| Title | : | A Scandalous Kind of Duke (Longhope Abbey, #4) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 336 |
| Publication | : | First published September 22, 2022 |
Leopold Halton, the Duke of Dammerton, is the man with everything: perfect hair, beautiful waistcoats, and London’s finest collection of decorative objects. But two years after his highly entertaining divorce (entertaining for everyone but him, that is), Leo still doesn’t have what he wants most: another wife.
Leo is ready to propose to a suitable lady, but with gossip dissecting his every move, the family of his nearly-ideal bride demands that he first stop calling on artist Juno Bell, the first woman he ever kissed and now, a decade later, his friend.
After ten years of hard work to become an artist, Juno has everything she dreamed of: a flourishing studio, a wealthy patroness, and the freedom to live as she pleases. She even receives visits from a duke (and don’t London’s gossips love that!).
Juno has always known she can never hold on to Leo, yet when he declares their friendship must end, she finds it harder than expected to let him go. At least, not without a kiss.
After all, if their friendship must end anyway, then they have nothing more to lose … right?
A Scandalous Kind of Duke (Longhope Abbey, #4) Reviews
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Mia Vincy is a treasure of the historical romance genre. Ok, she's the ONLY m/f historical romance writer I like, who is currently writing.
And I had so much fun with this one, basically gulped it in a day, smiled a lot. Vincy is very smart and witty and her characters are unique and are combined in an interesting ways.
We have a duke Leopold, very streamlined to the outsiders but romantic who had his heart once broken in his youth and decided to be very practical about all these soapy matters of the heart.
Juno on the other hand is a free thinking bohemian painter who has seen the world, had romances and now lives with her two cats.
They were in love as teenagers, broke each other's hearts, became friends, still secretly pining for each other but at different times in their relationship, and now 10 years later, finally, their desires for each other synchronized.
I am usually a lover of romance that has some external conflict, this author's books being the exception to that rule. Vincy's characters and the conflict between them just works on its own.
And yet, something was a little lacking here, as if it was just a tiny bit underbaked and the ending felt rushed. And maybe I didn't feel they had a real conflict, just a ton of miscommunication that was fixed very easily as all miscommunications should, by talking.
Or maybe it's a problem of the "friends to lovers" trope, because I can see how hard it is to create drama and angst between two people who have known and loved each other as friends for 10 years after their move into lovers territory. -
While my immune system was (thankfully) being made a huge fool of by the bivalent vaccine (I mean, seriously, calm down) this weekend I got terribly sick of laying around. I wouldn't normally start an ARC with a fever over 100, but I did. And I just want to say this probably wasn't the reading the book deserved-and I don't think they are ever really the reviews the book deserves, but I hope it serves its purpose.
I have liked this entire series-- loving some of them. And although I was just reminded of rough patches with Josh's and Cassandra's story, I am equally reminded that I have never forgotten them either.
This story was structured a bit differently, as I have come to see all her novels may be unique to a structure her own, although I can't put my finger on exactly why that is. Regardless, I was hooked by the meadow scenes in all their vivid setting and teenage angst. I had no trouble reading, napping, reading, and reading some more. There were scenes that on my best days would have made me weepy-the exquisitely painful ones that I hold authors in esteem for. The leap of joy when resolutions came, and honestly, for as un-sexy as I was feeling there was some amazing sensual scenes that involved like..no contact, brief contact, a kiss?
So that's my synopsis. I felt a lot of feelings. Juno is wonderful. Leo was this even, friendly, wonderful person and I just loved how the first scene (post-teen years) set up his longing without mentioning Juno at all. It was clear--and it was wonderful. IT was essentially these two people you hope figure it out--they will frustrate the readers who get frustrated by indecision or lack of communication (to some extent). The story was not soft, however, it had its grit and angst.
I have more to say, and I honestly might come back to this on reread or reviewing the book briefly again. But it's out next week, in the world, and it's another great offering from Vincy.
Thanks to the author for the ARC of the novel, this has not impacted my review or rating. -
A second chance friends to lovers romance, where divorced duke Leo is in love with scandalous artist Juno. The barrier between them is in large part a failure to get in sync--when one of them is ready to declare themselves, the other is in a relationship--plus a healthy dose of defensiveness based on both being rejected by parents, which means they both put self protection first at points when honesty would help. It's very human and convincing, but a bit frustrating in the 'two steps forward, one step back ' progression it gives the story, although obv if you like pining this will be catnip.
I had a couple of niggles, mostly around Leo's motivations, which were a bit slippery (his attitudes to both scandal and money seemed extremely mutable) and also by the duel, which didn't seem to fit the time period unless I've got something entirely wrong, which is always possible. But, niggles. Leo is a charming hero and flamboyant dresser, which is nice to see, and Juno a high-powered and determined heroine, and the writing is smooth and highly readable. -
love this series but this one was a little disappointing as I didn't care about the characters
if you like mutual pinning and friends to lovers check this book out because you can read it as standalone -
One more historical novel set in XIXth century England with a du
ckke, like dunno 90% of historical novels currently being published (9% will also be set in XIXth century England but with slightly different, but lofty titles). I am probably cranky, but for years, apart from a few favorite authors (of which, only one is currently writing historical romances and slowly), these stories are almost all not working for me. The first 3 books by this author were an exception so I was looking forward to this. But either I am in an even more impatient hypercritical mood, or this is worse than the earlier books, because I really did not like it.
The conflict is just stupid, kind of misunderstanding, mistimed, just talk you two, you are around each other a lot (and I am not seeing Juno as a crazily proud person, which she would need to be for plot to make sense).
Then the setting, our early 10th century duke has a FOUNDATION to patronize artists (crazily anachronistic) for the "decorative arts". He needs to marry an heiress so he can spend all her 25k pounds dowry to fund his foundation - while giving his half brother 20 and 50 pounds all the time. I expect the dowry would be all spent very fast, probably buying stuff like a perfume burner shaped like a dancing ballerina and more tea services to join the 40 something he supposedly has. This was just not cute for me. They are going to be in debt in 10, well, 5 years...
The conversations between all those supposedly upper class people were not subtle, not rich in subtext, and usually rather crass at getting to the points of obvious coercion trying to establish conflict. The relationship between several characters, the mingling between different social classes (the duke buying things from a peddler regularly outside his own house) also seemed totally off. A lot of authors seem to, by route, try to fit stories into 19th century Britain, just because, when those stories do not really fit - is it really more publishable? No clue, but frustrating.
The author seems to been setting secondary characters for future books (Hadrian the spy with a scar, the bad bad bad boy Blaise, the cousin with a bad marriage), I am not sure I will even sample those.
On the good side, the dialogue between Juno and Leo and Blaise was occasionally very funny - and if anachronistic, I did not care. -
4.5 stars. I have not enjoyed a book so much in a while. That secret longing of two friends just pulled all my heart strings. And Mia Vince’s prose is superb to describe such emotions.
Our heroine is a self sustaining artist, lives bohemian life, have had lovers in the past but only one true love. However her one true love is a divorced duke looking for a rich wife and on top of that he is her friend. Not a best friend but a friend.
Our duke Leopold is a fashionable man with interest in beautiful artisanal fabrics, porcelain, lace and other trinkets. The relationship with Juno once meant a lot to him but now it is all packed away in a box of young fancy and nothing else.
However the armor they build around one another begins to crack and we as readers are treated to the glimpses of one of the most beautiful love that lives underneath it.
I’m taking a half star off because of the ending or the last 1/4 of the book which compared to a very careful beautiful beginning, felt chaotic and did not hit the spot just right for me.
But because I probably highlighted a sentence on almost every page, the book gets 4.5 stars -
I fall a little out of love with Mia Vincy with each new book.
A Wicked Kind of Husband was a fabulous debut but each release has let me down. The Premise of A Scandalous Kind of Duke was promising; a friends to lovers, second chance romance between a free spirit artist and a duty bound Duke. However, it fell short. How can I care if the main characters end up together if they don't seem to care themselves?
I did like Juno, she was interesting and independent. Unfortunately, she had a backbone made of spaghetti. I wanted to see Juno mad - I never felt her anger, sadness, or even happiness. Her main emotion was passive apathy. Leo never grew on me and had no character development until maybe the last 10% of the book. His life was guided by his convenience, He had regard for Juno's feelings or desires. Lets not forget he was either married, courting, or engaged to another women through most of the story. The steam level was about a 3/5, the build to the sex scene was paced well although, the sex scene was a little overwritten and OTT for my taste.
I do think Miss Vincy is a great writer but her delivery falls short. I was much more interested in the side characters, especially St. Blaise and Miss Macy, then I was the MC. I will say that I loved the epilog.
Juno deserved better and I wanted her to tell Leo to kick rocks. It would have been more impactful if they didn't end up together, that is really saying something as I ALWAYS need a HEA! This is a story of two fickle people whose favorite game is Ring Around the Rosie, forever running in circles. -
It's been two years since the last installment of the Longhope Abbey series and oh, was this worth the wait! First I should mention that all of the books in the series can be read in any order, independently, and none have cliffhangers. Thank you for that, Ms. Vincy. I hate cliffhangers.
Juno Bell (I seriously love her name) is an artist in London. She's living on her own, making her own decisions, doesn't answer to anyone, keeps the company of other artists, writers, and poets, although not much time is given to them. It didn't need to be because her big story is with Leopold Halton (Leo), Duke of Dammerton. They met when they were much younger and were meeting secretly in the early morning hours for walks in the meadow and conversation. Nothing past that happened, but they fell in love.
Only Leo is a stringent follower of the rules. He's going to be a duke someday and there are things that are expected of him to maintain honor and give power to the title. That does not include marrying an artist, who is most definitely of a lower class. She can never be his duchess. She wasn't good enough.
All hell breaks loose after that...for both of them. They both make errors in judgment, make mistakes that can't be undone, and assume too much. They were both suffering from broken hearts and unrequited love. They made bad decisions that affected others and in the end, nearly finished them off for good. I didn't see how this was going to play out favorably for them.
This was a fantastic story. I loved the stoic, well-dressed Duke of Dammerton. He was rigid and unyielding until he couldn't be anymore. I loved the whimsical, fun Juno, who guarded her heart as well as her secret drawings. She hid behind a facade of living life on her terms; a woman who did as she pleased and gosh darn the consequences. She was so broken, yet she refused to admit it or let anyone see it. The two of them were so good together and they needed each other no matter how they denied it. I liked the besotted fool Tristan St. Blaise, Leo's half-brother. The way he nonchalantly stole things from Leo (he did it right in front of him) and poked at him was comical at times, but it almost cost him dearly. The other secondary characters, like the three I mentioned, were so well-defined and so dynamic, they flew off the screen and drew a response from me. Let's line up and slap Beatrice, ha ha! Nobody develops characters like Mia Vincy.
This story had me from the very beginning and did not let go until the end. I loved everything about it. The characters, the angst, the plot, the steam, the clever epilogue, all make this a strong contender for my Top 10 list for the year on my blog.
So good!
*I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review. -
This novel somehow feels deserving of more than three stars, but I can’t bring myself to rate it 4.
While the prose and character development were on par with Vincy’s usual high standard, reading the story itself felt like walking in circles for hours. It left me feeling dizzy and confused. The conflict between the h and H also came across as redundant and childish.
Even the best HR series’s have a weak spot, and this one is by no means a bad book, but rather a victim of my own inflated expectations. -
Mia Vincy’s done it again! Another absolute gem.
These characters are so different from the usual historical regency types. Leo is soft and sweet and non violent Duke and Juno is fierce and rigorously independent artist. They have undeniable fluent chemistry as both friends and pining lovers. The angst and tension (and # of scandals) build wonderfully until they all reach a chaotic satisfying boiling point. What more could I ask for?? -
I think this is the one that just… did nothing for me. We don’t really have a lot of complexity or development of the main characters; and there really is not much of a plot. The main characters actually felt rather shallow.
Like the only thing that happens in this book is that they’ve been horny for each other for years, miscommunicated as young adults, which hurt both of their pride, and later on they just remained as friends. And during those years he is emotionally cheating on his wife (even if it was a loveless marriage and she cheated on him as well) while frequenting female mc’s house. Female mc gives him a place “to rest, be himself” and he keeps bringing her gifts. And male mc decides that he MUST marry somebody with money so he can maintain a museum he owns, which is like… yeah, sure.
I just could not connect with neither of them. The other main characters of the previous books had bigger emotional issues and growth, and showed much more depth. With Leo and Juno I was by the middle of the book and felt no connection or cared about them.
I kinda want St.Blaise and Miss Macey to be a thing, ngl. And I’m looking forward to Hadrian having his own book one day. -
I would gladly sell my soul to have Vincy publish a thousand historical romances I could devour, just like I did with this one. I couldn't put it down, even at work, oops.
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2 star DNF due to boredom at 14% of a pre-publication giveaway. It is looking more and more like Mia Vincy is a one hit wonder for me.😥
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considering i've declared myself mia vincy's #1 fan, receiving an advance copy of this through her newsletter was the biggest treat!!!! i was SO excited to read this
i was slightly hesitant considering it was friends to lovers, but if i trust anyone to do that trope justice its mia vincy - and i think she delivered! i don't think she's capable of not delivering! her characters always feel so real and carefully crafted, their motivations so believable, their tension so magnetic it simmers off of the page!
having said that, i will say the first half of the novel was considerably stronger than the first; i much preferred the mutual pining and seemingly unrequited feelings and painfully (deliciously) unresolved sexual tension between leo and juno to the two of them aware of their feelings for each other and still trapped in layers upon layers of missed opportunities and miscommunications.
i also have grown incredibly weary of the new HR trope wherein the heroines can't seem to reconcile their desires for an independent life/career with the institution of marriage and their simultaneous desire for romance, a family, etc. - juno does quite a bit of this in the book, and though it was eventually revealed to be for a different reason than the usual, i still think there could have been more of a reflection on her true desires re: marriage and family, since its mostly just "no, don't want/need it" and then a sharp turn to "yes, actually!" at the end
all of that said, i enjoyed this and i love mia vincy's work! she's without a doubt my favorite HR writer at the moment, and i can't wait for her next :) -
DNF at 38%. As a girl we went to the yearly community
festival benefitting a non-profit. We kids liked cotton
candy (once a year!). This story reminded me of cotton
candy.
The MCs kissed as teens. Years later divorced (duke) Leo
had a foundation supporting local artisans. Curvy artist
Juno associated w/ bohemians and painted the H's half-
brother in the nearly nude. Leo wanted Susan Macey for
her nice dowry. The MCs seemed a tad bland.
Mia Vincy wrote the v. good A Wicked Kind of Husband,
so this one does not seem up to her own standards. Sorry. -
Leo, the aesthetically-inclined Duke of Dammerton, maintains a long-standing friendship with somewhat respectable artist Juno Bell.
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DNF at 6%. I just don’t have it in me to read about two friends who have pined after each other and haven’t found a way to be together… finally getting together. I know it’s going to be a slog and I just can’t do it.
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I’m at 4.5. Leo has a moment in Chapter 25 that had me like 🥹 and may be single-handedly responsible for the half star. And Blaise? I’m ready for that book right now. She had me at the possibility of a historical himbo with hidden depths.
These are just a pleasure to read. There’s a trope that plays very heavily in this book that will not work for some but it doesn’t bother me, so I just had myself a fine time with Vincy’s lovely writing. -
Review to follow at AudioGals.
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I only start a Mia Vincy book when I’m not working or occupied with other things. So today when I put my babyboy down for a nap, made some tea, chose some chocolates, draped a blanked over my lap, it was my time to shine (at least for an hour or two), The reason being that I cannot put her books down. She is an fantastic writer (especially how this book is written) and has written two of my favorite books (Arabella’s and Cassandra’s).
That said, I did enjoy this book a lot. It has a great storyline and very interesting characters. How refreshing to read about MMC that has slept with less people than the FMC!
I really liked a lot about Leo. How he is shy-ish, not a rake, can’t fight or shoot, has fantastic hair, is very into fashion and collects artisans. He was not like your average duke or MMC and I liked that immensely.
I also liked Juno because she was so free and just living her best life.
What I had a bit of trouble with was the amount of miscommunication. I know, I know, these storylines always have miscommunication, the big fall out, but this books was 99% of them not saying the truth and misunderstanding each other. Their feelings were all over the place. The whole cottage scene left me so confused. They changed emotions every other sentence, I couldn’t keep up. Also why was there only one steam scene? These people have been pining for each other for 10 year. Give them so good bedsport, for godsake! I also would have liked a longer and more detailed epilogue but that’s just me. Overall it was very enjoyable. Can’t wait to see if there are more books in this series (St Blaise anyone??) -
A friend's to Lovers, second chance romance.
Juno Bell and Leopold Halton we're childhood friends. For years they had morning meet ups. They were friends and confidants until it all went wrong.
In the case of the Bohemian Artist and the Staunch Duke their timing was always impeccable for disaster.
Although there was miscommunication it wasn't drawn out to the end of the book. There was real communication and visible growth on both parts.
As sticky as the plot got. An artist teetering on the line of respectability and a divorced duke. I was flummoxed at one point on how we were going to get out of this situation. With the levity of Leo's half brother, St. Blaise, and the unintentional levity in Mrs. Prescott. I firmly placed my beliefs in Mia and she got me through.
The last parts of this book was enthralling and hilarious when the Duke runs . Leo's actions and words. Juno's art and love.
This was an enjoyable ride.
Thank you for the ARC via BookFunnel This review contains my own personal thoughts on this book. Release date for A Scandalous Kind of Duke is September 22, 2022.
After the book is released I'm going to revisit this review so I can add some of the quotes from the book. -
I really love Mia Vincy's prose. She has a way around romantic scenes that really imbues them with a sense of enchantment. Her characters are drawn with a sensitive touch and their emotions deeply felt through the story.
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I love Mia Vincy's writing, and A Dangerous Kind of Lady remains one of my favorite books, so I was so excited to read this! I liked it, but it just felt a little back and forth with the miscommunication :( More thoughts to come.
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I really would read Vincy’s groceries lists, if she let me.
(and I didn’t even like this as much as her other books).
I already can’t wait for the next release. -
friends-to-lovers when they’ve been pining for each other for ten years >>>
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Fun!
Oh my! Do you want a story that has two people yearning for each other but misunderstandings get in the way? Juno and Leo have been friends since childhood. She has been abandoned by her parents and left with relatives. Leo is the son of a Duke whose father visits him four times a year and lives with his mistress and their family. But with each other, none of that matters. Then one summer, they kiss and Juno declares her love. Leo doesn’t respond and Juno takes it as rejection. Ten years later, their lives intertwine. That’s when the real fun begins. Totally delightful read!
