A review by ourxstorybegins
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

5.0

Viola Carroll has returned to the Duke of Gracewood’s life after over two years of him believing her to be dead. Now that she is there and able to be fully herself, she is afraid to tell Gracewood the truth — and once she does, she has no idea what that will lead to? And of course, all of this is happening while the rest of their lives are nothing but chaotic, helping Gracewood’s younger sister debut in the ton in London and interacting with folks for the first time in years. 

Some Highlights: 
  • Viola is transgender! And while this is obviously a big plot point, it’s not the only driving force of the story. The focus is far more on the relationship between Viola and Gracewood while navigating all kinds of different things in life.
  • As with any other Alexis Hall novel, this book is so funny. However, this one also pulled at my heartstrings so much more often than past Hall novels that I’ve read. The banter between all of the characters is fantastic, but Viola and Gracewood both definitely have a lot of struggles they have to face — Viola with getting used to socializing with others now that she is herself (no longer being in a position of power while also not being raised as a woman) and Gracewood dealing with a multitude of things that make his life harder (the trauma that comes from having a bad father, PTSD from war, believing he lost his best friend, his leg injury that has led to a reliance on laudanum).
  • We love a romance where the characters rely on each other, but not in a way that comes across as codependent or toxic in any way. Viola and Gracewood make each other better, their lives are more fulfilled together, but if they couldn’t be together, they would also be able to live good lives independently of one another.
  • I loved all of the side characters! Even the antagonists were well written characters that I loved to hate. If I saw any of them in future novels, I would absolutely not be mad about it.

This book was absolutely stunning. I’ve only recently started to get into queer historical romance novels, and I will always love a book that involves queerness in some way (in this case, a transgender main character and side characters that are not heterosexual) that doesn’t involve constant pain of the characters as a result of their sexuality/gender identities. Alexis Hall has written an absolutely beautiful love story for Viola and Gracewood.

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever books for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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