A Duke Never Tells by Suzanne Enoch

TL;DR: This was very fun, a unique premise for a historical.
Source: NetGalley, thank so much to the publisher!

Plot: Meg and her Aunt Clara change identities to find out more about the Duke she’s arranged to marriage. But they aren’t they only ones lying about their identities.
Characters: They were all pretty good but honestly the men were the strongest for me. Though James seems to be very alcoholic and I did NOT care for that.
Setting: It stays inside the Duke’s manor, so the setting isn’t the strongest here.
Romance: This was cute, I had no idea for a minute there how this would work but I enjoyed seeing the relationships come together.

Thoughts:

The premise on this one is super fun. Meg is setup in an arranged marriage, much to her and her aunt’s dislike. Immediately after the father of the man she was to marry dies, and the necessary time of mourning has to pass before the wedding occurs. So over a year later the two hatch a plan to hide their identities and scope out the lands of the now Duke to see what he’s like, because the papers and gossip doesn’t seem to paint a good picture. At the same time James, the Duke, is finally returning to his estate and butting heads with his man of business. When two society ladies show up on his doorstep he pretends to be the butler and forces Elliot to play the part of duke.

With everything going on you’d think this would be a difficult one to pull off but our author did a great job and it ended up being very fun. We bounce between the four points of views (with one or two new views occasionally popping up) so we get the full story and character thoughts. While Meg and Clara are focused primarily on the duke and his personality, the men are wrapped up not only in the women but the restoration of the estate. I think maybe that was my only big issue with the book is that I was WAY more interested in their stories and the estate. What was it like for the Duke to work with the servants, how did he feel having done that and realizing what it was like, what did the servants think of pretending he was a butler? I loved that portion.

I found this fun, yes. For me ultimately though the best part of the story was the surrounding estate and the two men. I also truly did not like James very much as he seemed alcoholic, downing multiple bottles of wine in the first few chapters. He grows a bit on you but still Elliot was the far more ‘romantic’ hero in this. If you like the premise it is fun! Give it a go.