A Duke for Lady Eve

Belles of Christmas, Book 5

By: Kasey Stockton

Narrated by: Deborah Balm

Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

All she wants is to be a Lady. All he wants is an honest wife.

After escaping to the garden for a reprieve from the stuffy ballroom, Miss Evelyn Trainor bumps into a handsome stranger through a hedge. When he boldly requests an introduction, she lies and tells him a fake name, Lady Eve, positive she’ll never see him again.

But when she returns to the country for Christmas and finds her handsome stranger — the Duke of Alverton — has moved in next door for the holidays, she does what she must to guard her secret. For he has declared the importance of titles and cannot find out she is a commoner.

The Duke of Alverton has been taught one thing his entire life: Rank matters above all else. Having recently inherited the dukedom, he is overcome by the inundation of matchmaking mamas and escapes to the country for Christmas.

When he arrives in the country and finds the woman from the ball who not only intrigues him, but carries the rank of Lady, he knows he has found his future wife.

Book 5 in the Belles of Christmas series, A Duke for Lady Eve is a standalone Regency holiday romance. The series can be enjoyed in any order:

Unmasking Lady Caroline by Mindy Burbridge Strunk, Book 1

Goodwill for the Gentleman by Martha Keyes, Book 2

The Earl's Mistletoe Match by Ashtyn Newbold, Book 3

Nine Ladies Dancing by Deborah M. Hathaway, Book 4

©2019 Kasey Stockton (P)2020 Kasey Stockton

Commoner and Duke Romantic Histotical

A good story of a commoner heroine, posing as a lady, meets and becomes involved with a Duke. Would have been better with more historic detail.

Sweet Christmas Story!

A sweet Regency Christmas story. I enjoyed both characters struggling to find peace in their own place as they drew closer to one another.

Sweet, clean romance

I listened to the audio version of this book. The narrator was fabulous. Loved her. Very soothing voice like I imagine for Lady Eve. And I enjoyed the story too. I liked that Evelyn was able to teach the Duke about service and caring for people, even if they aren't his concern, sheerly by example instead of being lectured or even talking about it really. The Duke wasn't entirely likable in the beginning but he was intriguing. And actually, his behavior toward Lady Eve was likable and he is charming. It is just with everyone else he isn't very likable. His attraction to Eve was intriguing. What was it about her, besides her singing voice? Something obviously.
I loved the feel of this book if that makes any sense. There wasn't too much angst as Evelyn tried to figure out how to save her family.
I also enjoyed the secondary love story as brief as it was. Felt sad for the doctor but believe that someday he'll find his true love too.
Enjoyable, pleasant, clean read.

No sex, language or violence
*I received a complimentary Audio-book from the author and voluntarily chose to review it.

A Christmas romance

When Miss Evelyn Trainor plays pirates with her younger twin brothers she's always Lady Eve; what young girl doesn't pretend to be a lady or a princess? While at a masquerade ball in London with her Aunt Edith, she escapes to the garden to be alone. Only she's not really alone. The Duke of Alverton, who's also escaping to a garden to be alone is on the other side of the hedge that divides the adjoining estates. When he inquires her name she tells him "Lady Eve". What's the harm, she's wearing a mask and what are the odds she'll ever see him again?

The odds are not in Evelyn's favor. Soon after she and her aunt return to her family's country house, Evelyn discovers the Duke of Alverton is visiting his friend, the Earl of Sanders, whose estate borders Evelyn's family's. As you can imagine this is not a good thing. Of course they run into each other and Evelyn tries to be as vague as possible when answering questions about herself. The Duke is attracted to her and she to him, but after a time she decides she can no longer pretend to be Lady Eve and will have to tell Lord Alverton the truth. Of course, before she has a chance to do that, something happens to one of her brothers and Lord Alverton finds out there is no Lady Eve.

I liked the main characters, although each has their shortcomings to overcome. Evelyn thinks less of herself than she should and the Duke has been raised to value status above everything else. I enjoyed their interactions with each other, and their friends. I admit that at certain times in the story I wanted Evelyn to end up with the sweet and kind Dr. Cooper.

I didn't care for the Duke's mother and thought someone of her rank and status would've cared more for the type of woman she wanted her son to marry. I didn't understand why Evelyn didn't confront her father more directly about the family's finances, and I wanted to know what happened to Aunt Edith who lied about Evelyn needing to get married to save the family from the poor house.

This is the first book I've read by this author. It's part of a series, but each book is a standalone. I thought the narrator, who I'd not heard before, did a wonderful job with the voices.

Sweet Christmas Romance

This is a very sweet story. I loved how they had to overcome some preconceived notions about each other before being together. I also thought the narrator did a great job and that this is a great Christmas romance!

A Christmas love story

Through an unusual opportunity, Evelyn meets a duke who is soon smitten Ed by her. Believing that she will never see the Duke again, she becomes bold in her own way. The Duke is enchanted by her, and would like to further his acquaintance with Evelyn. Through a series of events both characters will grow in ways that they never could have foreseen.
The reader does an exceptional job bringing the characters to life and helping the listener cheer on the prominent characters in the story. A smooth clear voice with a delightful accent waits to weave this tale for your enjoyment.

Clean, regency romance

This book was darling. I loved getting to know Evelyn’s family-they seemed so normal and relatable. At first I didn’t really like the Duke of Alverton, but he changed the way he acted after getting to know Eve and her family.
The narrator was awesome. She did a great job with the voices especially with the men. Definitely worth listening to.

A fun simple story

I enjoyed this audiobook. The story had a little bit of everything you would expect from a sweet romance: love, devotion, a little danger. It was good. I didn't feel absolutely wowed, though. There was nothing really wrong with it. I think I wished that the love story had a bit more development before they finally decided to be together. However, I found it to be an enjoyable, simple story.

The narrator did a great job. She was very easy to understand and listen to. The story flowed well in the way she read it.

Overalls, I would recommend it to someone looking for something simple and easy. It was definitely a fun read.

Sweet story

It's a sweet, clean story. A little bit of a mystery. Simple plot. Enjoyable characters. Good narration. I'll look for more from this author.