It’s All About The Duke is the third book in Amelia Grey’s The Rakes of St. James series of Regency-era historical romance novels. I enjoyed reading the second book in this series, so I was looking forward to finding out what was going to happen next.

The Duke of Rathburne, or Rath, as he prefers to be called, finds himself in possession of a young ward who needs to make her debut in Society. Rath is acting out of a sense of duty and responsibility; this jaded rake certainly isn’t going to do anything foolish like fall in love with the girl.

Marlena Fast is perfectly content with her life. She lives next door to her best friend, and she occupies herself with a variety of pursuits, including producing a gossip sheet. Her former guardian was an older gentleman who did not visit very often, but Rath’s arrival presents several problems. To begin with, he could quite easily discover her big secret. And of course, he is distractingly handsome. Marlena doesn’t need any of this in her life, not one bit!

This was a sweet book. I didn’t get a strong sense of chemistry between Rath and Marlena, but I absolutely loved the secondary characters- especially Marlena’s chaperone Justine, who insists that the duke is in love with her. One aspect that I found interesting was that Rath is forced to confront the aftermath of the scandalous prank he and his friends perpetrated a number of years ago. Yes, the three dukes have given the matter their consideration over the years, but Rath must now make amends for the situation he and his friends created.

I would recommend It’s All About the Duke. This book functions fairly well as a standalone, so readers don’t have to read the first two books in the series first. There isn’t a great deal of interaction between Rath and his friends; there is much more interaction with Marlena and her circle, and it was fun watching this eclectic group interact. I’m looking forward to finding out what comes next for Grey!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book.