⭐⭐⭐⭐ Was I hooked by that book? Yes. An enjoyable romance that sees two childhood friends reunite and find love.

Lady Vesper Lyndhurst is beautiful, clever, and popular. Afforded every luxury as a duke’s daughter, she fills her days with friends, intrigues, and a self-professed knack for matchmaking. She may have sworn off love for herself, but she is rather excellent at arranging it. Faced with an insolvent estate, the Duke of Greydon has no choice but to return to England in a final attempt to revive his family’s fortunes. He’s been gone for years, happy to have escaped his mother and the petty circles of the ton. To his dismay, not much has changed, including the beautiful and vexing heiress next door. But when an accident of fate traps the friends-turned-enemies in an attic together, the explosive attraction between them becomes impossible to ignore and even harder to resist. They are total opposites and their lives don’t align in the slightest, but fate, the ultimate matchmaker, appears to have other plans…

MY THOUGHTS

The book was sprinkled all over with hilarious, sometimes inappropriate, sarcastic inner thoughts that made me smile. Lady Viper, uh, Vesper, had a few choice nicknames for Aspen as well that added another layer of amusement. Both of them were appealing, well-developed characters. Vesper made some questionable decisions and Aspen was too hard-headed for his own good. I loved their no-holds-barred approach once they decided to give their attraction free reign.

All of this levity perfectly balanced the very serious undertones of Aspen’s relationship with his mother and the tragic events that had befallen his father, without taking away from the gravity of the situation. Aspen’s mother was a properly despicable, hateful character.

I can recommend this book if you like steamy historical romance that also tackles family trauma.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Were you hooked by that book? Let me know in the comments below.

Genre: Historical Romance
Published: November 14, 2023
Sensuality Rating: Hot
Series: Taming of the Dukes
Tropes: Childhood Friends, Secret Crush, Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity