Must Love Dukes by Elizabeth Michels


Must Love Dukes by Elizabeth Michels.

This is book 1 in the Tricks of the Ton series.

Lillian Phillips must travel to London to buy back the family heirlooms that were sold off to pay for her brother's gambling debts. Unfortunately, when she arrives she is told that her father's watch was just sold. Lillian decided to follow the man and try to get the watch back.

Devon Grey, Duke of Thornwood, is on his way to having a nice leisurely drink at a local pub when he senses that someone is following him. He can't imagine why the young woman is following him.  

When he arrives at the pub, Lillian makes herself known and they sit down for a drink.  After several drinks and lots of talk, Devon invites Lillian back to his place to see all the artifacts he has collected on his many journeys.  They have been fighting their mutual attraction all night and when they arrive at Devon's home one thing leads to another....

Early the next morning, Lillian sneaks out of the house but not before finding that watch that started it all. Devon awakens to find Lillian and his watch missing. Since Lillian gave him a fake name, he is unable to find the thief.

A year passes and Lillian's bother is determined that it is time for her to marry. She must pick a husband from a list he has put together.  Of course, she runs into Devon at the first ball she attends and he is ready for revenge.  In exchange for Lillian doing a few things for him, he will not tell everyone about their night a year ago.  Lillian agrees and soon learns that Devon's plans have a positive effect for her. He is getting the men on her brother's list out of the picture.

Can Lillian hold out on getting married until she reaches her majority or will spending all that time with Devon change her mind about marriage?

This was an awesome debut novel by Elizabeth Michels. I love when the banter between the h/h has me laughing out loud and Michels achieved this over and over again.  I love that Lillian stood up to her brother as much as she could and what Devon was willing to give up to marry her. Devon's mother was a secondary character that I fell in love with. She saw what her son was unwilling to admit and did what she could to manipulate the situation.  

An interesting addition to the novel was Lillian's gay brother.  It's been alluded to in other novels that I have read, but it's never been blatantly out there. I LOVE when authors throw an element into the story that makes it unique. Michels did a wonderful job of adding this to the storyline without it overpowering it.

We met the h/h of the next novel, Sue and Holden (Desperately Seeking Suzanna), during this story. Having already seen the interaction between the two of them, I am on pins and needles waiting for it to come out! My fingers are crossed that we are able to see more of Lillian and Devon as their story unfolds.


You can get this book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million.

Thanks go out to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for a copy of the book in exchange of an honest review.


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