The Duke's Reluctant Bride

Sweet Chase Brides #3

by Lauren Royal, Devon Royal

♥ A highwayman who is also a duke…in a kilt!
♥ A forced marriage
♥ A haunted Scottish castle
♥ A treasure hunt
♥ Sweet romance!

Another captivating romance from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Royal and her daughter, featuring their “outrageously funny, loyal, and endearing” Chase family!

Lady Kendra Chase’s brothers insist it’s high time she wed. But although they’ve presented her with an abundance of suitable young men, no one has caught her fancy—until her coach is held up by a dashing, mysterious highwayman. When the two of them are caught in a compromising embrace and her overprotective brothers demand they marry, Kendra is aghast. Are they really desperate enough to match her with an outlaw?

Scottish-born Patrick “Trick” Caldwell is the new Duke of Amberley—and also the so-called Black Highwayman. But he’s about to learn that leading a double life isn’t nearly as complicated as marriage. When he’s compelled to wed beautiful, headstrong Kendra, he finds himself caught between his perilous secret mission and his watchful new bride. Can Trick untangle the web of half-truths and heartache before he loses his one chance at love?

PLEASE NOTE: This book is a SWEET & CLEAN ROMANCE. If you’d prefer to read a steamy romance with a similar plot, look for “A Duke’s Guide to Seducing His Bride” by Lauren Royal.

Book Details
A complete, standalone story—no cliffhangers!

Series: Sweet Chase Brides, Book 4
Style: Sweet historical romance
Length: 102,500 words (about 410 standard pages)
Bonus Material: Author’s Note, preview of next book, link to giveaway
Clean Read: No offensive language or explicit content*

* If you’d prefer to read a steamy version of this series, look for “A Duke’s Guide to Seducing His Bride” by Lauren Royal.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Fiction, Regency, Historical Fiction, Ebooks

410 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 31, 2016

About the author

FALL IN LOVE WITH A HISTORICAL ROMANCE BY LAUREN ROYAL!

LAUREN ROYAL is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of humorous historical romance. Her “truly enchanting” novels have won many awards including Booklist's “Top 10 Romance of the Year,” and they’ve earned raves from reviewers including Publishers Weekly, who calls her “an impressive talent.”

All of Lauren's books are complete, stand-alone stories, and yet they are also all connected—because they all feature her beloved “outrageously funny, loyal, compassionate, and unconventional” Chase family!

Lauren writes steamy historical romance on her own and sweet/clean historical romance with her daughter, Devon Royal. Lauren lives in Southern California with her family, two constantly shedding cats, and a stupendous collection of fuzzy socks. When she's not busy writing, she enjoys singing along (off-key) to Hamilton, dancing (badly), and (wasting time) watching HGTV.

Want great free and 99¢ books sent to your inbox on select Fridays? Sign up for Lauren's Book Club newsletter at http://royall.ink/Newsletter

Become an honorary Chase cousin (and get a FREE historical cookbook)! Join Lauren's Chase Family Readers Group on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/ChaseFamilyReaders

Visit Lauren’s website at LaurenRoyal.com, where you can learn about the real people and real places in her books, enter a contest to win jewelry, and see the ever-growing branches of the Chase Family Tree.

Join Lauren on Facebook...

Readers Group: facebook.com/groups/ChaseFamilyReaders
Facebook Page: facebook.com/LaurenRoyal

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so enjoyed reading this one. There is just something about the Royal authors that I just love. There books are always fun, and different. Every book is so unique, you never know what you are going to get. The woman are strong and bold but still very feminine. The story lines always hold my attention and keep me wanting more. I loved all the history I learned in this one. The Scotts are nuts:}The love stories are fun and just a shade naughty. They have a set of clean books and a set of not so clean books. This has behind the door sex scenes but sex is talked about often. This is one of the more sensual ones I have read of hers, but they are forced to marry in the beginning.

[✨ Gramy ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

..
This is the clean version( PG-rated: kisses only, no love scenes!) of this book. I believe there is also a steamy version, for those that prefer a different experience.

Fate deals Patrick "Trick" Caldwell, th new Duke of Ambersley a difficult hand when he holds up the coach of Lady Kendra, as the so-called Black Highwayman.

Lady Kendra is strong minded, opposed to gentleman of the peerage, and possesses spiritly keen senses.

She accidently stumbles on to his nefarious hidden life and her brothers catch her alone with this fellow and discover they are not champeroned. Here comes marriage to the rescue!

This was an excellent read, providing historical entertainment with a healthy dose of comedy. Kudos to this author's ability to provide such excellent reads!
.

[Mela]

Now [Oct., 2017] free on Amazon. It goes to kindle-black-hole ;-) Perhaps some day in the future I will be in a mood ;-)

[CYNTHIA CHARLES · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love how these stories tie in together and am able to see other characters grow.

[Monisha Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

(excerpts from full review found here: https://monishaleah.blogspot.in/2017/... )
Set in the 1600s and revolving around the life of a newly-married couple, this book fits aptly into the genre of "Historical Romance". However, the authors do not limit the story to just that, but have added in delightful elements of suspense, drama, action, feminism, and even a pinch of horror! There are highway robberies, betrayals, disguises, deaths, lovemaking and treasure chests in the same story - so you can guess the expansiveness of the plot.

Two individuals with ideologies of their own, pushed into a marriage arranged by family, learn to slowly break down barriers and let each other become part of their lives. It's a long, ardent process that involves effort - changing priorities, rewriting preset perceptions and allowing the self to step out of the comfort zone. Despite being set so far back in time, these experiences that the couple go through in the story are still very relevant to newly-weds today. The book also teaches some timeless lessons on placing trust and communication as paramount in every marriage.

Read the full review on my blog: https://monishaleah.blogspot.in/2017/...

[Virginia Tican · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the humor and the history lesson. The fact that her brothers all approved of her marriage to the Duke of Amberley, is already a big thing. This means the brothers have already vetted him for their sister which also indicates that they trust him. So I can not understand Kendra's suspicions of a mistress when there are no indicators that he has one, given that he blames his mother of the same transgression. His unexplained disappearances notwithstanding, he asked her to trust him. She should have done that, thus sparing herself from unnecessary angst. Other than this, this book's entertainment value is still very good and clearly the authors did their research and given the readers a surprisingly nice twist about that sunken treasure.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, sweet romance.

Really liked this story. Kendra and Trick were great and I loved the romance storyline.

This one was a little slower than the others. A lot happens, maybe too much. Some things seemed to get lost when another storyline came up. I thought the storylines might have been connected, but I don't think they were. So then I just forgot about the earlier one or was wondering what happened to it and if it would be finished. But then it all got resolved at the end somehow. As happens in books. But this was still a very good romance novel.

It is clean, but a little spicier than the others. A little more want and innuendo and foreplay. But the act is all behind closed doors. The kisses are just a little steamier.

[Dianne Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good story of Trick and Kendra. He is her "Amber Highwayman" also the Duke of Amberly. When she discovers his cottage one day, her brothers catch her and Trick in a compromising situation. Though nothing is happening, her brothers force her to marry him. She doesn't know he is a Duke until the next day. Unknown to to others, Trick is on a secret mission for King Charles II. He is not allowed to tell anyone about this. They must travel to Scotland when Trick's estranged mother begs him to come. Trick is arrested as the notorious Black Highwayman. Kendra tries to trust him, but each time he does something that shows she cannot. Can they find love?

[Teri Donaldson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with each of the Chase Family books, I was drawn in from the first scene and didn't come up for air until the last page.
I adored Trick (great name for a hero) and Kendra's story. It had intrigue, sweet romance, deceit, mystery and of course, Chase family members that we have met in earlier books. I loved the pace of the story, but as I neared the end, I had several "Oh No" moments. It was fabulous.
I always enjoy Devon and Lauren's rich descriptions of places, people and things. It makes for a great read.
I look forward to continuing with the rest of the series!

[CB Loves Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clean story, really enjoyed it. The beginning drew me in as the couple met - the hero seemed sweet even though he's a highway man. There was so much drama between the two and their families that I wondered when/if the two would ever actually be husband and wife. The authors kept the lovemaking clean, which I can appreciate, but I could still feel the passion between them. The drama between the two seemed to slow a little in the middle since a mystery about his past unfolded, but the pace picked back up for an intense ending.

[Annette Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

It’s not often I’ll give a 5 star rating on an historical book, but there was nothing about this book that was trope related or bland at all. Full bodied characters with anger, love and desperation and humour are well written. The story is quite involved and includes many unexpected turns and events throughout it. I thought it was a brilliant piece of imaginative writing that was clearly well researched, written so well I smiled and wiped away tears. Completely clean, you can’t go wrong.

[Barbara "Cookie" Serfaty Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Duke's Reluctant Bride ( Chase Bride Book 4)

The love story of Kendra and Trick. The Chase brothers want Kendra to chose a husband but she refuses to have any of the men her brothers has chosen for her. One Strom day she and Trick are court in his bedroom by her brother and now they much marry. Unknown to her Trick is the Duke of Camberley, she thinks he is a highwayman. Can she find love? Great story.

[Kyle Hakim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet short story. 19 y/o beatrice was forced to choose between marrying a duke or let her younger 16 y/o sister to be married off. She went to Reginald’s room and asked him to decline the arrangement and they were locked in the same room. So she married him. He patiently gave her space until she willingly gave her virginity to him. Epilogue with them making love on xmas and a news of her being pregnant.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trick/Patrick/Amberley- is on a mission(deal) with/for the Crown/King CharlesIII When he 1 st meets Kendra as a highwayman.
Kendra- liked her better in the other 2 bks , here she was a headstrong and sorta stupid. I'm not a fan of these types of heroines. She swore off dukes which we all knew it meant that she will marry one.
Overall I enjoyed the story of action and adventure with a loving hea.
ama

[Charline Bonham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highways or Duke

Brother's can be such a pain. They want her to marry and the man they choose is the Highway man. It must be a joke. What is the Duke really up to? The king will not let him confide in his wife and he could loose her. Well written and full of interesting details.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kendra first sees Trick when he robs a coach she is riding in with her brothers. She finds herself married to him within days and completely confused by the things he is doing. A thrilling combination of ups and downs in their relationship leaves her reeling when he won’t explain. A book to keep you interested all the way through.

[Neek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical fiction

I love historical fiction romance. Things were done so differently a few hundred years ago. Strong intelligent women were encouraged to hide their intellect in order to find a husband. Thankfully the author decided to allow her character to be openly intelligent and accepted by her husband as such.

[Robyn Echols · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a Character

Kendra is quite the character. She's an intelligent woman with not much common sense. The author puts her in multiple situations where her emotions get in the way of sound thinking, yet the hero, Trick, loves her because of it. Very good plot and suspense that kept me reading.

[Gayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable romance

This is a rewrite of a more explicit novel. As such it spends a lot of time focusing on the sex the characters aren't having. I found the actual story line and the historical setting much more interesting. I'm sorry the two themes had to compete. I wish there had been a way to maintain the personal struggles without taking away from the storyline.

[Katie K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!

This novel is a delight! Well-written; interesting characters; great plot, with just enough clean romance to make it really enjoyable. The authors intertwine some rea!!y interesting Scottish culture and English history, too, which had me enthralled. Loved the ending and the epilogue as well. It wasn't rushed, as so many authors tend to do.

[P Lynne Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this Tale in the Chase Series.

Always there is intrigue and twists. These clean romance books have been fantastic. Love the characters, primary and secondary. You love this book and want to read more of this series.

[Danielle Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very humorous Regency romance, and compelling a man to marry a woman for a kiss is just insane. Trick and Kendra both put up and try to smooth things over, while Trick hides he working for King and Country.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trick and Kendra. Meh. It must have just been me, but I didn't find this book very interesting at all. I kept picking it up, putting it down, re-reading what I'd just read because it wasn't memorable.

[Inspire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good fast read. Would of given another star but for the going on about lack of trust and the interlude in Scotland could have been a little less about all the relatives and more believable. The Chase series is quite good.

[Katie Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the witty banter between Kendra and Trick. I didn't realize that I've already read the next book until the end of this book. Silly me! Overall I liked the intrigue and espionage interspersed between the romance and banter.

[Kim Marie Kesmetis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging, sweet romance with enough suspense to make it a page turner

Thank-you for the sweet romance and fun adventure. Love this series of books and the strong women role models. Love that they are all virtuous and have their own minds.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit more stretched than the other of this series I have read. It's like they took two plots to fill the gap left from leaving the more explicit scenes out. Still a fun read, but pretty predictable.

[Janet Wild · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another delightful read from Lauren Royal

I enjoyed this book as much as the previous one I read. The historical settings are very good and link well to the actual places themselves. Characters are a delight and develop well as the tale unfolds

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lauren & Devon Royal produce yet another superb book together. A forced marriage, highway robbery, purloined treasure, murder and counterfeiting - there is no time for boredom with this novel. Highly recommended.

[Gypsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet

It was a nice and clean story. No sex in it. The characters were lovable. What I liked about it is that the chapters were short. But the story overall was great. I would read it again. It also made me want to find out how her brothers fell in love with their spouses.