The Duke Anna Cowan 

My Rating: 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

Spice Rating: 🌶🌶

 

Blurb:

"Gorgeously written and desperately hot... Hands down, my favorite romance of the decade." — Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House

A sapphic regency romance about the duke who fears nothing... until the woman she never forgot walks through the door and brings her to her knees.

Set in a world of powerful female nobles and the women who love them...

Kate, Duke of Howard, is known throughout Europe as a merciless autocrat not to be crossed. Consumed by a bitter rivalry, she avoids society and has vowed never to trap a woman into marriage with a monster like herself.

The beautiful, ambitious courtesan Celine Genet once threw herself on the mercy of the visiting Duke of Howard. She was desperate to escape the guillotine. But after a night of searing passion, the duke left her to the ravages of Revolutionary Paris and didn’t look back. Now Celine is in London and in possession of a dangerous letter that proves the Duke of Howard committed treason as a child - and possibly even murder.

Celine wants a titled husband in return for keeping the duke’s secret, leaving Kate no choice but to parade her around the most fashionable ballrooms. But as Celine takes society by storm, Kate finds herself growing fond of the woman set on destroying her. And as their attraction mounts, Kate faces an impossible choice: keep her childhood secret, or win the woman she loves.

Anna Cowan's The Duke is an utterly unforgettable, page-turning romance featuring two women who, separately, are a danger to each other, but together, could be the most powerful duo London has ever seen.

My Review:

Woman in charge and queerness normalized?! I was hooked! There is nothing I love more than a book that shows woman as they are, and could be all in one.

Three years after a passionate one-night encounter, Celine reappears in Kate, the Duke of Howard’s, life with an incriminating letter and a plan: blackmail her way into high society. In exchange for the letter, Kate must secure her a noble marriage and a generous dowry. The only problem? The noble Celine ends up with might not be the one either of them expected.

This book was so much fun. Cruelty, blackmail, betrayal, and a whole lot of yearning wrapped in gorgeous writing. The tension between Celine and Kate is incredible, seriously “touch her and I’ll kill you” energy. Kate may have a reputation as the coldest woman in England, but when it comes to her little French duchess? Total softie. I was here for the romance, and the romance delivered.

I’m officially obsessed with the trope of reuniting years after an unforgettable one-night stand and pretending you’re not still thinking about it. Add in the classic “I’m supposed to matchmake you with someone else but I’m the one falling for you” and the yearning is off the charts. Somehow this book manages to feel incredibly intense even without much physical intimacy for most of the story and it works perfectly.

I also loved the alt-history world where female lords inherit titles and queerness is completely normalized. Watching Celine charm her way into high society while also helping Kate untangle her political problems was such a delight.

I devoured this in one sitting! The characters crackle with tension, the writing is beautiful, and the balance of plot, romance, and character growth is just right.

Honestly? This might be one of the best historical romances I’ve ever read, because I don't really read historical romance. If you listen to me about one book make it this one. I’m already wishing I could read it again for the first time.