NO OTHER DUKE BUT YOU - Valerie Bowman
Playful Brides Series
St. Martin's Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-250-12167-7
May 2019
Historical Romance

England – 1827

At the ripe old age of twenty-two, Lady Delilah Montebank is well past the time when she should be a happily married woman. But her endeavors until recently have been as matchmaker for her friends. However, her widowed mother has given Delilah an ultimatum, find a husband or Mother will. And the one she has chosen, Clarence Hilton, is dull, certainly no one the creative, sometimes clumsy Delilah could live with. Delilah's best friend, Thomas Hobbs, the Duke of Huntley, listens in stunned silence when she tells him that she told her mother that she could do better than the boring, chubby Clarence, and that she would set her sights on the most eligible man of the Season, the Duke of Branville.

Thomas has known Delilah since they were children, and, despite his early years spent as a rogue and rake, when his father died suddenly, Thomas turned his life around and has been the perfect example of an eligible, young duke. But he has shown no interest in marriage, because no one he has been around could possibly make him feel as Delilah does. She's funny, a bit eccentric, intelligent, and beautiful. And she only thinks of him as a friend.

Delilah and her friends are staging a play, and Lucy, her fellow matchmaker, has invited Branville to be in the production. There has to be some way to get him to focus on Delilah, even though another friend, Rebecca, has her eyes on him too. Is there a potion or something that can turn Branville's head and save Delilah from the creepy Clarence? Thomas watches and agonizes over what he can do to show Delilah that he is the duke she should marry.

NO OTHER DUKE BUT YOU is a romp through the London  ton , framing the spunky Delilah as a young woman of her times, but one who has much more modern ideals. She comes off as silly to her mother, but all her friends see a lovely, loving woman who is just fun to be around. Poor Thomas struggles with his feelings and winces every time Delilah brings up her need to marry Branville. How will Thomas convince Delilah that he's the one?

This is a fun story and a great way to start the summer season. The Playful Brides series is simply delightful.

Jani Brooks