A Duke in Disguise

Regency Imposters #2

by Cat Sebastian

One reluctant heir

If anyone else had asked for his help publishing a naughty novel, Ash would have had the sense to say no. But he’s never been able to deny Verity Plum. Now he has his hands full illustrating a book and trying his damnedest not to fall in love with his best friend. The last thing he needs is to discover he’s a duke’s lost heir. Without a family or a proper education, he’s had to fight for his place in the world, and the idea of it—and Verity—being taken away from him chills him to the bone.

One radical bookseller

All Verity wants is to keep her brother out of prison, her business afloat, and her hands off Ash. Lately it seems she’s not getting anything she wants. She knows from bitter experience that she isn’t cut out for romance, but the more time she spends with Ash, the more she wonders if maybe she’s been wrong about herself.

One disaster waiting to happen

Ash has a month before his identity is exposed, and he plans to spend it with Verity. As they explore their long-buried passion, it becomes harder for Ash to face the music. Can Verity accept who Ash must become or will he turn away the only woman he’s ever loved?

Content Warning: off page domestic violence, off page neglect of child, epileptic seizure

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Fiction, Friends To Lovers

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 9, 2019

About the author

Cat Sebastian has written sixteen queer historical romances. Cat’s books have received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist.

Before writing, Cat was a lawyer and a teacher and did a variety of other jobs she liked much less than she enjoys writing happy endings for queer people. She was born in New Jersey and lived in New York and Arizona before settling down in a swampy part of south. When she isn’t writing, she’s probably reading, having one-sided conversations with her dog, or doing the crossword puzzle.

The best way to keep up with Cat’s projects is to subscribe to her newsletter.

Reviews

[Navessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damn it. I was sure I was going to love this one. I loved parts of it. But then there were other parts that were less enjoyable for me.

*spoilers below*

I love that Sebastian included so much real history in the form of the female lead’s brother being involved in some seditious dissent against the British government and aristocracy. But then he was tidily bundled up and sent to America pretty early on and that all sort of disappeared.

I love that the female lead is bisexual and very upfront about her wants and needs in the bedroom. I love that she is outspoken and stands up for herself both in public and in private.

I love that she had some very serious and understandable reasons to not become involved with the male lead. But then she just *poof* changes her mind about everything off page and we’re not really shown why. And then that indecisiveness comes back with a vengeance later on in the book and it seems to take her forever to resolve her feelings.

I love that the male lead was empathetic and at times vulnerable. I love the way his epilepsy was portrayed. I love that he never once pressured or bullied the female lead. I did not love that he kept things from her. Or that he all but took her decision to be with him away by severing all ties at one point.

I also didn’t love the level of relationship angst in here. Anyone who has been following my reviews for any length of time knows that OTT drama that could be easily avoided if the male and female leads simply talked to each other is one of my biggest pet peeves in romance. There was a lot of that in here.

I was also confused by the running theme that the female lead hates the aristocratic class and everything it stands for, but then when she joins it, she’s suddenly okay with all the perks that come from her newly elevated status? There’s talk of country estates and simply buying a new, incredibly lavish, borderline gaudy town home in London because they don’t want to live in the home the male lead inherits.

Okay then.

I mean, by all means, go ahead and spend some money if you want. But paired with the fact that there’s no talk of doing anything for the poor, or further fighting against such an imbalanced system makes them both seem like massive hypocrites to me.

I’m also struggling a little with the running theme in this series that neither of the female leads has wanted to get married because it meant they would lose so much of themselves and neither believed in what at the time was such a broken system (husbands all but owning their wives and all). But then, true love comes along and they, well, they kind of cave. They give up a lot of themselves. They lose their independence.

I’m all for compromising when it comes to love. I’ve done so myself in many ways. But something about this just isn’t sitting right with me. I think it’s because both of their reasons are so legitimate and understandable that to see it all given up just…rankles.

I would love to read a regency romance in which the female lead stays firm on this and doesn’t marry the male lead but they still get an HEA in the form of a long, committed relationship outside the bonds of matrimony.

But does that even exist?

Seriously, I want some recs here. If you know any, please let me know.

I will say that despite all my issues with this one, I’ll keep reading this series. The diversity and the history alone will keep me here.

Blog | FB | Twitter | IG | Pinterest | Tumblr | YouTube

[WhiskeyintheJar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

He held out a hairpin.
“When did you start carrying those in your pocket?” she asked, recalling that this was not the first time he had produced a timely hairpin. A very faint blush darkened Ash’s cheekbones and Verity felt her lips curl upward in response.
“I find them all over the house,” he said. “You ought to consider what conditions you’re subjecting your hairpins to if they’d rather plummet to their death than work for you. Here,” he said, lifting a loose tendril of hair. “You expect your pins to do the work of subjugating the masses. It’s oppression. Your hair clearly wants to be free.”

Second in the Regency Imposters series, A Duke in Disguise, stars Verity Plum and John “Ash” Ashby. Verity runs Plum & Co., a publishing company and her long-time friend Ash does illustrations for them. I have not read the first in the series, so I'm not sure if these two were introduced there or if some of their story was already given but I felt a little lost in the beginning, as if I should already have some comfort with these people and their world.

Verity's brother likes to flirt with writing, just about line crossing, seditious editorials, so we have her worried about him and the worry of trying to get him to leave the country. Ash is friends with both of them, which is why he has tried to keep to himself his deep feelings for Verity. When Verity asks him to draw accompanying illustrations to an erotic leaning book, the sexual tension heats up between the two. The beginning was mostly about the danger to the brother, letting the readers know about Ash's long standing feelings for Verity, and Verity starting to warm to the idea of exploring a different kind of relationship with Ash. It was a bit of a bumpy start, as I mentioned, it felt like I should already know these characters and their world and it wasn't until around the mid-way mark that I finally felt placed in the story.

He was going to lose everything that made him who he was.

By the mid-way point, the brother has been dealt with and along with the hesitant touch and go between Verity and Ash, we get a switching of gears with Ash. In a very serendipitous occurrence, he gets commissioned to draw plants for a Lady, who turns out to be his aunt. Ash grew-up in foster care until pre-teens was apprenticed to a man named Roger. For how close and loving his relationship seemed to be with Roger, the reader never gets to meet Roger or see him with Ash, which left an emotional hole in the story for me.

Turns out his aunt faked his death, after his uncle pushed him down the stairs, to protect him because Ash is actually the heir to the Arundel dukedom. His father was put into an asylum because he suffered from, what we would call today, epileptic seizures, which Ash also occasionally suffers from. Ash's uncle is a very cardboard cut-out villain, who acts like a mindless brute when he appears on page. His grandfather, who apparently doted on him when he was a child but barely wants to speak to him now, also ended up feeling like a frivolous character. These two were supposed to round out this storyline but ended up feeling very empty. Ash's aunt gets more page time and has more quality to her character and I would love to see her get a happy ending of her own in the future.

She was necessary to him, and he thought he might be necessary to her.

Ash doesn't act on his feelings for Verity because he doesn't want to ruin the friendship he has with her or her brother. Verity is more of a self-contained person, not wanting to lose her independence, which ties into her vulnerability in being emotionally hurt and how society is currently structured to give all the power to men over women. She had a previous relationship with a woman but ended it after the other woman developed deeper feelings than Verity had. She also doesn't want to jeopardize her friendship with Ash, as the story goes on she begins to realize how important he is to her. Add in how she is against the injustices of a monarchy government and the nobility and you can see the conflicts affecting these two.

When Ash learns he is the Arundel heir, he decides to give himself a month to act on his feelings for Verity, as he doesn't think she will want to see him again once he becomes a part of the nobility. I didn't enjoy this lying by omission to Verity plot and as it folded pretty quickly, I thought it was a weak way to get these two in bed together. I enjoyed Verity's hardness and Ash's congenial personality mesh but with the rocky beginning and then Ash dealing with the dukedom, I had a problem really diving into their characters and feeling them as a couple. It felt like everything was at once impossible for them to be together and then suddenly they were, I didn't feel their emotional journey to get there, which is what I enjoy the most in romances.

And yet, for Ash, she thought she could live with almost anything that let them be together.

The story had a rocky beginning and a busy plot that didn't always have well rounded supporting characters. However, I did enjoy the author's writing style and this world does have some intriguing threads and characters; Ash's aunt, Verity's brother, and one of their friends, Amelia, who writes about infamous historical figures in scandalous settings. I felt Verity and Ash's friendship but I'm not sure I made it to their romance.

[Caz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've given this a B at AAR.

Cat Sebastian returns to Regency London for the second instalment of her  Regency Imposters  series, A Duke in Disguise, in which an illustrator and a prickly publisher who have been close friends for a decade have to decide if friendship is really enough, or whether it’s worth risking what they have for the possibility of something more.  It’s a well-written story with a very strong sense of time and place featuring two engaging and complex principals; there’s a nod or two to the gothic novels popular at the time as well as some shrewd observations about the political situation, the lack of options open to women and the way the lives of well-born ladies were completely controlled by their menfolk.

Verity Plum and her younger brother Nate are joint proprietors of Plum & Company, Printers and Booksellers, which was left to them by their father.  Verity is the brains of the outfit in the sense that she takes care of all the practicalities (and then some), while Nathan, who is just twenty, indulges his radical sentiments by writing increasingly seditious polemics which she fears will land him in prison in the not too distant future.  Verity and Nate’s good friend, John Ashby – a moderately successful illustrator and engraver – has lodged with them on and off over the past decade, and although he and Verity are completely smitten with each other and have been for years, neither of them is willing to risk crossing the line into a romantic and physical relationship.  Verity doesn’t believe she’s cut out for romance in any case; her most recent love affair (with Portia Allenby, who appeared in the previous book,  Unmasked by the Marquess ) didn’t end particularly well, and she’s not one for dealing with complex emotions.  Verity guards her independence and sense of self very jealously, and she’s stretched thin as it is, what with the pieces of herself she gives over to worrying about Nate, and the business, and her friendship with Ash; and if she’s scared of anything, she’s scared of losing herself completely to all the other demands life makes of her.

Verity is desperately trying to prevent Nate landing himself in serious trouble, and with Ash’s help she manages to persuade him to leave England and travel to America to set up in business there.  She hates doing it, but recognises it’s the only way to keep his neck out of the noose.  Both Verity and Ash feel his loss, but aren’t sure how to comfort each other without crossing their very carefully preserved line, something which is become more and more difficult with each passing day.

The ‘we can’t become lovers because we’ll risk our friendship’ plotline is one that’s often used to create an obstacle in friends-to-lovers stories (and doesn’t always work for me) but Ms. Sebastian makes it work here, showing just how well Verity and Ash know each other and how deeply they care in small but important ways (I loved that Ash always had a spare hairpin or three in his pocket) and imbues their relationship with such visceral longing that it leaps off the page. That said though, Verity’s determination to keep things between her and Ash strictly platonic just seemed to evaporate without much of an explanation.

Ash is a gorgeous beta hero who hides his insecurities behind a veneer of impassivity but who feels deeply. His life has been difficult and filled with loss; he longs for stability and connection, and those longings are the main reasons he is so reluctant to pursue anything other than friendship with Verity, even though he knows she’s as attracted to him as he is to her. After a childhood being passed from pillar to post, fostered by one family only to be passed on after suffering an epileptic seizure, he eventually went to a charity school where one of his schoolmasters recognised his artistic talent and arranged for him to be apprenticed to an engraver. It’s in that capacity that he first makes the acquaintance of Lady Caroline Talbot, who wishes to engage him to illustrate a book of the plants and flowers in her herbarium. Right from his first visit, Ash is struck by a strange sense of familiarity and ‘wrongness’ at the same time… he can’t know that his visits to Arundel House will change his life.

I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler, given the book’s title, for me to talk about what that change is (and it’s in the synopsis) – although Ash isn’t so much a duke in disguise as he is one who has no idea of his true identity! The discovery of his origins is naturally a shock and his instinct is to deny that he is likely the Duke of Arundel’s heir; not only has he not been brought up to it, Verity will want nothing more to do with him should he really be a member of the aristocracy she so despises. But it seems he cannot escape his birthright – and moreover, he can’t abandon Lady Caroline – who is his aunt – to the not-so-tender mercies of her violent, abusive brother, whose murderous intentions were the reasons she sent Ash away into hiding when he was a little boy.

I enjoyed the book overall, even though I had a few niggles with the way things played out. I liked Ash and Verity and the strong connection the author has created between them, and I liked the historical and political background to the story and the cheeky nods to gothic romances – but I wasn’t completely convinced by the way the couple reached their HEA. We’re repeatedly told and shown that Verity absolutely hates the aristocracy and everything it stands for and that she intends never to marry – and yet she’s very easily persuaded to become Ash’s duchess. I also didn’t much care for Ash’s lie by omission; when he accepts he really is the heir to a dukedom, he decides not to tell Verity for a month (and to finally embark on the sexual relationship they both want) and as if that wasn’t enough, when he’s forced to own the truth, he just ups and leaves Verity without really talking to her about anything, instead just assuming that she won’t want to be with him once he’s a duke and that she won’t consider marrying him regardless of his social status. For two people who’ve been friends for a decade and know each other pretty much inside out, and considering Ash’s abandonment issues, that refusal to communicate didn’t make a lot of sense.

The writing is excellent and the principals are refreshingly different; Verity is bisexual (and makes no secret of it), pragmatic and somewhat grouchy, while Ash is more even-tempered and is an utter sweetie (and a virgin to boot). I’ve knocked off a couple of grade points for the inconsistencies I’ve noted, but I nonetheless enjoyed A Duke in Disguise, which is one of the better historical romances I’ve read over the past year or so.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the backdrop is way more interesting than the central story.

Who knew a story of a seditious newspaper and two people trying to write pornography would be boring? It’s weird that such a cool and original set up would not use it to its best advantage but instead would pivot to a very conventional long lost Duke story.

The first half of this book was so rough. It was boring and meandering, focussing on endless conversations and inner thoughts. There was a side plot and setting that could have been extremely interesting except very little focus was on them. I think this might have benefitted from being a full novel so the author could actually work on character development and story arc. As it was the pacing was so off and the narrative flipped at the 50% point and the book became about something else entirely. It almost felt like the author had written two separate books or abandoned the first story midway through.

The second half was much more fast paced and engaging but the originality was lost from the first half. And then the ending was abrupt and wrapped up very quickly. Just overall a badly paced novella.
The writing itself is very good and I like this author, but I can’t seem to get into this series. Her newer series was so good, perhaps she’s just hit her stride as an author recently and her backlist just isn’t it.

[Sam I AMNreader · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Leave it to Ash to spend a fortnight courting the meanest cat in London." He looked at her, his eyes lit up with amusement, his mouth round with surprise. "He has a type."

The first 20%-30% of this book just clicked with me. I've seen everyone's ratings and was confused during that time thinking "But I LOVE this"...and now I see why they are mediocre.

There's so much Cat Sebastian does right, but in the second installment of the Regency Imposters, tension is missing. Everything ends up feeling a bit shallow. Despite its strong beginnings, I didn't feel a connection to the characters past the first 1/3 of the book, which was odd and a true disappointment. The characters started to feel strangely one-dimensional yet inconsistent. It was an odd reading experience.

[⚣Michaelle⚣]

It's Cat Sebastian...if anyone can get me to read a "straight up" MF title, she can.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Be serious, Plum. There's far too much cheese for you to eat on your own."
"How little you know me," she said mournfully. This was a seduction. She was being seduced with cheese and lewd drawings and she could not be happier about it.

To quote Marie Kondo, "This sparks joy."

Cat Sebastian is one of my favorite historical romance authors, and I was thrilled to receive an early copy of the second installment in the Regency Imposters series. Her books never fail to make me feel warm and fuzzy, and this was no different.

A Duke in Disguise follows publisher Verity Plum and illustrator John "Ash" Ashby. They've known each other for years, and each has harbored a secret crush for the other. As an orphan, Ash grew up being shuttled from place to place due to his guardians not understanding his epilepsy. He struggles with abandonment issues and fears that any move he makes on Verity will ultimately result in losing her—in part due to her dislike for marriage. Fans of friends-to-lovers romances and slow burn romances will find a lot to love here. Together Ash and Verity have the ease that only comes with the deepest of friendships, but there's still plenty of tension as they navigate their feelings for each other and what it means for their friendship.

Ash would give the shirt off his back, everything he owned, to help the people he cares about. Verity, on the other hand, is delightfully prickly. She doesn't particularly care for other people, or rather for dealing with the complex feelings that happen when you start to deeply care for another person. As the two grow more intimate, Verity loves that Ash feigns nonchalance around her and it helps her adjust to their changing relationship.

One of my favorite things about Sebastian's books are that there is essentially always a grump and a cinnamon roll, and I loved Ash's giving nature matched with Verity's practical and no-nonsense attitude. These are characters who support each other without ever trying to change the other—which becomes even more important as Ash's social status changes with the surprising discovery that he's the heir to a dukedom. There are some fun twists and turns to that plotline that I won't reveal here, but I will say it takes a dramatic turn at the end that I loved.

As usual for Sebastian, the flirting here is top notch. There are erotic drawings being shared, cheese plates, and some light bondage. What's not to love?

Even with a man and a woman on the cover, this is Cat Sebastian and LGBTQ+ rep continues to be a present theme. Verity's last relationship was with a woman—readers who follow this series have met her ex before and will likely be as excited as I was to learn more about her. There are also queer relationships present in side and background characters.

On a rating scale, I think this falls closer to a 3.5 for me. But I round up because Sebastian always delivers exactly what I'm looking for in her books. I'd definitely recommend this to her fans, but I'd suggest newbies start with the Turner series (my personal favorite).

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm having trouble with this one! On the one hand, I liked it. On the other, I thought it needed just a little something else. I never really cared the way I should have, the way I've cared about her other characters in past books.

Verity Plum is a publisher and bookseller; John Ashby is an engraver. They have known one another for ages, and always a low-simmering attraction they've both ignored has been present. Both for different reasons have been scared to change their dynamic. But then a series of events occur that convince both of them to give in, just for a little while. As the title may imply, Ash discovers he's the lost heir to a duke, after believing his whole life he'd been abandoned by his family, some illegitimate by-blow, crippled and thrown in the gutter (he has epilepsy, which was NOT understood back then). And Verity, newly successful publisher and sole creator of The Ladies Register, has just had to send her brother to America for his own protection, as she and Ash both thought his activities and published works were becoming so seditious the Redcoats were bound to come for him soon, and prison, or execution would be the result.

This is the author's first straight up m/f romance (and even then, the heroine is bisexual, and there are other queer characters that aren't the main pair). I'm not sure whether that affected my rating here, but I don't think it did. Although, I wasn't super enthusiastic about her other non m/m book, the first book in the series either. And, I think, for similar reasons. She skips over my favorite parts of a romance, the getting to know you dynamic. Here, obviously, the two characters have known each other for forever, but when you introduce a new dynamic, we should get to see them navigating it! And we don't. We also don't really get to see Ash getting to know his aunt, or really doing the emotional work in coming to terms with his new title. And! (and this may not be the fault of the author, but the person who wrote the blurb copy) it's barely about publishing dirty novels at all! I would have liked to see more of Verity's work there, and maybe have it tie even more into the plot than it did. The naughty novel is basically just an excuse for them to get all hot and bothered, and I think it could have been a lot more than that.

Basically, I just wanted more. This book was not fleshed out enough. It kind of read like she was jumping from point to point, and just wanting it to be over. Which is a shame, because I really liked both Verity and Ash, I liked the setting, and I would have liked to have really seen more of all of it.

[3.5 stars, rounded down for now, I think]

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Cat Sebastian’s first m/f pairing but it’s still queer as hell. Verity has only been with women before and doesn’t find much to commend about men. She certainly never wants to marry a man, as it strikes her as a raw deal for women. Ash, on the other hand, has been in love with Verity for years but knows he doesn’t have a shot with her, at least not something long-lasting. Because he was orphaned at a young age, he does not want the possibility of his children being bastards. So there’s Ash, pining impossibly over Verity and there’s Verity, being a kickass woman getting stuff done. When they have to ship her brother off to America to keep him safe from the authorities, Verity sees her old friend Ash in a new light and forgetting all the reasons why they shouldn’t be more to each other. There was so much unrequited longing and yearning and angst between these two and I could not get enough of it. I loved every development of their relationship.

There are real obstacles in their relationship at the start of the book but then as events unfold, the stakes get even higher. I wasn’t sure how they’d be able to navigate their differences. I really liked how Verity had to learn about the true nature of friendship, that there isn’t a ledger of checks and balances as she’s believed but that people are there for one another because they care. It was a lovely development in a lovely story.

Also: I loved the cat in this story. More cats in books, please.

CW: seizures, domestic violence, attempted arson, attempted murder, threat of violence, grief

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

An utterly delightful, practically perfect historical romance. Verity Plum is a radical bookseller and writer whose childhood friend Ash, an engraver, has recently come to board with her and her brother. Their friendship and intellectual connection teeters on the edge of romantic love and lust, only having balanced there so long because of a mutual worry that their current relationship (they're both to each other one of the few people in their life who has stuck around and can be trusted) might be ruined.

But when Ash--an epileptic brought up in foster care who has always assumed he was illegitimate--discovers he's actually the legitimate heir to a dukedom and has the opportunity to take it from a terrible abusive man, it drives a wedge between him and Verity.

Superb writing that covers all manner of fascinating historical details like seditious journalism, naughty book publishing, engraving, 19th century inheritance law, women running small presses, and more!

Plus, Verity is bisexual and her ex-lover / friend Mrs Allenby is a prominent secondary character. (Staying good friends with your ex is queer lady culture, is it not??)

One favourite passage:
"For all she was one of Ash's dearest friends and one of the few constants in his life, for all she and her brother were now the closest thing to family that he had in this country, being near her was a pleasure he meted out for himself in small doses, like the bottle of French brandy he kept in his clothes press, lest he succumb to the emotional equivalent of gout."

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this romance, the first more traditional historical I have read by Cat Sebastian, who is cementing her place as one of my absolute favourite authors. I adored both Ash and Verity. Their romance was excellent and the politics of the book were a highlight.

[Amy (I'd Rather Be Sleeping) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well... This is something that happened.

So, I went into this book blind. Didn't know anything about it beyond the Goodreads synopsis and who the author was. I kept reading it because, until reading the synopsis closer, I wanted to read the third in the series and I do not like skipping books. Even when they only loosely tie together - like this series does.

Anyway, I didn't like Verity or Ash much from the start. Late in the book, there's this quote that sums them up perfectly '[...]him cool and detached, her hard and angry.' Not my type of characters in the slightest.

I really, really hated their romance, too. Supposedly, it's friends-to-lovers, but it doesn't feel like that in the slightest. In the story we do not get the 'oh, I'm in love with my friend' realization - because they have both been in love/lust with their friend since before the story starts. We don't even get pining because everything between these two is ignore, deny and lie.

'If they acknowledge the potential he felt between them, then they'd want to do something about it.'

'If he let looks like that happen, they'd all find out exactly how fragile their arrangement was.'

'By unspoken consent, they seldom touched. They had never discussed the parameters of their friendship, but they measured out these touches as carefully as any housewife measured out the lumps in the sugar bowl. They were special occasions, feast days, homecomings. Two, three touches a year. Any more frequent and heaven knew what would happen.'

Oh, and speaking of lying.

Ash decides he's going to lie (only by omission, though) to his 'friend' before they have sex for the first time. A lie that he keeps up while they are lovers, because he's fully aware that if he tells Verity the truth, it would change things.

...

This is unmistakably the point that the book completely lost me and any goodwill I had for it. I'm not getting into it any more than this. I'm not. I still have a headache and I do have some updates I made while reading the book. Suffice to say that if this had been the first Sebastian book I'd ever read, I would have never touched another book of hers.

Finally, what is the marriage obsession? For both of the Regency Imposters so far, that has been THE big hurdle to overcome. Is this typical of F/M historical romances? Because, honestly, it's been so long since I read the few that I did - but I don't remember it being like this.

(Side note: Verity is bi and has only taken women lovers. Ash has epilepsy and is a virgin.)



Preread 'Review'

*snicker/snort* 'Yes, this is an actual M/F romance.' *cough* Definitely hoping that we will still get some LGBT rep.

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Unfortunately, this is my least favorite and probably, in my humble opinion, Sebastian's most below par novel to date. The reasons for 10 years pining and keeping the feelings to one self feel weak.

I found the romance to be sparkless. I tend to love friends to lovers romance, but I can't get excited for this one. Doesn't help that I felt like there were TONS of background story started off page.

I appreciated a bisexual female heroine though, and we have the female lover on page as well. She doesn't just disappears from Verity's life.

The only two things that most appealed to me were the demonic cat, which sadly, didn't have enough time on page... And Verity's passionate brother, Nate, who sadly was shipped to America, per Verity's request, to escape prison

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Very enjoyable and amusing. It's Cat Sebastian, so that's a given, right? How cool to read a *queer* m/f historical romance! This is an entertaining radical love story about sedition and friendship between a grumpy and independent radical queer lady publisher and a lovely radical epileptic orphan artist-engraver. They both hate the nobility and Ash is completely disgusted to discover he is to become a duke and he resists it and I loved that. They are best friends and have been in love with each other for years, but are both afraid to make a move and wreck their awesome relationship. When the moves are finally made, I liked how Verity took the lead in the steamy scenes and that she's the experienced one (Portia Allenby from Unmasked by the Marquess is her former lover) and she shows virgin Ash the ropes. There was so much I loved about this, such as the excellent trope subversion, but I just didn't connect with it strongly and the plot was a maybe unnecessarily complex and there's some moments of waffley characterization. I loved the grand gesture at the end, though. Perhaps not this author's strongest work, but still full of awesome, awesome stuff, such as Ash's malicious cat and that Verity is publishing an illustrated dirty novel about Perkin Warbeck, a 15th-century pretender to the English throne who was executed. All in all, this was lots of fun.

[Stacee · Rating 4 out of 5]

BFF to more is one of my favorite things, so I was all over this book + the promise of a new to me author was something I couldn’t ignore.

I loved Verity and Ash. I loved their button pushing and loyalty. I loved her saltiness and his charm. I absolutely loved how they complimented and accepted each other. Verity’s brother Nate was a bit lacking, but I was especially smitten with Amelia and I hope we get more of her.

Plot wise, it didn’t quite go in the direction I was expecting. There was a lot of push and pull and some parts of the plot felt repetitive. I did really enjoy the last few chapters and scenes of the declaration with a hat, the bonding over an accident, and everything with the cat. Yes, this will all make sense when you read it.

Overall, it was the characters that I adored. I could have easily read more scenes of banter and I desperately wanted more from the epilogue, but I think that’s just me being greedy.

**Huge thanks to Avon Books for providing the arc free of charge**

[aarya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Link to live tweeting thread: https://twitter.com/ardentlyaarya/sta...

I'm very into aristocrat-hating MCs these days.

Disclaimer: I’ve interacted with the author, but these are my honest opinions about the book.

[Ashton Reads]

DNF at 13%. Friends to lovers isn’t a trope I overly enjoy as it is, but at the start of the novel these two have not only been best friends for years, but they are secretly pretty much in love with each other already, which ruins any chance of tension build up for me personally. I definitely will be moving on to book 3 though!

[Cece · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever ordered a dish that you’ve never tried before but you know you love all the ingredients individually and then you get it and it turns out it doesn’t quite come together for you? Well, that’s what this book felt like sometimes. Every component was exactly what I wanted, but the mix was ever so slightly off.

Since his epilepsy is severely worsened by sea travel, 26-year-old engraver John “Ash” Ashby can’t follow his mentor, surrogate parent, and business partner when he sails to warmer climates for health reasons. Instead, he moves in with his publisher friends, siblings Nate and Verity Plum, but their housing situation is tumultuous: Nate is writing increasingly radical tracts against the government, the authorities are targeting printers like the Plums for sedition, and Ash has been secretly in love with Verity for years, which is difficult to hide when they’re roommates. To further complicate matters, she also approaches Ash for his help in engraving sexy illustrations to accompany an erotic novel she plans to publish for a quick profit. Their long-simmering chemistry is boiling, although Ash wonders how prickly, independent, and staunchly republican Verity would feel about him if she knew he was also the long lost heir to a dukedom.

There’s so much good stuff here.

Ash is the secretly pining hero of my dreams! His attentive, thoughtful, and care-giving personality was beautifully done and manifested in such personal details, which made it all the more realistic, and I loved how Cat Sebastian paired this tender man with a heroine who was often unappealingly pragmatic, irritable (usually from overwork and stress), and argumentative. As a “difficult” heroine, Verity had such interesting dimension and I found myself as invested in her as I was in Ash.

Like the first book in the “Regency Imposters” series, A Duke in Disguise expertly deconstructs class and I was excited that its view of inequitable wealth and privilege mirrors my own (short version: it’s wrong). Ash doesn’t view his unexpected aristocratic roots as a personal boon, since it’ll take him further away from meaningful work, the only family he’s ever known, and the woman he’s loved for a decade. Similarly, disdain for the idle rich and financial/professional independence are cornerstones of Verity’s character. It’s rare to find a historical romance that centers middle or working class people, which is why I was delighted that the priority here was Verity’s publishing business, rather than the wealth fantasy of Ash’s secret origins.

Cat Sebastian is also a phenomenal writer. Her gift for hilarious irony, clever understatements, and flirtatious witticisms can’t be beat, but I’m equally obsessed with her elegant way of laying out emotional, social, or political complexities in impactful, condensed sections. Complicated ideas don’t become one-dimensional or glib for legibility nor did it feel as if I was receiving a lecture, which can be a stumbling block for some of the less realized books in this progressive-leaning generation of “new school” historical romances. Here’s one of my favorite passages:

The poet seemed to rebuke the hubris of leaders without realizing that it, too, fed into the cycle of pride in which men celebrated the deeds of other men, generation after generation. When Verity thought of the toppled monarchy, the statue of the tyrant half-buried in sand, she felt none of the melancholy that the poet seemed to want his reader to feel; instead she was filled with hope that maybe this tyranny, too, would pass, that maybe she would live to see a world in which the deeds of men were not the only measure of accomplishment.

At the same time, as much as I loved the individual components here, it never totally coalesced for me.

For instance, it took me about 100 pages to get into this story because although Ash and Verity were fantastic characters and the printers’ setting was great, we’re rather unceremoniously dropped into the middle of their preexisting friendship, Verity’s ongoing conflict with her dangerously radical brother, and the political turmoil of the day (And that’s only the tip of the iceberg, there’s also the erotic novel they’re serializing & Ash’s mysterious heritage). As the book kicked into gear, it often had an inexplicably mournful quality while its best romantic scenes were slice-of-life moments between the central couple, yet the subplot involving Ash’s origins was melodramatic, almost gothic, which became tonally jarring. Finally, the conclusion was much faster paced, and our protagonists triumph over the villain too neatly.

I loved this book, but it was also easy to put down and wonder away from. The choices that the story makes – around gender, class, and the changes we make for love – were ones I deeply appreciated, even as I felt there were too many craggy bits kicking me out of the narrative.

**Read for the “Friends to Lovers” square in 2021’s Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo**

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

cat sebastian books are healing to my soul <3

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cat Sebastian dedicated A Duke in Disguise to all the ‘difficult heroines’ and Verity Plum was definitely one of them. That wasn't a bad thing per say. In fact I on many occasions have loved heroines who others have deemed too cold, too harsh, too emotionally closed off, etc. etc. Basically any heroine that’s afraid to be vulnerable as that vulnerability could lead her to losing a vital part of herself or the independence she had worked so hard to cultivate in the first place, well, those heroines will always be favorites. However, Verity’s prickliness made life very difficult indeed for our darling hero Ash, who loved Verity with his whole heart and soul. Not that he ever bothered to tell her that, or that she ever bothered to tell him that though life would tell her love was too much of a risk, Verity not so secretly loved Ash as well. This mutual pining and UST completely slayed me. But it also made getting these two to happily ever after all the more difficult. Ah, there’s that word again, apt though it is. Besides standing in their own way of happiness, the plot that surrounded them did not help at all.

Ugh, the plot. Or what passed for a plot. Honestly the full history of Ash’s origins read as hard to believe, let alone take seriously. Ash and Verity even joke at one point that his newly discovered life read like a bad gothic novel and they weren’t kidding. The more the story went on, the more it felt like the obstacles that lay in between Ash and Verity were just there for conflict’s sake or of their own stubborn creating, which were all later rather too easily resolved. The disconnect I felt from the plot hurt the sparkling friendship turned passionate romance that was otherwise the highlight of the book in my opinion. If I was just rating the romance, I’d give it 4 stars easily. The plot however I’d only give about 1 or 2 stars. So the final rating falls somewhere in between accordingly. I will say that Verity and Ash’s moments together made the book a worthwhile read, but I wish the overall story surrounding them had been better or at least more well thought out.

[Kaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Longer review later, hopefully, but honestly all the reasons I stopped reading the book earlier this year still apply even now that I've finished it.

Original review: I really, really hate to do this, because I've been looking forward to this book and I LOVE the characters so far, but this is going to have to be a dnf-for-now at 50%. I am just Not In The Mood for anything coming up in the second half, based on what's happened so far and other reviews I've read.
Super spoilery reasons that I quit:
1. Ash not telling Verity that he's going to be a duke. Fuck that, I am so over love interests keeping things from each other.
2. Verity eventually compromising her radical ideals to be with someone who's a duke. I get why it's so hard to write a HEA that maintains these ideals set at this time and place, especially if one of the characters is from the aristocracy, but maybe that just means that it's time for authors to write characters who are not from the aristocracy?
3. Verity giving in and marrying Ash. Both of the books in this series have featured a character who is or is perceived to be a woman who (quite understandably) doesn't want to deal with the legal restrictions of marriage at this time but eventually gives in because she loves the hero so much. Nah, nope, over it. Where's my stories about women/non-binary people who decide not to ever get married??

[Tess]

Putting this on pause at 30%. I love the concept of having queer MCs in an MF romance. However, I'm having difficulties connecting with the characters.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at Reading Reality

I finished this a week or so ago, but unlike my usual habit, I did not immediately write up the review. It took me a few days to figure out why I didn’t want to revisit the book.

I think it’s that I was disappointed.

I expected to love this book. The first book in the series, Unmasked by the Marquess, was filled with light and verve and was just amazeballs. The author had managed to take a genre that has been done to death and took it into an entirely new direction with its genderqueer heroine (Robin thinks of herself as “she”, so she is the heroine, after all) and its unashamedly bisexual hero.

That they don’t just find each other, but fall in love and marry, and that the titular Marquess loves Robin exactly as she is, male clothing, behavior and ALL, was remarkably refreshing. And a whole lot of fun.

After that, and after her two highly regarded male/male Regency series, The Turners and Seducing the Sedgwicks, I was expecting something other than the rather traditional male/female romance I got in A Duke in Disguise.

This is an author whose Twitter bio proclaims her as “writer of Marxist tracts with boning…” In A Duke in Disguise, we got plenty of the Marxist tracts, as heroine Verity Plum heads a publishing house that publishes radical political tracts – and is branching out into publishing very dirty books with plenty of boning.

That Verity is politically active, and that she very definitely works for her living, makes her a bit different from the standard Regency heroine. Verity isn’t just part of the radical political movement, she’s also unashamedly bisexual and is completely unwilling to marry – because marriage will cost her the independence she both needs and prizes.

But the hero of this tale feels like he’s a bit too much cut from the standard Regency hero mold. In fact, he reminds me a teensy bit of the hero of A Most Unlikely Duke (although I liked that book considerably more), in that he has no clue that he is a duke until a series of fortunate (actually unfortunate from his perspective) coincidences returns him to the family who gave him away for adoption when he was a toddler.

Before he discovers he’s a duke, James Ashby makes his living as a highly skilled engraver. He’s the artist who is designing the plates for that dirty book that Verity plans to publish.

Ash, as he’s called, Verity and her brother Roger, have been friends for years, forming a family-of-choice for the seemingly orphaned Ash. However, Ash has been in love with Verity for years – merely too afraid to risk the friendship he needs for a romantic relationship that he’s sure has very little chance of working out.

His angsty pining over Verity gets to be a bit much after awhile – and feels very traditional at the same time – albeit with the proverbial shoe on the other foot. He pines after her, while she is aware of the sexual tension and the risk that it might be more – or might explode in their faces – but it doesn’t break her heart or interfere with her rational processes in quite the same way – at least not for a considerable while into the story.

When Ash discovers he’s the heir to a dukedom, he finally decides to risk a relationship with Verity – because he believes it will be brief. He assumes that once she discovers that he is part of the aristocracy they both loathe, she will leave him behind without a second thought.

And he will have some beautiful but bittersweet memories to keep him warm in the cold company he must keep in order to rescue his aunt and all of his family’s dependents from the murderous impulses of the man who will otherwise inherit the title and the power that goes with it.

In the end, Ash gives up love for duty, and Verity, surprising to both of them, gives up independence for love. It does all tie up neatly with a bow.

I expected more fun and much less tradition.

Escape Rating B-: I was disappointed in comparison with the previous book in the series, but that doesn’t mean that A Duke in Disguise was not a fun read – because it mostly was. I’ll also confess that I thought that Verity was a much more interesting character than Ash – in spite of his sudden and unexpected elevation.

She was different from the usual run of Regency heroines, while still being plausible. Ash, in spite of the illness that caused his family to send him away, felt too much like he was cut from the standard cloth.

The story reminds me rather a lot of Dare to Love a Duke by Eva Leigh, in a couple of important ways. Ash, like the hero of that story, conceals his heritage in order to spend time with the woman he loves – a woman he believes that he will have to give up because of their relative positions in society – and a woman who he believes will not want to be part of that society with the restrictions that it places on the women in it.

Unfortunately, the two books also resemble each other in the way that both were good reads in themselves but slightly disappointing compared to their predecessors in their respective series. Your reading mileage may vary.

[Elley Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating 4.5 stars

First off, HOORAY for a neurodivergent MC and a bisexual MC! *throws a party* When Cat Sebastian tweeted something about A Duke in Disguise being her first m/f romance, I was little like "but why?" Not that I don't read all sorts of romances (I do), but Cat does queer romance SO WELL. And if you haven't read the first book in the Regency Imposters series, Unmasked by the Marquess yet, GO DO IT - Robin is a nonbinary MC and the entire book is just AMAAAAZE. But I digress.

I'm a little disappointed that the cover isn't a better representation of Verity... After reading this book, I can NOT picture her lounging so passively in that gorgeous pink dress. Her hair should be all askew, with ink smudged on her face, and her position in relation to Ash should be one that is MUCH more forceful, direct, and from a place of power. She is a dynamic and complex character that I just can't make jibe with the cover model. Oh, also, Virgin Hero Alert!!

Also, both Verity and Ash are so insecure and damaged, which is apparently my catnip. There are several moments in this book where my eyes welled up and my heart cracked open.

"No, Verity, it's just that we got carried away last night. It's not a good idea." Of course it wasn't a good idea, she wanted to yell. What kind of fool would think it was a good idea to entrust one's heart to a cold, unfeeling creature such as she?

He wanted to mean something to somebody. But he couldn't without risking ending up with nothing and nobody at all.

Arrows, straight into my heart. I just love them together, and how they walk this tightrope trying to stay friends and not fall into the pit of attraction yawning open in each of them. I wasn't quite as enamored of Verity's brother, Nate, but one side character I did really enjoy is Amelia! I really hope she either gets her own book or that we'll get to see her progress through the other books in the series.

A Duke in Disguise is the second book in the Regency Imposters series, but can be read as a stand alone with no spoilers for the first book. In fact, I don't think the characters from book 1 even show up in this one... just some side characters in common.

An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss for review.

Like this review?
Check out more of my reviews on my blog, Elley the Book Otter

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much as I loved Cat Sebastian's first trilogy, I've been less entranced with her subsequent efforts. A Duke in Disguise is by far my least favorite so far. The historical aspects are all done very well, as per usual, but the romance is the definition of tepid, and, well, that's what I was here for.

To start off, I did like Verity's job a lot. She runs the family's press, producing newspapers and books. Her brother writes political tracts, but Verity's the one who keeps the household and the press operational, even if just barely. To up income, Verity creates a ladies' newspaper and also starts publishing erotic literature. All those aspects were the parts of the book I enjoyed. And, in the context of her work, I liked Verity as a character.

Ash is the third person in the triumvirate of the Plums (siblings Verity and Nate), and they've all been besties for ages. He also does illustrations for the newspaper. He and Verity have both been in love with one another basically forever, but have never spoken of it and try to avoid touching because of their massive chemistry. So says the narration in both POVs...

Yet this couple has absolutely no chemistry. They don't banter or have any spark. Even when they fight, it's so boring; they both just mope around. There's a lot of talk about the passion they feel for one another, but I never found it convincing. Ash very much read as aroace to me, so the sex scenes really made me uncomfortable.

My other issue with this book isn't necessarily Sebastian's fault, but I found it super frustrating that the fact that Ash is actually a rightful duke isn't revealed until the FIFTY PERCENT MARK, which might have been an exciting twist, but was spoiled by the TITLE. Rather than being curious who the imposter was, you're just annoyed that it takes so damn long for the book to have any plot whatsoever. Then again, it still wouldn't have much plot (which I wouldn't need if I was into the ship but I wasn't so snoooooore), but it added insult to injury to have the title spoil what plot there was.

I'm really hopeful I'll love more Cat Sebastian books like I did her debut series, but this book was tedious. Characterization across the board was lacking, and excellent historical aspects alone do not a great romance novel make.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one didn't quite work for me. The reader enters into the story almost in media res, when Verity and Ash have already been secretly in love with each other and denying themselves for 10 years; I felt robbed of the joy of seeing that attraction develop, and like their self-denial of the attraction was already ho-hum instead of tense. Perhaps because I missed that developing attraction, I felt told how electrifying they found one another, but I didn't actually feel any chemistry between them.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ash is the best friend of Nate and Verity Plum who run a Georgian publishing house. Various issues with both Ash and Verity's pasts have kept them from taking their deep affection for each other into a full relationship, but events overtake them and they do end up falling into one. But those events include that Ash isn't a bastard as he was raised to believe, but instead the son of a duke hidden from his family for his protection. Of course when the truth comes to light, a relationship with the egalitarian Miss Plum is impossible. (However, this is a romance novel.)

I didn't like this nearly as much as the first book in the series, but it's still a good read, particularly with how it surfaces queer characters and how they're dealt with in the society at the time. (This is an MF romance, but Verity has had a previous relationship with a character from Unmasked by the Marquess, Portia Allenby. Amelia Allenby also features).

[Cait · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a good secret nobility book! I'm really liking Cat Sebastian's plots, but there's something about the writing that isn't grabbing me. I'm enjoying it enough to keep reading for sure though.

[Taryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Cat Sebastian’s historicals because they don’t abide by the usual strictures of the genre. The characters aren’t all straight, rich, or members of the nobility, and the women aren’t all virgins who have to be taught everything by men. (I am SO OVER quivering virgins.) It’s just so refreshing to read a historical romance that doesn’t erase queer people, working class people, and women who lived full lives outside of ballrooms and drawing rooms. Verity is a radical bookseller and publisher, and Ash is her longtime childhood friend who discovers he may (surprise!) be the heir to a dukedom. Verity is used to taking care of her own shit, doesn’t think she’s cut out for love, and never planned to marry. Ash is a beautiful principled cinnamon roll who doesn’t want Verity to compromise anything about herself to be with him. But...they also reach a point where they can’t deny their attraction to each other, REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling” plays in the background, and things move apace. That might be an anachronism, but that’s the way I remember it anyway.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like your Regency romance with a radical twist, Cat Sebastian is the author for you. Another great book!