Review: Dating the Duke by Emma Hart

Dating the Duke by Emma Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book via the author, all opinions are my own. This book comes out today, January 18, 2022.


This is the second book in the Aristocrat Diaries series and it was really cute. This follows Adelaide a teacher and writer and Alexander a Duke who spends his days managing his estate and his energetic daughter. I don't pretend to know anything about the British aristocracy, but this is a fun way to learn a little about how all of that works. Addy's uncle is a Duke and her mother holds a title, but Addy and her sister do not. They are part of the upper echelon social circles and understands how that world works.


Addy as I mentioned is a teacher, but she prefers to tutor individual students and smaller groups. Alex's daughter is struggling in school and asks if Addy will tutor her for the summer. It turns out Olympia has dyslexia and is being assessed for high functioning autism. Addy hopes that a diagnosis will help bring additional support and services to Olympia when she goes back to school, but in the meantime she is doing everything she can to be her biggest cheerleader. Due to the fact that Addy is spending so much time at the estate, she finds herself spending alot more time with Alex than she expected. It turns out they have many things in common and generally enjoy each other's company. While neither one of them was looking for a relationship, they can't deny that they are attracted to one another. Alex has to put the estate and Olympia first, so entering into a relationship with Addy doesn't seem wise. Addy also doesn't want to jeopardize Olympia's progress or her feelings. As you can imagine one thing leads to another and Alex and Addy end up developing feelings for one another.


I love that Emma wrote about her own experience with autism in her own daughter. Being a parent is hard, and all you want is what is best for your child. It is a constant game of advocating for them to make sure they get the best education and care, while also making sure they are making good choices and growing into decent, responsible humans. I could totally relate to some of the parenting moments in the book, we have had the occasional cereal explosion and flour mishap while baking. I really enjoy that she is giving us a glimpse of her life while also giving us a fun romance to enjoy.


I really enjoyed this book. It had good character development between Alex and Addy. While I wish they had talked about their feelings for each other a bit earlier, that would have made for a much shorter book. Communication between couples is something I appreciate in books, and while it took them a little longer to come around, they eventually got there. This had great side characters and had Emma Hart's signature humor. I'm looking forward to reading Eva's book next.
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