The Last Duke She'd Marry by Anna Campbell

Tracy

April 30

Series: Scoundrels of Mayfair, #3

Release Date: February 29, 2024

Lady Juliet Frain, the daughter of the Earl of Portdown, was born to be a duchess, in fact she would have already been one if her betrothed had not died in an accident two years ago. As sad as that was, life goes on and Juliet, who is beautiful, rich and perfectly proper, soon finds a new ducal suitor in the form of Alaric Dempster, the Duke of Granville. But when her sister, Viola, creates a scandal with the Earl of Renfrew, Juliet and her other sister Portia retreat to the family's country estate to wait out the ensuing storm, and she worries that she may have lost Glanville's regard. That worry was for naught, because her father a Shakespeare devotee has been working on a production and has found the perfect man to play Romeo – Lucas Hebden, the notorious Duke of Evesham, who is devilishly handsome, completely scandalous and happens to be Glanville's archnemesis. In short, a man she wants nothing to do with, but a man she can't seem to stop thinking about. Soon Juliet has not one, but two dukes vying for her hand, and when scandal once again visits, she is determined to hold on to her perceived superior moral values, and refuses both men. But one will not go quietly into that night, will she see the truth, or will her self-righteousness cost her the love of a lifetime?

Nine years ago, Lucas helped a friend, fought a duel with the Duke of Granville and left England with an unmarried young lady, under a cloud of suspicion and was later judged to be dishonorable when he did not marry said young lady. Now he is back and is swindled into playing Romeo in an amateur production of Shakespeare by the Earl of Portdown. He is not happy about this turn of events, until he meets the earl's daughter – Juliet. Despite the fact that she clearly distains him, he soon finds himself falling for her and when they are caught in a compromising position, he does the honorable thing and proposes, but to his complete shock, she turns him down – not once, or twice or even three times, she refuses him four times. Caught in a trap of honor, he is faced with a no-win situation and has to face the fact that HEA might not be for him.

As always, Ms. Campbell writes an amazing story, filled with wonderful, relatable and sometimes flawed characters who worm their way into your heart and take root. Lucas and Juliet share an amazing chemistry, but preconceived notions on Juliet's part keep them from finding the easy route to HEA. The story has witty banter, a sly earl, lots of dukes, old scandals, new scandals, secrets, honor, steamy love scenes, heartache and a heaping helping of angst before finally reaching HEA and a very lovely epilogue. Personally, I didn't love this story as much as other reviewers did, Lucas was your stereotypical, misunderstood, heart of gold rake and Juliet was your stereotypical holier-than-thou ice princess, who in my opinion was not at all likable until the epilogue and didn't deserve Lucas. Overall, this book gets a thumbs up as it was a charming story and I LOVED Lucas, I just wish I could say the same for Juliet. This is the third book in the series, but it could be read as a standalone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*