we please start seeing more author’s notes at the beginning instead of the end? I, for one, think they are WAY more effective that way for most stories.
This might be weird, but one of the only things I disliked about this book was the leading man being named “Lysander.” I just couldn’t get into it. It felt jarring every time someone used his given first name. Otherwise, I thought this was a fun, sweet story and I can’t wait to read more from this author!
If you could turn any modern day romcom into a historical romance, which would you choose?
The Bookish Bird 