The Duke Is But a Dream: A Debutante Diaries Novel

Anna Bennett

Jul 2019 · Debutante Diaries Book 2 · Sold by St. Martin's Paperbacks

About this ebook

She’s a secret sensation.
Miss Lily Hartley is the anonymous mastermind behind the ton’s latest obsession: The Debutante’s Revenge, a tell-all advice column for young ladies. To keep her identity hidden, Lily delivers her columns disguised as a boy—which is well and good, until she lands in the middle of tavern brawl. As luck would have it, a devastatingly handsome duke sweeps in to rescue her.

He has no idea who she is.
Eric Nash, Duke of Stonebridge, discovers there’s a beautiful woman hiding beneath a lad’s cap, and, before long, he’s falling for the delightfully clever stranger recuperating in his house. He vows to help her find her home, even though he’s reluctant to part with her. There’s only one problem...

Neither does she.
Lily has no idea who she is. She could be a duchess or maid. Betrothed or married. There’s only one thing she does know—that her attraction to Nash is more than skin-deep, and it grows stronger every day. While Lily and Nash search to find her true identity, they just might lose their hearts to each other...

“Fans of Regency romance authors Eloisa James, Tessa Dare, and Mary Jo Putney will go wild.” —Booklist

"Deeply satisfying." - Publishers Weekly

Ratings and reviews

2.5 stars I don't read many historical romances, but the amnesia plot of this one caught my interest. The story does require a tremendous suspension of disbelief, but I expected some of that just from reading the blurb. What I didn't expect was how eye-rollingly over the top it would turn out to be. It's mostly fluff, and there's nothing wrong with that except it had so much potential to be something more. We have the gruff but redeemable hero, and a strong-willed heroine trying to break free of the bonds of the time period even if she has to do it in secret. But here's the problem, we're never given exactly what time period that is. Judging by several things in the story, I'm assuming sometime in the 1800s, but then some character actions would be better suited to something more current. The amnesia angle that drew me to the book in the first place was interesting, but I don't buy everything that happened in the two weeks that Lily didn't know who she was. Even that fact that she was allowed to stay with the Duke and his sister gave me pause, let alone everything else that happened. Then there's the Duke. I love a redeemable grouch, but the whole too emotionally broken to love anyone has been done and done again. Add to that the sheer amount of personal growth Nash went through in just two weeks, and I give you yet another eye roll. Yes, this pair fell madly in love in two weeks - two weeks that Lily didn't even know who she was or where she came from. And that led to another problem for me. Going on my assumption of setting, Lily's background pushed it over the edge for me. I'll leave those details out to avoid spoilers, but it seems pretty far-fetched. As it turned out, Lily's secret life as a columnist was the most interesting part of this one for me with the rest amounting to a fluffy, instalove story. The book is well-written, and the premise is good, I just really hoped for something more.

Miss Lily Hartley is the anonymous mastermind behind the ton’s latest obsession: The Debutante’s Revenge, a tell-all advice column for young ladies. To keep her identity hidden, Lily delivers her columns disguised as a boy, until she decides to shelter from the rain in a tavern & lands in the middle of a brawl. As luck would have it, a devastatingly handsome duke sweeps in to rescue her. Eric Nash, Duke of Stonebridge, discovers there’s a beautiful woman hiding beneath a lad’s cap, and, before long, he’s falling for the delightfully clever stranger recuperating in his house. He vows to help her find her home. Lily has no idea who she is. She doesn’t even know her name so becomes Caroline. I liked Lily in the previous book in the series & had been waiting for her story, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I loved Nash & Caroline/Lily & how their relationship developed, I also loved Delilah & the secondary story surrounding her. However I had difficulty with the setting, I felt as though Lily was too modern & was a twenty first century woman who’s been ‘dropped’ into the nineteenth century no gently brought up woman would have behaved as she did. Also the journey to & from Scotland couldn’t be undertaken in the time span in the book, no way could Lily take some days to recover from her injuries then journey to Gretna & back in a fortnight. If I put these quibbles on the back burner then this was an entertaining read My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I found this book to be quite charming and very entertaining. Lily, her sister and their best friend have been secretly writing and illustrating a column in the paper entitled the Debutante's Revenge. After delivering the latest installment dressed as a delivery boy, Lily is involved in a brawl at a tavern and is knocked unconscious. She is rescued by Nash, a Duke who was nursing his melancholy at the tavern and caused the accident that injures Lily. Upon awakening at the Duke's home the next day, Lily does not remember who she is so she and the Duke's sister choose the name, Caroline. Since Caroline has no memory, the Duke finally decides to have a lawyer friend run a description of her in the paper to see if they can get any answers. In the mean time, Nash and Caroline become intimate, but Nash maintains that there is no way that he will ever fall in love as it only brings misery and heartache. He lost his twin sister and father because of it and might lose his younger sister because of the "love" she feels for a young gentleman. This story includes a daring chase, a fight or two, an awakening of a closed off heart and the revelation of a mother. I hope that there will be more books to go with this one. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

About the author

Anna Bennett started swiping romances from her mom’s bookshelf as a teenager and decided that books with balls, dukes, and gowns were the best. So, when she had the chance to spend a semester in London she packed her bags—and promptly fell in love with the city, its history, and its pubs. She dreamed of writing romance, but somehow ended up a software analyst instead.

Fortunately, a few years and a few careers later, Anna found her way back to writing the stories she loves and won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart®. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three children, who try valiantly not to roll their eyes whenever she quotes Jane Austen.