CW: drug abuse, dead-naming, kidnapping, violence, suicidal ideation
Midway through A Lady for a Duke, I started to panic.
I was so in love with this historical romance and I worried that something would come along and ruin it. So I sighed with relief at the end of the last page. This book is pretty damn close to perfection, bitches. It works on so many levels. This is an exceptionally satisfying friends to lovers story, a queer fairy tale filled with longing and Big Feelings, and a book about two people who learn to stop caring about the expectations of others.
Viola Caroll, the well-behaved companion–and secret sister-in-law–of Lady Marleigh, spends her days trying to forget her past. She’d been injured as a soldier, saved by a trans French dude, and once she was presumed dead, was finally able to slough off her ill-fitting title and return to the English countryside as herself. Viola’s sweetly supportive brother, now the new Lord Marleigh, was happy to have her back home, but no one outside the family knows she’s alive. And to live her true life as a woman, Viola had to give up her longest, closest friend, Justin de Vere.
In the two years since the war Justin, the Duke of Gracewood, has been tortured by grief over how he failed to save his best friend. He spends his days in an opium haze, avoiding the pain of a leg injured in battle. When Lady Marleigh receives a letter from Greenwood’s worried teenage sister, she convinces an apprehensive Viola to tag along on her intervention. In his dreary Northumberland castle, Gracewood seems unreachable to everyone, until this compellingly beautiful woman appears who seems able to calm him when no one else can. In his grief, everyone looks a little like his lost friend, and Viola is no exception. As Gracewood recovers, they grow closer every day, but Viola can’t escape her fear that Gracewood will recognize her. And what will happen when he does?
This is the best version of the friends-to-lovers trope that I’ve ever read. With friends to lovers tales, it’s hard to avoid at least one of the main characters being incredibly obtuse, uncommunicative, or clueless at some point in their past. A Lady for a Duke avoids this by giving a compelling past obstacle–Gracewood and Viola were BFFs, but neither ever considered the possibility of a romantic relationship before Viola’s transition. Gracewood is only attracted to women; Viola was too uncomfortable with her gender to be attracted to anyone.
I loved the way the book gently unfurls the depth of Viola and Gracewood’s connection, but fits the pieces of their friendship into a new romantic form. Viola initially resists, because she’d assumed that she needs to remain a spinster to be safe. She’s drawn to Gracewood, but also desperate to limit his opportunity to reject her. The tension made me bite my lip in anticipation. I love a romance on the moors, by the sea, or in bad weather, and A Lady for a Duke gave me all of the above. Gracewood and Viola’s flirtation is incredibly sexy, even though they barely touch one another.
Viola feels guilty as she learns the extent of his grief, realizes she’d underestimated the depth of their friendship, and can’t imagine how he’ll ever forgive her. One of my favorite parts of the book is witnessing Viola marvel at how finally being seen as a woman allows her to absorb a new side to her old friend.
There was a strangeness, sometimes, in being able to see all the pieces of him. The wounded man and her laughing friend, her generous lover and the formidable duke. Yet there were also moments, like tonight, where they coalesced, seeming neither flaws, nor weakness, nor contradictions, and she saw only his strength.
I was sucked into the story, and couldn’t wait to see what would happen when Gracewood figured out who Viola was. And that scene was worth waiting for; it managed to surprise me, thrill me, and leave me wanting more.
I can’t speak to the accuracy of the trans representation, but as a queer-friendly historical romance, this book is so beautiful it made me want to cry from happiness. A Lady for a Duke deftly avoids every potential minefield that would have tipped the book from pleasurably angsty to traumatic for me, while still feeling emotionally realistic.
There were many moments in the story where I held my breath, only to relax giddily. I loved that when Gracewood recognizes Viola, that recognition is based on their friendship, not her gender presentation. Gracewood is understandably pissed that she would let him believe that she was dead, but he eventually respects that she had to make sacrifices for her freedom. That respect made me fall head over heels for him, even when he’s a tad arrogant for my taste.
Gracewood treats Viola with a mix of chivalry, reverence, and respect that made me want to squeal with joy. Viola deserves to be cared for, even when she doesn’t see how a relationship between them could work because of his need for an heir, her unwillingness to be his mistress, and the scrutiny their marriage would place on her. But Gracewood pursues her openly and Viola is the one who hesitates.
Throughout the book, Viola’s womanhood is never challenged, and she passes as cisgender whenever she chooses to. While there’s a villain who’s an asshole to her, it’s because they’re a jerk, not because they misgender her.
I should also mention that the sex is very hot, my loves. We have to wait for it, but if you like pegging, you will like this book. The contrast between prim, etiquette-focused Viola and her glee at taking Gracewood apart in the bedroom made me grin.
The second half of the story shifts to London for Miranda/Mira, Gracewood’s sister’s coming out, with Lady Marleigh and Viola chaperoning. Most Regency Dukes have a (dead) Domineering Dad™ and Miranda and Greenwood are no exception. Gracewood tries to model his relationship with his sister after their father’s messed-up parental style. Even though Miranda has been running his life since he returned from Waterloo, Greenwood thinks being head of the family means he can order Miranda around, telling her who to spend time with and who to avoid.
It doesn’t go well.
Mira was one of my favorite characters in the book, and offers some comic relief. She’s vulnerable because she’s been sheltered in Northumberland and struggles to navigate the poisonous social scene in London, but she’s also a badass who has trouble pretending to care about men and marriage.
“How do you feel about Viscount Stirling?”
“Feel about him?” Mira blinked. “Well…I mean. He’s handsome, I think? And…there?”
Viola gave a wry smile. “I’m sure there is exactly how a gentleman would wish himself thought of.”
“Everyone speaks well of him.”
“I’m not persuaded”—Viola snipped her thread and reached for a darker shade of pink—“exists and is broadly considered acceptable are good selection criteria.”
In addition to Miranda, we’re treated to the feminist antics of opinionated Lady Marleigh and her rakish lesbian friend, Lady Lillimere. If you like meddling families who think a hero and heroine should get a clue and get together, you may like A Lady for a Duke.
Along the way, Viola learns that staying within social expectations for women may make her feel safe, but bending them to suit her makes her truly happy.
Reader sensitive to violence, be aware that at one point
Those looking for a critique of class privilege should know that Gracewood wields his ducal privilege with pride, and Viola finds it thrilling for nearly the entire book. For the most part, he sticks to terrifying bullies, like…
In another book, this behavior might have annoyed me. Here, Gracewood’s acceptance of his social status felt like part of his journey to feeling fully himself again. And it’s hard to be unhappy about the degree of protection being a Duke offers to both of them.
The pace of this story was perfect for me because there were plenty of subplots to keep me absorbed, but the love story felt luxuriously unrushed. Viola and Gracewood both start the book feeling unlovable, and watching them find their way back to one another was incredibly satisfying. Many of the book’s themes are around friendship–loving a friend but hiding parts of yourself, learning to connect with other women, and the perils of competitive friendships. I loved A Lady for a Duke, it’s a must-read for historical romance fans looking for a new take on Regency friends-to-lovers.
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This sounds delightful! And it’s nice to see a man on the cover who actually looks a bit weathered rather than like some floppy-haired boy from a perfume advert.
Huh. The cover I see on Amazon Germany is different. It only has the woman in the picture. Also, I accidentally clicked buy, instead of put on watchlist, so I’m particularly happy to see this Squee review…
I managed to be the first in line for my library system’s paper book. Oddly they don’t seem to have the ebook yet, usually it’s the other way around.
I recommended the library get it so I am relatively high on the hold list: 13 on 12 ebook copies. And yet it claims my hold time is approximately 6 months?! I am not panicked, not at all panicked, no one is panicking. This is obviously a glitch, everything is going to be fine. I’m just going to obsessively check my hold status again (and again, and…who’s counting?) which is an excellent use of my time, since I don’t have anything out I am actually excited to read. Yet.
@kkw one of my libraries often does that for pre-orders – it should update pretty quickly (another one of my libraries doesn’t even show pre-orders, even though the book will be available on release day, so it cold be worse!)
Intrigued! I still have this on my TBR.
This does sound enticing, Shana! Thank you for your squee.
Yay! So glad that you liked this Shana!
I’m number 1 on my library’s hold list and I too am obsessively checking my library app.
I hope that’s a trans model on the cover.
@hng23, yes it is!
I had this on pre-order and started reading last night. So far, I think it’s the best thing Alexis Hall has written (and I say that as a many-times-re-reading fan). Can’t wait to finish it tonight. 🙂
I’m never going to say “this is why we can’t have nice things” ever again because we can and we do and this is it, seriously this book is just so goddamn good to me I don’t even know what to do with myself. I want to immediately reread it to make sure it wasn’t a mirage (I spent the whole book thinking c’mon, nothing is that perfect)(seriously, can it really be that perfect?) but I am being decent to all the 91 other people who are no doubt obsessively refreshing their hold status, although it physically pains me. Hopefully the 15 weeks it will supposedly take for me to get it back will fly by as quickly as the 6 months that happened yesterday.
This is a much better review than I can muster.
I can’t talk about how much I liked it or why without feeling squishy. Flailing piles of goo are notoriously inarticulate, which might be the only miscalculation Alexis Hall made with this book. I can’t recommend it adequately because I am only capable of making warbly cooing noises. And I want to curl around my vulnerable underbelly – not because the book was ever mean to me but because it wasn’t. It makes me feel too seen even though – because – it unerringly gave me everything I wanted.
The only criticisms I can muster are that there should have been more sex (although the sex was intensely gratifying and the tension throughout was insanely well done) and the sequel bait has me in an agony of anticipation and I don’t handle anticipation well. At all. I need it now.
Which is incredibly greedy but I can’t help it, I am nothing if not the goo monster this book made me.
Just finished it (thank heavens it’s a public holiday here today!). Sooooo good! There’s few writers I’d trust with this story, but Hall gets it just right, and I’ve come to expect no less.
I have enjoyed all of the Alexis Hall I have read so much and the review and comments have my hand twitching over that one click button because my library’s ebook is 126 days out and I don’t know if I can wait… and I’m on vacay – stay-cation from work so I should treat myself right?
I should not have read the sample. I should NOT have read the sample! Now my finger is hovering over the one-click button and I promised myself I’d wait for the library copy (I’m 13th in line). That’s the thing about Alexis Hall, damn him: his writing masquerades as light and airy fluff and then he socks you with truth bombs.
I’m about halfway through the audiobook, which is very well done, and I’m already fully in love with the book. It’s not as comedic as Hall’s recent books have tended to be, but I actually love it because it means the moments of his trademark sly humor shine all that much brighter. And the depth of emotion is stunning and nuanced. Very much looking forward to the second half after reading this review.
I’ve already read this one and just wanted to say that I agree with your review 100%. It’s wonderful!