Review: Last Duke Standing

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before on the ol’ interwebs that it took a ridiculously long while before I realized I should be reading historical romances. I love romances and I love historical fiction. So why not read the two together in one convenient package? It took a pandemic and Bridgerton before I started thinking seriously about the genre and I’ve read a number over the last couple of years. Last Duke Standing was one of the latest and I had never read any of Julia London’s books before so thought I’d start with a new series that sounded like a lot of fun. Ultimately that’s what it was, fun and entertaining enough for a quick weekend read.

Here’s the book’s description:

When Crown Princess Justine of Wesloria is sent to England to learn the ropes of royalty, she falls under the tutelage of none other than Queen Victoria herself. Justine’s also in the market for a proper husband—one fit to marry the future queen of Wesloria.
Because he knows simply everyone, William, Lord Douglas (the notoriously rakish heir to the Duke of Hamilton seat in Scotland, and decidedly not husband material), is on hand as an escort of sorts. William has been recruited to keep an eye on the royal matchmaker for the Weslorian prime minister, tasked to ensure the princess is matched with a man of quality…and one who will be sympathetic to the prime minister’s views. As William and Justine are forced to scrutinize an endless parade of England’s best bachelors, they become friends. But when the crowd of potential grooms is steadily culled, what if William is the last bachelor standing?

My biggest issue with this book was that I could not for the life of me figure out what, exactly, Justine and William hated each other. Their backstory was explained multiple times but only the barest of details were really revealed. Maybe it was just my brain but I couldn’t understand how a game of musical chairs gone wrong meant they despised each other but also were both attracted to each other? There was supposed to be some history between the two of them and it just didn’t make any sense to me.

Even though I’m not a fan of the reformed rake story, I absolutely loved William. I liked how London wrote him as I could tell he had had some fun in his youth (he’s in his early thirties in the story) but I also knew that he was an upstanding guy who cared a lot about his family and making sure the estate was looked after. I really liked him as a hero and liked that the story was told partially from his perspective.

Justine on the other hand…she was harder to get a read on. I really liked her but I didn’t feel like I got to know her as well as William. I also admit I may have struggled with the fact that she was supposed to be so clueless of her beauty, brains, and charm because her mother was constantly putting her down and comparing her to her more vivacious sister (who was supposed to be Justine’s closest confidante but she was so young and idiotic that I struggled with her too). I knew Justine was a wonderful, strong, capable woman and would make a fantastic queen, and William knew that too but Justine did not. It could be that it’s to be expected when you’re raised knowing you’re going to be the ruler of your country after your father dies. That’s a lot to deal with and I felt Justine’s struggle. But I think I just needed more.

Even though I didn’t understand the history behind Justine and William’s feelings for each other, I did very much enjoy reading as they got to know each other as adults. Their feelings grew and changed and it was fun to read along as they realized they had managed to fall in love with each other. It made the Happily Ever After very satisfying.

All in all, Last Duke Standing was fine. I had fun reading it but I don’t think I’ll be picking up the next book in the series. I’ll have to try another of Julia London’s novels in the future, though, and see if perhaps I just need another couple to make me fall in love with her writing.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Harlequin, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*