His Grace, the Duke

Second Sons #2

by Emily Rath

New York Times bestselling author Emily Rath’s spicy, smart, and witty “Why Choose” Regency Romance series continues, complete with an unforgettable heroine—and three very different suitors who never saw her coming.

You are cordially invited to the wedding of His Grace, the Duke of Norland

When Rosalie Harrow found herself plunged into the middle of a house party of society ladies in pursuit of the hand of the Duke of Norland, though she was near destitute, she had no desire to be caged by marriage. Yet, by evening’s end, she’d captivated not one, but three gentlemen . . .

James Corbin, Viscount Finchley, has a dual mission. First, guarantee that his debaucherous brother, George, the Duke, goes through with his upcoming marriage. Second, ensure that his best friend, Burke, does not get married . . . at least not to the living, breathing gorgon that is Lady Olivia Rutledge. Burke is fully in agreement.

Together with their friend, Lieutenant Renley, the gentlemen concoct an elaborate ruse to set Burke free. But as George’s wedding day nears, secrets from the past emerge that threaten ruin upon each gentleman’s future. Fortunately, it’s Rosalie to the rescue . . .

Rosalie has plans of her own, not only to save Burke from the altar, but to save Renley from the ghosts that haunt him—and to save James from himself. Meanwhile, to win her, each gentleman will try anything, risk anything, and be anything she needs. As for Rosalie, she can’t help but wonder, why choose?

Includes a Bonus Scene!

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Why Choose, Historical, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Regency

576 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 2022

About the author

Emily Rath is a USA Today and international bestselling author whose chart-topping, sex-positive, queer-inclusive fantasy and romance novels include the Second Sons Regency romances, the Tuonela Duet fantasy novels, and the ‘why choose’ Jacksonville Rays Hockey Romances. A former university professor, she holds PhDs in Political Science and Peace Studies. Emily lives with her husband, son, and cats in the Pacific Northwest. She can be found online at EmilyRathBooks.com, on Instagram @emilyrathauthor and on TikTok @emilyrathbooks.

Reviews

[mina reads™️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was too long ❤️

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

~ Mild spoilers for the relationship dynamic, not the plot ~

This was a seamless continuation of Book 1 and best read closely after that one. Together they would have been very long, but they feel very much like one book.

The relationship between Rosalie and "her" three men - uptight viscount James, bastard son Burke and naval officer Tom - does a lot of evolving in this second instalment.

In fact, one of my gripes in book 1 was that I didn't really buy the dynamic here. Why were these Regency Era men (okay, mostly Burke and Tom and not James) so unfazed by the idea of sharing one woman? Especially one that is absolutely adamant that she will not get married.

Since the three men were very close, it just made sense to me that something was going on there that went beyond friednship. But book 1 had very little to indicate anything like that. No longing glances, no hints in the guys' POV. The strongest moment for me was Burke and James grappling, with James demanding that Burke call him 'Master' and yield. But that scene went nowhere otherwise, so I just dropped the subject initially.

So when Tom did a 180 in Book 2 and dropped the bomb that not only did he have some wild years in his past, he also held a big torch for Burke - it was a huge surprise for me. Not because it didn't make perfect sense, because it did. But how could Tom's POV in book 1 and even 2 be so utterly devoid of that yearning and unrequited love?

I understand that James and Burke - normative heterosexual men of their time - would be in deep denial and just not notice the attraction that they were feeling. But worldly Tom who tried everything? That just doesn't make much sense and I feel I missed out on some of the necessary set-up.

Despite the fact that in book 2, these relationships developed beautifully and organically, I would have been happier if we had seen at least some queerness in book 1, at least covertly. Rosalie got all the lusting after there for herself, but that is not the dynamic that we end up with in book 2.

Other than the kneejerk-bisexuality, I was very happy with this series. I will ddefinitely check out more works by this author.

[Jenn (The Book Refuge) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehhh..

It went on too long yet didn't handle some of the serious issues. Something were not explained and somethings just happened too easily.

Sexy times were good but... I was missing the romance in most of them.

They'd say they are in love. But when did the men ever really fall for HER? Them I believe but her I'm not sure.

3 stars
4.5 on the spice scale

[ritika · Rating 1 out of 5]

560 pages for this dude’s name to be horatio

[emtee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came for the dirty/hot MMFM and stayed for a well-written, captivating love story.

Why choose, indeed.

Burke took her wrists and stretched her arms up over her head, pinning them to the bed. His face loomed over hers. “Do you trust us, love?” Her chest rose and fell with each breath as she held his gaze. Renley’s hands were on her thighs, his breath warm between her legs. The sensation raised gooseflesh down her arms. “Yes.” Burke smiled, kissing her forehead. “We are going to cherish you, Rosalie. Give us your body, and we will make it our temple.”

###

“My angel, please look at me.” Sniffling, she looked up, her eyes red and puffy. “I am in love with you. We are all in love with you. If you will give me one last chance to prove myself, I will never make you doubt me again. You are the moon in our skies and we the tides, helpless to avoid your pull. There is no escaping you. I don’t want to escape. I want to be lost in love with you forever.”

I don’t blame her. I couldn’t choose either 🤤

[LisaReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

His Grace The Duke ARC Review (it contains slight spoilers!)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+/5
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶/5

OH MY FUCKING GOD!! Please excuse my swearing. BUT HOLY FUCKING SHIT!! THIS BOOK!! I CAN'T! Emily Rath you are a minx and I respect and salute you! Okok *takes deeeep breath* I'm calm. As calm as can be.

This book is absolutely AMAZING! I know I said that about Beautiful Things too but I'm only telling yall the truth! The slow burn. The pining. The yearning. The emotions. The spice. EVERYTHING IS JUST SOOO UGH *chef's kiss*. I am OBSESSED with these characters!

Let's start with George. I know I said I didn't like him. But his growth in this book is just amazing. My man finally grew a backbome and stood up for himself and the people he loved. His friendship with Rosalie, although a quite strange one, warmed my heart so many times. Maybe he has always been like that. But maybe we just didn't get to see this side of him until now. He has to be one of my favourite characters in this book, hands down.

Moving on to my man James. Oh poor tortured James. He was the most stubborn of the lot and deprived himself of their love the longest. My poor boy was torturing himself thinking it was for the best not realising it hurt the others just as much as him. But in the end, he finally accepted and found his fate in their arms. He just needed a big strong push.

Tom is just such a sweetheart. In my mind he is such a golden retriever puppy. Always aiming to please, to sooth and care for someone whenever he feels they might need it. He owns my heart. They all do. My heart was aching for him whenever he talked about having been in love with Burke for years.

Coming to Burke, that rake and devil. He was the first to give in to Rosalie, their siren, and, although he is possessive and territorial, he took to the thought of sharing her surprisingly quickly. I screamed and jumped off the couch when he was shot by that bitch. (She did in fact not jump off the couch. She simply fell off, cursing and raging.)

Last but defenitally not least we have my girl Rosalie. She is just such a girl boss. Her strength is remarkable, both physically and mentally. Oh to be her *sighs*. She has become one of my favourite heroine in the fictional world.

Oh what I would give for Jane Austen to read this duet!😂 I so highly recommend it. Please please please check this duet out!!! It will be completed tomorrow, July 25th and will be available on Kindle Unlimited as well!! Do yourself a favour, make yourself a nice cup of tea, grab your copy and become one with your favourite reading nook!

[RachelReadsandSings]

DNF @ 13%. I enjoyed book 1 well enough and I can’t deny that Rath’s writing is compulsively readable, but I don’t give a shit about any of these characters 🤣

I wish Rath would’ve done a better job of making the three heroes distinctive/unique characters. Unfortunately, they all felt like pretty much the same person to me. Rosalie was an okay heroine.

[Caroline Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

emily’s crazy for this one

[Marina Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book!!!!!🫠 Oh my! Oh my! WOW!!!!

I never thought George of all people would have become one of my favourites but there you have it!!

[Ash (so there’s this book) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you read Pucking Around? This is just regency Pucking Around but, in my opinion, less well done. This is only my third book by Emily Rath, and they’ve all been polyam books, so this could be a misinterpretation, but it seems like Rath writes the same exact formula for every polyam book?

Rosalie = Rachel
Burke = Jake
Tom = Caleb
James = Ilmari
(Although James and Tom and Caleb and Ilmair could honestly be interchangeable.)

I think my biggest two issues with this duet are length, and the dialogue. This did not need to be two separate books, and it definitely didn’t need to be as drawn out as it was. All the plot twists and “character development” (in quotes because I don’t really think there was any) could have happened in one book. This story was so drawn out and boring near the end, I skimmed the last 15-20%.

The dialogue. Specifically in regards to the romantic scenes and the smutty scenes. How do I explain the dialogue? It’s over gratuitous, way too fluffy, and repetitive. It would be like, “what do you need? Do you need my Burke?”
“Yes, I just - ugh I need your Burke. Please Burke, I need you.”
And. I. Just. Can’t. Do. It. Anymore. It was the same way in Pucking Around, but it worked better, or was written better, imo.

I wish I could say this was a slam dunk, but really it was not for me.

[Andrea ☾ [is inconsistently consistant] · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️ An ending I should have expected, but didn't.

I don't mean that in a good way either. By the end of this book, every single choice and concession the FMC had ever made to protect herself and her happiness is effectively gone and ruined. I understand that everyone is allowed to change their minds, but half of the reason why I loved book #1 so much was cause Rosalie was looking for a truly alternative way to live and love. One of her own design.

This ending was just extremely disappointing to me. Cute, but disappointing. This, from the beginning, has felt more like a fantasy than a fictional historical romance, and I loved that about it.

This is officially my least favourite Emily Rath's book. It's still three stars though. I love her books. This one, though, I'm not sure.

[Nicole D · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a lot I want to say, but overwhelmingly, you should absolutely read this book (AFTER reading the first one, of course). This is one of my favorite reads of the year, and quickly became one of my favorite 'why choose' stories ever. 

This story has so much going for it - a strong romantic story, a plotline that contains some true surprising twists and turns, 4 main characters that are well developed who are surrounded by intriguing side characters, and high quality spicy scenes. I loved book one of this duology but book two takes everything up several notches.

Some specific things that I loved:
*Our female main character, Rosalie - as in the first book, she's a smart, perceptive, strong-willed woman. In this book we get to see her be possessive, vulnerable, confrontational and find out she is sexually experienced (*gasp*). I like that she was given such range and complexity.
*The men - Y'alllllll these men. While they are all flawed, they are all worthy of being your next book boyfriend. They are grow when challenged, can apologize, and *spoiler* get real possessive of each OTHER once they work out they have some feelings.  
*Different relationships - Truly, there are multiple romantic relationships in this story. Each one develops at its own pace and has its own way of being. The three men each offer Rosalie something different, and the men have varied, complex relationships with each other as well. 
*Sword Crossing - This book is a solid five on Emily's sword crossing scale (see her TikTok). Not all reverse harem stories have MM relationships, but this one does and each one is given lovely space. The men in this book are slowly realizing (or finally admitting out loud) that they have feelings for each other that go beyond brotherly love and companionship. They have sexual relationships that don't involve the FMC at all, and they are...well done. *fans self* 
*Communication - As multiple romantic pairings develop, our characters talk multiple times about boundaries and how to make all of their relationships work. As the story nears the end, all 4 of them actually discuss how this is going to work moving forward - especially set in a Regency era, this was crucial for the story to flow well. Personally, I wouldn't have believed an ending without learning how the four of them could possibly get a HEA within a system that centers on protocol and respectability.
*Reveals - Outside of the plot twists, the author dropped in some character reveals that took me by surprise, and were so much fun. When one of the men revealed that he had been lusting after his friend for years, I actually gasped. 
*Female focus - While this book is called second sons, there is a fair amount of time and space given to conversations about the way that women living in the Regency era were treated, and what their true options in life were. 
*THE SPICE - I mentioned this already, but ...it is so good. High quality AND high quantity. Well written, lots of tension, some surprises, and a surprising variety. You will enjoy it.

I received an ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving my honest review.

[Kate W · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this as much as the first book. I think really this story didn’t need two books, so the second half of this one just dragged. And dragged. I had to work so hard to finish it.

Also I found the sexual connection between the men kind of sudden for the most part. Esp since two of them were previously straight.

I think my biggest complaint is all the ownership talk and possessiveness. It just never seems to sit well with a polyamorous relationship. It just felt like the claiming talk the your mine and I’m yours talk was endlessly repetitive and frankly boring.

Oh - and one thing I found quite distracting was how Rosalie almost never needed a maid to dress her. At one point James leaves Rosalie completely naked in an abandoned room during a big event, and there was no description of how she got herself dressed and presentable enough to escape back to her room. And yet in other situations it’s part of the story that she can’t dress by herself.

Overall I think it only needed to be one book with a capable editor, not two. There just wasn’t enough plot to carry over two books.

[My_Strange_Reading · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 15%
I’M. SO. BORED.

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

[5]

5 star for the vibes and a good time reading this haha

Being able to discuss this book in real time with everyone was like the best time ever. There was so much scandal, so much yearning, and oh so many eye rolls.

[Ada Esiz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kitapta geliştirilen ilişki dinamikleri bana inandırıcı gelmedi. İlk kitapta zaten her şey çok şak diye olmuştu, bu da öyle devam ediyor. Ayrıca bence ana kadın karaktere bu ilişkide gerek yok, zaten ana erkek karakterler de biraz bahane olarak kullanıyorlarmış gibi görünüyor. Bazı yerlerde sırf olay uzasın diye gereksiz drama eklenmiş gibi hissettim, bu kitap çok daha kısa olabilirdi.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

Well, I don't know what I expected because this is not my first Rath rodeo.

This book was unnecessary. It was so repetitive and the relationships became SO unbelievable - I know, I know, it's a why choose historical romance, I hear you, but I could only suspend my disbelief so much. I think these two books should have been edited down into one and we should have lost at least 50% of their "Do you choose me? Do you love me?" scenes. You've said this countless times already, you've already gotten together TONS of times, HOW ARE YOU STILL SO UNSURE??? Good lord(s).

[Elizabeth Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

So I'm going to be honest, I held off on reading Beautiful Things until I knew for sure when this was coming out, and god I'm glad I did because the duology as a whole makes such a perfect story.

His Grace, the Duke, is where we really start to see conflict in this story beyond the internal struggles of any harem. The characters are crafted beautifully, and the love between them all is truly believable. I also super appreciate the author not requiring us to totally suspend disbelief and acknowledging how hard a harem would be in Regency England.

And did I mention it's hot as hell in a one-hand read kind of way??

I did have a few small gripes, primarily that Rosalie got over her issues surrounding marriage with surprising ease considering how resolute she was in book one. I also would have liked just a bit more of the entire harem together, rather than the last 10-15% or so.

All in, this was a fabulous read and one that will have permanent copies on my bookshelf!


Spoiler: if you're like me and spend the whole book worried that George is going to kick it because of the title, and you don't want him to because he's oddly likeable, rest easy, his quirky little soul is safe

[lived_athousandlives · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is how you do a second book. This is how you follow up a cliff hanger. My goodness this was fantastic.

We begin right where we left off. Rosalie and James arriving in London.

James and his stubborn ways killed me for most of the book…but in the best way possible. The angst and frustration were well worth it. That man, I swear.

Whew boy…Burke coming in HOT when they ran off without him and Tom. 🥵

Tom not far behind but dealing with the past. 😬

Then George, the BFF we didn’t see coming 😂
He endeared himself to me. I loved how he had Rosalie’s back when she needed it most.

The developing romantic relationships between the men as well as with Rosalie was so good. This wasn’t MM for the sake of having MM. Their love was true and had depth.

The group fighting to be together. To keep Burke from marrying someone he didn’t want to but also trying to help the lady who also didn’t want to be married. To get James to see where he belonged was at the center. For Rosalie to face her fears and trust in their love.

Rosalie and her men are good people.

I laughed and I cried. The feels were felt. I’ll be singing this books’s praise and I’ll be reading it again and again.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, did you not expect me to continue this series?

And listen to me now, I don't know if I'm the only reader in the middle of the Venn Diagram that is historical romances and Marauders fanfiction from before 2007, but I am HERE TO TELL YOU that at one point in this story's lifecycle, it was Marauders fanfiction. If you do not know what Wolfstar is, or the difference between M for Mature or E for Explicit stories, move along, this polyamorous historical romance is not for you. I am claiming it for everyone else in my weird little Venn.

Rosalie = Lily
James = James
Burke = Black, Sirius Black
Renley = Remus Lupin

I will be accepting no further questions, I know I'm right #wolfstarforever

[Margo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ended up with multi sexual relationships that I felt were just .. overdone and most of narrative was sex not plot.

[|Stephanie| · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I want to find someone who can grow with me, sharing in strength and purpose. I want roots buried deep. I want to be so entangled in another person that I don't know where they end, and I begin."

After that mini cliffhanger from book one I was curious to see where Rosalie and her men would end up. It was a never a question they were all end game with how they felt about each other but I was excited to see the drama of how they would get there. HIS GRACE, THE DUKE delves more into the dynamic of this found family with new revelations of deep feelings that have been hidden between the men. It was not really hinted at in book one even if I did suspect but I loved how it all came together and that was never any jealousy. Plus, the spice was *chefs kiss* and a lot more present in this installment. These four have a love that many would be envious of, and they show that love to each other every day sometimes with a simple look. I adored them all and by the end I was a smitten fool right along with them.

I really enjoyed HIS GRACE, THE DUKE and not just for the romance but the writing, characters and all-around vibe. I see myself reading this author again when I'm in the mood for a historical romance but with a twist. 4 Stars!

Memorable Quotes

"I won't ask you for anything. I just...need to be where you are."

"I've wanted you from the moment I met you, Rose...but I've wanted Burke since I knew what it meant to want."

"She's knocking on your door, James. Let her in or let her go."

"You are the missing piece of us, Rosalie. You are the fourth piece we always needed, but never knew how to find. You belong with me. You belong to us."

"The way I want to please you...worship you. I would set you as the axis on which my world spins."

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars
3 for spice

His Grace, The duke was very repetitive with spicy scenes, interactions between James and Rosile, and a number of scenes dealing with the same insecurities of the characters kept popping up. It got very redundant and took me out of the story so much. This book could have been at least 100 pages shorter. I won't say too much about the story because this is the second book in the Second Son’s series by Emily Rath. I still really liked the characters and the overall plot.This one was much spicier than the first book and I do mean a lot. It is really interesting how they are trying to navigate this why choose a relationship during the regency period, not to mention that because of the number of characters there is a lot of action and drama happening. I will be continuing this series. I am really invested in what's going to happen with everyone but overall this story was fine for me.
I received an ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

[StephReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️ 4 🌶️ 4 🔥 🤍

[Lety Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be bold and set yourself free. That’s what I got from this delicious story

[Jassmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

You might remember that my biggest disappointment with the first book stemmed from the fact that it was more reverse harem than polyamory and that a lot of points in that... love-square weren't connected. Well, this book fixes that!

I'm not sure I'm quite convinced though. The continuity just wasn't quite there for me. This book is quite long and really focused on making the scenes hot instead of creating some real connection between the characters. George easily continues to be my favorite character in this one and I wish his and Rosalie's frindship was given more space. There were also several oportunities to get Rosalie a female friend, but the author decides to not do this (there is Madeline I guess, but she isn't present for 90% of the book) which I though was a shame considering the female characters here are... a bit... questionable.

Also, again same as the first book, the historical period is very much just a theatrical setting full of outlandish inacuracies which I did my best to not get bothered by, but... it's not my favourite.


Overall, it was very predictable which in some ways I didn't mind, in others I minded a little. It should have been shortened and could use some more character work, but... yeah, I enjoyed myself even if the sex scenes got a bit tedious at one point. As did the flowery and a bit cheesy language. I don't think Emily Rath is an author for me, but I'm going to finish this series, especially since the third book focuses on different MCs. Probably not going to pick up more books by her though.

[Rebekah Reads Romance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too long. Just way too long. And since this is a continuation of the first book (which didn't really have an ending) the throuple had no reason to just not be banging all the time, I guess, and sometimes it felt like every other chapter was a spicy scene. I was exhausted by all of the sex and I wasn't even the one having it. Like Jesus Christ, when do they ever sleep? Also, the amount of anal sex is just a bit...much. Especially considering how messy that was bound to be without the kind of ahem preparation that would be needed to make it tidier. This book's one redeeming quality was also perhaps one of its more confusing ones, which was that the Duke, George, was turned into a good guy somehow? Like, in book 1 he was a gigantic asshole and then suddenly in book 2 he becomes likable. I might have DNF'd the book around 60% due to the repetitive nature of the sex scenes if I hadn't been curious about how they were going to get rid of George. I kind of knew based on the title that James was going to somehow get the title because the book just wasn't about George. Before I started the book I thought perhaps the author would give him a convenient horse riding accident or something and since he'd been unlikeable that would have been fine with me. But when that didn't happen, I wanted to know how James would become Duke. The way that occurred seemed wildly improbable, but oh well. If you love a ton of double penetration and increasingly improbable sex scenes, this book is for you. If you don't like waiting for hundreds of pages to get to a rather unsatisfying conclusion, then it might not be. YMMV.

[Gerlinde Claeys · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️ 3🌶️

[Rachel Consoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

Continuing immediately where book 1 left off, James and Rosalie have fled to the Corbin's London lodging under the guise of planning an engagement party for James' brother George, the Duke. But it's not long til Rosalie's other suitors find them and she's face to face with her issues once more. Will they be able to find Olivia, unaffectionately named Lady Gorgon, a new husband to free Burke from their engagement? Is Tom actually engaged to his ex-lover? And will James ever set aside his stubborn pride and act on his feelings? And even if they succeed, will Rosalie be able to allow herself to fully open up to the love of all three men?

I am so torn on this book, there is just too much going on. You'd think having split the plot into two fairly chunky books would allow Rath to easily go over everything, but unfortunately not the case. Now, for all that were 'bored' with book 1 or thought it was too slow, this quickly solves those complaints. There is far more smut here akin to all of her other books, but it didn't solve a lot of my issues. Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoyed the smut content and liked where all the characters ended up, but it was not at all the route I wanted this to take. Some plot lines were solved too quickly and some dragged out unnecessarily. Character dynamics developed out of nowhere and some were just dropped or still underdeveloped. There was just a bunch of bizarre choices that made for a quite frustrating read.

That being said, this was still really fun, it's a smut book after all so I don't expect high art literature, I just know what Rath is capable of so I expect a little more. Though I should say she wrote her excellent PUCKING AROUND after this and perfected the 'why choose' formula, so maybe this was the kinks she needed to work out to create that and if so, totally worth it for me. Overall I still enjoyed, it just didn't quite live up to the promise of the first and isn't nearly as good as her other series. If you wanted more smut than the first book provided, this will help out quite well, but if you wanted further developed dynamics and satisfying arcs, this left a bit to be desired. I am excited to read the third book, it's about her friend Madeline and her suitor/s, so I'm glad I'll get a little more in this world at the very least.

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON

There's a ton of plot lines in this book, so let me break my thoughts down by characters:

Olivia: So remember when I said I'd hoped Burke's engagement would slow down the heat between him and Rosalie and allow the other two to get more of a focus here? LOL NOPE! Not only does he IMMEDIATELY show up at the London residence they fled to, but proceeds to stomp around demanding alone time with Rosalie, not giving a shit about who overhears, and pretty much immediately fucks her. Like...ugh, I was so irritated. I get he doesn't want to be engaged to Olivia, and truly she feels the same, but a bit of decorum would've been nice. And then once the smut ramps up this plot is just kind of sidelined for awhile despite being such a massive conflict. They claim all their scheming in London is to find a suitor for Olivia so she can spurn Burke, but they genuinely aren't trying hard at all and Olivia isn't Lady Gorgon for nothing so she's running off men left and right. I'd wanted her to get more involved in this, but she just feels like a pawn they're all using, it was obnoxious. So it's not going well, but no one seems concerned about it. Like Rosalie is just fucking Burke all over the place and being super possessive over him with little care. Until conveniently, a rakish Captain who grew up with Olivia and is conveniently in love with her literally falls into their laps and they're like, oh sweet, he's perfect. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy him and their push and pull dynamic, also he and Tom DEFINITELY hooked up overseas which makes Burke super jelly (I'll get to the queer dynamics later) and it's honestly excellent, I just wish they didn't literally stumble upon him. I wish maybe Tom thought of him and he was the reason they were reunited, like they had any kind of plan or could continue to pretend this was the main plot of this book, ugh, it's so stupid. But happy she's happy, it felt VERY Austenland Amelia/Captain East which I loved, but the effort into her growth and this plot was just so minimal and such a bummer after what a great cliffhanger it was last book.

The Duchess and George: Another big cliffhanger, remember when the Duchess was forcing Burke to get married in the first place and forbade Rosalie from hooking up with her boys and forced her hand into becoming her ward? Yeah this is also almost immediately undone. She has a moment of being LIVID with Rosalie, tbh rightfully so even though she's also a twat, and James (sexily) stands up for her and refuses to tolerate his mom speaking to his girl that way (even though he keeps pretending not to be in love, I'll get back to him) and she just continues to be cruel AF to the point where James puts his foot down and is like 'no, I don't give a fuck if you cut me off, you LITERALLY need me to run this shit, but I care more about Burke and Rosalie so we'll leave and screw you over, fuck off,' fully calling her bluff which ends up terrifying George who FINALLY steps the fuck up. He later calls off the entire stupid forced engagement for Burke, especially after he realizes he doesn't want to be forced into marriage either, but first he claims Rosalie as HIS ward just so she can basically do whatever the fuck she wants and isn't beholden to his mother. It's about fucking TIME this man grew a spine, but when I tell you I never expected to fall in love with George after the first book, but I totally did here. The mother just skulks away defeated, pretty lamely honestly, she causes some further bullshit between James and Rosalie because this book hates me but otherwise she's pretty irrelevant. But this charade begins a really lovely and legit friendship between George and Rosalie and I LOVE that it's purely platonic. He's honestly too petrified of her to think of her as romantic and he knows how down bad his brother is for her and for all his faults, he really wants James to be happy. He tries to play matchmaker between them a few times, he's honestly their biggest champion and I absolutely love that. He stands up for Rosalie against the bitches of the ton and helps her also gain a backbone. And in the end he's like, 'fuck this I don't want to be Duke, I'm utterly shit at it, can James and I just switch places???' And they literally just do and it's hilarious, like in front of the queen, it's so stupid, but funny. George is hilarious in this book and I became very endeared to him. He's a fucking weirdo and for the longest time I could not wrap my brain around his goals, but he just wants to be free and do his own shit, which fair enough. James has been doing all the work forever, so may as well let him finally get the credit, so best of both worlds I guess.

My queer boys: as I hoped and expected from reading Rath's other poly romance and the trigger warnings, I knew I'd get some MM content and unsurprisingly, I loved it. NOW she has grown leaps and fucking bounds from this, the Price fam from PUCKING AROUND is LIGHTYEARS improved in terms of development and actually earning these reactions, but the foundation of that excellence is seen here, it's just not as well defined. Tom and Burke were great honestly, definitely my favorite dynamic, VERY reminiscent of Jake/Caleb from PA. I had predicted last book that Tom was the most queer of this bunch and was proven fully correct. He's the only one that's fully acted on his tendencies, because sailor, and is very upfront about his feelings for Burke, but I love that he's very all or nothing, he's like, we can just be with Rose if you want, but I also want YOU and if you want me we're not half assing this shit, and it was suupppperr hot. Especially when Burke would get hella jealous over Tom and his Captain friend and I was a big fan of Burke doing Tom while he was in Rosalie, truly all about that shit, so hot. Now, how they're all just prepared for anal play in the Regency Era, I truly cannot say, but I enjoyed it regardless. Then it was so darling how hurt Burke was that James wouldn't be with them, that they all admitted James was their world and they weren't whole without him. I do wish there was more buildup, I wish there was more scenes between Burke and James with the former calling him on his shit and more tension to the inevitable reveal of them also harboring long time feelings, it was earned, but could've used more. Tom and James didn't really make any sense to me and felt super rushed, but it's mainly because we just get SO little of them alone together. They make some references that when Tom was on leave he'd always choose James to come see first, but we're never really shown that devotion, to me it's clear both boys love Burke and vice versa, but James and Tom's romantic dynamic felt tacked on and underdeveloped, which was honestly unfair to them. Regardless, I still loved it. And again as I'd hoped, queer Burke is a MILLION times more likable than straight Burke, so it made his scenes far more enjoyable.

Burke: just to piggyback, once I got queer content I REALLY liked him. Burke being possessive over Rosalie? Ugh, get over yourself you fucking hypocrite, you're so annoying!! Burke being possessive over Tom? SO HOT! But I STILL thought this book has FAR too much Burke content. I really thought that giving him the engagement would put in even the slightest wrench, but no, he literally couldn't give a fuck and throws caution to the wind immediately, and his room LITERALLY is connected to Rosalie's. So James did that because this was his way of trying to show he approved of them being together even as he's dying inside because the dummy thinks he can't be with them. A nice gesture I guess, but ugh, just too much Burke. Once Tom got involved I enjoyed the smut significantly more, but straight Burke is just so annoying, I was so immediately over him. Like literally he gets shot at the end (I'll get to that more in Tom's section) and I was not even a little sad about it, if he died I would've been totally fine. Terrible? Maybe. He's just so irksome and was by far my least fav, but I guess I'm glad he's not dead for the others lol whatever. He gets better, poly/queer Burke is great, but that first 50/100 pages? Insufferable, this man irks me so fucking badly. OH also we learn Burke's first name is HORATIO! I hated that, it was so damn duummmbbb. I'm relieved that they only refer to him as such sexually, but yeah dumb, Burke sucks.

Tom: similar to the other cliffhanger plot points, Tom's gets immediately solved as well. He right away is like, 'um no Marianne we are not engaged, fuck off' and runs to Rosalie to say he wants her and Burke and they're just fucking like rabbits. Other than sexually though, he unfortunately gets pretty sidelined since a lot of the plot revolves around James' drama and like I said, he doesn't really have much to do with James. I was obsessed with all his queer bits and especially making Burke jealous, their dynamic was quite excellent, a true highlight. But of course Marianne is not dissuaded so easily, at first she's just a haughty bitch, but then by the end it escalates to insanity. George basically encourages Rosalie to be a lion and show her teeth, so she straight up tells Marianne she's fucking Tom, which was honestly hilarious, but then it leads to this crazy bitch bringing a fucking GUN to the party and trying to kill Tom. Why she'd want to kill Tom I have truly NO clue! I'd get if she wanted to kill Rosalie, and I'm sure she wouldn't be upset about it, but it's very much a 'if I can't have him, no one can'. Also turns out she straight up MURDERED her husband, like she's the one who pushed him front of a carriage, because she heard Tom was coming back, hence how she was conveniently widowed, bitch is CRAZY! She ends up shooting Burke because he leapt in front of Tom which like I said, wasn't sad about that at all, but yeah that's most of Tom's plot. It's cuckoo bananas, but he really isn't given much to do. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about the smut and I think Rath pumped this full of it because she probs got flack for the lack in the last one, but I'd take prolonged tension and better developed relationships over constant smut any day. It's good, but I wanted to care about the characters more and I just wasn't given enough to get there.

James: SPEAKING OF NOT GIVEN ENOUGH! I said LAST FUCKING BOOOK how dirty my boy James was done and it is somehow even worse here. This prolonged bullshit of James pretending not to be madly in love with Rosalie and not wanting to bone down with this group for the majority of the damn book is INFURIATING! He keeps pretending to be cold and not want Rosalie despite how much they want each other. They have so many cute moments, like she forces him to take a nap on her lap so he can finally sleep while she combs her hands through his curls and reads to him and he of course buys her a new wardrobe and jewels because he loves seeing her in his stuff. Literally EVERYONE knows they'd be good together, even his annoying mom is like, yeah ok, you can def marry my son, we all know he wants you. But the constant, contrived bullshit to keep them apart is so irritating!! Also I get Rosalie has never seen a real, happy marriage so she doesn't believe they're possible, but it gets to be so annoying. And then once James FINALLY, quite literally, has Rosalie bound and delivered to him, and they FINALLY fuck, it's incredible, but in the throws of passion she admits she'd do anything for him because she loves and wants him so badly she'd even marry him, and he immediately abandons her, fully naked, because he doesn't want her to resent him. BUT THEN THE CONFLICT IS LIKE IMMEDIATELY SOLVED!! For real Burke is like, stfu and let yourself be happy and he's like, my b I'm sorry and they're fine in basically the next chapter. The construction of their arc is just sooooooo messy and frustrating. I respect that he doesn't want to fuck her at first because he's an all or nothing dude and knows he wants marriage and commitment and fears he'd hate her if she continued to refuse him and then would hate his friends, to the point where she's like, I love you all so much I don't want to come between you, and she threatens to fully walk away, it's just soooo wishy washy. I get this is Rath's common FMC trope of having them fear commitment, but it could've been done so much better. And of course we get to the place we ALL knew they would by the end. James gets to become Duke and they're all like, yeah James and Rosalie will get married so people will butt the fuck out of our business and it's what he's always wished for and we can all live happily ever after. She was basically already training to be the Duchess as he was the Duke, they were truly fated, it makes complete sense, I just wish it wasn't done in such a convoluted manner. I wanted soooo much more James. He's just so hot and by far my favorite, but even in this book the blue balls of his plot was becoming too much, it was just all around irritation. I do love how literally every character is OBSESSED with James and even when they're a pretty happy trio they're still like 'but James though', which I'm all about as he's my fav, but we just needed more. I wish he had more POVs, more scenes, just more. The book is legit NAMED after him, this should've been more his book, but alas.

Rosalie: she's so much worse this book as I've stated in the other boys' sections. She's incredibly flaky and indecisive throughout despite pretty obviously and clearly knowing what she wants from the beginning despite refusing to admit it. She leans into miscommunications and vacillates in strength and weakness when it's plot convenient. She spends so much of this damn book huffing and puffing over not wanting to get married only to of course get married to James by the end, like just stfu. Again, while I enjoyed the smut, the plot really suffered for it. I did love that James' mom throws them a surprise ball to celebrate their marriage since they just did a courthouse thing and invited no one and that of course it's kind of redemption for her spurning Rosalie's mom all those years ago. And then in typical Rath fashion, we flash forward to Rosalie popping out her third kid, I'm assuming one per boy but who knows, and Tom just gets back from being at sea, it's all so silly but I enjoy their family, they're lovely. Also that their first kid is Georgina because George claimed the first born name, which is honestly hilarious.

So yeah, I had a lot of issues with this one, but overall I still had fun. She wrote it before her excellent hockey smut series so I just have to give her more grace that of course it's not as good, but I do wish it was a little better. I am looking forward to the next book, it's about Rosalie's friend Madeline and there's two men on the cover so I'm hoping it's another 'why choose?', and the end of this book said this crazy quad features in that as well, so I am excited for that. I still enjoyed even with the things that irk me. Rath's smut is just a good time and I'll def keep an eye out for all her future work. It's not nearly as good as the hockey series, but I still really liked it and definitely scratched that Bridgerton itch while I waited for the new season. Certainly recommend, it's loose Regency, but the setting allows for some enjoyable changeups to a standard smut journey, I def still recommend even with its flaws.

[Myra Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Emily Rath, you've done it again.

Dashing men and a beautiful woman together at last? Yes, please.

We can finally see the Corbin house as a united front, with James as the rightful Duke, Rosalie as his Duchess, and Tom and Horatio being the lovely men to support them both.

Was it spicy, you ask?
SINFULLY, I reply.

Truly, I'm going to hell. But, gosh, dang, maybe it was worth it.

I'm going to possibly ruin myself here, but when everyone is finally together and no longer hiding feelings, I like it better than in Pucking Around!

I mean, come on! When Rosalies men are able to love each other just as fiercely as when they love her?

Oh, it's dark and terrible, but so freaking hot!

And that bonus epilogue scene? I needed more!! More dad from all three men.

My only four stars come from how long it took to get to everyone being together solidly and for the super duper switch up the dowager duchess had at the end - waaaayyy too quick of a ending to make it a solid wrap up. Also made everything too neatly finished. Give me some bittersweet endings so my heart hurts but also savors the good!

Will I read it again.
Oh yes.

Content guide:
Contains strong themes of sexual content between multiple consenting adults, polyamerous relationships, blood, gunshots, shame, bdsm play and anal, scandal, and fear. Contains mild themes or mentions of death, voyerisum, hemorrhaging, blackmail, manipulation, and gaslighting. Read Responsibly.

Spicy:🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶
Language: 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Poly couples I can't let go of: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️