A Romp Into Regency Romance

 

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Ne'er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti is a fun and lighthearted Regency Romance. It chronicles the adventures of Peter Kent the Duke of Stanhope and his friend Lady Selina Ravenscroft. The pair find themselves in a bit of a dilemma when Peter requests Selina's aid in helping him gain custody of his two younger half-siblings. It seems that since inheriting his title he has developed quite the scandalous reputation. As his father did not recognize Peter's two siblings before his death, their guardianship is very much up in the air. To make matters worse, the man who will have to decide whether or not to bequeath them to Peter's custody does not care for the disreputable duke after he cheated the man out of his already stolen brandy--unwittingly, of course. Selina devises what she thinks is the perfect plan to make Peter respectable again. He must marry a noblewoman who is above reproach. The only problem is Selina secretly longs for Peter for herself and the more she tries to wed him off to another the harder it becomes for either of them to find Peter the perfect match among the worthiest candidates.

There were several refreshing aspects of this novel. One was the fact that Peter was not raised to become a duke. As such, he does not see himself as entitled to the privilege his nobility automatically bestows upon him. Peter was raised in impoverished circumstances in Louisiana. However, he is radically opposed to slavery, and Peter is determined to use his place in the House of Lords to abolish it. He is also determined to protect his younger siblings as their guardian at all costs, even though he has no idea how to raise two children. I found his character to be charming in his cluelessness at navigating the political and social waters of the ton. I also loved the fact that he is not a haughty and entitled nobleman as so many characters in these types of romances are portrayed as being. His unusual circumstances make this very plausible in the story. The other refreshing aspect of this novel is its heroine, Lady Selina Ravenscroft. After her debut in society, Selina is shocked and brokenhearted to learn how dire a lack of education can be for her counterparts if they are led astray by the wrong man. To prevent this from ever happening again, Selina takes it upon herself to help educate young women of the ton by supplying them with literature that explains the birds and the bees to them, sometimes in quite erotic detail. She does this by managing a lending library that she convinces her twin brother to procure for her. However, her feminine empowerment of her peers also leaves her with a scandalous secret that makes her a poor match for Peter as a wife. Therein lies the conflict of the story. 

Peter and Selina are unable to resist one another and they do ultimately wind up together. Along the way though, we meet some very charming secondary characters such as Selina's aunt and her long-term companion Thomasin, Peter's two young siblings, of course, Lu and Freddie, and some of Selina's close friends, Lydia and Iris, who she attempts to match with Peter. We also meet another young woman who becomes a friend to Peter and Selina, Georgiana. The elements of found family for Peter and Selina are lovely. Other things that Vasti handles well are the vulnerabilities and scars that both the primary characters and some of the secondary characters have and how these become an integral part of the story. Both Peter and Selina fear admitting to the other their true feelings. In the end though, they learn to lean on each other and realize they are stronger for it, which is a nice change of pace from most romances where the hero and heroine usually end up split apart after a misunderstanding before they can win their happily-ever-after. 

I would very much like to see Vasti make this a series where she develops romances for some of the other characters in the book such as Lydia, Iris, Georgiana, and possibly even Selina's brother, who is mentioned but never seen, Will. It might also be fun to read a romance for Lu and Freddie somewhere down the line as well once they're grown. If you love a good rom-com set in the regency period I highly recommend this novel. I was privileged to read an ARC of it through NetGalley. Thanks to both NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me a free copy to read in exchange for this honest review.