How to Find a Duke in Ten Days -- anthology

Three men decide to help a retiring mentor, Professor Peebles, prove that his life's work isn't a myth.

The Will to Love by Grace Burrowes
Philomena Peebles, the professor's daughter, decides to go out for a job helping Seton Avery, Earl of Ramsdale, decipher his uncle's will. His uncle was the professor's archnemesis and left a fairly convoluted will in Latin. The two quickly realize that they are just as interested in each other as unraveling the mystery.

Not a lot of time for relationship development even though the two have known each other before.
Three stars

How to Steal a Duke by Shana Galen
In the group, there is one person-duke (as opposed to the four folios also know as "dukes" or the Duke) and he is the one who intercepts a cat burglar one night. Well, she jumps on the roof of his carriage to evade the clerk in the jewelry store she was robbing. He decides she will be the perfect way to steal the Duke from it's rumored place in a house on top of a hill. Or something. This story didn't hang together very well but it was short.

Two and a half stars.

The Viscount's First Kiss by Carolyn Jewel
The longest of the three novellas, Viscount Daunt works with his country neighbor and long-time friend, Magdalene Carter to go through the contents of several libraries he bought just to look for the Duke. At one time, Magdalene's now-deceased husband had been accused of stealing one of the manuscripts so she is anxious to help and clear her name
A nice story but muddled by the introduction of a villain that was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the story.

Three stars

Three stars
This book came out October 3, 2017
Opinions are my own

Marquesses at the Masquerade -- anthology

Once Upon a Ball by Emily Greenwood
Rosamund Shufflebottom has been relegated to being the seamstress for her aunt and cousins. The night before a big ball held by the Marquess of Boxham, they force her to stay up almost all night. But her uncle presents her with a ball gown and her own pearl necklace which her aunt demanded as payment for taking Rosamund in. And Rosamund gets to attend the ball where she meets the Marquess but also loses the pearl necklace. Her aunt finds out and casts her out of the house.

Two and a half stars - Rosamund was described as a firebrand but we never really see it or the reasons why the Marquess would fall in love with her. Yes, it's a Cinderella story but so short that there's not much built out from that bare bones beginning.

Only Unto Him by Susanna Ives
Lord Exmore knows that Miss Annalise Van Der Keer is not right for his cousin. And he tells her so in no uncertain terms, sending her from London. Three years later, she is back but the circumstances have changed. She is no longer so silly, having nursed her parents while they were dying and he is no longer held in regard, having gone off the rails after his wife died.
But then he sees Annalise in a print shop and realizes that she's changed. And with his own changes, maybe something they could work on.

The first part of the story, Annalise and Exmore moving from enemies to friends was captivating. It sort of fell apart when they got married and the Big Misunderstanding but the first three quarters was quite delightful.

Three and a half stars


The Governess and the Norse God by Grace Burrowes
Darien St. Ives,  Marquess of Tyne, loves his daughters and is grateful that his newest nanny, Lucy, has been able to help cheer them since the death of their mother. Lucy is forthright and humble, the perfect nanny. And when they both attend the same masquerade, it opens his eyes to the fact that she may just be his perfect woman.
There was a subplot of a love triangle that didn't need to be there in such a short story but overall an enjoyable read.

Three and a half stars


This book came out April 17th, 2018
Hard copy I didn't keep
Opinions are my own

My One and Only Duke by Grace Burrowes

Jane Winston MacGowan is a widow, pregnant, and visiting prisons with her reverend father. She is only trying to make a man on death row feel a little better, she doesn't expect a marriage proposal. Nor does she expect to find out that he's a long-lost duke and about to be rescued from the noose.
Quinn Wentworth (hottie from previous Burrowes books) is beyonad surprised to find out that he's been released. As gentry, no less. But that just means that he can a) rescue the people he's made friends with while in prison, b) find out who put him in jail, and c) take his revenge.
While checking off his list items, Quinn becomes a little less of a hottie while lying and deceiving his wife and family. And his family is a little over the top but I think regular Burrowes readers won't be too disappointed.

Three stars
This book came out November 6
ARC provided by NetGalley; Opinion is my own

The Duke's Disaster by Grace Burrowes

And this is the reason that I keep reading Grace Burrowes. Not every story of hers connects with me but every once in awhile, there is one that just poings my happy reading nerves. It's not an all out adventure running from villains book, just a book about two people who have already gotten married, and are trying to sort out what to do about it.
Noah Winters, Duke of Anselm, has had enough of courting. The SYT he was after married someone else so he proposes to her companion. Simple enough, right? And now he's married.
But Thea Collins has her own reasons for getting married. Well, she tried to resist at first but Noah was sort of insistent. When he discovers one of her secrets on their wedding night, it changes the nature of the relationship. But he isn't a complete dick about the whole thing, as many men of his time would have been (even some "heroes" in romance novels.) Instead, he tries to figure out how they're going to live given that neither really came to the marriage without secrets. Because yes, he has a few of his own...

Lady Jenny's Christmas Portrait by Grace Burrowes

Image from Goodreads

Lady Genevieve Windham is the last in married hold of the Duke of Windham, the man who has worked so hard to marry off his children in the previous seven books of the series. She's resigned herself to being alone and taking care of her parents because she will never marry. Unlike her sisters who all had the *exact same reason* for not wanting to marry, Jenny is an artist and knows that if she marries, she'll be forced to stop.

She comes into contact with Mr. Elijah Harrison who is trying to get accepted into the Royal Academy of Arts when he's hired to do the portraits of her nieces. Well, meets him *again* (she saw him... ALL of him... when she was an art student and he was a model). And now he wants her help with painting the children. She agrees, but only if he'll pose for her again and give critiques.

There is an obsession in this book (as with the others in this series) about family and having children that just rubs me a little bit. Also, Burrowes reliance on a Big Misunderstanding but it's overall a pretty fun read and perfect for the holiday season.