It's Hard Out Here for a Duke by Maya Rodale Blog Tour

In the fourth novel of Maya Rodale’s tantalizing series, a newly minted duke spends one night with his perfect woman... but can he win her for a lifetime

Some Mistakes…

When American-born James Cavendish arrives in London tomorrow, he’ll become the Duke of Durham. Some might be ecstatic at the opportunity. Not James. He’s a simple man, fond of simple pleasures. And right now, nothing could be more pleasurable than spending his last night of freedom with a beautiful stranger.

Are Far Too Good…

One wild night, Meredith Green, companion to the dowager Duchess of Durham, said yes to a man she thought she’d never see again. Suddenly, they’re living under the same roof, where Meredith is expected to teach James how to be a duke—while trying not to surrender to temptation a second time.

To Be Forgotten

For a duke and a commoner, marriage would be pure scandal. Yet nothing has ever felt as right as having Meredith in his arms… and in his bed. Soon he must choose—between a duty he never desired, and a woman he longs for, body and soul…

Book 4
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Avon Romance

Though Miss Meredith Green lacked birth, or wealth, or many other qualifications one would assume of a gently bred lady, she had been raised to be one. She could curtsy with the best of them, expertly arrange both flowers and seating arrangements for dinner parties, and could recite pages from Debrett’s Book of the Peerage. These were just a few of her accomplishments.

As such, she should not be here, in the public room of the Queen’s Head Tavern and Coaching Inn. Especially not alone and especially not at night, where any old ruffian might think he could take a liberty with her, to put it nicely.

Which is why she should not have allowed the barmaid to add a generous splash of whiskey to her tea.

Which is probably why she was encouraging the ocular advances of a handsome man with whom she was not acquainted.

Meredith had noticed him the moment he walked in, tall and lanky but strong, with unfashionably long brown hair that fell rakishly in his eyes. What color were they, she wondered? She didn’t need to know. There was nothing she could do with this information. There was absolutely no point to her knowing.

She badly wanted to know.

So she dared one glance, then another.

Do not look. Do not look. Do not look.

Her better judgment was roundly ignored. Before she knew it they were somehow flirting from opposite sides of the room without even saying a word.

It was the sort of thing that made a girl’s heart beat giddily and her toes start to tap under her skirts. Thanks to years of training, she kept her posture poised and her movements elegant, but under her skirts, her toes were tapping.

This, this was what she need tonight: a distraction. The past few months had been trying, and the next few promised to be challenging as well, albeit in a different way. She had only tonight to live for herself.

She darted another look in his direction.

He was watching her. This truth elicited a slight smile from her lips. But she shouldn’t take pleasure in this.

She ducked her head.

But her heart beat quickly and she wondered: Would he come over?

He shouldn’t. He really should not. She absolutely should not encourage him. But life was full of should-nots, and tonight Meredith wanted to say yes.

It had been a bit of a day—on top of quite a week, and one hell of a month. Or two or three. Her visit to her ailing mother in Hampshire revealed a dispiriting truth: the life choices of Miss Meredith Green were few, and less than thrilling. Nevertheless, she had made her choice to return to London and live the restrained and dignified life of a lady’s companion.

Emphasis on restrained. When one relied on one’s spotless reputation for her very existence, one comported herself accordingly. One did not give or receive heated glances across crowded rooms.

But Meredith embarked on a little whiskey-infused rationalization: until she stepped foot in London, she could afford to live a little loosely. For one night, she might indulge in the sort of wicked behavior—and passion—that she’d have to refuse forevermore.

That was just the splash of whiskey talking, she told herself. It was just the strain of recent events wreaking havoc with her common sense. It was her mother’s bad influence. She’d had the great luck to be raised to be A Lady. She oughtn’t forget that.

Do not look. Do not look. Do not look.

She looked. Oh, she looked.

His gaze sparkled. Like he knew what inner turmoil and rationalization his glances inspired. This time, she didn’t look away.

Oh, goodness, he was coming over. Her heart beat faster and faster as his long strides brought him closer and closer until he was standing beside her, leaning casually against the bar.

Gentlemen did not lean.

“What is a beautiful woman like you doing alone in a place like this?”

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
5 Happily Ever After Stars.

It's Hard Out Here for a Duke could be read as a standalone, offering no confusion, but I would advise against it, as that would hinder the emotional response in the reader. Over the previous three installments, readers have connected to the American-born aristocrats, and knowing the little details made the story more worthwhile.

Readers have been waiting since hints were dropped throughout the entire series about James' fixation on the dowager duchess' companion – Miss Green. A lot of behind closed doors interactions were caught by naughty, annoying little sister's during their books, of Meredith and James in compromising positions, and now it's time the story was told.

The novel spans the entire length of the series, predating the first novel, almost giving off a prequel feel. James' narration begins before they hit London, because he was hanging onto his old life for as long as humanly possible. Until he set foot on his new property, he wasn't yet a duke.

Just James... and Meredith was just a girl.

If you're a fan of the series, I don't need to spell it out, and if this is your first glimpse of the Americans hitting the ton by storm (go back to book one), then I don't wish to ruin the plot. Push-pull. Will they-won't they. Rodale makes the characters earn it, taking the reader along for the ride. The payoff is well earned with a happily ever after.

James is now a duke, with a duty to uphold. Three sisters to place first in his heart, and an entire dukedom to put ahead of his own needs and wants. The last thing he needs is a scandal, which is hilarious if you read the previous books. Snorts.

Meredith is in a position that places her at the sidelines, not royal enough to fit in as a peer with those she interacts with, but too educated and composed to be allowed companionship with the servants. Where does she fit in society? Why does she feel as if she deserves more, wants more, than to worry about her dementia-addled mother as she keeps the dowager duchess company?

James and Meredith have a spark that ignites whenever in each other's presence, a hard to deny connection, easy enough for others to see. While I enjoyed their interactions, I found my heart galloping with glee when it came to James interacting with his sisters – it added a layer of levity to a novel that could have become too melancholy and angsty of a story without it.

I read It's Hard Out Here for a Duke in a single sitting, from start to finish, and by the time the dowager narrated the epilogue, I was teary-eyed from the most final of happily ever afters, for the entire Cavendish clan.

I highly recommend this book/series to fans of the author, and readers looking for a humorous yet emotional journey. The humor is not over-the-top, the romance doesn't feel forced, both are organic and easily bought by the reader. I look forward to more by this author in the future, and am hungry to devour her backlist.

Also Available in the Keeping Up with the Cavendishes Series

Book 1
Buy Links

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B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Lady Bridget’s Diary Blog Tour.

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Chasing Lady Amelia Blog Tour.

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Lady Claire Is All That Blog Tour.

Maya Rodale began reading romance novels in college at her mother’s insistence. She is now the bestselling and award winning author smart and sassy romances. She lives in New York City with her darling dog and a rogue of her own.

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To celebrate the release of It's Hard Out Here For A Duke, Avon is giving away one paperback set of the first three books in the Keeping Up With the Cavendishes series by Maya Rodale.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of It's Hard Out Here for a Duke (Keeping Up with the Cavendishes #4) by Maya Rodale to read and review for this tour.

Lady Claire Is All That by Maya Rodale Blog Tour

In the third installment of Maya Rodale’s captivating, witty series, a marquess finds his fair lady—but must figure out how to keep her

Her Brains

Claire Cavendish is in search of a duke, but not for the usual reasons. The man she seeks is a mathematician; the man she unwittingly finds is Lord Fox: dynamic, athletic, and as bored by the equations Claire adores as she is by the social whirl upon which he thrives. As attractive as Fox is, he’s of no use to Claire... or is he?

Plus His Brawn

Fox’s male pride has been bruised ever since his fiancée jilted him. One way to recover: win a bet that he can transform Lady Claire, Society’s roughest diamond, into its most prized jewel. But Claire has other ideas—shockingly steamy ones...

Equals a Study in Seduction

By Claire’s calculations, Fox is the perfect man to satisfy her sensual curiosity. In Fox’s estimation, Claire is the perfect woman to prove his mastery of the ton. But the one thing neither of them counted on is love...

Book 3
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London, 1824
Lord and Lady Chesham’s ballroom

It was a truth universally acknowledged that Maximilian Frederick DeVere, Lord Fox, was God’s gift to the ladies of London. He was taller and brawnier than his peers and in possession of the sort of chiseled good looks—above and below the neck—that were more often found in works of classical art. By all accounts he was charming and universally liked by men and women alike, though for different reasons, of course. He won at two things, always: women and sport.

Fox strolled through the ballroom as if he owned the place. He nodded at friends and acquaintances—Carlyle, with whom he occasionally fenced, Fitzwalter, who he had soundly thrashed at boxing last week, and Willoughby, who was always game for a curricle race.

Fox flashed his famous grin as he heard the ladies’ usual comments when he strolled past.

“I think he just smiled at me.”

“I think I’m going to swoon.”

“God, Arabella Vaughn is one lucky woman.”

“Was,” someone corrected. “Didn’t you see the report in The London Weekly this morning?”

Fox’s grin faltered.

That was when Mr. Rupert Wright and Lord Mowbray found him. Their friendship stretched all the way back to their early days at Eton.

“We heard the news, Fox,” Rupert said grimly, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

“I daresay everyone has heard the news,” Fox replied dryly.

It didn’t escape his notice that the guests nearby had fallen silent. It was the first time he’d appeared in public since the news broke in the paper this morning, though Arabella had so kindly left him a note the day prior. Everyone was watching him to see how he would react, what he would say, if he would cry.

“Who would have thought we’d see this day?” Mowbray mused. “Miss Arabella Vaughn, darling of the haute ton, running off with an actor.”

“That alone would be scandalous,” Rupert said, adding, “Never mind that she has ditched Fox. Who is, apparently, considered a catch. What with his lofty title, wealth, and not hideous face.”

Fox’s Male Pride bristled. It’d been bristling and seething and enraged ever since the news broke that his beautiful, popular betrothed had left him to elope with some plebian actor.

Not just any actor, either, but Lucien Kemble. Yes, he was the current sensation among the haute ton, lighting up the stage each night in his role as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. Covent Garden theater was sold out for the rest of the season. The gossip columns loved him, given his flair for dramatics both onstage and off—everything from tantrums to torrid love affairs to fits over his artistry. Women adored him; they may have sighed and swooned over Lucien Kemble as much as Fox.

To lose a woman to any other man was insupportable—and, until recently, not something that ever happened to him—but to lose her to someone who made his living prancing around onstage in tights? It was intolerable.

“Just who does she think she is?” Fox wondered aloud.

“She’s Arabella Vaughn. Beautiful. Popular. Enviable. Every young lady here aspires to be her. Every man here would like a shot with her,” Mowbray answered.

“She’s you, but in petticoats,” Rupert said, laughing.

It was true. He and Arabella were perfect together.

Like most men, he’d fallen for her at first sight after catching a glimpse of her across a crowded ballroom. She was beautiful in every possible way: a tall, lithe figure with full breasts; a mouth made for kissing and other things that gentlemen didn’t mention in polite company; blue eyes fringed in dark lashes; honey gold hair that fell in waves; a complexion that begged comparisons to cream and milk and moonlight.

Fox had taken one look at her and thought: mine.

They were a perfect match in beauty, wealth, social standing, all that. They both enjoyed taking the ton by storm. He remembered the pride he felt as they strolled through a ballroom arm in arm and the feeling of everyone’s eyes on them as they waltzed so elegantly.

They were great together.

They belonged together.

Fox also remembered the more private moments—so many stolen kisses, the intimacy of gently pushing aside a wayward strand of her golden hair, promises for their future as man and wife. They would have perfect children, and entertain the best of society, and generally live a life of wealth and pleasure and perfection, together.

Fox remembered his heart racing—nerves!—when he proposed because this beautiful girl he adored was going to be his.

And then she had eloped. With an actor.

It burned, that. Ever since he’d heard the news, Fox had stormed around in high dudgeon. He was not accustomed to losing.

“Take away her flattering gowns and face paint and she’s just like any other woman here,” Fox said, wanting it to be true so he wouldn’t feel the loss so keenly. “Look at her, for example.”

Rupert and Mowbray both glanced at the woman he pointed out—a short, frumpy young lady nervously sipping lemonade. She spilled some down the front of her bodice when she caught three men staring at her.

“If one were to offer her guidance on supportive undergarments and current fashions and get a maid to properly style her coiffure, why, she could be the reigning queen of the haute ton,” Fox pointed out.

Both men stared at him, slack jawed.

“You’ve never been known for being the sharpest tool in the shed, Fox, but now I think you’re really cracked,” Mowbray said. “You cannot just give a girl a new dress and make her popular.”

“Well, Mowbray, maybe you couldn’t. But I could.”

“Gentlemen...” Rupert cut in. “I don’t care for the direction of this conversation.”

“You honestly think you can do it,” Mowbray said, awed.

He turned to face Mowbray and drew himself up to his full height, something he did when he wanted to be imposing. His Male Pride had been wounded and his competitive spirit—always used to winning—was spoiling for an opportunity to triumph.

“I know I can,” Fox said with the confidence of a man who won pretty much everything he put his mind to—as long as it involved sport, or women. Arabella had been his first, his only, loss. A fluke, surely.

“Well, that calls for a wager,” Mowbray said.

The two gentlemen stood eye to eye, the tension thick. Rupert groaned.

“Name your terms,” Fox said.

“I pick the girl.”

“Fine.”

“This is a terrible idea,” Rupert said. He was probably right, but he was definitely ignored.

“Let me see... who shall I pick?” Mowbray made a dramatic show of looking around the ballroom at all the ladies nearby. There were at least a dozen of varying degrees of pretty and pretty hopeless.

Then Mowbray’s attentions fixed on one particular woman. Fox followed his gaze, and when he saw who his friend had in mind, his stomach dropped.

“No.”

“Yes,” Mowbray said, a cocky grin stretching across his features.

“Unfortunately dressed I can handle. Shy, stuttering English miss who at least knows the rules of society? Sure. But one of the Americans?”

Fox let the question hang there. The Cavendish family had A Reputation the minute the news broke that the new Duke of Durham was none other than a lowly horse trainer from the former colonies. He and his sisters were scandalous before they even set foot in London. Since their debut in society, they hadn’t exactly managed to win over the haute ton, either, to put it politely.

“Now, they’re not all bad,” Rupert said. “I quite like Lady Bridget...”

But Fox was still in shock and Mowbray was enjoying it too much to pay any mind to Rupert’s defense of the Americans.

“The bluestocking?”

That was the thing: Mowbray hadn’t picked just any American, but the one who already had a reputation for being insufferably intelligent, without style or charm to make herself more appealing to the gentlemen of the ton. She was known to bore a gentleman to tears by discussing not the weather, or hair ribbons, or gossip of mutual acquaintances, but math.

Lady Claire Cavendish seemed destined to be a hopeless spinster and social pariah.

Even the legendary Duchess of Durham, aunt to the new duke and his sisters, hadn’t yet been able to successfully launch them into society and she’d already had weeks to prepare them! It seemed insane that Fox should succeed where the duchess failed.

But Fox and his Male Pride had never, not once, backed away from a challenge, especially not when the stakes had never been higher. He knew two truths about himself: he won at women and he won at sport.

He was a winner.

And he was not in the mood for soul searching or crafting a new identity when the old one suited him quite well. Given this nonsense with Arabella, he had to redeem himself in the eyes of the ton, not to mention his own. It was an impossible task, but one that Fox would simply have to win.

“Her family is hosting a ball in a fortnight,” Mowbray said. “I expect you to be there—with Lady Claire on your arm as the most desirable and popular woman in London.”

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
As a fan of the series and the author, I have to be honest and say this book didn't work for me. Be it my mood, perhaps. But, if I were to sum up the book in a single word, Tedious would be what I would choose.

No insult to the author or her work, but sometimes a book just doesn't resonate with a reader. It happens. Usually there is a reason, and in this case, the narrators were the cause.

I've enjoyed the slightly zany storylines of past books in the series – the spitfire sisters who took the ton by storm. USA meets London.

I see myself as a cerebral being, an introvert who is introspective and intellectual, so I thought for sure Lady Claire and I would be a great fit. But as she droned on about how no one accepted her as a female scholar, wanting acceptance for who she is, she herself thought down upon those who didn't find mathematics the 'end all, be all.'

The thing about acceptance... if you wish to be accepted, then you in turn must provide the same. Lady Claire reminded me of people who had to 'tell' you how important/intelligent/rich/powerful they were, which usually is a sign of just how lacking they are. To be truly intelligent means you don't have to tell anyone – it's obvious in your behavior, interactions, and actions. In dialogue and monologue, I felt Claire's worth was tied to whether or not everyone knew she was smart, and they in turn weren't.

I guess my problem was that I found both narrators to be vapid in the opposite of the spectrum. Fox was all about competitiveness – sport and women. Claire found him too simple-minded. But Claire was so hyper-focused on her needs and wants, seeing them as more worthy pursuits, she was not a well-rounded character. Sport and women is most certainly seen as vapid. But just because Claire was an intellectual doesn't mean she had any depth.

Brain vs Brawn – opposites attract.

I felt Claire insulting to Fox, with Fox merely pretending to find Claire intriguing as he was bored out of his skull. A couple must be equals, yet this was unbalanced, with Claire finding herself far superior to Fox. So their opposite-ness never truly met in the middle.

As a historical romance, the storyline is filled with balls, women being restricted, angst with past loves, characters driving a wedge as the conflict, so it hits those notes perfectly. As I stated above – perhaps it was my mood, as I did enjoy the other books. But, as I read, I too felt as if I was sitting through a mathematical lecture.

Fox had a one-track mind, win at any cost. With a bet, and a premise to mirror one of my favorite teen movies from the 1990s, She's All That, I thought this would be a winner for me as well. But amid the nonstop inner monologues about how Fox was always a winner in sport and women, as was his reply dozens of times in the book, and his pining for a woman who jilted him, the story was lost among the repetition.

There was another narrator in the mix, adding the conflict of the storyline, and I'm not sure how to voice my thoughts on his part, so I won't go there.

I didn't know the characters, other than Fox's never losing and Claire's one-track mathematical mind. I wasn't sure how they met in the middle, other than the author telling the reader they did.

For me, it felt as if the author forced the characters into one another's orbit, into interactions, and told the readers they were a good fit, but I didn't feel it because it wasn't organic.

I don't wish to spiral down the rabbit hole where I turn overly critical as a way to vent my frustrations. I voiced what I did above for those who read as I do (maybe take a pass), and for those who don't (buy the book, as you're sure to love it). If you're a fan of the series, I suggest reading this installment, regardless.

I will say I enjoy the author, the series, and the previous books, but this didn't work for me at all. Simply put, I found the story itself tedious to wade through, the narrators rubbed me the wrong way, and I struggled to finish the book.

However, I do look forward to more in the series, as there are characters I am curious to read more about.

Also Available in the Keeping Up with the Cavendishes Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Lady Bridget’s Diary Blog Tour.

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Chasing Lady Amelia Blog Tour.

Maya Rodale began reading romance novels in college at her mother’s insistence and it wasn’t long before she was writing her own. Maya is now the author of multiple Regency historical romances. She lives in New York City with her darling dog and a rogue of her own.

Connect with Maya

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

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Follow the Lady Claire Is All That Blog Tour HERE.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Lady Claire Is All That (Keeping Up with the Cavendishes #3) by Maya Rodale to read and review for this tour.

Chasing Lady Amelia by Maya Rodale Blog Tour

In the second novel of Maya Rodale’s enchanting Keeping Up with the Cavendishes series, an American heiress finds her reputation—and heart—in danger when she travels to London and meets a wickedly tempting rake.

Terribly Improper

Lady Amelia is fed up with being a proper lady and wishes to explore London, so one night she escapes…and finds herself in the company of one Alistair Finlay-Jones. He’s been ordered by his uncle to wed one of the American girls. How lucky then, that one of them stumbles right into his arms!

Totally Scandalous

Alistair and Amelia have one perfect day to explore London, from Astley’s Amphitheater to Vauxhall Gardens. Inevitably they end up falling in love and making love. If anyone finds out, she will be ruined, but he will win everything he’s ever wanted.

Very Romantic

When Amelia finds out Alistair has been ordered to marry her, he must woo her and win back the angry American girl. But with the threat of scandals, plural, looming…will he ever catch up to the woman he loves?

Book 2
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“Ah, Lady Nansen. Lord Nansen!” The duchess and her charges paused before a couple that looked just like all the others Amelia had been introduced to: they were of an indeterminate middle age, decked in an array of brightly colored silks and satins, and honestly, a bit jowly and gray.

“I haven’t yet introduced you to my nephew and nieces.”

“And we have been dying to make their acquaintance,” Lady Nansen said, fanning herself furiously. “The ton has spoken of nothing else.”

The duchess performed the introductions. Upon meeting James, the new duke, fawning ensued.

Everyone fawned over James these days—but then when his back was turned they whispered about how his father was a horse thief and that James had been raised in the stables and how tragic it was that Durham was now in his hands.

“And Lady Claire.”

Amelia watched as they took in Claire’s spectacles and her distracted, impatient demeanor. She had not mastered the slightly vacant look of a simpering miss and with a brain as sharp as hers, never would. Amelia watched as Lady Nansen decided that Claire would never be an “incomparable,” or whatever they called the popular girls of the ton, and flitted her attention to the next sister.

“Lady Bridget.”

Amelia watched as her middle sister glided into an elegant curtsy. The duchess beamed. Lady Nansen judged.

“Your practicing is paying off,” Amelia murmured. She’d caught Bridget curtsying in front of the mirror in the ballroom for an hour last Thursday.

“Do shut up, Amelia,” Bridget said through gritted teeth. Unlike the other Cavendish siblings, Bridget actually cared about fitting in here. She was obsessed with learning and following the rules.

“And Lady Amelia.” She gave a smile somewhere between gargoyle and simpering miss, but perhaps more on the gargoyle side of the spectrum.

“You must have your hands full, Duchess, trying to make so many matches.”

“It does give one something to do all day,” the duchess replied, with a tight-lipped smile that Amelia dubbed the One Where I Am Smiling Even Though I Hate What You Just Said. “But I do have every confidence that they will make splendid matches. In fact, I have someone special in mind for Lady Amelia this evening.”

The duchess beamed at her charges, as if they hadn’t been foiling her every effort to marry them off. Amelia began to dread meeting “someone special.”

“I say, Duke,” Lord Nonesuch or whatever began, “do you have an opinion on any of the horses running Ascot?”

The lords always asked James for his opinion on which horse would win a race, so they might win a wager. And then they turned around and made snide remarks about his experience raising and training horses—as if he were beneath them because of this knowledge. Even though he now outranked them.

“I do,” James said, smiling easily.

“Don’t suppose you’d tell a friend who you think will be the winner?” Lord Nansen or Nancy said jovially, with a wink and a nudge.

“I might,” James replied.

This was a conversation he’d had before and Amelia had begged him to do something nefarious, like deliberately suggest a losing horse. But James refused and just smiled like he knew the winner and never said a word.

“I suppose you’re going to build up Durham’s stables,” his lordship said.

“Nansen, he doesn’t have time for horses,” his wife said in that exasperated way of wives. “He must find a bride first.”

The duchess beamed, an I-told-you-so smile.

Then Lady Nansen turned and fixed her attentions on Amelia. Her fan was beating at a furious pace.

“And Lady Amelia, have you found any suitors you care for?”

“After having met nearly all of England’s finest young gentlemen, I can honestly say that no, I have not found any suitors that I could care for,” Amelia said. “But I do have a new appreciation for spinsterhood. In fact, I think it sounds like just the thing.”

Just the thing was a bit of slang she had picked up. Sticking forks in her eye was just the thing (but only with the good silver!). Flustering old matrons with an honest and direct statement was just the thing.

Lady Nansen stared at her a moment, blinking rapidly as she tried to process what Amelia had just said.

“Well your sister seems to have snared the attentions of Darcy’s younger brother,” she said, evidently disregarding Amelia and focusing on Bridget, the one who cared about fitting in and finding suitors.

“Are Lord Darcy and Mr. Wright here tonight?” Bridge asked eagerly. Too eagerly. “I haven’t seen them.”

“It’s not a party without Darcy,” Amelia quipped.

Darcy spent the majority of every social engagement standing against the wall, glowering at the company, refusing to dance, and begging the question of why he even bothered to attend.

But that was neither here nor there and no one deigned to reply to Amelia, so she sighed and lamented her choice in footwear quietly to herself. When Lord and Lady Nansen took their leave and sauntered off, the duchess turned and fixed her cool, blue eyes on Amelia.

“You might endeavor to be a touch more gracious, Lady Amelia.”

The Duchess always said everything in perfectly worded, excruciatingly polite phrases. Translation: Lord above, Amelia, stop acting like a brat.

“I’m just . . . bored.”

And homesick. And unhappy. And dreading the future you have planned for me. And a dozen other feelings one does not mention when one is at a ball.

“Bored?” The duchess arched her brows. “How on earth can you be bored by all this?” She waved her hand elegantly, to indicate everything surrounding them. “Is all the splendor, music, and the company of the best families in the best country not enough for you? I cannot imagine that you had such elegance and luxuries in the provinces.”

Everyone here still referred to her home country as the provinces, or the colonies, or as the remote American backwater plagued by heathens, when Amelia knew that it was a beautiful country full of forthright, spirited people. It was her true home.

They operated under the impression that there was no greater fun to be had than getting overdressed and gossiping with the same old people each night, in crowded ballrooms in a crowded city.

She missed summer nights back home on their farm in Maryland, when she would slip outside at night with a blanket, to look up at the vast, endless expanse of stars.

This, no matter what the duchess said, just did not compare.

Amelia shrugged.

“We already met half these people at the six other balls we have attended this week,” she said. “The other half are crashing bores.”

Crashing bores was a phrase Amelia had read in the gossip columns. The violence of it appealed to her.

“I suppose it would be too much to ask you to pretend to act like an interested and engaging young lady.” Then, turning to Lady Bridget, the duchess said, “I daresay she couldn’t.”

With that, the duchess turned away.

She turned away, leaving the words hanging in the air, floating to the ground, just waiting for

Amelia to pounce on them.

“Well that was a challenge,” Claire said.

“I’m not certain she could manage it.” Bridget sniffed.

Really? Really?

“Is that a dare?” Amelia asked, straightening up. Oh, she would pretend all right. She would pretend so well they’d all be shocked. It would give her something to do at least. “Because I will take that dare.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Bridget replied. Then, muttering under her breath she added, “For once.”

Amelia reddened. Admittedly she hadn’t been taking this whole sister-of-the-duke business seriously. But she would show them. So instead of sticking her tongue out and scowling at Bridget, Amelia stuck her nose right up in the air and turned away.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4 an American Independent Streak Stars.

Chasing Lady Amelia is the second book in the Keeping up with the Cavendishes series. I find Maya Rodale's writing style to flow rapidly, the characters to be engaging, the storyline to be only slightly over-the-top, and the humor to be more witty than forced. All of which makes me a happy reader.

As an American, Amelia has certain inalienable rights, such as the barbaric notion of freedom, or not being a man's property. With her brother inheriting a dukedom, an overbearing aunt, and every night filled with boring balls, endless rules, and vapid humans, Amelia has had enough.

No doubt Amelia will rub many a reader wrong, but I enjoyed her. I understood her. I remember how I felt at her age. I remember the reasons I refused to take my ex-husband's surname, informing him how he wasn't adopting a grown woman during our marriage ceremony. Yes, Amelia had a bit of a feminist bent, which to this day leaves a bad taste in many a mouth for some odd reason.

Amelia throws a fit, screaming her grievances to her family. What do those rules do for 'civilized' society, when they act horrific in all the ways that count? Finding her mad, they drug her with laudanum in her water glass at bedtime...so clearly the events of the next 24-hours are their fault. Clearly.

Alistair finds an inebriated, young woman wandering, and doesn't know where she came from. So, clearly, the only proper thing to do is take her home with him, right? While she rests, he has a meeting with his uncle, where he is told to marry one of the Americans...his lucky day, since he has one sleeping in his home.

After months of being in England, never checking out the sights, because it was more important to be taught how to snag a man, as if the only worth of a woman is the man who has possession of her, Amelia uses her time away for freedom. I'm positive this will also rub many a reader wrong. Shrugs. Amelia, you go be Amy Dish and live a little, instead of being miserable over rules that have no bearing on being a good human being.

As you can see, I'm of the feminist bent – yes, I find it highly ironic that historical romance is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Seeing how the other half lives, I suppose.

Amy and Alistair had a ton of chemistry, witty banter, and hilarity during their adventures. As the reader, not only could I buy into their romance, I could feel it too.

Chasing Lady Amelia was an adventurous tale, featuring a spoiled, slightly immature, yet completely in her right, American who wanted her freedom back, an over-the-top family, and a man who will accept Amelia for the special snowflake that she truly is.

Also Available in the Keeping Up with the Cavendishes Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Lady Bridget’s Diary Blog Tour.

Maya Rodale began reading romance novels in college at her mother’s insistence and it wasn’t long before she was writing her own. Maya is now the author of multiple Regency historical romances. She lives in New York City with her darling dog and a rogue of her own.

Connect with Maya

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
Pinterest  ~  Google+

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the Chasing Lady Amelia Blog Tour HERE.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Chasing Lady Amelia (Keeping Up with the Cavendishes #2) by Maya Rodale to read and review for this tour.

Lady Bridget's Diary by Maya Rodale Blog Tour

In the first hilarious entry in her brand new series, USA Today bestselling author Maya Rodale re-invents a love story we all know and cherish.

Lord Darcy is the epitome of perfect

Lord Darcy is the quintessential Englishman: wealthy, titled, impossibly proper and horrified that a pack of Americans have inherited one of England’s most respected dukedoms. But his manners, his infamous self-restraint and better judgment fly out the window when he finds himself with the maddening American girl next door.

Lady Bridget is the opposite of perfect

Lady Bridget Cavendish has grand-but thwarted-plans to become a Perfect Lady and take the haute ton by storm. In her diary, Bridget records her disastrous attempts to assimilate in London high society, her adoration of the handsome rogue next door, her loathing of the Dreadful Lord Darcy and some truly scandalous secrets that could ruin them all.

They cannot stand each other-and yet they cannot stay away

It was loathing at first sight for Lady Bridget and Lord Darcy. But their paths keep crossing...and somehow involve kissing. When Lady Bridget’s diary goes missing, both Darcy and Bridget must decide what matters most of all-a sterling reputation or a perfectly imperfect love.

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

The London Weekly

Fashionable Intelligence

By A Lady of Distinction

All of London is talking about one thing and one thing only: the arrival of the seventh Duke of Durham. His Grace, we are told, hails from America, of all places in the world, which begs the question of how this came to be.

Older readers—or younger readers who bother to visit their aged relatives and actually listen to them speak of scandals from days of yore—will recollect the Great Scandal of 1784 in which the sixth duke’s brother, the Lord Harry Cavendish, beloved rake, absconded to America with the duke’s prize horse. This horse-thieving younger brother had done a stint in the army, as second sons are wont to do, especially when they are so obviously unsuited to clergy. Whilst stationed in the colonies, he happened to fall in love with an American woman. It was a love so great that he would forsake family, country, membership at White’s, and a voucher for Almack’s.

After extensive sleuthing this author has been able to determine that Lord Harry Cavendish established a farm in Maryland where he bred and trained racehorses, raised his family and refused to use his title. His son, the new Duke of Durham, followed in his footsteps.

So yes, dear readers, a horse farmer from the colonies now holds one of the loftiest titles in England. His arrival is expected any day now and this author has it on excellent authority that he is bringing three sisters of marriageable age. Let there be no conversations about a dull season, for this one is sure to be most entertaining...

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4 1/2 stars
Lady Bridget's Diary was a fun, romantic read. Witty and humorous without being over-the-top, Bridget & Looord Darcy (Colin) were great at bantering, insulting, and generally rubbing the other the wrong way, amping up the chemistry.

The Cavendish clan from America, horse breeders from Maryland, take the haute ton by storm. James received the title of Duke with his uncle's passing. With the help of their aunt (whom I loved), James and his four sisters are welcomed into 'civilized' society.

Lady Bridget's Diary had a vast cast of characters, which opened up the possibility of many intriguing books in the future. Each sister, as well as James, and several others, had individual problems and eccentric personalities that will lend well to their own stories. I look forward to this in the near future – Lady Amelia's story is next in July (thank heavens it's not a long wait)

The middle Cavendish sister was one of the narrators for this first book in the series, Darcy being the other. Bridget & Darcy are the perfect balance for one another – Bridget, the sister who fell, isn't fond of meaningless rules and backhanded compliments, while this is all Darcy has ever known. Dreadful Looord Darcy is taken completely off guard and unhinged by Lady Bridget, and it was delightful to watch (read).

What was most refreshing to read was the new duke with his sisters, and the sisters interacting with him and each other. Instead of seeing the sisters as a nuisance and a burden, ones in which he wishes to marry off to get out of his hair like in 99% of Historical Romance, they are a real family. It was sweet how at night they would meet up in either the kitchen for cake, or the oldest sisters' bedroom, and discuss their days/nights – big brother included, who they would relentlessly tease by calling him Duke. So instead of painting one or two in a bad light, where we'll learn differently during their book, the author made the reader fall in love with this eccentric family, leaving them intrigued for more.

And Rupert (Lord Darcy's heir – baby brother), with his unique 'issue' of the time, I beg the author to give us his story, or at least of novella, because this character is the most intriguing of all.

Seriously, I have mostly fabulous things to say about this book. Maya Rodale is a new-to-me author, and I look forward to reading more.

Maya Rodale began reading romance novels in college at her mother’s insistence and it wasn’t long before she was writing her own. Maya is now the author of multiple Regency historical romances. She lives in New York City with her darling dog and a rogue of her own.

Connect with Maya

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
Pinterest  ~  Google+

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the Lady Bridget’s Diary Blog Tour HERE.

Hosted by

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Lady Bridget's Diary (Keeping Up with the Cavendishes #1) by Maya Rodale to read and review for this tour.