I always do love a good historical romance and One Night with the Duke didn't let me down. I loved the connections between the characters. I haven't read anything by Jodi Ellen Malpas before, but I am definitely reading more.

I loved this book so much that I bought it once published so I can enjoy it again. I also bought a copy for my sister

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Eliza Melrose knows that her parents want her to marry, and care only that she is their entry into society. However, she has no intention of finding a husband, and would rather spend more time writing articles for her father's newspaper, and investigating the mystery surrounding the new Duke of Chester. But her family's sudden rise in fortune is not without a price, and Eliza discovers that she is the key to them retaining their position in society.

I adore Regency romances, that won't surprise people who regularly see my reviews. I initially saw the cover for One Night with the Duke and the synopsis which drew me in, but I found the story lacking at times. Eliza was such a feisty and headstrong character, but she didn't really fit well with the story. I liked that she was enterprising, and though she wasn't able to publish articles under her own name, she and her brother plotted together to allow her words to be printed. I also felt that the chemistry between her and Johnny was the part of the story which kept it going. They were great for each other, and though they butted heads at times, the respect for each other was perfect! I will say that the ending of the story was a plus, and I may read the other books in the series when they are released, because the mystery surrounding the Chester family has only just been touched.

I've really been getting in historical romance this year, so was excited to try One Night with the Duke as it seemed to promise a feisty heroine, smoldering romantic interest and a dollop of smut. Eliza is a wonderful protagonist. Funny and kind, yet not afraid to speak her mind. She doesn't want the typical life of her fellows, ending up as a wife and mother. She wants more, and she leads Johnny our male lead on a merry dance to get it. I found their connection to be good, although a bit rushed, and I was invested in their story.

I would say that at times I did feel the pace to be dragged out, and the writing was sometimes lacking a bit of finesse however overall this was a good time.

One Night with the Duke is another beautifully written story by Jodi Ellen Malpas, with a plot that is full of intrigue and twists and turns. The characters are portrayed wonderfully, and I was rooting for Eliza and Johnny.
The story is told from Eliza’s point of view, and I enjoyed being part of her journey. She is stubborn and fought what she believed in, even though she did not have the choice sometimes. One thing for sure, she was not willing to get married to someone ... she did not choose or love.
Their story was hot and addictive and BOOM!
This book was pure joy to read. I recommend to all lovers of historical romantic fiction.

Simply delightful, filled with charm, wit, hotness and angst till the very last page.

JEM writing historical romance? What is this madness??
The creator of one of my all-time favourite book boyfriends (Jesse Ward, if you didn't know) has brought her readers something completely different, and I'm not mad at it! In fact, I bloomin' loved everything about it. I have been an avid follower of Jodi from back in the day, and I can confidently say that I believe her writing gets stronger and stronger with every new book she writes. This book is so swoony, and super spicy - I defy you not to fall in love with Eliza and the Duke of Chester.

This one didn't disappoint! After loving the Bridgerton Series on Netflix, I thought I'd see if this one delivered in the regency romance genre and it certainly did. ELiza is a familiar character, a young girl forced to endure the social etiquette expected of her who longs for another life. The fact she was brought up in the freedom of the countryside far from High Society and the expectations of nobility really adds to her rebellious nature. Her family is new money and their good fortune feels very less so to Eliza.
I haven't read Jodi Ellen Malpas, although I've heard she is well established in erotic fiction, and this is evident in the growing feelings of Eliza and the duke. I expect her readers had to wait a little longer for the pay off than they're used to.
I'd recommend One Night with the Duke to anyone who, like me is, looking for a little more breathtaking regency romance.

This is historical romance and our female main character is 19, newly in London and firmly new money. Except she is not loving the London life, it just means that all her freedoms have been restricted and she's not even really getting a choice of husband as she has 1 guy that's been presented to her and she doesn't seem to have much choice.

Of much more interest to her is the rakish duke who lives on the corner and maybe murdered his whole family and so everyone is shunning.

This is not that long a book but it felt long and I think it suffers from being single point of view. And I know why we don't get the male main character's point of view and it's so we get a big reveal about what happened to his family - but I at no point expected him to be revealed as a murderer so the reveal was always going to be some variation on him being innocent.

Because we never get his point of view it makes him very unlikeable - one moment he's forbidding her to leave the room and the next he's throwing her out.

I just wasn't really buying the romance between the 2 characters, they didn't even really get to have a conversation until the 25% mark which feels very drawn out. Instead we get a lot of the female main character being unhappy and how her family supposedly do lover her despite there being no evidence that her parents care about her at all when they can benefit.

3.5 stars rounded down to 3 stars

Firstly thanks to @netgalley & Orion & Jodi Ellen Malpas for the opportunity to read & review this #gifted e-Advanced Reader Copy of One Night With The Duke 😀

This book is set in 1814 & focuses on Eliza, the daughter of a printing magnate who is about to be forced into London's High society where she is expected to find a husband, which is the last thing she wants.

"I wish to remain a spinster....I don't know why the word arouses such dread in women and pity in men"

Her thirst for adventure, knowledge & the creative word is a thorn in her father's side as he strives to keep her in check. Women are not allowed to have opinions on matters of business after all!

Cue the youngest song of the late Duke of Chester - a disgraced nobleman who's shrouded in my mystery & proves somewhat impossible for Eliza to resist...

This was a fun regency romance!

Although I didn't fully connext with any of the characters - I enjoyed reading about Eliza - she was endearing and fun to read. Her personality shone through throughout.

Although the plot was somewhat predictable it was fun and just what you'd want from this genre!

The Duke made me laugh.... perhaps more than he was meant to 😂

Rating ~ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5

💭 Overall if you enjoy regency romances then I'd suggest giving this one a try!

Vivid, expansive and richly imagined….. An absolutely heartbreaking and unforgettable read, perfect for fans of gripping family dramas, and for those who enjoy great storytelling.

I had such a hard time reading this book. I love the author’s contemporary romance stories and I love historical romance usually. But somehow this one felt way too contemporary for me to actually get my heart and head around it and to feel it a real historical romance story. I know I might be in the minority but I can’t help it. Hence the reason why I haven’t posted my review on any of my social media pages either.
I know that this was a debut novel into the genre and I’m honestly hoping that the new thing ones will be more historical accurate and related to the time period.
Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley

Ended up Dnf'ing this book at 60% as the writing was not engaging to continue and it was really slow in moving forward.

I didn't connect with the characters and didn't enjoy the romance elements. I think both needed to fleshed out a bit more as they were very 2D.

It didn't make sense based on the background that the family would be one to go to aristocracy parties such as the Prince's royal party when they are a humble family with a newspaper company.

I’m a fan of Bridgerton, so I’m not that concerned when there is inaccuracy but I still want the book to be good in terms of some regency aspects and Eliza our main female character didn't fit the mold of modern regency as reflected in Bridgerton or even old regency as written by Jane Austen.

Oh dear, this book nearly hit the wall several times. I so wanted to like it, but sadly it annoyed me in several ways. I didn’t really connect with the characters. They all did things for the sake of 'plot' rather than doing things that arose out of their natural character. It’s 1816. The heroine, nineteen-year-old Eliza Melrose, is being launched into London’s high society now that her father’s newspaper business has taken off and made him very wealthy. She’s being forced into marriage with Frederick, the son of her father’s irascible business partner (a duke). Frederick is a dull young man with no character to speak of (at least not that we see) but he’s titled, so Eliza (coming from new money) should be grateful. Then she meets the young, taciturn (and unpleasant) Duke of Chester, Johnny, rumoured to have started the fire that burnt his family to death on the other side of Belmore Square. You can guess the rest. This is supposed to be sexy and scandalous, but to be honest I found there was way too much tingling going on. Every time she sees Johnny, Eliza practically has an orgasm on the spot. (And that starts before she’s even said hello.) Regency romance is my guilty pleasure. I’m a fan of Bridgerton, so I’m hardly a stickler for accuracy or even verisimilitude, and I’m OK with sex in a book, explicit or not. but this just didn’t sit right. Eliza writes for her father’s newspaper (under her brother’s name, which is fair enough) but she also climbs down drainpipes (and up again) without a second thought, barges into a brothel to bring her drunken brother home, and stands in front of galloping horses with complete disregard for safety (twice). She suspects that something is going on between her father and the irascible business partner, and that is teased throughout, but when all is revealed, it isn’t such a big deal. There’s certainly no real reason why Eliza must be married to Frederick. Any fertile woman will do for him. It has a happy ending (of course) but Eliza doesn’t really have much of a hand in bringing it about. Style-wise, there were also some arbitrary shifts into present tense, which seemed strangely unsettling. I was a bit worried about Eliza's mother's dresses, described as being layer and layers of fabrinc and very frilly, but in 1816 the predominant fashion was for the slimmed-down, high-waisted neo-classical shape. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's easy enough to get something like that right, or, if Mama is wearing something notably out of (or ahead of) fashion, at least say so. I wish I’d given up at 11% rather than sticking it out to see if it got better. It’s eight hours of my life that I’m not going to get back. Sorry.

One Night with the Duke dazzled with a wholly modern heroine with intensity and wit. Jodie Ellen Malpas proves once again why she has her finger on the pulse of engaging romance stories – she is a genre-busting Cameleon.

It’s been so long since I read a book by Jodi Ellen Malpas. The last being the This Man series. Now…don’t come for me but I daren’t read her other series’ mainly because I didn’t think anything could surpass the perfection of Jesse Ward. I will change that after reading her new release, One Night with the Duke.

Now, this isn’t generally my preferred genre of romance, I haven’t read any regency romances prior to this, but it has indeed opened my eyes and mind to a whole new realm of possibilities. What I loved most about this story was how it had a much-loved modern twist to a historical viewpoint. We had the anguish of women having to stay in their lane as it were. You couldn’t pursue careers that were deemed unladylike, such as Journalism in Eliza Melrose’s case. She doesn’t want to marry and her only purpose to be forced upon her is child rearing and sewing. She wants me from this life, but with the plotting of her newspaper mogul father and a dastardly investor, Lymington, she is being married off to ensure her family’s social standing in the ton.

“Sometimes in this world, Eliza, we, as women of the ton, must do what is expected in order for us to do what is unexpected.”

Eliza Melrose is a formidable female protagonist with unending reserves of spunk, and she refuses to be silenced on matters that are of great importance to her. She knows in which direction her moral compass points and she will not be moved by it. Some might say that she is stubborn, but Eliza just knows her own mind. Marriage isn’t in her horizons, and she refuses to fall in love with just any old rake. All she wants right now is her freedom, the freedom to write news reports for her father’s newspaper, freedom to pick a partner of her choosing.

The arrival of the Duke of Chester after being accused of murdering his entire family has Eliza intrigued. She’s heard the whisperings, about the murders, about his rakish ways; after a memorable meeting, she finds herself attracted to the man with the capricious demeanour. Can she crack his shell, or should she do what is expected of her and stay away and continue the courtship that has been arranged by her father?

Malpas injects her traditional blueprint of alpha male when creating The Duke of Chester, Johnny Winters. He’s controlling, cantankerous, deeply passionate, and fiercely protective. The drama and action pulsed with a heartbeat that brokered no mistake – intentions were clear, and it was just magnificent.

I thoroughly enjoyed ‘One night with the duke’. Historical romance is not my usual genre but it took me by surprise. A sweet regency era romance following Eliza, a young woman, dissatisfied with her new position amongst the ton. Betrothed to a man unsuited to her, she falls for another. The back and forth between Eliza and the duke is witty, if not a little repetitive at time. This book wraps up rather quickly in a nice little bow. An enjoyable read. My thanks to net galley and publisher Orion for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

Best-selling author Jodi Ellen Malpas makes her historical romance debut with One Night with the Duke, a sexy, intense and emotional Regency perfect for Bridgerton fans.

Nineteen year old Eliza Melrose is about to be launched into society in order to make a suitable match – and she’s absolutely dreading it. She finds the thought of spending months on end attending balls and parties and making inane conversation all for the sake of finding a husband absolutely nauseating, but with her father intent on marrying her off, Eliza finds herself with no other choice but to comply and make her debut.

Eliza’s father has always been baffled by his daughter’s thirst for knowledge and her love of expanding her horizons. They have endless disagreements and battles where he never loses an opportunity to clip her wings and try to quell her spirit in order to make her a more biddable and ladylike young woman. Eliza’s father might be hoping that marriage will be the making of his daughter, but little does he realize that Eliza is about to meet a man who could get her in a whole heap of trouble…

Sparks fly the second Johnny Winters crosses paths with Eliza, but the son of the late Duke of Chester is an aristocrat with a fearsome reputation that immediately rules him out as a suitable husband. Yet, Eliza cannot help but be drawn to him and their explosive sexual chemistry quickly compels them to abandon all the strictures of propriety and give into temptation. But Johnny is a man with plenty of secrets. Secrets that could end up derailing a love that could last a lifetime…

Jodi Ellen Malpas’ first foray into Regency romance is sure to delight her legion of devoted followers and fans of historicals alike. One Night with the Duke sizzles with heat, passion and emotion and will keep readers glued to its pages as they go on a sensuous and dramatic journey with Eliza and Johnny, two terrific characters it is impossible not to root for.

Steamy, romantic and immensely enjoyable, One Night with the Duke is the first title in Jodi Ellen Malpas new historical series Belmore Square – roll on the next installments!

'One Night With The Duke', with a few appropriately stupidly named characters (though, thank the good lord, only two or three), is a forbidden romance about the daughter of a newly-minted printing magnate and a mysterious Duke who apparently killed his whole family. Dark to start of with and it doesn't get much lighter. But, there's some sexiness and plenty of slow burn to keep us all entertained.

Whilst the plot isn't the most original thing in the world - though more original than some others I've read - what I LOVED was that the central couple were given more than enough time for their chemistry and relationship to develop. Whilst I didn't love the demanding, possessive 'I am a man you will do what I say' vibe that Johnny had, he was suitably seductive. Who could blame Eliza for falling for him - he is very sexy! Did I keep picturing the actor who plays Anthony Bridgerton because the vibe wasn't that dissimilar? Yes. But you know. Each to their own.

Eliza, I felt, became a wet blanket too often. She's built up as this headstrong, clever character who has great talents - but she became an idiot so often. There's a twist in the book that, as it was being revealed, I thought - "she's never going to fall for that, she's too smart." Obviously, she falls for it. Despite all the signs pointing to the idea that the other character is lying. I wanted her to have more of a backbone, to continue the objections and the strength she had at the beginning of the novel.

I also felt some of the side characters were underused because there were so many of them - Frank and Clara, Eliza's siblings, definitely deserved more time. They each get their own stories in this and I don't think it was necessary because it didn't get the time to develop and marinate as the main story did. I imagine there's going to be sequels and expansions into the world, so hopefully this will do as 'Bridgerton' does and just get stronger and better with each novel that comes.

Also - A+ for steam. Not too porn-y but plenty seductive and feels so earned with the 'we can't be together but we're pulled like magnets' set-up that both characters get. A strong regency romance with plenty of drama and intrigue woven into it.

As I’m a big fan of historical romance and of JEM’s other books, I just had to request an arc of this book as this is Jodi’s first step into writing this genre, and what a little cracker it is.
The story includes just about everything that I love about regency romance, from the stolen liaisons in dark hallways with the dangerous but dashing Duke, to the mysterious happenings that unfold as the story progresses.
Eliza Melrose as the heroine was a very strong and likeable character, as was Johnny the mysterious Duke of Chester, they both had great connection with each other, what with all the banter, and passion play, the chemistry just sizzled between them.
I really like this story and enjoyed reading it very much my only criticism is that it was just a little bit on the slow side explaining everything at the start otherwise this would have been a 5 star read.
Well done Jodi on your first historical romance story!

A departure from her usual style of writing as Jodi Ellen Malpas turns her hand to historical romance. Set in a time when daughters were a commodity. Their only purpose to make an acceptable union and provide the necessary heir and spare, the heroine Eliza is a girl out of her time. Growing up in the country, She is used to more freedom where she dreams of writing and travelling to exotic far off lands. When success for her father’s newspaper means her family moves to London to take their place in polite society she soon finds the freedom she enjoyed severely restricted. The one thing that can’t be curtailed though is her passion for fighting against injustice whether its for a stable boy or a member of the nobility. This passion soon draws the attention of the Duke of Chester, a man driven from London under the cloud of murder and she soon resolves to uncover the truth and restore his honour before fate catches up with her and she finds herself married off against her will.

While I enjoyed the overall plot line for this book there were a couple of things that jarred for me. First of all some of the phrasing used seemed a little too modern and interrupted the flow of the story. Also as a character the Duke appeared a bit bland and one dimensional. Perhaps I’m guilty of comparing him too much with Ms Malpas’s previous overly obsessive heroes but Johnny didn’t make any lasting impression on me and by the time I finished this book I don’t think I could tell you anything about him.

Nineteen-year-old Eliza Melrose, daughter of a printing magnate, is about to be launched into London's high society - much to her distaste, the last thing she wants is a husband, then she meets the Johnny Winters youngest son of the late Duke of Chester, a disgraced nobleman who is shrouded in mystery and proving quite impossible to resist! As the season begins, Eliza is shocked to discover that she won't even be given the chance to choose her own husband - and that the Melrose family fortune hangs in the balance.
A very well written book with strong characters. I really liked both Eliza & Johnny & loved the chemistry between them. I found myself drawn in from the start & read it straight through finishing in the early hours as I just couldn’t put it down. Roll on book 2
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read