Sophie Reads YA: Dukes Do It Better

Waiting on Wednesday: Dukes Do It Better (Misfits of Mayfair #3) by Bethany Bennett

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2022 New Release challenge

ARC Review: Dukes Do It Better (Misfits of Mayfair #3) by Bethany Bennett

10:00

Dukes Do It Better
Series: Misfits of Mayfair #3
Author: Bethany Bennett
Published May 31st 2022 by Forever

Goodreads Synopsis
From the series guaranteed to "win the hearts of Regency fans" comes a story of secrets, scandal, and unlikely love that will warm even the coldest of hearts (Publishers Weekly).

After a debut season plagued by scandal, Lady Emma Hardwick is ready to return to London, now with her young son in tow, and make a match. She's looking for someone respectable. Someone wholly unlike Malachi Harlow, the new Duke of Trenton and former ship captain, whose long hair and tattoos make him decidedly dangerous to her peace of mind.

Malachi would rather be at sea than in a London ballroom. But until he can sort out why the admiralty brought him home, he has to stay landbound. That becomes less of a hardship when he meets the beguiling Lady Emma, whose dimples and easy laughter capture his imagination. When they start receiving threatening notes, they realize that there's more to their connection than chemistry, and they'll have to work together to figure out why someone wants to ruin their lives.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Lady Emma Hardwick's first foray into society left her plagued with scandal, and though she managed to come out of it relatively unscathed, she's shunned society for years. But now that her son, Alton, is no longer a baby, and she's wanting more from life than her little village and cottage, she's return to return to London. She wants to marry, someone respectable, who will care for her and her son, and hopefully give her more children. But the one person she finds herself drawn to, is the only person she shouldn't have. Malachi Harlow, may be the new Duke of Trenton, but his past a naval captain, and the torrid night they spent together without knowing each other's names, means he is wholly unsuitable. However, their friendship, and the relationship between their friends and families, is undeniable, and when danger comes to their door, there's nothing either wouldn't do to protect those they love.

I went into this book a little apprehensively. If you've read the previous book in the series, West End Earl, you'll have met Emma as the hero's younger, vapid, and shallow sister. She finds herself pregnant, on the verge of scandal, and to save herself - and Ophelia, if we're being honest - they marry with Ophelia playing her brother, who then dies, and leaves Emma as a comfortable, and pitied, widow. I'm extremely glad to see that she's grown up a lot since becoming a mother, and has really grown on me too. I was fully invested in her having her happiness - and with Malachi, because no one else would do - which I didn't see happening when I first started. Bethany has created characters, and plots, which are fantastic, and the interaction of all characters, but especially seeing Emma, Mal, and little Aston be a family, was the dream! Any plot holes which had arisen in the previous books were fully dealt with here, and the epilogue to Dukes Do It Better really tied up a wonderful series!

Dates Read:
February 14-15, 2022

Rating
4 Stars