“How do you like your dukes? Grumpy? Tortured? Alpha, beta, or alpha in the streets, beta in the sheets?”  

 

Portia Hobbs is taking steps at trying to live a better life. A new life for Portia involves working with a grumpy swordsman, Tavish McKenzie. After years of hearing about Alyssa Cole’s excellent Reluctant Royals series, I have been missing out. After purchasing this book on sale on Kindle, I started reading the novel and was shocked at how quickly I fell in love with the main character Portia. Perhaps it was pepper spraying the towering Tavish McKenzie or the fact that she accidentally sprayed herself while saving Tavish’s sister-in-law Cheryl. While Portia is trying to gain knowledge from this internship, Tavish is trying to figure out his brother’s reasoning for hiring her. Yet, as Portia continually proves her skill at web design, sword making, and researching skills, it is not enough to please the grumpy Tavish McKenzie. Unbeknownst to Portia, the grumpiness of Tavish is not unusual for his family, but his attraction towards Portia makes him more volatile than usual. As these two fight this attraction, Portia starts working as a distraction but learns about Tavish’s secret title as the Duke of Edinburgh. 

 

Honestly, it is hard to say a bad thing about this novel; it has likable characters, hilarious rom-com shenanigans, and the drama associated with royalty. I can’t wait to get my hands on the remaining series…hopefully, I can restrain myself till they go on sale.