The Duke Knows Best - Review

The Duke Knows Best (The Duke's Sons, # 5)

By: Jane Ashford

Publication: 01 Nov 2023 Bolinda Audio

Duration: 10 Hours, 8 Minutes

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance, Regency

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Lord Randolph Gresham has come to London for one reason only – to find a suitable wife. Verity Sinclair may be intelligent, beautiful and full of spirit, but her father knows a secret about Randolph that makes her entirely unsuitable as his bride. Not right for him at all, never, not a chance.

Verity knows that Lord Randolph lives in a country parish, and she wants nothing more than to escape to town. He may be fascinating, attractive, rich and the son of a duke, but she'll never marry him, nor will she talk to him, flirt with him, walk with him or dine with him. She'll sing a duet with him, but only this one time, and only because everyone insists.

But one duet invariably leads to another.

Sheesh, I've gotten terrible about writing reviews in a decent amount of time. I finished this book nearly two months before I sat down to write this review. And I've read 13 books between this one and my last book read. All of that to say that I'm not remembering all that much about what happened in this book. Here's what I do remember:

Verity decides upon her first introduction to Randolph that he will not possibly suit. She is rude and walks away almost immediately. See, Randolph is from a country parish. He will return there after finding a wife, and Verity has no greater desire than to remain in town. She's completely uninterested in anyone who would remain in the country. And she's rude to him more times than that as well. She's rude so many times that I can't believe Randolph gave her the time of day. But Randolph is, of course, intrigued.

Verity has a wonderful singing voice, and so does Randolph. The two are accidentally paired up to sing at a party and what results is magic. They blend together so well and compliment each other vocally. So much so that the Prince Regent wants them to sing a duet together for a party he's hosting. They don't feel like they have a choice but to agree, and so they begin spending a lot of time together practicing.

If I'd seen a prior book cover for The Duke Knows Best, I wouldn't have given it the time of day. I don't seek to read strict romance novels, although I do want romantic relationships to drive the books I'm reading. Considering Randolph's profession, I thought this book might be exempt from the characters having premarital sex. I was wrong. Which is a little frustrating because this is one of the things I prefer about Regency historical fiction. Obviously, there's a whole genre of this period relegated to historical fiction romance. I'm rambling at this point. However, I don't mind as much in audiobooks because I often prefer audiobooks to be quick and easy reads. I can blow through them while doing something else and not taking up otherwise valuable reading time.

The audiobook narrator, Naomi Frederick, did a wonderful job, and I would listen to her narrate again for sure.

I thought the main conflict and secret that Verity's father had over Randolph was a bit stupid. I can't say it was completely unrealistic, but thankfully, again, in audiobooks, I don't always look at things like this too closely.

The Duke Knows Best gets 3.5 Stars. It was a fast and fun listen. I am glad I had this in the audio format because I think that enhanced my experience. I might have knocked it down to a 3 Star rating if I'd been reading the physical version. Have you read (or listened to)The Duke Knows Best? What did you think? Let me know!