{Playful Brides Review} A Duke Like No Other by @ValerieGBowman

A Duke Like No Other by Valerie Bowman
Published by St. Martin's Paperbacks on May 1, 2018
Genres: Historical, Romance
Pages: 352
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
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General Mark Grimaldi is devoted to his service for the Crown, risking his life and giving up everything for his career. The political promotion he's always wanted is now within his reach, but he needs to convince his estranged wife to return to England and play the role of happy bride in order for him to get the position.

Nicole Huntington Grimaldi has spent the past ten years in France, not having seen her husband since she left England. But now he's on her doorstep, asking her to return with him, and Nicole sees the opportunity to get something out of this deal. So she agrees, on one condition: she wants a baby.

A Duke Like No Other is a Regency spy caper with Valerie Bowman at her best as husband and wife match wits and may just fall in love in the process.

I received A Duke Like No Other for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Nine books into this series and it is still as amazing as the first!

You may remember General Mark Grimaldi as a friend of the Cavendish brothers and their wives. Mark has been a spymaster for years all the while holding several secrets of his own. One is that he has been married for a decade, yet his wife has lived in France since their disastrous fight three months after the I do’s. Now, to get the promotion he wants, he’ll need to bring her back to England to play the part.

Nicole Huntington Grimaldi fell in love with a man she never really knew and after three months, it all fell apart. Since she was also somewhat of a crimefighter/female spy, she took an assignment in France and never returned. Even though she was surprised when her husband found her, she honestly never thought it would happen. Mark needs a wife. Nicole wants a baby. Simple, right? Not in the least.

Valerie Bowman takes us on another adventure from the lavender fields of France to the richest homes in London. Mark and Nicole are a unique in the sense that they’ve been married for a decade and aren’t in the fresh blooms of youth. Yet, they are still hold on to old wounds and jealousies like two adults that should know better. I still loved them both to pieces! Mark can be stubborn, but he’s incredibly intelligent and a voracious lover. Nicole wants to guard her heart, but with a husband like Mark, a woman can only enjoy every moment of their intimacies. Both of them have their attitude problems, but Bowman has a way of making the most difficult puzzle pieces fit together perfectly.

I came into this series at book seven and didn’t feel at all lost. Don’t be scared away because this is the ninth book in the series. It can definitely be read as a stand-alone novel. I can’t promise you that you won’t want to go back and devour the other eight novels until the tenth, Kiss Me at Christmas, hits shelves later this year.

If you want your Historical Romance with shocking secrets, a deadly dose of mayhem, and love scenes that singe the pages, A Duke Like No Other is your next must read novel!