I love the Halifax Hellions. So I was anxiously awaiting my time to read ne’er Duke Well, the author’s debut full length novel.

I found the writing and tone to be different somehow from the Halifax Hellions. Softer, maybe? I’m not so great at finding the right descriptive words, but I will try.

This book surprised me in that the relationship between Peter and Selena seemed to be well on its way from the very start. It was obvious they both liked each other. Peter leaned in to the feeling, he was very self aware. Being raised outside the ton, he had incredible perspective on what it meant to be “ruined”. As in - he didn’t give a fig. He knew it wouldn’t help matters in achieving his goal of getting custody of his younger siblings if he were to flout convention. But he didn’t let the small world of the ton run his life.

I felt like the opposite was true for Selena. She was so overly concerned about what would happen if people found out her involvement in running the library. Which, I know from my modern view, seems ridiculous. She really was her own worst enemy in catastrophizing what it would mean to be discovered. Her view was so narrow that she honestly felt her solution was the best and only. I was so pleased that literally everyone she told was like …. And???? I really started to dislike Selena as she was planning to just “run away” and thought that would be the best solution to help Peter in his custody case. She was a bit delusional.

However, that all said the motivations between the couple were clear - I believed Selena believed all the nonsense.

I loved the children. There was an air of the ridiculous about them, but I truly appreciated that Selena was able to relate to Lu. And the supporting cast of characters in this book were well developed, and I am very interested in hearing more from them.

Final thoughts - while this was a lovely story and well written, it is definitely different from the Halifax Hellions. It’s not as spicy. The prose feels different. While yes this is a romance book by definition - it feels the most important story is in relation to the children and not only the relationship development of Selena and Peter.

Thank you so much to the author for allowing the privilege of receiving an advanced reader copy to provide my review.

PS. Every time Peter’s curls were mentioned I swooned.