Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Duke’s Ward | 2019 | Fenella J. Miller | Buy |
| 2 | The Duke’s Decision | 2020 | Fenella J. Miller | Buy |
| 3 | The Duke’s Predicament | 2020 | Fenella J. Miller | Buy |
The Reluctant Duke is a three-book Regency romance series by Fenella J. Miller, published in 2019 and 2020. The connecting premise is a duke who is not entirely comfortable in his role, giving the series a slightly different character from Miller’s more confident aristocratic heroes elsewhere.
The Duke’s Ward opens the series in 2019, establishing the hero and his ward, a woman whose position in his household creates the central complication. The Duke’s Decision and The Duke’s Predicament, both from 2020, carry the story through to resolution. The titles track the hero’s internal journey as much as his external circumstances.
All three books are short and move quickly, as is typical of Miller’s Regency output. The ward situation creates an interesting dynamic: a woman who is technically dependent on a man she may also come to love, with the social and ethical complications that arrangement brings under Regency conventions. Readers who enjoy Miller’s Regency work will find The Reluctant Duke a solid three-book sequence with a clear arc.