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The Duke Who Didn't

(Wedgeford Trials #1)

Courtney Milan (Goodreads Author)

4.06 · Rating details · 1,813 ratings · 461 reviews

Miss Chloe Fong has plans for her life, lists for her days, and absolutely no time for nonsense. Three years ago, she told her childhood sweetheart that he could talk to her once he planned to be serious. He disappeared that very night.

Except now he’s back. Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing, has returned to the tiny village he once visited with the hope of wooing Chloe ...more

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Kindle Edition, 311 pages

Published September 22nd 2020 by Femtopress LLC

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Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

2020 Adult Romance by Authors of Color

245 books — 80 voters

Snow Falling by Jane Gloriana Villanueva

Historical Romances by Authors of Color

19 books — 2 voters

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· 1,813 ratings · 461 reviews

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Sep 17, 2020 aarya rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-in-arc-ebook, aoc-asian, theme-food, author-of-color, rating-4, owned-in-deadtree-autographed, trope-fp-only-one-bed, r-subgenre-hist-romance-european, s-england, theme-ch-duke-duchess

2020 Fall Bingo (#fallintorombingo🍁): ‪Grumpy & Sunshine

Since our heroine Chloe loves lists, I thought that it would be fitting to write my brief review (aka All The Reasons I Liked This Book) in list form!

1) Grumpy/Sunshine vibes, y'all! Jeremy is a mischievous trickster who loves to tease Chloe and has given on ever being serious. And while Chloe isn't grumpy all the time, she's serious/no-nonsense enough that the couple dynamic still counts as a variant of Grumpy/Sunshine.

“Why not?” Jere ...more

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Nov 11, 2020 Lacey (laceybooklovers) rated it really liked it

Shelves: tbr-2020, listened-to-audio, adult, author-of-color, second-chance-romance, historical-romance

If you love an adoring hero who is the biggest DORK alive and who cannot stop cracking jokes, you’ll love Jeremy! Also, Asians!!! In a historical romance!!! One of whom is a DUKE. Bless you, Courtney Milan.

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Sep 05, 2020 Melanie marked it as to-read

Recommended to Melanie by: Romie

Shelves: romance, historical

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Oct 03, 2020 OLT rated it liked it

(2.5 stars) Well, I dunno. Maybe I missed something here, because I couldn't find a 5-star story in this to save my life. Yes, it's a sweet romance. Yes, it's a lovely homage to author Milan's Chinese heritage. Yes, it informs, to an extent, about prejudice, racism, and bigotry, about the importance of family and culture. These are all admirable things. And the characters here are appealing people. And I also appreciated Milan's author's notes at the end of the story, notes which were more instr (2.5 stars) Well, I dunno. Maybe I missed something here, because I couldn't find a 5-star story in this to save my life. Yes, it's a sweet romance. Yes, it's a lovely homage to author Milan's Chinese heritage. Yes, it informs, to an extent, about prejudice, racism, and bigotry, about the importance of family and culture. These are all admirable things. And the characters here are appealing people. And I also appreciated Milan's author's notes at the end of the story, notes which were more instructive and informative about Chinese history and culture than the story itself.

But the story, albeit romantic and sweet, had a very slow and repetitive plot and felt written just for Milan to pay respect to her heritage, not to supply me with a great romance. (Yeah, it's all about me here because I am in the minority about this romance.) I guess I'll give this three stars just because. Just because I admire Courtney Milan's stance on many social issues. Just because I have enjoyed many of the books she wrote in the past. (Mostly the Brothers Sinister, a Turner or two, and maybe one and a half of the Worth saga.)

It's 1890 in England. The hero is the son of a Chinese woman who married a white Brit of the peerage (who eventually, through misfortunes of family members, became the Duke of Lansing). After the death of his father, this mixed-race young man is a duke of the realm. (Yep, that's right. There were a heck of a lot more Blacks living in Victorian England than Asians, but no matter that there were few mixed Black members of the peerage, much less dukes. That's not really important to the story.)

Our heroine, Chloe, is Chinese and lives in a village in the countryside which is 50% inhabited by Chinese immigrants. (Not sure if I read anything much about the 50% non-Chinese inhabitants. What did they do? Why were they there?) Jeremy, the young duke, has been coming every year since his adolescence to the village for its annual celebration, complete with a competition and lots of delicious Asian food to enjoy. He believes that he does so incognito, that nobody knows that he is the Duke of Lansing, owner of that village and its surrounding land.

Chloe is an introverted listmaking planner, considered cold and unfriendly by many. She doesn't leave home without her clipboard (called a "board clip" here for some reason. Isn't that the clip on the board, not the board itself?) Jeremy is more spontaneous and outgoing. He is also in love with Chloe and has been for years. Chloe is in love with Jeremy and has been for years. Now all they have to do is get on the same page.

So the book is full of repetitive ruminating, repetitive conversations, a slow plot, and an eventual HEA. The tidbits about Asian food and culture, the characters' interactions, including other inhabitants of the village, a "brown sauce" being developed by Chloe's father and a revenge planned by them to get even with the British men who stole the father's initial sauce years ago and bottled it as their own, are all somewhat interesting, but not enough to make me like this more than I did.

Lest you think I am unfeeling about the plight of immigrants, I will tell you that my husband is one to the U.S. He is post-graduate educated, speaks three languages, his acquired-language English with an accent. And he does not look WASP-y white. So there are undereducated people in this country, ones who just barely can speak their own language, who feel superior to him because they are whiter-looking. I abhor prejudice and bigotry. That was not my problem with this new Milan romance. I just found the romance lacking by my Romanceland standards. ...more

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Sep 08, 2020 Jess rated it it was amazing

Shelves: grumpy-sunshine, extended-proximity, favorites, by-a-woman, all-about-them-ladies, poc-author, series, historical-fiction, galley, romance

THIS WAS SO DELIGHTFUL.

What do you expect from a Courtney Milan book, right? But also, two British characters of Chinese descent falling in love in a historical romance? Sign me the fuck up. They're both absolutely wonderful characters to read, with the best kinds of suck it up moments. The only thing that might drop this below five stars for some readers is the pace and progress between no relationship and absolutely relationship, but stuff like that happens, yeah?

Anyway, I'm so excited for al ...more

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Oct 23, 2020 Sam (AMNReader) rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, one-clicked-that, sweet-hero, sweet-talker, read-in-2020

In a time of pervasive toxic masculinity Milan (as usual) offers an antidote in the form of a sweet and often goofy-ish duke who lacks impulse control named Jeremy. Jeremy has a lot of names, is exactly what he seems, and all of his names make his life and dedication to Chloe a little more complicated than a rich guy loving a difficult woman.

Though I didn't find Chloe all that difficult, there are definitely shades of many women you know that are easy to spot and endear you to the character. If ...more

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Aug 18, 2020 Nenia ✨️ Socially Awkward Trash Panda ✨️ Campbell marked it as wishlist

Shelves: poc-interracial

Only 99 cents today!!!!!

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Aug 18, 2020 WhiskeyintheJar marked it as to-read

Shelves: new-releases

September??!!!???

Is the Worth Saga on indefinite hold? Is this some spinoff? Is this some completely separate new series?

I wish I didn't go nutzoid when Milan updates her GRs with any crumb of info. But seriously, the release date says Sept but release dates don't always hold true, so I'm kind of dying that it could be so close.

A new historical series by Milan!!!! ...more

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Oct 08, 2020 Joanna Loves Reading rated it really liked it

Shelves: hr-geographical, hr, i-own-nook, mofo-dukes

First of all, I enjoyed this. It was low angst, which I enjoy. Overall, I thought it was lovely. I thought the leads were well drawn and relatable and I enjoyed the setting. I am not quite sure how I want to rate this yet. Hopefully I will figure that out by the time I get through this review.

If you are a fan of Milan, this is not a return to her old form à la Brothers Sinister, for example. It felt new. The pieces came together easily and smoothly. There was great banter, which is something to First of all, I enjoyed this. It was low angst, which I enjoy. Overall, I thought it was lovely. I thought the leads were well drawn and relatable and I enjoyed the setting. I am not quite sure how I want to rate this yet. Hopefully I will figure that out by the time I get through this review.

If you are a fan of Milan, this is not a return to her old form à la Brothers Sinister, for example. It felt new. The pieces came together easily and smoothly. There was great banter, which is something to expect from Milan. There were social issues addressed, another hallmark of Milan, but they didn't feel forced, which her more recent books have felt somewhat forced. It was as advertised. It was fluffier and you could tell Milan enjoyed writing it, which in turn made it a joy to read. But it didn't bring the reader through the gut wrenching, yet rewarding journey that some of my favorites by her did.

Chloe is a very relatable character, IMO. She likes lists. She makes lots of lists and gets really behind on her lists and procrastinates. Reading her characterization was cathartic. Jeremy is a Duke, but he is also half-Chinese. He hasn't told anyone in Wedgeford he's the duke that owns most of the town. He just tries blend in with a society where he doesn't stand out for his ethnicity. Wedgeford reminded of Tessa Dare's Spindle Cove -- a somewhat isolated society where normal priggish British society is not very present, where they make their own rules on what is acceptable. Jeremy has been in love Chloe for years. Chloe has been in love with Jeremy for years. This is the story of where they finally come together.

Ultimately, this story didn't blow me away, but I really appreciated it. More stories like this please. More diversity in Historical Romance, PLEASE. Writers, please write stories that bring you joy -- it shows when they do. I hope there are more stories that return to Wedgeford, because that was certainly a highlight. What a delightful setting that Milan created, with delightful secondary characters.

In conclusion, if you like angst and liked it when Milan brought the angst, this may not be story for you. It's a character-driven story that builds and the characters don't have TSTL moments. So, if you like diverse historical romances, if you like low-angst stories, you may really like this one.

This is sitting about 4.25 stars for me. I expect to reread at some point. ...more

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Sep 12, 2020 Silvana [The Book Voyagers] rated it it was amazing

So happy to have read it because Courtney Milan continues to bless us with romance books. I'm so happy I live in a world (and at the same time!) where Courtney writes and publishes romance novels. Every single one hits my insides with so many emotions.

The Duke Who Didn't is a childhood friends to lovers romance where Jeremy returns to Wedgeford to finalyl ask Chloe to marry him. But Chloe was hurt when the last time he came (three years ago tho!) he broke her heart. Though Jeremy is ready with ...more

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Oct 29, 2020 Theresa rated it really liked it

4.5 stars
This book was such a breath of fresh air in the historical romance world. It's funny, cute, self-aware and has a genuinely interesting story as well as loveable characters and a very unique setting: the multicultural town of Wedgeford, whose population is largely comprised of characters of Asian descent.
I'm not too familiar with the historical details, but I'm sure there weren't many actual British dukes who were half Chinese. But this book just makes sense. The premise makes sense, the ...more

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Oct 04, 2020 Gaufre rated it really liked it

At first, I wasn't really impressed about this book. The list making was too cutesy and all the reviews mentioned the book is a lighter read. But Sam and Heather told me they would buddy read it with me and it is Courtney Milan after all so I couldn't resist.

The beginning and the end of the book are light. The middle hit me upside the head. HARD. I do not think it is a light book at all. The characters do know what they want so they are already half-way to their happy ending. In that sense, the ...more

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Sep 30, 2020 *The Angry Reader* rated it liked it

Shelves: historicals, 2020

Adorable. Slightly confusing. Funny. Meandering. A thoroughly enjoyable little read. And I loved all of the culture encapsulated in the story.

...more

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Sep 23, 2020 Michelle Zapf-bélanger rated it liked it

Ok so you all know how Tessa Dare created a seaside town called “Spindle Cove”, which is a haven for spinsters, bluestockings, and wallflowers? Basically, a whole village chock-full of romance heroines you can use for as many novels as you care to continue the series? Yeah so Courtney Milan has created the Spindle Cove OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION. Wedgeford is a late-Victorian English town, with a plausible backstory, where tons of people of colour live and thrive. Brilliant. The town is full of Ok so you all know how Tessa Dare created a seaside town called “Spindle Cove”, which is a haven for spinsters, bluestockings, and wallflowers? Basically, a whole village chock-full of romance heroines you can use for as many novels as you care to continue the series? Yeah so Courtney Milan has created the Spindle Cove OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION. Wedgeford is a late-Victorian English town, with a plausible backstory, where tons of people of colour live and thrive. Brilliant. The town is full of romance heroes and heroines of colour, and because they’re in this “diverse bubble”, their stories can be about more than just how hard it was to be ethnic in England in the 19th century (though obviously it was). I look forward to whatever she comes up with—the town of Wedgeford gives her a lot of scope. How do you write more diversity into historical romance? BAM.

Wedgeford is owned by the Duke of Lansing, and this book is his story, kind of. I’m not sure I think it’s the strongest intro to a series she’s ever written. If you are a Milan fan (like me) you should of course read this, and if you are new to her writing, you might want to consider beginning instead with The Duchess War, which I feel is a strong series opener.

In keeping with the theme of this novel, I procrastinated writing this review. Both main characters were blocked in some way in this novel, unable to move forward with their lives, even as what they had to do became increasingly obvious. I appreciated that Milan dealt with this theme in her novel. I appreciated her little insights about being creatively stymied, anxious, and unable to do what must be done. I related. I am an artist and so I really, really, related.

It’s a difficult theme to show in a novel without weakening the plot, because showing two blocked characters, unable to act, means that you risk ending up with a novel without a lot happening. I feel Milan’s book suffered from this pitfall. There were many things I loved about this book, and I think I see where she was going with all this. At the same time, I feel like both characters have an interesting story, but I’m not sure I read it.

As this novel opens, our main characters have already met, fallen in love. I missed the courtship part of the story—we see some of it in flashbacks near the end of the book, but not enough for me to fully buy into their romance.

The stakes in this story are very low from the start, verging on boringly low. The hero wants to ask the heroine to marry him, and comes into town to do that. He is pretty sure she will say no, even though there is no plausible reason why he would think this. The heroine likes making lists, so he has this plan where he’ll pay her to make a list of the characteristics he should want in a wife, and that she will realize he wants her. Sort of. The plan is like I just described, but less reasonable and straightforward, and more abstract. It does not work, for either the heroine or for me. Meanwhile, the heroine’s dad has invented sweet and sour sauce or something, and they are going to debut it at this festival in Wedgeford, but she has not thought of a name for the sauce and therefore cannot print the labels. The fact that the sauce is Unnamed is one of the main issues in the story, and I don’t want to disparage that because it leads to a bunch of great moments where we realize Things Don’t Have To Be Perfect, Just Good Enough and You Should Ask For Help When You Need It and other great things, and I like that and agree with that, but it also causes problems.

The whole first half of the novel is them going on walks, and talking in a sort of stylized, circular way, and him saying, “What if we put “stubborn” on the list?” and her saying “Shucks, I just can’t think of a good name for this sauce!” and there are about 3 or 4 scenes of this and not much else. The hero teases the heroine a lot in a way that annoys me, but would like us (the readers) to know that he doesn’t tease her when it’s really important. We are told, not shown, this.

We are told, not shown, almost everything. Since the characters aren’t shown doing much, or reacting to dramatic circumstances, their characters are not revealed by plot. We have to trust what they say about themselves and each other to get an idea of their characters. (Is Chloe really stubborn? Is Jeremy really understanding? I don’t know, probably.)

They both have excellent backstories, which I also wish I saw shown in the story in a more direct way. The Duke has a lot of trouble being a Chinese aristocrat, and I appreciate the book isn’t about him fighting for acceptance, but without seeing at least a little more of his regular life, the book feels like when you fall in love with someone at summer camp but don’t really get to know the person they are. (Actually, that is pretty much exactly the heroine’s experience.) The heroine’s parents have some seriously great backstory—her mother was a high-ranking government official in The Heavenly Kingdom in Taiping. She flees the country to the Caribbean with her newborn baby as the rebellion topples around her. I know the story isn’t about the mom either, but if it was, I would have read it.

I actually found myself wanting to follow quite a few side characters in this novel. Perhaps I could have checked out the Wedgeford Trials, a sort of town-wide festival featuring an epic Capture the Flag-type game which sounds super wacky. The main characters usually play this wacky game—they talk about how they’ve played it in the past—but they don’t play it during the novel, because of course they wouldn’t, not the year when we’re reading about them. Every once in awhile, as they went on walks and sniped at each other evasively, we’d come upon a character participating in the Wedgeford Trials, running around having wacky fun. The reader is given the chance to stare at the fun wistfully but is then forced to follow Mr. Silly and Ms. Grumps around on their Walk of Procrastination.

It doesn’t seem like it from this review, but I am a huge Milan fan. I’ve read everything she’s written with a great deal of enjoyment, just sitting there reading like “Yess!” and “She gets it! She gets me!” I’ve never written an ARC review before, and to my shame, when I looked on Goodreads, I’ve hardly reviewed any of her novels. I will begin to rectify that immediately, and so many of her books get 5 stars from me, or will, by next week or whenever I review them. I SWEAR.

This book ultimately gets 3 stars for the diverse worldbuilding and delicious Chinese food descriptions. It has many things which make all of Milan’s books good: a beta hero, lots of consent in the sex scenes. The style/tone of the book borders on “contemporary” in a way I didn’t love. The book also has structural problems, and commits the crime of being a Pretty Good Story when we are given the impression that there’s an Extremely Great Story hovering juuuuuust out of frame of the camera, and we want it, we want it, but it isn’t quite there. ...more

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Aug 18, 2020 Heather *Undercover Goth Queen* marked it as nevermind

Shelves: ebooks-at-library

DNF for now at 40%

I barged into a buddy-read with Sam and Gaufre, only for them to finish and me to just... not. Not only that, they gave positive reviews. I'm actually finding this incredibly boring. As with many of Milan's previous works, everyone and everything is just so nice, and that's not my thing. Maybe I'll try to finish it some other time. ...more

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Sep 11, 2020 Melissa McHugh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall Impressions

It’s been a while since Courtney Milan’s last full-length historical novel (After the Wedding, 2018) and as a devoted follower on Twitter, I know that the last few years have been difficult for her because people are terrible and stupid. You might expect her first book to be a fluffy, delightful farce that distracts us all from the dumpster fire of 2020.

You’d be right.

You’d also be terribly wrong.

Somehow, this book ...more

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Nov 16, 2020 Lindsay rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, historical-fiction

The town of Wedgeford is a nineteenth century melting pot of cultures squatting on an absent duke's land. The people of Wedgeford are proud of their heritage but still dream of doing well in England. Few more so than Chloe Fong and her father, working towards a plan to market a nameless sauce and get their revenge on businessman who ripped off Chloe's father.

Jeremy Wentworth is a young well-off half-Chinese man who has been visiting Wedgeford for a festival called the Wedgeford Trials ever since ...more

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Sep 06, 2020 Malin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cbr12, diversity-challenge-2020, new-releases-2020, my-books, e-books-2020, how-many-books-2020

This was an ARC sent to me by the author. I had already pre-ordered the book, and the free copy has not influenced my review in any way.

Chloe Fong is seen as strict, stern, intimidating, and demanding by everyone in the little village of Wedgeford Downs, where she lives with her father. Chloe's mother died when she was a baby, and Chloe's father was taken advantage of by unscrupulous businessmen, who have now gotten rich because of the sauce he developed for them. Chloe wants to help her father ...more

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Nov 29, 2020 nick (the infinite limits of love) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-books-i-love, adult, historical, 2020-favorites, nov-2020

JEREMY.
That's it. That's my review. ...more

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Nov 06, 2020 Heather K (dentist in my spare time) marked it as to-read

Shelves: bought-but-haven-t-read-yet

Thank you for the gift, Green as Grinch Grouch!

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Oct 29, 2020 Kit rated it it was amazing

5*

I loved this. This was the softest, gentlest, most beautiful romance I've read in a long while, and it was just what I needed.

Thank you, Courtney Milan. I hope you continue to find joy in writing like this. ...more

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Sep 09, 2020 Maggie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2021

First book of 2021! I loved so much about this. Courtney Milan did what Shondaland does so well with Bridgerton -- took a standard romance story, imbued it with history that involves people of color, and created something fun and clever and wonderful. It wasn't the retelling of Persuasion I was originally expecting based on early reviews, but it was something altogether its own and I enjoyed it that much more.

++++++

Wentworth! Asians! PERSUASIAN!!!!! HERE FOR ITTTTTTTT! ...more

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Aug 21, 2020 Wendy'sThoughts marked it as to-read

Recommends it for: Courtney Milan, Historical Romance

August 21, 2020
It Wasn't Too Much To Ask...
Miss Chloe Fong Explained The Obvious...
One Needed To Be Serious...
One Needed To Stop The Shenanigans...

Jeremy Wentworth, Her Childhood Sweetheart...
Was Smitten And He Was Told...
Stop The Nonsense and Then...
Miss Chloe Fong Will Converse With Him...

Unfortunately, Then Jeremy Wentworth Disappeared...

During His Time Away...
He Tried And Tried...
To Be What Miss Fong Wanted...
But There Was A Couple of Problems...

Mainly, No Matter What He Did...
His Persona ...more

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Sep 27, 2020 Elizabeth rated it really liked it

An objective 4 stars. I wanted to love it more than I did. The writing was superb as usual, but I found myself forgetting this was supposed to be historical. It didn't feel historical to me, (not because of the race/ethnicity of the characters) perhaps due to the language. I can't call it anachronistic because I don't know. Maybe it was.

I was shocked to see it was supposed to be a retelling of Persuasion, because I didn't see that at all.

I loved Jeremy. Chloe was okay. The food was wonderfully ...more

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Sep 24, 2020 steph rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-with-ladies-duchesses-visco, books-with-earls-dukes-viscounts, books-read-in-2020, romance-historical, romance-regency, e-book, own

This was an enjoyable read. It was funny, light and the gentle banter between Chloe and Jeremy was exactly what my soul needed right now. It was honestly refreshing that no major drama or miscommunication happened in the course of this novel I kept waiting for the shoe to drop in the end regarding Jeremy revealing he is the duke but (view spoiler) ...more

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Sep 12, 2020 Teleseparatist rated it really liked it

Shelves: earc, 2020

I received an ARC of the book for review purposes. My opinions are my own.

This was a lovely, cosy and warm historical romance that's just the right mix of smart, funny and heartfelt. Chloe and Jeremy's affection and attraction are believable and worth rooting for - they're adorable together, their chemistry is visible on page and their happy ending was satisfying. I enjoyed spending time with them in Wedgeford and I loved the subtle humour as well as the more obviously comical moments, but perha I received an ARC of the book for review purposes. My opinions are my own.

This was a lovely, cosy and warm historical romance that's just the right mix of smart, funny and heartfelt. Chloe and Jeremy's affection and attraction are believable and worth rooting for - they're adorable together, their chemistry is visible on page and their happy ending was satisfying. I enjoyed spending time with them in Wedgeford and I loved the subtle humour as well as the more obviously comical moments, but perhaps the most compelling part of the book was the relationship between the two protagonists and their community. It made them feel real and lovely.

The success of a romance novel is often down to the details - the way in which the author puts their own flourish on reliable tropes and tweaks a familiar narrative structure achieving the right balance between new and known. Milan takes some risks here, experimenting with the conflict and the structure and it pays off - the novel does a few unexpected twists in a way that made me laugh out loud (waking my cat in the process) and that also made me think "of course" in the aftermath - all the clues were there. This was the best way to make the pieces fall together. And together they fall.

And then there's the details of the world and minor characters that I just loved. The revenge subplot. The Chinese heritage details concerning the protagonists and their families that were described so lovingly. Chloe's father and all the ways in which his fierce love for Chloe manifested itself. And the unnamed sauce. (In fact, the surprising thing about this book might be that it's not really bedtime reading because the mouth-watering descriptions of cooking and eating made me hungry every time!)

I guess the only thing I didn't quite love in the book was the eponymous Wedgeford Trials aspect - not because I didn't enjoy it, but because it felt like the fact that the protagonists didn't participate in them in the time of the action meant that this aspect felt incomplete to me - but that only means there's space for us to see the trials themselves in the sequel(s) that I hope will come.

Finally, I loved the extended author's notes. It was fascinating to hear about the real stories that served as inspiration for some of the author's choices, and the story behind the story is something I'd gladly read for every book I read.

Highly recommended. ...more

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Sep 06, 2020 Mary Bertke rated it it was amazing

You can only read a book for the first time once, and I meant to make this one last. I meant to savor it, enjoy its complexities, not bolt it down in a single sitting. So I put it down several times through the day, between chapters, and did other things.

And that’s how it happened that I finished reading the author’s note at the end of Courtney Milan’s _The Duke Who Didn’t_ at one in the morning, rather than in the early evening.

This book is extremely unusual amongst romance novels, in that the ...more

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Oct 10, 2020 Darcy rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, e-book, did-not-finish, historical-romance

I haven't read any of this author's historicals, but have liked her contemproy romances. So I thought it was worth checking this one out. Sadly this one didn't work for me, giving it up around 30%. I found I was bored, I have a feeling that Jeremy's secret identity will not come out good and oddly enough I found myself more interested in knowing what they were going to name the sauce, but it wasn't enough to keep me reading. This one just wasn't for me. ...more

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Sep 24, 2020 Kirsten rated it it was amazing

One of the few books I’ve been able to finish during COVID, and it was a very good escape to a place a little brighter and kinder. I am so grateful to Courtney Milan for her softer books, ones that don’t have a gut drop of conflict and betrayal in the middle. Those are thrilling and fun in their own right, and I enjoy reading them during other times, but right now? I love the soft reveals of honesty and the loving acceptances, and this book had them in droves.

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Aug 21, 2020 Elena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: bipoc, adult, romance, historical, fills-me-with-evangelistic-zeal, favorites

COURTNEY MILAN. MY HEART.

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About Courtney Milan

Courtney Milan

4,418 followers

Courtney Milan’s books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist. She is a New York Times and a USA Today Bestseller and a RITA® winner.

Courtney lives in the Rocky Mountains with her husband, an exceptionally perfect dog, and an attack cat.

Before she started writing historical romance, Courtney got a graduate degree in theoretical physical chemistry from UC Berkeley. After th ...more