What do you think?
Rate this book
Falling for a Beastly Duke: A Historical Regency Romance Book
“Sometimes the most beautiful roses grow wild in a beast's garden…”
When Miss Persephone Wentworth risks her reputation by writing to the infamous Beastly Duke of Burenwood, she expects rejection, not a proposal of convenience. Determined to save her family from ruin, she offers her hand in a union built on practicality, not affection.
Philip Thornbury, scarred inside and out, has long hidden from the judgment of society. Her courage and kindness stir something in him he thought long dead. Within the quiet sanctuary of his beloved orchids, their unlikely partnership begins to bloom into friendship, and perhaps something deeper.
But as whispers spread through the Regency ton and jealous relatives conspire, both must decide if trust and love can truly grow from the ashes of duty.
If you adore historical Regency romances filled with wounded hearts, tender courage, and love that blossoms where it’s least expected, you’ll be captivated by “Falling for a Beastly Duke”. Join Philip and Persephone as they navigate scandal, secrets, and the delicate dance between duty and desire, discovering that even the most guarded hearts can bloom again.
No cheating. No cliffhangers. Just breathtakingly happily ever after.
Available now!
Free to read with Kindle Unlimited!
When Miss Persephone Wentworth risks her reputation by writing to the infamous Beastly Duke of Burenwood, she expects rejection, not a proposal of convenience. Determined to save her family from ruin, she offers her hand in a union built on practicality, not affection.
Philip Thornbury, scarred inside and out, has long hidden from the judgment of society. Her courage and kindness stir something in him he thought long dead. Within the quiet sanctuary of his beloved orchids, their unlikely partnership begins to bloom into friendship, and perhaps something deeper.
But as whispers spread through the Regency ton and jealous relatives conspire, both must decide if trust and love can truly grow from the ashes of duty.
If you adore historical Regency romances filled with wounded hearts, tender courage, and love that blossoms where it’s least expected, you’ll be captivated by “Falling for a Beastly Duke”. Join Philip and Persephone as they navigate scandal, secrets, and the delicate dance between duty and desire, discovering that even the most guarded hearts can bloom again.
No cheating. No cliffhangers. Just breathtakingly happily ever after.
Available now!
Free to read with Kindle Unlimited!
166 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 24, 2025
59 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 14, 2025
MY RATING GUIDE:
FALLING FOR A BEASTLY DUKE is a lovely & sweet Beauty and the Beast rendition. (Sadly only 3 Stars for me, dropped from 4 due to editing errors as noted below).
1=dnf/What was that?; 2=Not for me; 3=Ok/pretty good; 3.5=I ENJOYED THIS; ; 4=I REALLY ENJOYED THIS; 5=I really loved this! (5 is RARE for me).
Due to her father’s gambling and overwhelming debt, Persephone Wentworth, the oldest daughter of a penniless Baron, still lovely at 20yrs, is being pressured to marry one of a number of older merchants or gentleman of the ton who would be willing to pay off her father’s debt in exchange for a marriage. The qualities of these men is rather sobering. Most are as old as her father or older and have managed to ‘kill off’ previous wives. Persephone decides to take control of her unfortunate situation by selecting the prospective husband herself. Unknown to her parents, she quickly sends off a proposal for marriage to one of the men on her mother’s list.
Phillip Thornbury, the Duke of Burenwood, 24, was scarred emotionally and physically in a carriage accident that suddenly killed both of his parents 5yrs ago. He left London, moved to his country estate and began concentrating on his extensive lands, tenants and personal gardens. Orchids are his favorite, as they were his mother’s. Quietly living in the country, London society with its cruel gossips and wagging tongues is removed far from Phillip. But after a time both Phillip’s solicitor and his steward, the latter a trusted childhood friend, begin advising Phillip that he must settle on a wife and begin a family. A close relative has subtly been taking steps to usurp his way to the title. Yet Phillip believes marriage to any of the daughters of the ton would be a nightmare existence. Has he no other choice? Then an unusual letter arrives from London.
Comments ~
1) FALLING FOR A BEASTLY DUKE began delightfully, so much so that the frequently mixed up words and sentences were a distracting shame. I had to remind myself to disregard the poor editing so that I might enjoy the sweet story. (I suggest the author collect a solid core of proofreading individuals to help catch such mistakes before production in the future. An excellent proof-writing software program would also not go amiss, as well as a colleague or two who might be helpful in this area. Again, the story here was delightful but the errors jumped out instead. This is fixable. Even FFABD could be edited and much improved). The book cover is lovely. I purchased FFABD on sale and this was my first book by this author. If the errors are corrected, I would much enjoy reading another of her novels.
2) Goodness! Persephone’s parents were quite unbelievable - snide, grasping, denying, unloving, ambitious spendthrifts (particularly the father). Incredible as it seems, they were probably not all that uncommon parents for the time and in such dismal financial circumstances (financially strained aristocrats due to poor money management and denial).
3) I could easily identify with both the main characters and wanted the very best for them. How wonderful that Persephone’s sister was offered an escape from her situation as well. Again, I found FFABD a lovely and sweet Marriage of Convenience story. I am sorry I can’t really recommend it in its present state (based on the digital copy I received upon purchase) except to readers able to overlook the above mentioned problems.
> Marriage of Convenience
> Proximity Danger setting
> Clean fiction
> Historical Romance with low angst, no unnecessary misunderstandings or miscommunication (my pet-peeve)
> Main Characters who have survived difficult situations coming out stronger on the other side
> An Irish Wolfhound with an important role
> Slow burn, Sweet & Clean Romance
READER CAUTIONS ~ I believe this is a Clean read.
PROFANITY - None (I believe).
VIOLENCE - Minimal.
SEXUAL SITUATIONS - None. This is a MOC novel in which the characters get to know each other before consummating their marriage.
FALLING FOR A BEASTLY DUKE is a lovely & sweet Beauty and the Beast rendition. (Sadly only 3 Stars for me, dropped from 4 due to editing errors as noted below).
1=dnf/What was that?; 2=Not for me; 3=Ok/pretty good; 3.5=I ENJOYED THIS; ; 4=I REALLY ENJOYED THIS; 5=I really loved this! (5 is RARE for me).
Due to her father’s gambling and overwhelming debt, Persephone Wentworth, the oldest daughter of a penniless Baron, still lovely at 20yrs, is being pressured to marry one of a number of older merchants or gentleman of the ton who would be willing to pay off her father’s debt in exchange for a marriage. The qualities of these men is rather sobering. Most are as old as her father or older and have managed to ‘kill off’ previous wives. Persephone decides to take control of her unfortunate situation by selecting the prospective husband herself. Unknown to her parents, she quickly sends off a proposal for marriage to one of the men on her mother’s list.
Phillip Thornbury, the Duke of Burenwood, 24, was scarred emotionally and physically in a carriage accident that suddenly killed both of his parents 5yrs ago. He left London, moved to his country estate and began concentrating on his extensive lands, tenants and personal gardens. Orchids are his favorite, as they were his mother’s. Quietly living in the country, London society with its cruel gossips and wagging tongues is removed far from Phillip. But after a time both Phillip’s solicitor and his steward, the latter a trusted childhood friend, begin advising Phillip that he must settle on a wife and begin a family. A close relative has subtly been taking steps to usurp his way to the title. Yet Phillip believes marriage to any of the daughters of the ton would be a nightmare existence. Has he no other choice? Then an unusual letter arrives from London.
Comments ~
1) FALLING FOR A BEASTLY DUKE began delightfully, so much so that the frequently mixed up words and sentences were a distracting shame. I had to remind myself to disregard the poor editing so that I might enjoy the sweet story. (I suggest the author collect a solid core of proofreading individuals to help catch such mistakes before production in the future. An excellent proof-writing software program would also not go amiss, as well as a colleague or two who might be helpful in this area. Again, the story here was delightful but the errors jumped out instead. This is fixable. Even FFABD could be edited and much improved). The book cover is lovely. I purchased FFABD on sale and this was my first book by this author. If the errors are corrected, I would much enjoy reading another of her novels.
2) Goodness! Persephone’s parents were quite unbelievable - snide, grasping, denying, unloving, ambitious spendthrifts (particularly the father). Incredible as it seems, they were probably not all that uncommon parents for the time and in such dismal financial circumstances (financially strained aristocrats due to poor money management and denial).
3) I could easily identify with both the main characters and wanted the very best for them. How wonderful that Persephone’s sister was offered an escape from her situation as well. Again, I found FFABD a lovely and sweet Marriage of Convenience story. I am sorry I can’t really recommend it in its present state (based on the digital copy I received upon purchase) except to readers able to overlook the above mentioned problems.
> Marriage of Convenience
> Proximity Danger setting
> Clean fiction
> Historical Romance with low angst, no unnecessary misunderstandings or miscommunication (my pet-peeve)
> Main Characters who have survived difficult situations coming out stronger on the other side
> An Irish Wolfhound with an important role
> Slow burn, Sweet & Clean Romance
READER CAUTIONS ~ I believe this is a Clean read.
PROFANITY - None (I believe).
VIOLENCE - Minimal.
SEXUAL SITUATIONS - None. This is a MOC novel in which the characters get to know each other before consummating their marriage.
November 20, 2025
Meant to Be
Persephone, the eldest daughter of a Baron who had fallen into terrible debt, decided she would write to a Duke that she knew was in need of a wife. Persephone knew that the Duke of Burenwood had a face that had been ruined in the accident that killed his parents. She decided that scars would not bother her and was pleasantly surprised when the Duke appeared at their home some days later.
Persephone had a sister named Cordelia and she refused to leave her gentle sister to the marriage machinations of her parents, and invited her to Burenwood.
Before anyone was comfortably settled, Roderick, a once close cousin brought himself and his “friend” to impose on the newly married couple. Lady Vale, Roderick’s friend, was cruel to Cordelia, and Roderick was cruel to everyone. He had a plan to become Duke, and since he was still the heir apparent, there was only one way for that to happen.
This was an excellent story and the characters are vivid and well drawn. There was, however, serious grammatical errors and at least one place where the writing was vague enough to be confusing. I make enough mistakes for ten people, so I decided to overlook the errors in favor of the well told tale. This is a clean five star romance… with a few booboos.
Persephone, the eldest daughter of a Baron who had fallen into terrible debt, decided she would write to a Duke that she knew was in need of a wife. Persephone knew that the Duke of Burenwood had a face that had been ruined in the accident that killed his parents. She decided that scars would not bother her and was pleasantly surprised when the Duke appeared at their home some days later.
Persephone had a sister named Cordelia and she refused to leave her gentle sister to the marriage machinations of her parents, and invited her to Burenwood.
Before anyone was comfortably settled, Roderick, a once close cousin brought himself and his “friend” to impose on the newly married couple. Lady Vale, Roderick’s friend, was cruel to Cordelia, and Roderick was cruel to everyone. He had a plan to become Duke, and since he was still the heir apparent, there was only one way for that to happen.
This was an excellent story and the characters are vivid and well drawn. There was, however, serious grammatical errors and at least one place where the writing was vague enough to be confusing. I make enough mistakes for ten people, so I decided to overlook the errors in favor of the well told tale. This is a clean five star romance… with a few booboos.
January 15, 2026
A Refreshing Bloom in a Garden of Stiff Formality
There is something utterly delightful about a lady who takes matters into her own hands—and her inkwell. Persephone is no wilting flower; faced with her family’s mounting debts, she proposes to the scarred, greenhouse-dwelling Duke via letter, and the result is a charmingly pragmatic success.
It is a rare treat to find a "ton" marriage where the characters behave like actual humans rather than caricatures of Regency expectations. The Duke, for all his scars and eccentric notions, meets his match in Persephone. She doesn't just tolerate his solitary nature; she cultivates a genuine friendship and a love worth fighting for, briskly weeding out his stranger ideas along the way.
Watching a smart man recognize a brilliant woman, talk to her, and actually marry her—without three hundred pages of unnecessary misunderstandings—was incredibly refreshing. Their emotional reactions felt authentic and grounded, proving that a marriage of convenience can indeed blossom into something far more passionate when the participants are as well-developed as these two.
There is something utterly delightful about a lady who takes matters into her own hands—and her inkwell. Persephone is no wilting flower; faced with her family’s mounting debts, she proposes to the scarred, greenhouse-dwelling Duke via letter, and the result is a charmingly pragmatic success.
It is a rare treat to find a "ton" marriage where the characters behave like actual humans rather than caricatures of Regency expectations. The Duke, for all his scars and eccentric notions, meets his match in Persephone. She doesn't just tolerate his solitary nature; she cultivates a genuine friendship and a love worth fighting for, briskly weeding out his stranger ideas along the way.
Watching a smart man recognize a brilliant woman, talk to her, and actually marry her—without three hundred pages of unnecessary misunderstandings—was incredibly refreshing. Their emotional reactions felt authentic and grounded, proving that a marriage of convenience can indeed blossom into something far more passionate when the participants are as well-developed as these two.
November 4, 2025
A Letter/A Marriage/A Dog/An Orchid
Lady Persephone writes a letter to save her family but has little hope until a carriage drives up. Her sister comes to live with her & Duke Phillip but as soon as they arrive his cousin barges in.. wanting to be Duke himself for years. Phillip, injured years earlier in a carriage accident keeps to himself but finds his Duchess perfect as they share a love of Botany. Lord Roderick is determined to get Phillip out of the way & when he disappears & does not return panic sets it. But his dear Duchess finds him first but the danger is not over!!
Lady Persephone writes a letter to save her family but has little hope until a carriage drives up. Her sister comes to live with her & Duke Phillip but as soon as they arrive his cousin barges in.. wanting to be Duke himself for years. Phillip, injured years earlier in a carriage accident keeps to himself but finds his Duchess perfect as they share a love of Botany. Lord Roderick is determined to get Phillip out of the way & when he disappears & does not return panic sets it. But his dear Duchess finds him first but the danger is not over!!
November 1, 2025
Sally Forbes … Falling for a Beastly Duke
Phillip received a letter from Persephone offering matrimony since he needed a wife without going public and she needed saving from her parents’ financial ruin. However, Phillip has a cousin who is sure he has the right to be the Duke in Phillip’s place and plots to kill him. Persephone and Maurice, the Irish Wolf puppy he bought her as a wedding gift, saved him. A good read!
Phillip received a letter from Persephone offering matrimony since he needed a wife without going public and she needed saving from her parents’ financial ruin. However, Phillip has a cousin who is sure he has the right to be the Duke in Phillip’s place and plots to kill him. Persephone and Maurice, the Irish Wolf puppy he bought her as a wedding gift, saved him. A good read!
November 1, 2025
It was an enjoyable read about a marriage of convenience with some villainous relatives to add some intrigue. It was kind of different with the FMC proposing, but she does it to save her family. There is a dog that makes an appearance which is nice. It was an enjoyable read, but needs more proofreading.
November 7, 2025
Beastly he was Not
Persephone and Phillip's story was simply wonderful. I always enjoy a historical regency romance that falls outside the societal rules. It's amazing how vane society was and still is. Very relatable subject matter, and great quick read. First time reading this author, but will not be the last.
Persephone and Phillip's story was simply wonderful. I always enjoy a historical regency romance that falls outside the societal rules. It's amazing how vane society was and still is. Very relatable subject matter, and great quick read. First time reading this author, but will not be the last.
October 26, 2025
Persephone marries a duke and though their marriage starts out as just a marriage of benefit to both it ends up being a marriage of love and respect despite family members trying to disrupt and disrespect them
November 12, 2025
Icy Arrangements 1
This author wrote this with clear, concise, and extremely expressive words. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I would highly recommend anyone who enjoys historical regency time era to read this.
This author wrote this with clear, concise, and extremely expressive words. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I would highly recommend anyone who enjoys historical regency time era to read this.
January 5, 2026
I enjoyed the story; it was clean, the main characters were admirable, and there was a bit of suspense toward the end. But the ebook was very poorly edited. Full of typos — misplaced and misused words and punctuation.
October 26, 2025
This was a great story! I enjoyed the plot, loved the characters and loved the intrigue that it involved. Was a relatively easy reading and nicely written.
November 3, 2025
arranged marriage,, inheritance fight, cute dog.
December 12, 2025
Utterly predictable.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews