She knows these newcomers will need some tutoring to fit into society and endeavors to help them and it’s not long before she and Raphe find ways to spend time together, too. When the new Duke of Huntley and his two sisters move in next door, her parents are scandalized but Gabriella is intrigued. Lady Gabriella Radcliffe has a duty to marry well after her elder sister defied convention and eloped with a commoner, but her parents have hopes Gabriella will soon be engaged to the Earl of Fielding. He’s the new Duke of Huntley! Moving into Huntley House is a step up for sure, but making their way into society after fifteen years in the gutter will be no easy task. A distant relative has passed away, and Raphe has inherited a dukedom. But before that happens, Raphe and his sisters receive some miraculous news.

The world championships are coming up and Guthrie will have a lot riding on Raphe. Giles was no picnic, but they had a roof over their heads and Raphe had been trained as a boxer by Guthrie to pay back the debts owed to him. Abandoned by their mother, then mired in debt when their father committed suicide, they’d been taken in by one of his father’s creditors, Carlton Guthrie. Raphe Matthews is a dockyard worker and the sole provider for his two younger sisters. The premise is definitely one that drew my attention. As the start of her new series Diamonds in the Rough, it seemed as good a place as any to try her works.

Accordingly when the opportunity came up to review Sophie Barnes’ new historical romance A Most Unlikely Duke, I decided to take the chance on this new-to-me author. My reading resolutions for 2017 included trying some new authors and reading more historical romances, a genre that is my first love but has been neglected of late.

A most unlikely duke by sophie barnes