This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance




Anything But A Duke is the second book in the "Duke's Den" trilogy and somehow I missed this book when it was released over a year ago especially when I adored the first book. I have to say that Christy Carlyle is an author I am warming up to. I won't say that this was a page turner in any means (personally I have had a struggle with historical's lately, not sure why) but I did find this one enjoyable in many ways. So what is this book about here? Well it actually has a nice twist here, the hero is NOT a duke (finally, I swear sometimes I get sick of all the dukes) but he is a man of wealth and success and our heroine is a STEM.



Anything But A Duke is a story that features self made man Aiden and is part of the trio that run the "Duke's Den" and for the first time ever they have allowed women into the club. Aiden and his comrades are big supporters of growths of science and technology. So they invest to a handful of inventors....and the one inventor that has Aiden intrigued is a woman...a female inventor who is determined to make her way. She is avoiding marriage like the plague and the last thing she wants to do is put herself on the marriage mart. But she has this one last chance to sell her invention which could help countless households make cleaning easier. So Aiden strikes a deal with her, he is looking for a wife and if she leads him to the right connection among the Ton....then he will work with her on getting sponsorship. But soon their arrangement turns into something deeper neither of them expected to find.



Anything But A Duke was a story I was NOT expecting. I always get a kick out a STEM character whether its a hero or heroine. And this was such a unique one with a female inventor. That was quite different. I don't think I have read hardly any inventors in romance so whenever it happens I always get a kick out of it. This was quite interesting. I was worried about the heroine, that she would be too feminist. But she really didn't come off that way to be honest. She felt so real and had a desire to help others and explore her dreams. She isn't fully against marriage either, she just have other dreams that she doesn't know how it would play out. But I love seeing Aiden and Diana together. They have such sweet chemistry together and make such a great pair. And you can see how much they support each other and love the balance they find in one another.



Overall I found Anything But A Duke to be a startling, refreshing read that is empowering in many small but big ways.