A Scandalous Kind of Duke

Longhope Abbey, Book 3

By: Mia Vincy

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Two friends. Too many missed chances.

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 future bride demand that he first stop calling on artist Juno Bell, the first woman he ever kissed and now, a decade later, his friend.

After 10 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?

Heartwarming, steamy, and emotional, this historical romance tells the story of a duke and an artist who believe they can never be together but find it impossible to part.

Longhope Abbey series:

• A Dangerous Kind of Lady
• A Wicked Kind of Husband
• A Scandalous Kind of Duke

Longhope Abbey prequel:

• A Beastly Kind of Earl

Each book in this series can be listened to as a stand-alone, and the books can be listened to in any order. As the character move through the same world, they do appear in each other's stories, but without any overarching plot.

©2022 Inner Ballad Press (P)2022 Audible, Inc.

Great read

Strong characters in the entire series. Good plot. Hoping for more by this author, thank u

Great emotional writing style

I preface this review by stating that I love Mia Vincy's writing style and am excited to continue reading her books. This friends-to-lovers book was a bit long in the repetitive theme of misunderstanding each other over the years. I enjoyed all the art references and absolutely loved the fact that she has started writing epilogues!!! I wish for a bit more steam in her books but her way of writing and pulling out emotions is excellent. Can't wait for the next book!

So good!

Excellent book. Mia, PLEASE write your next book about Susana and Saint Blaze (or another guy). I love her sass and OCPD. She’d make an excellent heroine!

Enjoyable!

When I saw that the third book in the Longhope Abbey Series by Mia Vincy was available, I just had to have it. I adore Ms Vincy’s stories and writing style and Kate Reading’s narration is always excellent. In this 3rd book however, I have to agree with reviewer Linda, a little bit repetitive. Leo and Juno is hovering between “he/she loves me and he/she loves me not” for most of the time. The other thing that was disappointing to me, was the ending. The one moment I was still staring into space, my knitting forgotten on my lap, listening to a sweet HEA, when abruptly- BAM! “the end”!! 😮. But, in spite of this, I enjoyed the book and do recommend it as 3-4 stars and is looking forward to number four.

Salute Juno Bell

Vincy has an incredible talent for writing about a very specific type of female protagonist and I deeply relate to her: Strong, capable independent women pushing up against the boundaries of a very restrictive and unfair society for women. That said, Juno Bell is my favorite of them all as I’ve never related to a protagonist (from any book) as deeply as I do Juno. Her motivations and insecurities mirror my own. I completely understood why she thought the things she thought and acted the way she did.
I agree with others that, Leo’s prevarication was super annoying and the plot device is over-used in the genre. Still, I loved Juno and this story so much that I’d gladly overlook the book’s (minor) shortcoming.
Kate Reading is brilliant as usual.

My least favorite of the series

I loved the other books in this series. This one, not so much. It’s okay, but predictable and no terribly believable for the time period in my opinion. Maybe a bargain deal, but not worth a credit.

All’s well that ends well…

Though I had trouble liking the characters and their situation for a chunk of the book, the story was well written, and the fact that it’s a fictional story based on a real couple made it more palatable to me. Years of misunderstanding and drastic decisions based on misunderstanding, was frustrating, but resolved beautifully at the end. As always, Kate Reading is excellent! Ive greatly enjoyed Mia Vincy’s other books!

Loved it! Not your usual story.

Contrary to many other reviews, I really liked this one. It was an unusual storyline in many ways. It is a love story centered around finding the right timing. I especially loved that the heroine was given time on her own to develop her love of art into a career, something that may never have happened if early choices had been different. Additionally, the hero wasn’t excessively macho with many notches in his belt and the heroine wasn’t a blushing innocent. I found it all refreshingly different. Nice work, MV.

My least favorite of the series

Mia Vince has been my favorite author of regency romances and I have been waiting for this one for ages. But the story line was quite weak, sorry we didn’t get to see more of our previous heroines in this story. Her friends were not very supportive of her at all and yet prior stories they were good supportive friends. It got quite boring at points and I didn’t laugh out loud one which I have gotten used to with Mia’s writing. Kate Reading is always great although I didn’t like her voice for Leo.

Educational, excellently written

A heart wrenching story of unrequited love and the despicable mores of people who think women are abnormal when they pursue their talents, in this story it's art. Unfortunately the "men only" bias is still alive and kicking women today.