You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO is from Jill-Marie, who is looking for this audiobook:
Dog Dammit! I was just listening to this series on Audible, but now I can’t find the third book; all my history searches bring up nothing (again, DOG DAMMIT!).
Basically, there are two titled and now-happily married blokes and their (also happy) wives who have a friend(s) who are also married but NOT communicating.
The series is fairly recent. The first two men find their partners in the two books, the third is supposed to resolve (I hope) the discord between the other couple.
I’ve searched Audible. I’ve searched my library. BUT I CAN’T FIND THIS.
I want to say that it’s late Regency or maybe Gilded Age and set here in the U.S. but my mind can’t knock this loose.
It’s not Sarah MacLean’s “Scandal and Scoundrel” or Maya Banks’ Gilded Age series — both of which are excellent.
I clearly remember getting to the end of the Book Two from Audible as I was walking my dogs and saying, I need book three.
And now I can’t remember it. (DAMNED, getting old’s a bitch, LOL.)
Can we solve this?! Let’s go!
A Duke in Shining Armor
by
Loretta Chase
Add To: Goodreads to-read list →
This book is available from:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying
purchases.
We also may use affiliate
links in our posts, as well. Thanks!
It’s not Gilded Age, but Loretta Chase has an ongoing series, Difficult Dukes, where the third book will be about an estranged couple (Alice and Blackwood?). https://lorettachase.com/blog/2021/4/26/the-blackwoods-amp-the-difficult-dukes-series
To Love and To Loathe, by Martha Waters? It’s the second in a recent series, and the main couple are estranged.
Oops, I meant To Have and to Hoax, same author.
Could it be You May Kiss the Duke by Charis Michaels? It’s the third in the Brides of Belgravia series and was published in the last few years.
Can you not go back to your Audible Library and lookup the second book to get the author name? I’m assuming not for some reason, but I was just wondering… Good Luck!
I 2nd the Loretta Chase answer. Book 3 is not out yet 🙁
Is it possibly by Joanna Shupe? She writes Gilded Age books set in the US, though I don’t recall the reconciling-estranged-marrieds setup in one of the US series (though there is one in one of her English historicals – The Courtesan Duchess, and it’s a first book, not third).
It could be A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy. This book was published first, but is chronologically the third in the Longhope Abbey series. Audible lists it as book 3, but Goodreads lists it as book one, which may explain why the requester couldn’t find it.
This sounds familiar to me, like I read it recently… Maya Rodale & Joanna Shupe both write Gilded Age romance, but neither of their recent series match your memories.
It could be Harper St. George? She’s had two recent titles with a third not published yet (The Heiress Gets a Duke & The Devil & the Heiress are the two currently out).
Joanna Shupe’s MOGUL? It’s the third in her KNICKERBOCKER series set in Gilded Age, NYC. It features Calvin, a newspaper mogul and Lillian, his ex who needs his help.
This sounds like it could be a Sherry Thomas to me–either Private Arrangements or Not Quite a Husband. Both center on estranged spouses and each is part of a different series. While both are set later than the Regency, neither is as late as the Gilded Age, nor do they have a primarily American setting iirc. It’s been quite awhile since I read either, so details are a bit fuzzy. What I best recall is the how delectably emo the stories were and how much of the text I highlighted just because Thomas is such an exceptionally good writer.
Seconding the Mia Vincy suggestion (although Harper St. George also sounded plausible to me too.)
My first thought was also the Chase. Later than Regency, but earlier than Gilded Age. William IV or early Victoria. But definitely set in the UK. Did the women wear big sleeves puffed up with pillows?
Laura Lee Guhrke’s “ An American Heiress in London” 4-book series (2013-16) ticks a lot of the boxes (I feel like we’re watching an Historical Romance House Hunters International ep together in this HaBO), but not quite all:
Americans: all of the women;
Titled: all of the men;
Gilded Age (or within 10 years): check;
Books take place in America: I think only in the third title is there a visit to the U.S. (or else the American villain comes to England…?). Flashbacks of the heroine’s life in America, maybe, in the fourth book;
Longtime discord/reconciliation between the main couple: Yes, in the 2nd and 4th books (different couples).
Trilogy: I remember being surprised that there was a 4th book in the series when starting to read it. I thought that it was only going to be a trilogy.
Note: I love the buildup of/to the d/r of the main couple in this trope, and the angst of the separation. But often, the wait does not pay off as well as the anticipation. Maybe a Rec League on series where the finale lives up to the buildup?
The newest Evie Dunmore, perhaps? The second drew some (very deserved) criticism, but the third one, portrait of a Scotsman, bears some resemblance to this plot.
As soon as I read the habo, I thought of Mia Vincy. I am thirding it.
I just read “Bedding Lord Ned” by Sally Mackenzie after seeing it in the Daily Deals. The heroes in the series are brothers. It’s set in the titled society in England. The oldest brother, Ash, is estranged from his wife, Jess. Their story is the third book in the series. I haven’t read the second or third books yet.
I am fourthing (is that a word?) the Vincy. This feels like the Vincy Longhope Abbey series to me.
It could be the Knickerbocker series by Joanna Shupe, because the first two books cover two new couples finding each other and the third is about a formerly divorced couple reconnecting.
I am voting for the Loretta Chase. I read them recently and it is quite pronounced in the first two books that 3rd couple have been together happily but are currently not talking. The guy is best friends with the first two books male leads and the woman is the sister of one of them.
Jill-Marie here! Thank you so much for all the suggestions. You’re awesome.
I think it may be the not-yet-published Chase — which explains why I can’t find it (face palm) — but I will definitely check out the rest.
I knew you guys would come to my aid. <3
Yeah! I’m so glad you got your answer!!
Also, this HaBo has made me realize how many third books are estranged couples/second chance romance 🙂
@Jill-Marie, I’m also eagerly awaiting the Chase; the teasers in book 2 were juicy.
@Marisa, not a third book, but the yet to be published fourth book in Tessa Dare’s current series has an estranged fiance (I think 10 year engagement?) which I am also excited for. I think having a later book reunite a couple both builds tension within the series, and allows the author to add depth to “the separation” section of the estranged/second chance narrative, which can otherwise be a drag in the couple’s main narrative.